by soft coats and the combined scents of what all the guests considered funeral-appropriate perfume and cologne. The air is thick and warm, but not in an unpleasant way. It’s more like a cocoon.
“What’s this?” Gabriel asks, hands finding my waist in the dark.
“This is a break.” I step closer, laying my head on his chest. “Pretend you’re not even here. You’re somewhere far, far away, and just outside that door is the emptiest room you’ve ever seen in your life. Just take a second and relax, okay?”
His arms wind around me, pulling me close, and his head rests atop mine. I close my eyes, and we take a private moment with only the coats to bear witness.
I haven’t seen Gabriel since we got back from the funeral just after lunch, so I am a little surprised when he calls me to his office as I am about to get into bed. Then again, the late hour means nothing to a man who barely sleeps as it is.
I go to his office and lift my hand to knock.
“Come in,” he calls before my knuckles connect with the wood.
I enter, and Gabriel is sitting behind his desk with tired eyes, still wearing his black shirt and tie from the funeral. I walk over and sink into the chair opposite him, as I have done so many times before.
“What’s up?” I ask.
Gabriel’s eyes find mine across the desk. “I just wanted to say thank you. For today.”
This would normally be the part where I’d make a sarcastic comment about how rare his thanks are, but the look of appreciation in his eyes is so genuine that I daren’t.
“It was no problem,” I say, my throat suddenly dry.
Gabriel gets up and walks around the desk. He leans against the edge of it, just in front of me, and gathers my hand in his.
“Alexis ...” He looks down at our clasped hands and my heart jumps in my chest.
He’s about to say something heartfelt, I can feel it.
Gabriel clears his throat and releases my hand. “I know that Patrick Walsh is dead, but I still want you to travel with guards for the time being. Okay?”
“O-okay,” I sputter out, a little disappointed. Did I misread the signs?
Speaking of Patrick Walsh …
“Who was that woman today?” I ask. “Siobhan.”
Gabriel’s nose wrinkles a little, as though the mere thought of her smells bad. “She’s Patrick Walsh’s cousin, though she’s not involved in the business. Or wasn’t, at least, when she and Vito were lovers years ago.”
“He had an Irish girlfriend?” My eyebrows lift in surprise.
Gabriel’s lips curve as he sinks into the nostalgia. “Vito had a rebellious phase when we were teenagers. He wanted a taste of danger, and that’s exactly what Siobhan was to him. Let’s just say he got over her a lot faster than she got over him.”
“I could tell.”
He chuckles. “I’ll never forget the day he met Corie,” he says. “She transferred to our school halfway through senior year, and he was smitten with her immediately. He’d seemed smitten with Siobhan too, which is what I reminded him when he told me he’d just met his future wife. Do you know what he told me?”
“What?”
“He said, ‘She’s the yin to my yang, Gabe. Siobhan is heat and excitement, but Corie is all that and more. She is true, perfect balance.’”
“Based on my limited interaction with Siobhan, I’d say Vito made the right call.”
Gabriel nods. “I agree. And …” He trails off, taking a breath as his gaze travels over me.
My heartbeat picks up again.
“And Alexis, I suspect that you’re the yin to my yang.” His brow furrows. “I need you.”
His declaration takes my breath away. I stare at him like an idiot for a moment while I gather my scattered thoughts, my throat dry.
“I need you too,” I rasp finally.
I do. I need him like oxygen. Which is why I’m going to suffocate when I make my final play, when I do the one thing that Gabriel will never be able to forgive me for. When I betray him.
“Do you trust me?” Gabriel asks.
His expression is so sincere that I can’t help but nod. I trust him more than I trust my own capricious thoughts, and much more than he should trust me.
He sighs, as though he has been waiting to hear those very words and I have lifted a ton of bricks from his chest. I wonder if he is going to tell me everything, finally fill in the blanks that