Notorious (Rebels of the Ton #1) - Minerva Spencer Page 0,35

should not have come today but—”

She squeezed his hand. “You wanted to tell us in person.”

“Yes.” He gave her a gentle push. “Now go fetch everything from my coat pockets—yours is the inlaid box.”

She returned with the three packages and then sat on his lap to open her gift.

Her eyes widened when they saw what was inside the box. “Oh, Gabriel, they are splendid.”

“Not as splendid as you. Put them on.”

She removed the earrings already in her ears, looking at him as she did so. “This is a farewell gift, I think?”

Was it? He’d certainly come with that intention in mind. But after seeing his fiancée clutching another man’s hand, he was no longer so sure.

Gabriel frowned at the petty thought. Was that how he would begin his married life? Engaged in an immature and spiteful battle of wills with his wife? He ignored Giselle’s question, instead pulling her toward him and lowering his mouth over the swell of her breast, breathing in her familiar scent. He would miss her companionship and affection even more than her beautiful face and luscious body. “You are a goddess,” he told her in French.

She took his face between her hands and tilted it up to kiss him. “Thank you for the delightful gift, Gabriel. Thank you and—”

“Hush,” he ordered, kissing away whatever it was she was about to say and then gently holding her at arm’s length. “I need to ask you something, Giselle.”

“I know what you will ask—you want me to see that Samir gets back to his family if your ship captain manages to locate any of them . . .” She gave a slight shake of her head, as if rejecting something too painful to consider, and added, “And if you do not come away from the duel.”

“Yes. It is very important to me. I’ve left all the information you will need in a sealed envelope with Byer, to be delivered to you along with instructions if they do not respond.”

“What of your mother?” she asked gravely.

“I’ve written a letter for her, as well.” Because he was too bloody cowardly to speak to her right now. He told himself he did not wish to inflict additional worry upon her when she was so close to her lying in. But that was a lie. He was a coward.

“We shall see to Samir’s well-being, my friend.”

The relief that coursed through him told him that fear for the boy had been no little part of the stress he’d been carrying. “Thank you.”

She squeezed his hands so hard they hurt. “It’s over between us, isn’t it?” Tears spilled down her cheeks, and he kissed them away.

“Yes, Giselle, it is.”

“Will you still come visit—even after Samir gone?”

“You know I will. You and Maria will always be my dearest friends.”

“I’ll miss you, Gabriel, but I’m proud you will give yourself to your marriage with a whole heart—it’s the right thing to do.”

Gabriel wondered if his new wife would feel the same way.

Chapter 7

Drusilla stared at her reflection and grimaced. She looked wrecked—absolutely, positively wrecked. Dark smudges beneath her eyes—which were heavy and bloodshot from lack of sleep. She’d been too nervous to eat at dinner last night. The atmosphere around the marquess’s table had been so genial and normal it had felt . . . dreamlike. Or nightmarish, rather.

“You look lovely, Dru.”

She started at the sound of Eva’s voice, meeting her friend’s gaze in the mirror. Drusilla forced a smile.

“You’re not frightened, are you?” Eva asked.

What could she tell her friend? That she was terrified of her feelings for her brother? That she’d loved and wanted Gabriel with a fierceness that had almost paralyzed her since the first moment she saw him?

“I’m not frightened,” she lied.

Eva chewed her lip, clearly agonizing over something. “I know you and Gabriel have sometimes rubbed each other the wrong way—”

Drusilla snorted at her friend’s understatement.

Eva took her hand. “And I know he can appear . . . imperious—”

“Because he is imperious.”

“Very well then, because he is imperious,” Eva conceded. “But he can also be very caring, kind, and protective.” She shot Drusilla a direct look, making her feel like an ungrateful shrew—because that was how she was behaving. Here was a man who’d not only fought for her honor, but was marrying her and would soon be putting his life at risk for her.

“I know he’s kind, Eva. He’s also been a savior to me—twice. I appreciate what he is doing. I only wish he didn’t have to do so