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My rant was interrupted by the quiet sound of Gabriel chuckling on the other end of the phone. “What?” I snapped.
Gabriel sucked in air to stop laughing. “Nothing. It’s…” He sighed. “It’s so good to hear your voice, even if you’re angry.”
It killed any rage inside and made me realize with certainty that I wanted to see him. I had to. “It’s good to hear yours,” I replied. “Ass.”
He chuckled. “I accept that.”
“I…” My voice trailed off, but I searched for courage. I just needed to pry the door open again. There was something worthwhile on the other side. There had to be. “I want to see you.”
Gabriel’s voice was drenched in pain when he responded. “I want to see you, too.”
“Come over,” I replied. There was a long stretch of silence, and my skin was prickling. I didn’t like it. “What?”
“I can’t,” he responded.
It shattered me. I wasn’t trying to scrub my skin away, it was trying to pull itself off my muscles in a slow, agonizing tear. “Why?”
“I just can’t.” I almost felt like I heard him sniffle, but his voice was back a second later. “I have to go.”
He didn’t say bye, or anything comforting, for that matter. The line just went dead. I sat, holding my phone in my hand while heartbreak truly settled in. I hadn’t accepted my feelings before, so maybe for the past few weeks, I was just hovering in limbo. Deciding that I wanted him, that I was falling for him, and reaching out for him made his rejection so painful that I could hardly stand it. I navigated back to his contact information. I had to get rid of it. Otherwise, I would turn into that girl who couldn’t let go. I scrolled down to the delete button and hovered my finger just above it. My phone buzzed again. A notification popped up next to Gabriel’s name on the contact, letting me know it was from him.
Meet me at Hotel Xavier at
7:00 p.m. I’ll explain everything.
I promise.
It was probably ill-advised to go, but I didn’t think that Gabriel would hurt me, and the need to see him was stronger than anything logical. I responded instantly that I would see him then, and instantly hopped up to get dressed and pack myself a hope-induced overnight bag.
13
Gabriel
I set my phone down on the dining room table and looked up at Molly. “Are you sure?”
Molly was setting out lunch for my niece, Anna, and nephew, Antonio. They were both getting so big already. It was hard to believe. Molly grabbed the plate she’d previously given me with a sandwich on it that was nothing but crumbs now.
“I’m positive. Your brother would have everyone be celibate and dedicated to the job alone, but that’s not realistic. You deserve happiness. I’ll cover for you if I have to. If Luca calls you, don’t answer. Just be with Stacy.”
I hadn’t told Molly about Stacy. I’d mentioned her in passing to Luca, but I hadn’t said her name. I didn’t say her name when I was just talking on the phone to her, either. “How did you know about Stacy?”
Molly winked at me. “Marco’s taking good care of his brothers right now.”
Ah, that made sense. I had talked to Marco at length about Stacy, and after his big confession that he thought it wasn’t fair that I was sacrificing my happiness for his, he probably told Molly to listen out. I’d have to call and thank him for that later, but for now, I had an angel to get to.
“Thank you so much,” I hummed.
Molly nodded. “Go.”
I hopped up from the table, gave each of the kids and Molly a kiss on the cheek, and then fluttered from the room. I tacked up a mental reminder that Luca would likely murder all of us if he found out that Molly and Marco were aiding and abetting my seeing Stacy, despite the trouble it’d already caused. They both knew, as well as the rest of us, that the addition of women into the Varasso brothers’ lives had only made things more complicated, but I didn’t want to think about that right now. All I wanted to think about was Stacy. I told myself I’d sort out the details later.
As I packed a bag, called and made a hotel reservation, cleaned myself up, and snuck out of the house without Luca seeing, I considered the details anyway, but no good solution came to me. I didn’t want to think that there was no way things could work out with Stacy, so I reopened the mental drawer I’d shoved my earlier reminder in, and pushed in one that said not sure what to do right alongside it.
I’d asked Stacy to join me at seven, and by the time I was leaving the house, it was a little after five. I didn’t intend to use so much time to get ready, but I wanted everything to be perfect; I wanted to be perfect. I had to sell a lot on, “But look how cute I am,” so I wanted to look my best.
I swung by a flower shop I’d found along the route to the hotel, hoping for a bouquet of roses, but the shop was closing soon and only had a small selection of flowers remaining. I didn’t have time to find something else, so in a choice between some ratty, weed-looking ferns and a potted, purple orchid, I opted for the orchid.
I
