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Kingsley got the impression that Javier didn’t hide anything from his family. Kingsley thought his parents would like Gabi’s. The two families had a lot in common.
“Thanks, Papi, but I’m a big girl now. I can handle this.”
Javier leaned over and kissed Gabi’s forehead. “In case you can’t, I’ve got your back.”
She laughed but Javier leveled a very serious look at Kingsley. He wrapped his arm around Gabi and led her away from the grill and her father.
Conner was sitting on the big bench swing under the shade of a ponderosa pine tree in the corner of the yard. Kingsley led Gabi over there.
“I hope my dad wasn’t too...too parental,” she said.
“It’s good. I can handle it. I’d be more worried if he wasn’t protective of his kids,” Kingsley said.
“He’s definitely that,” she said.
“Daddy,” Conner said as they approached. “Will you push me on the swing?”
“Sure will, buddy. That’s why I came over here,” Kingsley said.
“Come on, Gammi,” Conner said, patting the bench next to him.
Gabi sat by his son and Kingsley stood there for a minute feeling—overwhelmed. He wanted this family to be real. But right now he was distracted from the one thing that could bring him that dream.
He needed to focus on finding out who had killed Stacia or he was never going to have any closure. He was never going to be able to put the past to rest.
Anger like he hadn’t felt since the night he’d been arrested welled up inside him. Whoever had killed Stacia and kept silent about it had stolen this from him. Had taken the life he might have had away from him.
He had been lucky to have Conner—God knew, that was the truth. But he could have had Gabi and maybe they could have had a few more kids. But now they couldn’t—until the specter of the past was gone.
She wouldn’t want to raise kids no one wanted to play with. Hell, neither did he.
“Kingsley?”
“Yes?”
“Conner asked if you wanted to sit with us. We can swing it together.”
“Yes,” he said. He sat down, more determined than ever to find the person who was blocking his second chance with Gabi and to make him pay.
Thirteen
Alejandro joined Gabi in the butler’s pantry when she went to make more margaritas to go with brunch. His girlfriend, Eva, was funny, gorgeous and smart. She was a human rights lawyer who worked all over the world.
Gabi was proud of the business she’d built, but talking about kids and parenting issues after Eva had just finished telling them about the clean water campaign she’d spearheaded in Central America had made Gabi feel... Well, as though she should be sitting at the kids’ table.
“What do you think of Eva?” Alejandro asked.
“Scary awesome,” Gabi said. “I like her, but I think if I had to be around her too often I’d start to hate myself.”
“Really?” Alejandro asked. “She told me she’s jealous that you have your own business.”
“She did?” she asked.
“Yes. She’s tired of traveling all the time. She’s thinking of settling down...”
It was funny how perspective changed things. Gabi’s life looked good to Eva because it was very normal and Eva’s sounded exciting to Gabi because...well, if she were being honest, because it would take her away from all the uncertainty she felt around Kingsley.
“With you?” she asked her brother.
“Yes. We’ve been dating for a year now,” Ali said.
“Why are you just now bringing her home?” Gabi asked.
Ali shrugged and reached around her to dump lime juice into the blender. “You see what she’s like. I met her when I was at Gui’s last summer and we hooked up, but we were both on vacation, you know.”
She did know. “So when did you meet again?”
“I called her from the airport when I got home and told her I wanted to see her again. I couldn’t stop thinking about her, Gabi. I didn’t know if it was just obsession or real affection,” Alejandro said.
“How did you figure it out?” she asked her brother. He was eighteen months older than her and they’d always been close. She wanted to know if he had any insights into love that might help her.
She knew that Ali’s situation was different than hers. Eva didn’t have a past like Kingsley, but love...love was the great equalizer. She’d read that somewhere and it had resonated with her.
