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I opened it and couldn’t help but smile.
Unknown: I’m so glad I ran into you tonight. Let me know when you’re free this week.
I didn’t respond, too tired to type out a message that could wait until tomorrow.
“Who was that?”
Gabriel’s voice sounded tight, and I looked up, only to be met with his hard eyes. Now this was the Gabriel I knew.
“Caspar. He wants to catch up.”
“Absolutely not.”
I reeled back. This must be the moment the other shoe dropped. My freedom had only been an illusion, after all. Despite Gabriel’s anger, I didn’t think he’d ever hurt me. Which was why I scrounged up the courage to question his demand.
“What do you mean? I thought I was free to do what I wanted. I promise I wouldn’t ever embarrass you.”
“How do you think it looks if you meet up with another man?”
I bit my lip, mulling over his words. He had a point, even if I didn’t like it. But I didn’t want to give up on my friend. He was the only one I had. Desperate not to lose the last connection I had to my childhood, I refused to give in this easily. “He can come to the house. Nobody will see him there.”
We pulled up to the front gate, and the driver typed in the code.
“You’re never going to invite another man over to our house.” His voice was hard, his eyes promising murder.
Yet still I wasn’t afraid and pushed more. “I thought it was my house to do with as I wished.”
The car stopped, and Gabriel stepped out, then helped me. I felt his light touch down to my toes, my throat going dry. I’d never had such a pull toward someone.
He walked me up to the house, then typed in the code. Pushing open the door, he indicated for me to go first.
We stood staring at each other, neither of us able to look away. His eyes were an icy blue I could become addicted to. His next words, however, threw a much-needed bucket of ice over my ridiculous thoughts.
“If I ever find out you’ve been with another man, he won’t survive it.”
After he fired his parting shot, the door slammed behind him, leaving me staring at the empty entry hall.
11
GABRIEL
My phone ringingpulled me out of thoughts of how to best make Caspar disappear. I’d been staring at my computer screen for the past hour, reading everything my men had dug up on him. It had been two days since he so brazenly approached Vanna at the charity event, and I was still fuming.
He clearly had a death wish, approaching my wife like that while I was standing right next to her. He seemed to think he had some sort of claim on her. Something I’d be sure to correct.
His business was doing extremely well, and despite his age, he was already making a name for himself. Which explained how he’d gotten a ticket to the ball we attended.
My phone display showed the object of my obsession was calling. All I’d been able to think about the last two days was how well she fit in my arms. How right it felt when she was sitting on my lap. And how I longed to do more than touch her.
I’d decided to stop holding back. We were married, after all. Maybe we could have a marriage with benefits until whatever was between us fizzled out. I couldn’t continue living in a constant state of need. I’d been right that a wife would distract me from my work. And now I had to find a way to fix it.
Staying away hadn’t helped. So now I was taking a different approach.
“Hello, Vanna.”
“Gabriel.” The sound of her voice sent my blood shooting south. But I didn’t miss how frazzled she sounded. “Where are you?”
“Why? What’s wrong?”
