Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno Trilogy)

by Reynard, Sylvain

  Rachel snorted, resting her forearm on the top of the island. “Gabriel is taking a maternity leave? I’ll believe that when I see it.”

  “Well, it’s a paternity leave. It’s available to him and so he’s going to take it. They owe him a sabbatical anyway, but he’s deferring it.” Julia sat on the stool to Rachel’s left. “We’re even talking about moving here for part of the year, after the baby is born.”

  Rachel’s gray eyes grew soft. “Dad would love that. Have you told him?”

  Julia shook her head. “We were waiting until we told everyone we were expecting.” She glanced in the direction of the living room. “Gabriel is probably asking him right now.”

  “Dad won’t say no. Will Rebecca come too?”

  “I haven’t thought that far ahead. But it would be a bit ridiculous for one little baby to require three adults to supervise him.”

  Rachel regarded her friend. “You haven’t been around babies much, have you?”

  “No.”

  “You might need Rebecca to keep up the house and to cook for everyone.” Rachel stared at her fingernails. “You and Diane will be able to commiserate about motherhood. We’ll come home for weekends. The baby will be surrounded by family.”

  “That’s what we wanted. I’m sorry about the timing. I know you and Aaron have been trying and I feel so—”

  “Don’t.” Rachel forced a smile. “I’m happy for you. And I’m going to be the best damn aunt I can be. I’m hoping, someday, you’ll have the chance to be the same to mine.”

  “Me, too.”

  Julia smiled, a sympathetic sadness twisting in her insides.

  That evening, Aaron stood in his wife’s childhood bedroom, which was still decorated with the awards and trophies she’d won in high school. He held her in his arms as she sobbed into his chest.

  He felt helpless. He felt impotent.

  “Rach,” he whispered, rubbing her back.

  “It’s so unfair,” she managed, her hands fisting his shirt. “They didn’t even want a baby! Jules was going to wait until she graduated. I can’t believe this is happening.”

  Aaron didn’t know what to say. When Julia announced her good news, he was envious, but not to the degree that Rachel was. After a year of trying to conceive, she was battling depression. He didn’t want to feed it by focusing on the unfairness of life and raising existential questions that might never be answered.

  “I know you’re upset, but I need you to calm down.”

  “I want my mom.” She pressed her forehead into his shoulder. “She would know what to do.”

  “As much as I loved your mother, she wasn’t a miracle worker.”

  “But she could give me advice. And I’m never going to see her again.” A fresh round of sobs escaped Rachel’s chest.

  “You know that’s not true,” he whispered, rubbing her back once again. “This was a shock, but we have to get over it. People around us are going to have children. You don’t want this to come between you and Julia.”

  “It won’t.”

  “That’s my girl. So no tears tomorrow.” He pulled away, his face marked with concern.

  “I can do that. I gave an Academy Award–winning performance earlier. I wanted to cry as soon as she told me.”

  “I don’t want you to act, Rachel. I want you to appear to be okay and I want that to be the truth.”

  “But I’m not okay.” She sat on the edge of her bed.

  “I want to talk to you about that.” Aaron joined her on the bed. “Instead of focusing on what we don’t have, I’d like us to start thinking about what we have. We have our jobs, we have a nice place to live, we—”

  “We have fertility treatments that aren’t working.” Rachel cursed under her breath.

  “There are other options. We’ve discussed this.”

  “I’m not ready to give up.”

  “We don’t have to give up. But maybe we should just relax for a while. Take a break.”

  “Take a break?” She peered over at him curiously.

  “Stop the fertility treatments and forget about having a baby. Just for a while.”

  She crossed her arms around her middle. “No.”

  He took her hand in his. “I think the pressure is getting to you.”

  “I can handle it.”

  “No, baby, you can’t. I know you like I know myself. And I’m telling you, you need a break. We need a break.”

  “We’re supposed to try the fertility treatments for a year. We can’t stop now.” Her chin began to wobble.

  “Yes, we can.” He brushed his lips across hers. “We’ll talk to the doctor when we’re back in Philadelphia. Then we’re going to take a long vacation. Gabriel promised he’d lend us their house in Italy. We can take some time and just be a normal couple again.”

  “What if this is it? What if we can’t . . .” She couldn’t bring herself to say it.

  “Then we’ll start looking at other options.” He placed his arm around her. “Whether or not we have a baby, we have each other. That’s something, isn’t it?”

  She nodded.

  “We need to take care of each other. And I’m not taking care of you if I let you continue like this.”

  “I feel like a failure.” Rachel wiped her face with the back of her hand.

  “You aren’t,” he whispered. “You’re the most incredible woman I’ve ever met. I would love to have a family with you but not if that journey is going to break you. I’m sorry, but I don’t want kids that much.”

  Rachel looked at him, surprised. “I thought this was important to you.”

  “You come first. You’ve always come first.” He squeezed her shoulder. “I want the woman I married. Once we get back to that, then we can start talking about kids again. Okay?”

  Rachel was silent as she contemplated what he was proposing. She closed her eyes, and it felt as if a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders.

  Suddenly, she felt as if she could breathe again.

  “Okay.”

  Aaron pulled his wife into his arms. “I love you.”

  Down the hall, Julia leaned her hip against the bathroom vanity, watching Gabriel brush his teeth.

  “Your father is proud of us for having a baby.”

  Gabriel nodded, as he continued brushing.

  “That means he’s proud of us for having sex and you for impregnating me. Do you think they make T-shirts for grandfathers that express those sentiments?”

  Gabriel made a strangled choking noise before he began spitting into the sink.

  “Are you all right?” She tapped on his back. “Can you speak?”

  He responded with more spitting and then raucous laughter.

  “T-shirts,” he managed, placing his hand on the counter to support himself. “How do you come up with this stuff?”

  “It wasn’t me who said it. I don’t think anyone has ever told me that he’s proud of me for having sex. My dad was happy for us, but he didn’t say he was proud.”

  Gabriel deposited his toothbrush in the holder before straightening.

  “I did.”

  They exchanged a look.

  “Yes, you did.” Julia smiled to herself. “Uncle Jack seemed happy, when I told him. But he was acting weird on the telephone.”

  “What did he say?”

  “He congratulated me, but he also gave me a lecture.”

  Gabriel’s eyebrows lifted. “About what?”

  “About my need to protect myself and the baby. I assured him I was doing so and then he asked me what you were doing to protect us.”

  “And what did you say?”

  “I said you were very attentive and that you were coming with me to all my appointments. He muttered something about that not being enough.”

  Gabriel frown
ed. “Did you respond?”

  “I asked him what he was worried about, but he kind of clammed up on me. Do you think something is up with Simon and Natalie?”

  “I doubt it. If something were in the works, he’d tell us about it.”

  “Maybe.” Julia shook her head. “He promised me he’d keep an eye on us, and I told him I’d welcome whatever help he could give us. It was a very strange conversation.”

  “Your uncle Jack is a strange person. Maybe he’s decided to beat up Greg Matthews in order to ensure that you get a maternity leave.”

  “Professor Matthews already authorized it. I don’t need Uncle Jack’s help with that.” She smiled and exited the bathroom.

  She stood by the window, looking out into the starless night.

  Gabriel could see the outline of her body through her old-fashioned linen nightshirt: her long slim legs, her rounded hips and bottom. He switched off the lights and stood behind her, his talented fingers lifting and toying with her hair.

  “Your conversation with my sister was difficult, but she took the news well, I thought.” He linked their hands together, bringing their connection to rest over where their child was growing.

  “She and Aaron have been trying for so long and we weren’t and boom! We’re pregnant.”

  Gabriel chuckled and rested his chin on her shoulder. “It wasn’t quite like that. There was divine intervention.”

  “Do you really believe that?”

  “You don’t?” His body tightened.

  “I do, I just feel guilty. It seems unfair,” she whispered.

  “Perhaps we need to do a better job of supporting them. I’m sure this is hard on both of them.” He kissed the nape of her neck, pressing his chest to her back. “Did you ever tell her how we met?”

  “No. It was too precious and too painful to talk about.”

  “And now?” He pressed her.

  “I like the fact that it’s our secret. Your family is wonderful, but I don’t think they’d understand. My father would come after you with a shotgun.”

  “Point taken.”

  He began to drag his fingertips over her scalp, touching her gently, when she suddenly flinched.

  “I’m sorry,” he murmured. “I forgot about your scar.”

  “It’s all right. You only startled me.”

  Gabriel began to caress her again, this time avoiding the stretch of raised skin beneath her hair.

  “Sharon could be nice sometimes, when she wasn’t drinking and she was between boyfriends.” Julia swallowed hard. “She would take me to the zoo and we’d have picnics. She let me play dress-up with her clothes and she’d do my hair. I liked that.”

  Gabriel stilled his hand, pausing thoughtfully before speaking. “I remember some good things about my mother, too. I’m sorry Sharon hurt you. I wish I could take it all away.”

  “I wonder why Sharon was nice to me at all if she was just going to turn around and be abusive again.”

  Gabriel continued toying with her hair. “I understand. The cycle of abuse interspersed with occasional bouts of kindness keeps you stuck, waiting and hoping for the kindness to return. And it does, on occasion, only to be swept away. I know all about that. Regrettably.”

  Julia turned to face him. “We’ve overcome a lot.”

  “That we have.”

  “What happened with Simon doesn’t haunt me anymore. Not like it did. I feel as if I’ve moved past that.”

  Gabriel cursed under his breath. “That motherfucker is lucky he has a powerful family. I still wish I could beat him senseless and teach his girlfriend a lesson. Your uncle Jack didn’t want us to let them off the hook.”

  Julia placed a hand on his chest. “It’s over now. Simon is getting married, and Jack said that Natalie moved to California.”

  “The farther away the better.”

  “I don’t know if I’ll be a great mother, but I certainly have an idea of what I shouldn’t do.”

  Gabriel touched her abdomen through her nightshirt.

  “Part of being a good parent is being a good person. And Julianne, you are the best person I’ve ever met.”

  He kissed her softly.

  “Standing in this house, I can’t help but remember what life was like with my parents. We can have a home like theirs. A home filled with love and happiness. We’ve had so much grace lavished on us . . .” Gabriel’s voice trailed off.

  “I’m just relieved I don’t have to do this alone.”

  “Me, too.”

  Gabriel took her hand and led her to the bed.

  Chapter Seventy-six

  Durham, North Carolina

  April Hudson breezed into her apartment building Monday afternoon, stopping to check her mailbox. She’d just returned from a romantic weekend in the Hamptons with her fiancé, Simon Talbot.

  She sighed as she thought about him. He was tall, blond, and handsome. He was smart and from a good family. And the things he could do with his body . . .

  The Hamptons were a sentimental favorite. It was where she’d given him her virginity. It was where he’d asked her to marry him.

  (Not, of course, in the same weekend.)

  As she shuffled through her mail, her mind was a happy whirl of wedding plans and memories from the weekend. He treated her well. And she no longer had to feel guilty about sleeping with him, because they were getting married. She was going to wake up with him every morning, forever.

  (Because her thoughts were so engaged, she didn’t notice the ex-Marine from Philadelphia who was sitting in a dark car across the street, watching to see if she’d open his letter. She certainly didn’t know that he was ensuring that no one would trouble his niece and her unborn child.)

  At the bottom of her mailbox, she found a manila envelope. It had her name on it, but no address or stamp. Puzzled, she gathered her mail and took the elevator to the third floor. Once she’d entered her apartment and locked the door behind her, she abandoned her luggage and flopped onto the couch.

  She opened the manila envelope first and was stunned to find that it contained a stack of large black-and-white photographs. They were all date-stamped September 27, 2011.

  A strange buzzing filled her ears. As did the sound of her keys falling from her hand and crashing onto the hardwood floor.

  Leafing through the photos, she saw two naked bodies entwined on a bed. The identity of the man was unmistakable. So was his body, his positions, his technique.

  But the woman he was with didn’t look like a woman. She looked young, like a teenager.

  And the things they were doing . . .

  April covered her face with her hands, a cry of anguish escaping her lips.

  Chapter Seventy-seven

  Washington, D.C.

  That evening, Simon Talbot knocked on the door to his father’s office in their family home in Georgetown. He’d been summoned by Robert, his father’s campaign manager, and ordered to return home immediately.

  He didn’t know what was so urgent. That morning, he’d said good-bye to April at the airport after enjoying a quiet but sexually charged weekend. He intended to surprise her the following weekend by flying down to Durham. Soon her semester would be over and he’d help her pack her things and move her life to his apartment in Washington, where she belonged.

  “Come in,” the senator called.

  Simon opened the door and walked toward the chair that was placed in front of the senator’s desk.

  “Don’t bother sitting. This won’t take long.” As usual, the senator was gruff and to the point.

  “Have you seen these?” He tossed a stack of photographs onto the desk. They fanned out into a random pattern.

  Simon looked at the picture nearest him. Snatching it up, he stared at it. His face grew pale.

  “Well? Have you seen them?” The senator raised
his voice, angrily thumping on the desk with his fist.

  “No.” Simon slowly placed the photograph back on the desk, as the feeling of fear pricked the back of his neck.

  “It’s you, isn’t it?”

  “Uh—”

  “Don’t lie to me! Is that you?”

  “Yes.” Simon felt his chest tighten. He was having difficulty breathing.

  “Did you take these pictures?”

  “No, Dad. I swear. I have no idea who took them.”

  His father cursed.

  “These are just copies. Do you know how I got them?”

  Simon shook his head.

  “Senator Hudson. Someone sent the originals to your fiancée. She told her father about them and he had copies made, which he delivered to me.”

  Simon’s chest grew even tighter.

  “April saw them?”

  “Yes. She was hysterical. Her mother flew down to Durham to be with her. She had to take her to the hospital.”

  “Is she all right? What hospital?”

  “Focus on the problem, boy, for God’s sake! Do you have any idea what this means for my campaign?”

  Simon clenched his fists. “Forget about your campaign for a minute. Did April try to hurt herself? What hospital is she in?”

  “We’re lucky the Hudsons have no interest in blackmail. They simply want you to leave their daughter alone. The wedding is off, obviously. They’re going to make the announcement tomorrow.”

  Simon pulled out his cell phone and hit a button. He held the phone to his ear, but within seconds, he received a recorded message indicating that April’s cell phone number was no longer in service.

  “Dad, I can explain. Let me talk to April. It isn’t what she thinks.”

  “Don’t,” his father barked. “Robert recognized the girl in the pictures. She was a high school student who interned in my office. Do you understand the damage you’ve done? How could you be so stupid!”

  “It happened over a year ago. The date is wrong. I swear I wasn’t fucking around on April. I love her.”