“Why are you in Aix, Aurélie?” Gabriel growled.
Giada’s throat dried out. She didn’t know whether it was the unexpected reminder that these two had shared a past or Gabriel’s palpable tension at the appearance of his ex.
One only gets nervous about the closeness of someone for whom there are feelings. And even if those feelings aren’t entirely positive, the line between dislike and love is fine.
Jean-Pierre shrugged. “I asked my fiancée the same question when she suddenly felt like visiting this town.”
Aurélie gave Gabriel a sweet smile. “It’s a bit boring at the mansion with you…uhm…you two gone. I—” she glanced sideways at Jean-Pierre. “We thought it would be fun if we came here. We, of course, didn’t expect to meet up with you like this.” A jingling escaped from her throat as if running into them in this abandoned alley was the best thing that could happen.
Giada cleared her throat. She hadn’t said a word yet, and her silence was starting to become heavy, even to herself. “So where were you headed to? This Dark Angel place?”
Aurélie wrinkled her nose, as if answering Giada wasn’t one of her favorite pastimes. “Yes, as a matter of fact. Do you guys want to come?”
Giada bit her lip. The last thing she felt like doing was going to some club with Aurélie and Gabriel’s cousin. She needed time to speak to Gabriel, to ask him what had just happened between them.
Whether it was something or nothing. Either way, she ached to know.
Gabriel put a hand on her waist. His touch startled her, and a rash of thrills spread to her legs causing goosebumps to spring in its wake.
“Would you like to go?” he asked.
She peered up at him. His face was unreadable. It didn’t look anything like the soft, lustful glance he’d been looking at her with before. Then again, they weren’t alone.
She bobbed her head left to right. “I don’t know. Do you?”
Aurélie giggled. “How sweet. Is she always this meek? Letting you pick everything you want, Gabe?”
Jean-Pierre gave her a small tap on the shoulder. “Love, you’re being mean.” He turned to Giada. “I’d be happy if you two came along. You might not feel like it now, but sometimes once a thing is done, you realize it’s better than you expected.”
Giada’s stomach tightened. Was Jean-Pierre referring to their conversation? What was his game? Was he trying to give Aurélie and Gabriel an opportunity to reconnect and see whether they still had sparks?
If he was, it was a very self-destructive thing to do.
Yes, but isn’t he right? If these two still like each other, isn’t it better to find out as soon as you can?
Ah, again this annoying play-it-safe voice. It might’ve saved Giada on many occasions in the past, but it had also kept her passion for Gabriel a secret for over a decade. Judging by the events of the past hour, maybe this voice had been wrong all along. Maybe if she’d shown Gabriel that she cared for him like a woman sooner…than…
“Giada?” Gabriel insisted. “We’ll do what you prefer.”
Giada’s eyes wandered to Jean-Pierre, and he gave her a small wink.
So what was it going to be? Did she have the courage to go back to the hotel and pick up something with Gabriel that could collapse in on her later if he discovered that his ex was still after him?
Or should she go for the safer choice and let him see all his options first?
“Let’s go dance.” She wanted to bang her head against the wall as soon as the words left her mouth.
Gabriel gave her a smile. “Fine, let’s go.”
Aurélie laughed triumphantly. “I knew you’d want to come. It’ll be so much fun, I assure you.”
With that, she stepped away from Jean-Pierre and took Gabriel’s arm. “Come, Gabe. We can lead the way, as we’ve been there already. Jean-Pierre is curious to learn more about Giada’s sculptures. Let them chat a little.” She pulled him forward.
Gabriel threw a questioning glance at Giada.
Was he asking her permission?
She nodded back. What else could she do? She’d agreed to this evening in order to find out whether Gabriel was still interested in Aurélie. Despite all her cells screaming at the sight of his ex’s arm snaking around Gabriel, she needed to stay calm and observe them.
Jean-Pierre’s hand touched her elbow. “You did good. There’s no point in building a house on a drift is there? After tonight, we’ll know.”
Giada sighed. “Yes. Let’s hope you’re right. For now, I just feel like a fool for agreeing to this. How did you guys find us?”
Jean-Pierre rolled his eyes. “Aurélie tracked Gabriel through an app they installed on both their phones when they were still together.”
Oh, that figured. Giada shrugged and they followed the others. A bitter taste spread in her mouth as she watched Aurélie chatting vividly with Gabriel.
Why couldn’t she be brave and disregard the rules of rationality? They shouldn’t be going to this Dark Angel. She didn’t even like Latin music. She bit her cheeks so that blood entered her mouth.
No house on a drift. No house on a drift.
She would have to repeat this phrase throughout the evening to keep from sobbing. She finally had a connection with Gabriel. And she might’ve just handed it over to Aurélie on a golden platter.
What a fool. What a colossal fool.
Chapter 14
As they turned down the street to the Dark Angel, the line of people waiting outside the club came into view. Two well-muscled bouncers were checking IDs, while a woman with bright red hair stamped the club logo on the hands of those allowed to pass.
Aurélie rambled on and on about her father’s new house, but Gabriel wasn’t really listening. He inserted a few uhms and ahas in between her tightly lined sentences but his mind was elsewhere, replaying the events of the past hour, desperately trying to determine whether he’d been an idiot or not.
He didn’t have many secure points in his life. The routine of the fire station gave him a sense of purpose, but for the moment that was gone. The only other anchors that kept him afloat were his friends. Even though he and the guys in his unit were close, he considered them buddies.
Only Giordano and Giada fell into his very restrictive category of true friends.
With that kiss, he’d foolishly put one of these precious relationships at risk.
He interpreted her joking comment as an invitation. Did Giada really want him to kiss her? Should he have waited for her to make the move? Probably. But he just couldn’t resist her.
The memory of Giada’s breath mingling with his washed over him and he shivered.
“Oh, are you cold, chérie?” Aurélie rubbed his underarm.
Her touch was unpleasant, her long nails scratching his skin.
He pulled his arm away. “No, I’m fine, thanks.”
Aurélie pursed her lips, then turned her head to one of the guards. In a rapid French, she explained who she was.
The guy’s solemn expression mellowed as soon as Aurélie’s family name was pronounced. He straightened his back and smiled. “Ah, Mademoiselle Lebouy. I didn’t recognize you right away.”
His strong cologne reached Gabriel’s nostrils as the man bent forward and opened the red rope for them to pass.
“Wait, Aurélie. Where’s Giada and Jean-Pierre?”
Aurélie, as if she’d just remembered that they weren’t alone, clicked her tongue. She pointed at the approaching figures behind them and winked at the bouncer. “Those two are also with me. Let them pass when they get here.”
She grabbed Gabriel’s wrist and dragged him inside.
Gabriel hesitated. “We should all go in together.”
Aurélie waved her other hand. “Oh, rubbish. You’re cold. And we can’t stand in front of the open rope, because the others in line will complain. Not everyone has the fortune of coming from the Lebouy family. The bouncer will let them in, don’t worry. We can save them seats at the bar.”
Colored lights greeted them as they entered the main dance hall. A group of musicians on the stage were playing an upbeat merengue song. The dance floor was crowded with couples hugging and swaying their hips in a rhythmical synchrony. Waitresses with large black wings pushed their way through the crowd, carrying glowing trays of drinks and shooters.
Gabriel’s eyes drifted from the flashy drinks to the mirrors behind the bartender. The club looked similar to what he remembered, but somehow more packed.
He wondered whether Giada would like it. As he recalled, she wasn’t an avid dancer, nor did she like cocktails that much. She always ordered prosecco or a simple glass of champagne. Why did she choose to come? Was she afraid to stay alone with Gabriel?
He lifted a hand and massaged his throat, hoping to ease the lump that formed at this last thought. He hadn’t decided yet how he was going to apologize to Giada for his reckless action. His head was still spinning from the passion she’d unleashed in him. He didn’t know how to define his intense feelings for her. He only knew it was more than friendship.
Maybe speaking to her about what happened would help him settle the haywire feeling in his heart and see things clearly.
Aurélie made her way to the bar and hopped up on one of the barstools. She patted the empty seat beside her. “Come now, sit. What do you want? A large negroni, as usual?”
Gabriel shook his head. His thoughts were fuzzy already. He didn’t need that much alcohol to confuse him. “I think I’ll just get a beer.”
Aurélie’s mouth twitched into an expression of horror. “Oh-la-la, you’re becoming a brute, mon chérie. The time we spent apart didn’t do you good.”
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “Aurélie, come on. I was never the man you depicted me to be. That’s why you were unhappy.”
Aurélie blinked twice and cocked her head to the side. Her perfectly arranged curls fell to one side of her shoulders, revealing her neck. “Oh, here you make a mistake, Gabe. I was never unhappy with you. Or let’s say, only once. When you decided to back out on your promise of marrying me.”
Gabriel’s nostrils flared. “I never promised you anything of the sort. It was all you, your father, and Mémère scheming behind my back.”
Aurélie opened her lips as if she wanted to shoot back a heated comment, but then pressed her lips together. She shook her head and shifted an inch closer to Gabriel. “I’ve missed you, Gabe. Didn’t you miss me?”
Gabriel’s eyes widened. He wasn’t expecting Aurélie to come at him like that. Wasn’t she marrying Jean-Pierre in just a few months? “Aurélie, what’s all this about? First you delay your engagement. Then you turn up in Aix. And now this…what’s your game?”
Aurélie licked her lips. “No game this time. It’s all real. I asked Jean-Pierre to push back our official engagement because I still have feelings for you, Gabe. I told him this straight.”
Gabriel’s brows arched. Did his cousin know about this? Wasn’t he embarrassed that his woman was confessing to still being attracted to Gabriel? “This can’t be. Anyway, I’m with Giada now.”
Aurélie huffed. “Ah, Giada. Right. Like she is the woman for you. Open your eyes, Gabe. It’s me. I was your one all along.” She put an arm around his neck.
Gabriel stared at her, frozen. Was Aurélie for real? Did she think that he’d want to get back together after he’d refused to marry her once?
Aurélie batted her lashes and leaned in. She pursed her lips like she was getting ready to kiss him.
He recoiled and wiggled out of her touch. “Aurélie, you and I broke up. I had my reasons and they still stand. I’m not in love with you.”
Aurélie’s eyes narrowed. “You might not be now, but you could fall back in love. I can move to the States to be close to you. You can even keep your job if you really want. My father would allow it, if I ask. We’ll still inherit his company and you’ll get your share of Mémère’s money.” She posed, and a calculating glint filled her blue eyes. “It would come in pretty handy with your father’s debts, wouldn’t it?”
Gabriel gasped. “How the hell do you know about my father?”
“Even walls have ears in your grandmother’s mansion.” Aurélie shrugged. “But if you really care to know, it was Noëlle who told me about it. She knows that Jean-Pierre is only my second choice. Even Noëlle would much rather have you marrying me. I thought, after all the rivalry between you two, you’d be happy to know this.”
Gabriel slammed his palm on the bar. “I could care less what Mémère wants. It’s my life.”
The bartender stepped over to them. “Ready to order?” He flashed a worried glance at Aurélie. “Is everything okay?”
Gabriel’s stomach tightened. He wasn’t the bad guy here. It was his right to be angry. Aurélie was clearly crossing a line.
Aurélie nodded. “No problem, Laurent. Would you get me a cosmopolitan and a beer for him?” She turned to Gabriel. “See, I can accept what you are. Why don’t you do the same? I can help you and your family. I don’t even ask you to marry me. At least not yet. We could take it slow and—” Her eyes darted to something behind Gabriel’s back. “We’ll speak about this later.”
Jean-Pierre and Giada were arriving at the bar.
Giada’s cheeks were flushed as if she was embarrassed about something. She avoided Gabriel’s eyes.
Gabriel put a hand on her waist but she flinched, so he drew it back. “What would you like to drink? Aurélie already ordered for the two of us.” He pointed at his beer and the bubbly pink cocktail.
Giada’s nose wrinkled. “You didn’t lose time, did you?”
Gabriel’s brows shot up. Was Giada upset with him? Was it about his reckless action or was it related to Aurélie? Before he could ask, Giada excused herself. “Sorry, I need to go look for the bathroom.” She turned away.
Aurélie exchanged an odd glance with Gabriel’s cousin, then stood up. “I’ll show her the way.” She hurried off behind Giada.
A hiss of pop filling a glass at the bar drew Gabriel’s attention away, and when he turned back to the dance floor, the women had already disappeared behind a group of hooting men who looked like they were having a bachelor party.
Jean-Pierre took a seat and patted Gabriel’s shoulder. “So, cousin…” He fanned himself with his palm. “Phew, it’s warm in here. Did you come to this club often when you were with Aurélie?”
Gabriel was still pondering the cause of Giada’s behavior, so he didn’t hear Jean-Pierre’s question at first. As his words settled in, they jarred Gabriel’s thoughts back to his conversation with Aurélie.
He took a sip from the beer. The cold liquid soothed his parched throat. Too much had happened. He needed a moment to adjust. “We came a few times, mostly when I visited during the summer vacation.”
He studied Jean-Pierre’s strong jaw. Should he ask his cousin? Would Jean-Pierre be honest with him? It’s true that they were in a continuous competition with each other. But somehow he didn’t feel a grain of victory about the revelation Aurélie had made. He didn’t want Jean-Pierre to be Aurélie’s second choice.
A sly smirk appeared on Jean-Pierre’s face. “I know what you’re thinking. But please don’t feel sorry for me.”
So he knew. And he seemed okay with it. “So Aurélie was telling the truth. She did speak to you.”
Jean-Pierre nodded. “Yes. The question is, do you want to be with her?”
Gabriel shook his head. “No, that’s not the question. At least not the one you should be asking yourself. How can you accept being with her, if she wants to get back together with me?”
Jean-Pierre’s face remained impassive. “You’re an idealist, Gabe. You always have been. That’s why you chose the job you did, instead of taki
ng the position in Aurélie’s dad’s company. I’m not like that. I’m pragmatic. I’d much rather have a woman who’s beautiful, has money, and connections, even if she isn’t head over heels about me. As long as she knows that I’m her best option.”
Gabriel snorted. “You never change, Jean-Pierre.”
It was refreshing to talk this openly with Jean-Pierre. If his cousin could be open with him about his own weakness, maybe Gabe should reciprocate. Also he needed to speak to someone about his confused emotions concerning Giada.
Giordano would’ve been his first choice on these matters, but being Giada’s twin, he might not be objective. Plus he promised his best friend that he was going to be a perfect gentleman with his sister. Kissing her in a dark alley wasn’t exactly in line with that.
Jean-Pierre poked him with a finger between his ribs. “Neither do you. Will you tell me what you decided? Who is it going to be? Giada or Aurélie?”
Gabriel rubbed his hands on his face and sighed. “If it was only that easy. I know I don’t want Aurélie, but I’m not sure I could ever have Giada.”
Jean-Pierre leaned forward, putting his elbows on the bar. “What do you mean?”
Gabriel told Jean-Pierre about the impossible situation he’d gotten himself into. He spoke about his father, his job, and his desperate plan to sweeten Mémère by pretending to have a relationship. He was surprised how easily the words flowed from his lips.
It was as if kissing Giada had opened up something in him. He wasn’t so concerned anymore about keeping up appearances about his parents, or his failure at work. The fact that Giada knew the truth about him and still cared for him made him strong to the outside world.
Jean-Pierre listened to him with his mouth hanging loose. When Gabriel finished, his cousin shook his head chuckling. “Mon Dieu, I never expected this. You guys looked like a real couple to me in that alley. But wait…” he lifted a finger, “…why were you even kissing her if nobody was around to watch?”
Gabriel stretched his neck backwards and turned his eyes to the ceiling. A strobe light pulsed from a large silver ball in front of his head. It blinded him, so he withdrew his gaze. “I don’t know. I think I might be falling for her. I’m just not sure what she feels about me.”
Saving The Brother's Best Friend (Gems 0f Love Book 4) Page 10