Moonlight Seduction

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  He’d gotten Nic here, and she didn’t fight him when he took her straight up to his apartment. She’d fallen asleep after managing to get a half a bowl of soup in her, but she hadn’t slept long.

  Nightmares plagued her, and there was nothing Gabe could do but hold her through them, reminding her that she wasn’t back in that apartment and reminding himself that she was still very much alive.

  This morning she’d finally been ready to call her parents. She had to be, because Richard was going to show up to work tomorrow. The visit hadn’t been easy.

  He hated seeing Livie cry.

  He also hated seeing how much it affected Nic.

  “Would you like something to drink?” he asked.

  “Yes.” Richard cleared his throat, still staring at the closed door. “A drink would be nice.”

  “She’ll be okay.” Gabe walked to the small bar near the private, eat-in kitchen. “She’s strong. Just like Livie.”

  The older man nodded. Several moments passed. “And what will happen to Sabrina?”

  Sabrina was, not surprisingly, currently missing in action, and not of their doing. “Dev has people looking for her. It will be handled.”

  “In the typical de Vincent fashion?”

  Gabe poured two scotches. Richard had worked for their family for a very long time. “Do you really want to know the answer to that?”

  “That’s my only child,” Richard said, facing Gabe. “My Nicolette is a good girl. She has a good heart. She’s going to make other people’s lives better one day. I want that woman to pay for what happened to my girl.”

  Gabe inclined his head as he handed the drink to Richard. “We want the same things.”

  The older man took his drink and downed half of it in one swallow. He set the glass on the bar. “I’ve looked after you since you were in diapers and I know a lot about your family—a lot about you.”

  “You do.”

  “I’ve always respected you, thought of you and your brothers as sons of mine.” He placed his hands on the bar as his steady gaze held Gabe’s. “You all always have your reasons for doing what gets done. I understand that, and even when you three have done things that go against everything I believe in, I still cared for you all like you were my own.”

  Gabe’s shoulders stiffened. Richard knew a lot. He’d seen a lot. Even more than Livie.

  “And I know you boys respect me and my wife, so I expect a straight answer to this question,” he continued. “You have my daughter in your bedroom, in your bed, and I know you two have been spending a lot of time together. Not like before. I want to know what your intentions are.”

  Gabe didn’t hesitate and he didn’t lie. “I love her.”

  The older man’s jaw tightened. “You just learned that the woman you loved for the last ten or so years had died and hid a son from you—”

  “I know what you’re getting at. I understand why you would think about Emma, but what I feel for Nic has nothing to do with Emma. There will always be a part of me that loves her.” He took a deep breath. “But the part that loves Nic is bigger.”

  Surprise flickered across Richard’s face and then he picked up the glass, finishing off the scotch. “You’re ten years older than her.”

  “Doesn’t feel that way. Maybe one day it will, when I’m your age, but not now. And correct me if I’m wrong, but aren’t you eight years older than Livie?”

  “When we got together, things were different.”

  “When you two got together, she was barely eighteen, right?”

  “As I said, things were—”

  “You loved each other,” Gabe corrected. “That’s all that mattered. And now look at you two, married for how long?”

  Richard arched a brow. “And what about William?”

  “I will take her to meet him, when she’s ready, and we’ll go from there,” he explained. “Look, I don’t have everything figured out. I haven’t even told Nic how I feel yet, but I’m telling you. I love her. I’m in love with her, so all I can tell you is that we’ll figure everything out.”

  “You haven’t told my daughter that you love her?”

  “Not yet.” He glanced at the closed door. “My timing has been off.”

  “There’s no wrong time to tell someone you love them.”

  Gabe felt his heart lodge in his throat as he stared at the man he considered more like a father than a butler. He knew that when her parents came to see her, he was going to have this conversation with her father. The man wasn’t going to not question why Nic was in his bed. The thing was, he wasn’t sure how Richard would take to the news.

  He’d actually prepared himself to stand there and let Richard take a swing at him, if Nic’s father felt like he needed that.

  “What are you saying?” he heard himself ask.

  “What I’m saying is that I suppose my girl could do worse than a de Vincent falling in love with her.”

  A slow grin tugged at his lips. “You think Livie will feel the same, with the curse and all?”

  “You’re not the brother I worry about when it comes to the curse,” Richard replied. “You’re the brother I worry about least.”

  Nikki sat in the chair out on the porch that overlooked the pool. A soft, thin blanket was draped over her legs, warding off the cool breeze rolling over the land and lifting the wisps of hair off her neck.

  Beside her sat a glass of sweet tea and an untouched book Julia had lent her. Nikki wanted nothing more than to lose herself in a good read, but the last few days consumed her thoughts.

  Seeing her parents react to how she looked was something that was going to stay with her for a long time. Hell, not like she was going to forget the attack anytime soon, but for some reason, seeing her father nearly break down when he got a look at her absolutely destroyed her.

  Her parents were the strongest people she knew.

  Nikki was glad she did see them. It wasn’t until her mom wrapped her arms around her that she realized just how badly she’d needed her momma in that moment. Nothing made you feel like everything was going to be okay like a hug from your mom.

  What didn’t make her feel all that okay was her mom asking her why she was in Gabe’s bed. That had been awkward to say the least, because she wasn’t sure how to answer it. She wasn’t even sure what was going on between them.

  Gabe had worked with the landlord and her apartment was currently being restored. It wasn’t just a quick cleanup job. The subfloors had to be pulled up because the blood had . . .

  Nikki reached for her glass of tea. Her hand trembled, causing the ice to shake as she took a drink.

  In other words, it was going to be a couple of days before she could get back into her apartment. Gabe, along with Rosie, had grabbed several days’ worth of clothing for her.

  She would’ve loved to have been a fly on the wall for that trip.

  Setting the tea aside, she tugged the blanket up to her shoulders and closed her eyes. The swelling had started to go down in her left eye, so it was beginning to function like a normal eyeball, thank God. Her rib still ached, usually when standing up or lying down at first, but it was getting better.

  Life was trucking along even though no one had a clue where Sabrina was, and it wasn’t because the brothers had helped her disappear in that creepy, not-really-missing kind of way.

  Sabrina had bailed.

  That meant she was still out there, and that was terrifying. The woman wasn’t working with all the appropriate tools in the shed. And that made Nikki think of the rumored de Vincent curse. Women died, went missing, or lost their minds.

  When she thought about Sabrina, about the de Vincents’ sister, and their mother, it really made her begin to wonder if there was some truth behind it.

  Or if they really just had mega bad luck.

  Nikki should probably be worried since she was a woman living temporarily in the de Vincent house, but so was Julia. Then again, Julia was almost murdered by Daniel.

  And Nikki was
almost killed by Parker.

  Maybe she should be worried.

  She still had a hard time thinking about what Sabrina and Parker had been capable of. The fact that they’d been following her—following Gabe this entire time left her more than just a little disturbed. She no longer doubted for a second that Sabrina had been responsible for her fall down the stairs or the broken-out window. The latter had probably been Parker, and all those times she felt like she was being watched she had most likely been right. She had no idea what they thought to accomplish with the whole breaking-out-the-car-window thing, but maybe they just wanted to scare her or maybe it was just an act of jealous rage. She didn’t know.

  What they had done to her, tried to do to her, had been horrible, but what they’d done to Emma and her son had been a million times worse.

  Nikki simply could not understand how someone could be so evil—how whatever Sabrina had felt for Gabe had twisted into something so dark and ugly.

  It was likely that she’d never understand.

  Opening her eyes to the sound of approaching footsteps, she wasn’t surprised when she saw Gabe round the corner of the porch.

  Barefoot.

  “Hey,” he said, coming near but stopping about a foot from her. “You need a refill?”

  “No, but thanks.”

  Gabe had been waiting on her hand and foot since she’d been sequestered away in his rooms. Admittedly, she kind of liked it. Who wouldn’t?

  “It’s getting kind of chilly out here,” he said, looking over the railing. The breeze caught the loose strands of his hair, tossing them across his face. “You want to head inside?”

  That’s not what Nikki wanted to do.

  She was ready for this talk he’d promised, beyond ready, because she had to know where they stood. Over the last couple of days, Gabe had acted like the doting boyfriend, caring for her, sleeping beside her, and waking up along with her if she had a nightmare. He’d been perfect.

  But they hadn’t kissed. There’d been no touching of the naughty and fun kind. There’d been no further talks. They were in a holding pattern.

  Nikki had already lost her heart to Gabe. Twice now. She needed to know if there was going to be a third time, because Nikki was done chasing Gabe.

  “What I want is for us to talk,” she said, staring up at him. “You said we would, and I think it’s time we do.”

  Gabe was so still for a moment that a kernel of dread took root in her chest. “Yeah, it’s time to have that conversation.”

  She drew in a shallow breath. “Then talk.”

  “I’ve been playing this conversation over and over in my head, wanting to get it perfect, you know? Because I think you deserve that.” He leaned back against the railing, his hands folding over the vines. “So I mentally tallied up all the times I fucked up, starting back at that morning when I woke up and called you by the wrong name.”

  Nothing used to hurt Nikki more than remembering that moment, but over the last couple of weeks, she’d come to realize that was a blip on the radar of things that could send you careening headfirst into years of intensive therapy.

  “And I discovered that my list was rather lengthy,” he said, his tone wry and self-deprecating. “So much so that I don’t even know how we’ve made it to this point.”

  She wondered that herself and then she usually stopped thinking about that when she did because it made her wonder if she was being a doormat for her heart.

  “But the most inexcusable thing I did was not tell you about William and how I responded when you questioned me about him. I was caught off guard. My defenses went up. That’s no excuse,” he said. “I shouldn’t have reacted the way I did.”

  “Why didn’t you tell me? What’s the real reason if it wasn’t because you didn’t think it was my business?”

  He looked away, his chest rising with a heavy breath. “Honest? I was embarrassed. Not that I have a son. God no. But that I have a son who is being raised by his grandparents. I have a son that I didn’t know about for five years. A son that I’m still not raising and who’s living a few hours from me. It’s not an easy thing to share.”

  “I get that. I really do, but you didn’t know he existed until his grandparents called you. You can’t blame yourself for not being there for him.”

  “Are you seriously defending me right now?” He sounded shocked.

  “I still think you’re an asshole for how you treated me,” she said, meaning it. “But I’m just telling it how it is. She kept William from you, for whatever reason. That’s not your fault.”

  “But I’m not with him now.”

  “Because you’re giving his grandparents time to deal with it. Look, I’m not saying you’re handling this perfectly, but you’re doing the best you can in a messed-up situation.”

  He was quiet for a long moment. “You know, I’ll never know why she didn’t tell me about him. Like what is so fucked-up about me that she didn’t want me to know I have a son?”

  “Don’t do that to yourself.” She scooted forward, ignoring the ache in her ribs. “You’re not perfect and your family is a little weird, but whatever reason she kept him a secret from you is on her, not you.”

  When Gabe didn’t continue, she pressed on. “I’ve known you since I was a kid. I know you, Gabe. There isn’t anything that would make me think that you’d be a bad father. That there’d be any reason why I wouldn’t want you in a child’s life.”

  “Even if you knew that I helped murder someone?”

  Her stomach knotted. “I already know.”

  “What?” He paled.

  “Sabrina told me when she told me about William. I just didn’t get a chance to bring it up and I thought, well . . .”

  “Well what?”

  She exhaled roughly. “I know what happened to Emma. Maybe it makes me a bad person, but he got what he deserved. I mean, am I supposed to feel bad for someone who did that?”

  He said nothing.

  “And I . . .” She drew in a deep breath. “I killed Parker.”

  “That’s different. You were defending yourself.”

  “And you were defending the woman you loved.”

  “It’s not the same thing.”

  She met his gaze. “If she decided to keep you out of William’s life because of what happened with her attacker, then that’s her choice. I can’t blame her for it. I can only say what I would do if it were me.”

  An intensity filled his stare. “And what would you have done?”

  “I would’ve wanted to help you.”

  He let out a choked-sounding laugh. “You would.”

  “I would,” she insisted. “I hate the fact that I . . . that I killed someone, but I did it to survive, and if I hadn’t, I wouldn’t be here. I know what happened with that guy isn’t the same, but it sure as hell gives you a new perspective on things.”

  Gabe nodded slowly as she watched him. She got it, why he’d kept such a big secret from her. She still didn’t like it. Could she forgive him?

  Was he worth forgiving?

  In her heart of hearts, she already knew the answer to that question.

  One side of his lips kicked up. “You know, I kind of pictured this conversation happening under different circumstances. Maybe a candlelight dinner or after we fucked each other senseless.”

  Her stomach twisted in the most pleasant way at the last part.

  He pushed away from the railing. “But a wise man that you know fairly well told me that there’s no wrong time to tell someone that you love them.”

  Nikki stared at him, unsure if she heard him correctly or not. “What?” she whispered.

  His grin turned shy, almost boyish. “I love you, Nic.”

  “Since when?” she blurted out.

  He laughed, long and deep. “I don’t know. I think maybe it was when you told me to clean my own rooms.”

  She drew back. “That’s when?”

  “Well, yeah, that and maybe it was the first time you came while s
aying my name.”

  “Maybe you should stop giving examples.”

  Laughing, he reached between them, gently cupping her cheeks. “I don’t know the exact moment, but I know it happened. Maybe it was all at once. Maybe it was a slow thing. I don’t know, but what I do know is that it’s real. What I feel for you is not just lust—even though I feel a lot of that, don’t get me wrong. It’s deeper. It’s heavier. It makes me think about things I never thought I would think about again.”

  Her heart was thundering in her chest. “Like what?”

  His gaze searched hers. “Like moving in together. Maybe getting a pet fish and then we’ll go and adopt one of those dogs you work with. Small steps and then bigger ones. Like going out and finding the biggest, most obnoxious ring that still won’t be big enough to put on your finger. Like starting a family, one with William and you, and maybe another kid or two.”

  She sucked in a soft gasp. She couldn’t believe what she was hearing, but every instinct was telling her that he was being for real.

  “So, yeah, I love you, Nic.” He dragged a thumb along her lip, careful not to hit the still-healing part. “And if you don’t love me anymore, I’m going to spend however long it takes making you fall in love with me again. And I have a lot of time on my hands. I’m a de Vincent. I get what—”

  “I love you, you idiot,” she said, laughing as stupid tears filled her eyes. “I mean, if I didn’t I wouldn’t still be here. I didn’t—”

  Gabe’s lips met hers, and the kiss was soft and sweet and careful. The kind of kiss she dreamt about when she was younger, because it was a kiss of a man in love. She could tell the difference. Sounded crazy, but it was true.

  She gripped his arms, blinking back tears as he lifted his mouth from hers. When she was younger, she’d dreamt of this moment, might’ve even prayed for it a time or two, and the reality was so much more beautiful and raw than she could’ve prepared for. Emotion swirled inside her, messy and bright and consuming.

  Her voice shook as she said, “I love you, Gabe.”

  “I will never grow tired of hearing you say that. Never.” Gabe then got an arm under her legs and the next thing she knew he was lifting her into his arms, blanket and all. He cradled her to his chest as he carried her inside. “And I’m going to spend the next couple of hours proving just that to you.”