Chapter 58
I swallow the lump of sand in my throat as I park the car. “This is it.”
The front door opens and Gabriel comes into view, he waves and smiles as he walks down “to greet us. “Hello.” He opens my car door.
Be nice for the children.
Llook up at him and smile awkwardly. “Hello.”
Tall with dark hair and a jaw that could cut glass. He’s wearing blue jeans that fit snug in all the right places and a white T–shirt. I’ve only seen him in casual clothes a handful of times, luckily for me…because he looks damn well delicious.
“Ahem.”
I clear my throat as I try to clear my mind of its pornographic thoughts.
“Lucia.” He smiles as he bends and hugs her. “You look lovely.” He straightens the ruffles on
her dress.
Dominic gets out of the car and Gabriel smiles down at him. “Hello, Dominic.”
Dominic fakes a smile but doesn’t offer his hand or a hug or anything.
“Hi.”
Fuck’s sake, kid…be nice.
“Please…come inside.” Gabriel gestures to the house and we follow him up the stairs. We walk through the huge double front doors and are instantly hit in the face with opulence.
The foyer has a double timber staircase, and the floor is black and white marble tiles laid in a pattern. “Wow…this is….” I grip my handbag with white–knuckle force. “Nice.”
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“It’s okay.” He walks us through to the oversized kitchen and living area and my mouth
nearly falls open. The kitchen is the size of a restaurant and all white marble, and the living
rea has oversized white couches and a white rug.
How do they keep all this white stuff clean?
“Woooah,” Lucia gasps as she runs to the back glass concertina doors. “Is that a boat?”
“Holy…” Dom gasps.
I peer out to see an infinity pool overlooking a flawless mountain view, there’s black–and–white striped deck chairs lined up alongside of it and a swim–up bar.
What the hell?
“There is a boat,” Dominic cries.
I look past the pool to see a lake with a floating rowboat tied up to the pier.
My horrified eyes meet Gabriel’s and he winces, knowing exactly what I’m thinking. “The boat on the lake is overkill, I must admit.” He shrugs.
“Can we go look? Can we go look?” Lucia bounces on the spot.
“Can we, Mom?” Dominic chimes in.
“Is it safe out there?” I ask.
“Sure.” Gabriel opens the glass doors and the kids go running out into the back garden.
I look over to the left of the property and see a house, smoke is coming
out of the chimney. “Is someone living there?” I ask.
“Mark.”
“Mark Mark?” My eyes widen in surprise. “Your driver from New York
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Mark?”
Gabriel chuckles, “Yes, Mark Mark”
“Oh…”
“He was looking forward to getting out of New York and wanted to start over with me.”
“Oh…” I shrug. “I can’t believe…”
“That I moved here?”
The smell of his aftershave wafts around me, and I hold my breath so I don’t know how good he smells, it’s a pity that I already do.
“Part–time,” I say as I walk out to the edge of the stairs to look out over the children down by
the lake.
“I’ll be here four days a week, that’s more time here than I’ll be in New
York.”
I spin toward him. “Are you sure about this?”
He holds his hand up at our surroundings. “Does this house look uncertain?”
My stomach flips with nerves as we stare at each other.
“I’m going to tell them over dinner,” he says.
“What are you going to say?”
“I’ve gone over the conversation in my head a million times and I keep coming back to one
thing.”
“What’s that?”
The truth.”
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The truth?” I frown. “What do you mean, the truth? The truth between us is ugly.”
I’m going to tell them that we were friends and we kissed and… We had sex.”
What?
“They’re too young for the sex part,” I whisper in a panic. “Okay…not the sex on the desk part.” I nod.
“I’ll tell them we did it in a bed.” He gives me a playful wink.
No sex talk at all,” I stammer. “You can tell them all about the birds and the bees in five
years.”
“Deal,” he replies without hesitation.
Five years.
We stare at each other and it’s weird… Something’s different tonight. We aren’t hating each
other, or maybe I’m just sick and tired of hating him.
Either way…it feels nice to not want to stab him.
“So…what’s for dinner?” I ask.
“Well…” He shrugs. “I was going to cook, but…”
“But you can’t cook?”
“Coming from you, that’s an insulting question,” he fires back. “I’ve ordered pizza to make the night run smoother.”
“Okay.”
“I wasn’t sure what they liked, so I ordered one of everything.”
“How many pizzas did you order?” “Ten.”
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“Ten,” I gasp.
Nutella pizza for dessert. I got two of them.”
“Good, one for me and one for you.”
“Or both for me and none for you.”
“That too.” I smile at the return of the friendly banter we always shared. His eyes twinkle with a certain something as we stare at each other.
Stop it.
“I’ve made up the guest rooms for you,” he says.
“What do you mean?”
“I thought you would want to stay too if they are? You know, until they settle in with me.”
“I didn’t plan on them staying. I haven’t packed them an overnight bag or anything.”
His face falls.
“You can’t rush this, Gabriel, let’s just get through tonight first. Who knows how they’re going to react.” He nods, disheartened.
“They will stay, they’ll stay all the time. Just not tonight,” I tell him.
“Right.”
I can feel his disappointment. “Did you order wine with the pizza?” I ask to change the
subject.
“I brought my own from New York. I tasted your local wine last weekend, remember?”
I smile. “Ahh…of course you did. Smart choice.”
“Would you like a glass?”
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“Maybe just one.”
His eyes hold mine for an extended beat as if he’s waiting for me to say something, and the
air swirls between us. I snap my gaze away. Maybe I shouldn’t drink at all tonight.
The Perfect Husband’s Secret
