Gabrielle hid her surprise. This was the first she’d seen Keiran since he’d stormed out yesterday, but he was obviously back to cause trouble and that made her uneasy. Keiran always picked his target. He must have known that Damien wasn’t with her.
“Keiran, don’t you have work to do? In your own office?”
His mouth twisted. “Cheryl tells me you’re having another meeting with the middle managers. It isn’t going to help the company, you know. They would be more productive just getting on with their jobs.”
“Perhaps you should take your own advice,” she said coolly.
He sent her a withering glance. “You know, coz, I can’t wait to see you fall flat on your face.”
“Then you’ll be waiting a long time.”
“You think so?”
“I know so.”
Just then Cheryl buzzed her on the intercom. Giving Keiran a hard look, Gabrielle pressed the button and listened as the other woman said that Damien was now in the boardroom with the others.
“I’ll be right there, Cheryl.” Gabrielle stood. “You’re welcome to come to the meeting,” she told him as she came around the desk and walked toward the open doorway.
“How generous of you.”
She’d had just about enough of him. Her mouth tightened as she went to step past him, but suddenly she somehow missed her step because she felt herself trip on the carpet then fall forward, giving a little squeal. Thankfully the door frame stopped her fall but it still shook her.
It was a couple of seconds before Keiran spoke, and then only after Cheryl came rushing over. “Are you okay?” the PA asked with concern.
“She tripped on the carpet,” Keiran was quick to say, but Gabrielle was sure his voice held fake concern.
“I’m fine,” Gabrielle said, looking down at the plush carpet, but there were no rips or snags. Then she darted a look at Keiran. For some reason he had enjoyed her being hurt. And that was typical Keiran. He was the type to pull the wings off butterflies.
Keiran’s smile was sickly. “You always were one to trip over nothing,” he said, but that just wasn’t true. She’d never been especially clumsy, so she wasn’t sure why he was using that excuse now.
Unless…
She frowned. He wouldn’t have tried to hurt her, would he? He was certainly capable of it but could he really be that nasty?
No. She’d tripped by herself that’s all. It was just one of those things.
“As long as you’re okay.” Cheryl said with a frown.
Gabrielle tried to smile warmly. “Thanks for your concern, Cheryl. I’m fine.”
The other woman nodded as Keiran bent and picked up the papers Gabrielle had dropped. “Here we go,” he said, handing them back to her. “We’ll be late for the meeting if we don’t hurry.”
Gabrielle’s brow rose in surprise as she took them. “You’re coming?”
He smiled tightly. “Wild horses couldn’t keep me away.”
Gabrielle turned to head out the door. She’d been very much afraid that was the case.
Later that afternoon the phone rang in the office. Gabrielle had just spent the past hour with Damien poring over some of the paperwork Keiran had worked on, and she was now glad to put it aside for a while. Working so close to Damien was playing havoc on her senses. He smelled gorgeous, and he looked gorgeous, and she kept remembering how he’d seduced her on the sofa last night.
Thankfully they’d had a couple of other interruptions, so at least she was getting Damien in small doses, she mused as she picked up the phone. Damien in large doses was definitely an overdose.
It was her mother, telling her that Keiran had dropped by to see Russell but that she hadn’t let him into the room. “Darling, we don’t want him to let it slip about your marriage before I’ve had a chance to tell your father, so I told him to come back tomorrow,” Caroline said, making Gabrielle want to kiss her. “But the doctor’s just said I can tell Russell when he wakes up, and I know your father will want to see you and Damien once I tell him.”
“Should we come to the hospital now, then?” Gabrielle said, seeing Damien’s gaze sharpen.
“Yes, Russell’s due to wake soon.”
Gabrielle said goodbye, then hung up the phone and told Damien what had happened. She scowled. “Do you think Keiran’s going to cause trouble?”
Damien’s jaw clenched. “What else?”
She thought of something. “I’m surprised he didn’t try and tell my mother we’d only married for the sake of the company.”
“How do you know he didn’t?”
“I’m sure if he’d said something she’d be upset. No, he’s kept quiet about it, and that worries me. He’s up to something,” she muttered.
“It doesn’t matter. He can’t do anything about it anyway,” he said with confidence. “Come on. Let’s go. I want to make sure Russell is okay about everything.”
Gabrielle hesitated briefly, and only because she was trying to come to terms with something. Damien was genuinely concerned for her parents, and it had nothing to do with money. How hadn’t she seen such kindness in him before? Why was she only seeing it now when she was in love with him?
A warm glow stayed with her until she walked into the room at the hospital, and even then her father’s joy did her heart good. Russell was actually sitting against the pillows, still weak but growing stronger.
After she kissed him on the cheek, he wagged a finger at Damien beside her, his face smiling like he’d won the lottery. “I always knew you had a thing for my daughter,” he said, making Gabrielle start.
Damien grinned ruefully. “I didn’t think I’d fooled you back then, Russell. Of course, as soon as I saw her again I knew I couldn’t let her get away another time.” He kissed her tenderly on the mouth. “Isn’t that right, sweetheart?”
For a moment Gabrielle stood looking up at him, trying to find her voice. Oh, how she wished this moment were true.
Her mother made a soft sound from the other side of the bed. “Look at the two of them, Russell. Anyone can see they’re in love.”
Gabrielle drew her gaze away from Damien, realizing she must look like a lovesick fool. It hadn’t been intentional.
“Yes, Caroline, you’re right,” her father agreed, but Gabrielle noticed he was looking at her mother with an odd longing in his eyes, only her mother didn’t appear to notice because she was smiling at Damien. Quickly Gabrielle glanced up at Damien and knew he hadn’t missed that look in her father’s eyes, either.
Her father reached out for Gabrielle’s hand, his eyes filling with deep regret. “Gabrielle, we never meant to hurt you,” he said gruffly.
Perhaps loving Damien made her soft…or wiser… but suddenly she realized she was more than ready to forgive this man. “I know that now, Dad.” Feeling emotive, she leaned forward and buried her face in his neck, choked up by what this meant. She hated that her father almost had to die before they could all come to their senses. Hated it, yet was oh so grateful for it.
All at once she heard her mother say, “We love you, honey. We’re so sorry about what happened.”
Gabrielle blinked rapidly to hold back silly tears filled with joy. She loved these two people. She wouldn’t cut these ties. She wouldn’t even try. Not ever again.
“It’s okay. Really,” she said, pulling back and putting her hand in her father’s. And when her mother reached across the bed, Gabrielle put her hand in her mother’s too. They stayed like that for a moment.
Suddenly the door opened and in walked one of the nurses. “What’s this?” she teased. “A prayer meeting?”
Gabrielle looked at her parents and smiled as they let go of each other, but she noticed the soft look her father surreptitiously gave her mother. “Sort of,” she muttered.
“Nothing wrong with that,” the nurse said, walking over to the bed and checking her father’s chart as Damien put his arm around Gabrielle’s shoulder and pulled her close to him. She leaned into him for once, feeling weak with the emotion of the moment.
The nurse didn’t stay long and when the door closed behind her, Caroline smiled at Gabrielle. “I’ll have to take you to see your old room, darling. We’ve left everything as it was.”
“I’ve already seen it, Mum.” She stepped forward and kissed her mother’s cheek. “Thank you,” she murmured, then kissed her father’s cheek, too.
Caroline looked as pleased as Russell. “Well, now you’re a married woman with a home of your own,” her mother said. “You might want to come and take some of your old things as keepsakes.”
Gabrielle arched a brow. “You don’t mind?”
“Darling, they’re your things.” Caroline smiled briefly at her husband. “Besides, we already have our daughter. We don’t need things to remind us of you.”
“Oh, Mum,” Gabrielle said, touched beyond measure as she blinked back tears, which then started her mother getting teary-eyed and had her father sniffing slightly, making Damien give a quiet chuckle.
Half an hour later Gabrielle walked into the apartment and dropped her handbag on the sofa. She went to turn toward the kitchen to get a drink of water, but Damien had entered the apartment and was standing behind her. His hands slid around her h*ps and pulled her up against him.
“What are you doing?” she said, feeling his instant arousal against her. She gave a delicious shudder.
“Reaping the benefits of marriage,” he murmured, turning her around to face him. His eyes had a strange seriousness in them that captured her attention.
She moistened her lips. “We didn’t have to get married for that.”
“I know, but we may as well enjoy it.” He started running his lips along her chin.
“But dinner—”
“Can wait,” he said, and closed over her mouth with a kiss. A long drugging kiss that sparked an ache inside her and soon had her aflame for him, making everything so much more poignant for her now she knew she loved him. Poignant and incredibly beautiful.
They made love.
Afterward Damien held Gabrielle in his arms. Their lovemaking had been richly satisfying, but he couldn’t seem to shake a slight melancholy that seemed to be sitting inside his chest. He didn’t lack for anything in his life, yet somehow it felt as though he did. He had the most beautiful woman in the world in his arms, yet absurdly he wanted more from her. Hell, what was the matter with him?
Just then Gabrielle arched her neck to gaze up at him from the crook of his arm. “Did you see the look my father gave my mother? I’m sure he still loves her.”
Her words surprised him. Usually she didn’t talk after making love. She either fell asleep in his arms, or they both got up and did other things. Their relationship was not usually about sharing the moment after they’d sated their bodies on each other.
“I’m sure he does, too,” he agreed, remembering the way Russell had looked at Caroline. “In any case, your mother’s already told us she loves your father. It’s just a matter of time before they get back together.”