Total pages in book: 35
Estimated words: 33081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 33081 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 165(@200wpm)___ 132(@250wpm)___ 110(@300wpm)
Gabriel stepped into her sitting room, and she watched as he took a seat on her sofa. She had no idea what she should do. Should she offer to do something for him, or just sit and wait it out?
Nibbling her lip, she forced a smile. “Would you like something to drink?”
He patted the space right next to him. “Come here.”
It was on the tip of her tongue to argue with him, but she decided against doing that, and instead took the spot right next to him.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulders and seemed to somehow pull her even closer, even though there was no space left for her to go. She closed her eyes as with the next breath, he pressed a kiss to her temple.
This shouldn’t have been so good, but it was. It felt right. She wanted to snuggle against him and just enjoy the moment of having him with her.
“How was your day?” he asked.
“It was fine. Busy. With the summer coming, we’ve got a new line in the shop and along with it a lot of people are curious about it.” She pressed her lips together. He didn’t need to hear about her work. “How was your day?”
“Busy.” He pressed another kiss to her head. “What are you doing next weekend?”
“Er, I think I’m working next weekend.”
“Give me the number to your boss. I’m taking you out.”
“Gabriel, you can’t interfere like that. I need this job.”
“And you’ll have it. I’m guessing you’ve not taken any kind of vacation since you started working there, have you? Gone away? Enjoyed peace and quiet away from worrying about your brother?”
“I’m his big sister and also his guardian. I’m supposed to worry about him.”
“I’m here now. I’m taking care of him, so you’re going to learn to relax and enjoy life.” He held his hand out. “Now.”
She wanted to argue with him, but the truth was, work was starting to become irksome. Angela was always taking breaks from work, doing her own thing, while she remained constantly in the shop, never taking a break. She was allowed to take days when the shop was closed, but whenever they needed someone to cover, she’d always been the person to offer.
She got to her feet, went to her purse, and pulled out her cell phone.
Gabriel clearly knew what he was doing.
****
Not only had Gabriel taken Faith’s boss’s phone number, he’d also connected their phones, so he now knew exactly where she went and who she talked to.
This was three days ago, and he was surprised to see that Faith did absolutely nothing. He even had a chance to check out her cloud, and Faith had stopped taking pictures over a year ago. Now this did surprise him. Up until a year ago, she took them of nature, even of her meals, her brother, herself. He saw her standing in front of her mirror, taking snaps of the clothes she wore. She was a serial photographer.
He noticed the happiness in her eyes had started to die, until the months went by without a single snap. Not a one. No food. No clothes. Nothing.
He could imagine Nigel’s temperament and bad attitude had been building toward the end of the pictures, up until she went silent.
Gabriel spoke to Angela; actually, he charmed the older woman, and it wasn’t hard to do. He expected to encounter a horrible bitch. Instead, she was a reasonable and grateful woman. She asked him to make sure Faith had a good time. There was no reason to coerce. Angela wanted her employee, and friend, to have a good time.
So, that weekend, he was taking Faith away. He already had a private villa booked on the beach. He didn’t want any distractions, and he’d already been assured Nigel would be taken care of.
His detox was into the next step. The shakes and vomiting had stopped, and they were heading toward actually allowing him the chance to roam. This was of course a test to see how desperate he was.
Gabriel wouldn’t allow Nigel anywhere near his sister until he was sure he wasn’t a threat. Nigel had told him he had a feeling it had gotten a lot worse.
Arriving at Faith’s house, he held the dress he wanted her to wear, and knocked on the door.
She opened the door, looking so fucking sexy and adorable. She wore an oversized t-shirt that had clearly seen better days. Sweatpants, some novelty doggy slippers, and she held a tub of ice cream in her palm, with the spoon stuck in her mouth.
“Gabriel,” she said.
“I take it you didn’t get my message?” he asked.
“What message?”
“To tell you we were going out.” He looked at the ice cream. “Have you eaten?”
She shook her head.
“You’ve skipped dinner and went straight for dessert?”
She held the tub toward him. “Do you want some?” she asked.