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“Sure you can’t see anything?”
“I’m sure.”
“Positive?”
Giselle laughed. “Positive!” She tried to put her hands on the blindfold over her eyes and got her hands slapped for her trouble. She could feel the car decelerate and then stop altogether.
“Gabe?”
“Patience, patience,” he sang.
Giselle heard the engine silence and then the car door slammed. Moments later the door was opening on her side of the vehicle.
“Here we go, beautiful,” Gabriel took his wife’s elbow and helped her out. “Sure you can’t see out of that thing?”
“Your secret’s safe,” Giselle confirmed once again.
They only moved a few steps and then Gabriel was stopping, drawing Giselle back against his chest.
“I’m having so much fun,” sarcasm lilted throughout her words. She shrieked happily when Gabriel gnawed the side of her neck.
“Be patient. I need to position you.”
“Uh-oh, for what?”
“Quiet. Are you ready?”
“Since we left your office,” she said, giggling when he tickled her side.
“Gonna have to do something about your mouth, later,” he threatened.
Giselle turned her head back and up. “See that you do,” she smiled in the direction she judged her husband to be and sighed when his lips met hers.
“Quit distracting me,” he said against her mouth.
“Okay,” Giselle made no effort to end the kiss.
Gabriel sighed as if having the cooler head was a chore. Determined, he braced both hands to her shoulders and positioned her yet again.
“Ready?” He queried once more.
Giselle only gave an obedient nod and waited. The blindfold slipped soon after and she blinked to get her eyes to focus. When her vision cleared, she frowned as though stunned. A look of wonder held her captive.
“Gabe...it...it’s beautiful,” her eyes were wide while taking in the brick home set far off the quiet road. The Tudor styled house was almost fully enclosed by a wealth of Fir trees.
“Can we see inside?” she asked, her voice as awe-filled as her wide-eyed stare.
“We can.”
“Who lives here?”
“Us.”
Her gasp seemed to echo and then she was whirling to face him.
Gabriel’s grin was a sly one. “Only if you want to,” he laughed, when she shoved his chest.
A hint of uncertainty flickered in Giselle’s silvery blues then. “Do you think we can afford it?”
Gabriel shrugged. “We should be okay since we only have to worry about the taxes.”
“How?” Uncertainty merged with suspicion then.
Gabriel winked. “A gift from my parents.”
Giselle’s smile continued to broaden even though the news had her feeling simultaneously happy and edgy. So much so, she folded into Gabriel’s embrace instead of moving closer to the house.
“Guess Ma forgives us for going with our version of a wedding.”
“Doesn’t mean we’re completely out of the woods,” Giselle cautioned.
Gabriel dropped a kiss to the top of her head. “I wish you wouldn’t think of it that way. I wish you wouldn’t think of it at all.”
“How am I supposed to do that when they don’t even know the most important thing about me?”
“What? Your race?” Gabriel’s stare was incredulous. “That’s not the most important thing about you, Guy.” He cupped her face in his wide palms. “You’re as gorgeous inside as you are outside.” He kissed her forehead as if to mark the matter sealed.
“Can we at least agree that race is one of the most important things about me?”
He gave her a forbearing look. “Deal.” After a single nod, he pulled her into a tight squeeze. “I don’t think I’m ready for whatever this news might do-not ready to see my mother treat you like she did Imani. I honestly don’t know what that could bring out in me, Giselle.”
“Stop,” she pressed a hard kiss to his palm still cupping her face. “You’re a good man, but this can’t stay hidden forever.”
“I know,” he rolled his eyes. “I know that, I just...I want her to love you beyond...all this,” he fluffed her golden hair around her face. “I believe it could happen. Pop loves you as much now as he did before we told him. It’ll just take a very long time with Ma.” With an optimistic smile, he turned Giselle back against his chest. “How about we check out our new crib in the meantime?” he murmured next to her ear and then took her hand.
“Now you’re talkin’,” Giselle laughed wildly as they ran hand in hand up the long driveway.
***
“You’re sure? No record of the birth in the city or any of the boroughs?”
“Not with the details you provided, Mr. Tesano. There’s no such person as a Guya Giselle Weeks. Are you sure about the spelling?”
Vale rolled his eyes. “No,” he said into the receiver and scowled.
“Well,” the records clerk patiently continued the report of his findings. The man had increased his diligence with the task once Vale had shared his last name.
“Aside from a Giselle Weeks born in Manhattan and another in The Bronx, there’s nothing. The Bronx Weeks was born in twenty-three, the Manhattan one is seven years old.”
Vale swatted the air with his fist. He’d mostly managed to dismiss the strange conversation with Gabriel, but bits of it continued to linger. He wasn’t sure why.
Lies. He knew why. There was pure terror in Gabriel’s eyes when Vale had asked about the name he’d used. Vale wanted to believe it was about Giselle, but he knew Gabriel too well. Could the jackass already have a chippy on the side? He wondered. Could he really have some whore warming his sheets within a few months of marrying a goddess like Giselle?
Damn right he could. Gabriel’s title as the family slut, was a title he had well earned. Proving that he was stepping out on his new wife could prove quite useful. It was easy to see that Humphrey had a thing for their new sister-in-law. News of Gabriel being up to his old tricks, could not only give Hump a chance with Giselle, but might very well dim Gabriel’s bright light in Humphrey’s eyes. Such a turn around might allow Vale to be seen. Finally, to be seen.
“Should I continue with the search, Mr. Tesano?” The clerk’s voice drifted through the line. “Perhaps we could try different variations of the name or expand the search to include the Upstate if you’re sure she’s a native New Yorker.”
“I think her parents have been here since they were married. Before they had kids.” Vale said.
“So you’d like us to keep looking?”
Vale called himself a fool and cringed as Stone’s voice crept into his mind. He could almost hear him taunting, laughing at him for seeking scraps from their big brother’s table. He squeezed his eyes shut.
“Yes, keep looking. Expand the search and keep looking.” He slammed down the phone and yanked at his hair when he thrust a hand into it. Something was there, had to be there, he knew it.