52

AUDREY
It wasn’t a surprise that the Starks siblings were well-mannered. They were raised by two wonderful parents. Elazar and Helen Stark were the definitions of a perfect parent. After the toast, the family and some close friends and relatives gathered in the spacious living room while the other guests were gone.
“It really is a misunderstanding,” Noah explained to everyone present about the earlier incident. “I’m sorry about earlier.”
I was now sitting in the living room with Gabriel and his family, his grandmother, Diana Stark, the Garner brothers, and the Williams.
I was not new to this kind of family gathering, but seeing Gabriel’s ex-fiancée with us was slightly hitting a nerve in me. I had to admit that this was much calmer than being in front of my paternal relatives. The other Hopkins could be snobs.
“You’ve been repeating that many times, dear,” his mother, Paulina, slightly patted her son’s arm. “I know because you wouldn’t do that without introducing the girl first, and you’ve never done that.”
“Could you really say that out loud, Mom?” his tone raised. Amy giggled at his side. “Besides, Uncle Gabe doesn’t seem to believe me,” he added.
Gabriel rolled his eyes. “I know it is a misunderstanding, but could you be more careful?”
Noah scratched his head, then shrugged.
“Darling, Audrey,” Helen interjected. “I’m glad you could come with Gabriel. Is he being good to you? Tell me if he’s being grouchy. Sometimes he can be, I know,” she said, her voice soft and considerate.
“Mom.” Gabriel sighed.
I grinned. “Your son is very kind and a gentleman, Mrs. Hopkins,” I answered. “Though yes, he can sometimes be. He’s still the boss, after all.”
“Are you Gabriel’s employee?” Diana Stark asked.
“I don’t see why not, mother?” Elazar came back and sat next to his wife. “Sorry about that. I was talking to Billie,” he said, and I heard Billie was Elazar’s youngest brother. “But as I was saying, doesn’t that remind you of Helen and me?”
“I know very well, boy,” Diana said. “But Helen is Brenda’s daughter. My old friend.”
“Still the same.” Elazar shrugged, and the more I looked at him, the more I saw a much more mature version of Coulson, but now I knew where Gabriel got his graciousness. Maya looked after her mother.
Elazar set his eyes on me. “Thank you for coming. You know you are very much welcome here. I’m even surprised Gabriel introduced you to us. You are the very first he brought here.” There’s an amused gleam in his eyes.
First? Wasn’t Gabriel engaged before? I glanced at my beautiful man, who had a half-smile on his lips.
“What’s your name again, dear?” Elazar Stark asked.
“Audrey, sir. Audrey Hopkins.”
“Hopkins. I think I heard that name before.” He nodded. “Tell us more about yourself or about your family.”
I felt like I was in the middle of the interview. “Um, besides being Gabriel’s assistant, there’s not much to share about me, but I originally grew up in Phoenix.”
Elazar was stunned and briefly shared the same puzzled look with his wife, then he set his gaze back at me. “Phoenix, you say? Did you perhaps come from Glendale?’
“Yes, sir,” I stuttered, though I wasn’t sure how he guessed that. Then I noticed he slipped a glance at Gabriel.
“Call me Elazar, please,” he said. “What do your parents do in Glendale?”
“Um, we were in the wine business, but Dad already sold the vineyard.”
“Oh, that’s a pity. I always thought winery was a great business,” he said sincerely.
“And your mother?” Helen added.
“She passed away when I was little. Her family is in Italy, though I have not heard of them since,” I answered.
“I’m sorry, my dear. But Italy is beautiful! I would love to revisit Naples and Rome,” Helen said. “Gabriel is very fond of it himself. He has dual citizenship. Carla, didn’t you say your sister is in Naples right now?”
Gabriel’s ex, who was talking to the twins, shifted her attention to Helen. “Yes, Helen. Lily’s there for their honeymoon, but she and her husband are coming back next week.”
“Isn’t Lily’s husband French?”
“Yes, but Tom’s father is Italian.”
“Aren’t you acquainted with Tom too, Gabriel?” she asked.
“We’re not that close, mother,” Gabriel answered. He even sounded bored. “We collaborated on a bag’s brand once, but that’s it.”
“Lily is a lovely girl,” Diana inserted. “But she married first after her older sister. When do you plan on settling down, dear? After all, your age is just right,” she asked Carla. And now, all attention was on her.
“Not when the man I want is unavailable,” she pointed. Her choice of words instantly pissed me off.
“Pity,” Gabriel’s grandmother remarked. “You and Gabriel should have been—”
Gabriel exhaled, and I felt him tense up. “Let’s not go that, Gran.”
“Mother.” Elazar shook his head. “No.”
Helen sighed, sending me an apologetic gaze. I smiled slightly at her. She smiled back. It’s not that I wasn’t affected, but the gentle caress of Gabriel on my shoulder was reassuring. There shouldn’t be a problem anymore. He even introduced me to his family.
“Gabe, it’s getting late,” Coulson reminded, checking his wristwatch. “I’m sure Audrey is already tired, and it’s a long drive. Plus, we all have work to do tomorrow.”
“You’re right,” Gabriel agreed. “Audrey, shall we?”
I nodded. “Yes, but I’m going to the restroom first.”
“All right. I’ll show you.” Gabriel sprang up and called everyone’s attention again. “Dad, Mom. I think we’ll be heading out first. I wanted to stay, but I needed to drive Audrey back to Manhattan. Happy Anniversary to you both.”
“Oh, my darling.” Helen moved toward his son and cupped his face. “Come here again over the weekend. You can come again too, Audrey.”
“Sweetheart, it’s the company’s sports fest this weekend.” Elazar stood up as well. “And he has an interview for the Exclusive Magazine.”
“Oh, is that the case?” She touched her mouth. “Another time then, promise me.”
Gabriel blew out a sharp breath. “Fine.”
“Son? Can I talk to you for a minute before you go? I have to ask you something,” Gabriel’s Dad requested, patting his son’s shoulder.
“Sure, Dad. I’ll show Audrey the restroom first.”
“Maya can take her,” he suggested. “Maya? Can you show Audrey the restroom? I’ll talk to your brother briefly.”
“Sure. Come with me, Audrey.” Maya approached me and clung to my arm. “You haven’t told me how you and Gabriel started.” She grinned. “You don’t mind telling me a little, right?”
I grinned back. “Sure, I can,” I said, and we headed out.
I retouched my makeup in the restroom while Maya was endlessly asking questions about me and spoke some things about Gabriel, but I still wondered why their father said it was the first time he introduced someone to them when they surely knew Carla and her family.
“How come, you say? It’s quite true because he never really introduced Carla to us. They met officially at Harvard, though Gabriel already knew that the Garners were close to Dad. He proposed to her, yes, but can you believe that we knew about that engagement when they broke up? My brother can be very secretive.
So that was it. “Did you know why they broke up?”
“I think it’s because she’s seeing another man—not to mention Gabriel’s business partner. Aaron Henderson. I can’t believe I had a crush on him once. He’s very disgusting.” She sighed. “But it’s true that you’re the only girlfriend he introduced to the family. Oh, and I think we met once in the gallery. I always thought you were exquisite.”
I felt my cheeks flush. “Thank you.”
“Hey, I actually wanted to ask you something.”
I paused, curious about what it was about. “Okay, sure.”
“I heard you said you’re from Phoenix, right? The world is so small.”
I frowned. “What do you mean?”
“What do I mean, you say? Gabriel grew up in Phoenix before he came to the family and—”
“Wait.” I stopped her, catching her wrist. “What did you say?”
She blinked, surprised. “What?”
“You said he grew up in Phoenix. Are we talking about the same Phoenix?”
Her eyebrows met. “Is there another?” Her eyes suddenly grew wide. “Oh my God, I’m so sorry!”
“What? Why?”
“I guess Gabriel didn’t tell you yet. I assumed because I thought he told you… and the other week, he went there—which was odd—he never went there, at least not when he hates the place.”
“Maya.” I held her shoulder. “Calm down, okay? What exactly do you mean by that?”
“Oh, God!” She slapped her forehead. “I’m sorry, Audrey. Gabriel is my brother, and Coulson looked up to him, but he’s going to kill me if he finds out I told you. I mean, I slipped, right?”
My shoulders fell. “Then I’m going to tell him you told me if you don’t finish what you’re about to say right now.”
She was stunned. “Uh…”
“I’m sorry, Maya. I know it’s not my place.”
“No, it’s okay. I should be the one who’s sorry. No one talks about it, actually, but since you’re his girlfriend, I just presumed—”
“We’re pretty new, so there’s still much to know about him.”
She sighed. “You better ask him about that.”
“Please, Maya. I need to know. And what did you mean when he came to the family?”
Silence. She exhaled again. “Okay, but please don’t tell him I told you, okay?”
I nodded. “I promise.”
“Gabriel is adopted,” she revealed.
“What?”
She frowned. “Are you sure you don’t know?”
“He didn’t tell me.”
“Well, we don’t talk about it. But please don’t misunderstand why I said that. He’s a real brother to me, and I love him.”
“I know, I can see that.” I smiled a little. The Stark siblings were inseparable.
“His father was Dad’s best friend—more like brothers — but he passed away,” she continued. “I remembered how devastated Dad was when he found out about his friend’s demise. It was the first time I saw him ever cry a lot about something, and he took Gabriel in.”
God. I didn’t know what to say. “And you said he grew up in Phoenix? Was that where his family came from?”
“Yes, that’s what I know. But curiously, he went there the other week.”
“I was with him.”
“Ah, I see, that’s why.” She grinned. “He really likes you, but he’s not going to like it if I told you this before even letting him speak to you first. But he’s my brother, and that’s all that matters. Please, don’t tell him I told you.”
But yes, why didn’t he tell me? He was with me in Phoenix, but why didn’t he? We all had a chance to talk about it. I understood because he probably didn’t let me know he was adopted.
“This was probably what he was going to tell me earlier,” I said to myself. I remember he said he would say something, and he told me I would run away. Why would I run away from something like this?
“He did? Oh, I’m sure it’s about that, but I spilled the beans first. Ugh!” She groaned. “I hate my mouth sometimes. Please, just act surprised if ever he does tell you.”
I nodded. “No problem,” I said, but I was still in a daze, and tons of questions flooded my mind.
Was he even going to tell me? Did I possibly know his family back in Phoenix? Or maybe not, because it’s still a big city. However, my father was once influential, so I knew the people a little.
“One last thing. Do you perhaps know his previous family?”
“Of course, though I never saw any of them. Gabriel’s real father left him their entire family fortune. Dad said his best friend came from a very wealthy family in England, so Gabriel became the only heir when he passed away. There was no other blood relative left, so he’s literally rich on his own,” she explained enthusiastically, somehow proud of his brother in the last sentence.
“Ah, so Gabriel’s family must be well known then,” I acknowledged. “Maybe I know them in Phoenix. What’s the family name?”
“It’s Cross,” she said. “Yeah, I think that’s it. He was Liam Gabriel Coss before he went by just Gabriel. Have you heard of them?”