57

AUDREY
“I don’t remember agreeing yet, Gabriel,” I said.
“I wasn’t waiting for you to agree because you will, eventually. She flew here from Rome for this,” he explained.
Oh, how convenient.
“Don’t worry, Audrey,” she said so softly. “He’s exaggerating. I’m here too because my boyfriend has an overseas project in Manhattan.”
Boyfriend. The woman had a boyfriend. I didn’t know how but the pricking in my chest slightly loosened. Phew!
“Honestly, I’m very excited to see you,” Francesca went on. “Gabriel has never asked me to do this for him before. When he told me he wanted a painting of someone, I was astonished, but now that I see you, I understand why.” The pleasant smile on her face remained, and I was slightly embarrassed at myself for the coldness I gave her. Then again, did I misunderstand the situation?
“Why do you say so?” I asked.
“But I’m more curious how Gabriel asked you to pose for him.” She answered differently and chuckled.
“What’s so complicated about that?” Gabriel said. “I asked her simply.”
“But she didn’t agree yet, she said.” Francesca shrugged. “Why, Audrey?”
Now, I couldn’t tell her there was a huge amount involved in it, and I guess Gabriel didn’t tell her everything as well. “It’s not very simple from how he said it. It’s not that I pose for nude paintings every day.”
“I am a very flexible person, Audrey. You don’t have to feel embarrassed in front of me while you’re at it,” she encouraged. “I’ve drawn many artworks in my life. I’m used to it.”
Were we really talking about it now? I didn’t remember agreeing to it yet. Though I knew time was running out, I needed to decide. I hadn’t spoken to Charles yet, and knowing that Gabriel was Liam (which I still couldn’t grasp), I had second thoughts.
“Can we talk later, Gabriel?”
“Of course you can, Audrey,” he said softly and encouragingly as if he was only waiting for it.
The usual reaction I would feel about this was to avoid it. I didn’t like being in a difficult situation, but now…
I felt like all the questions I wanted to know should be answered. I was still confused about myself and my feelings, but nothing would happen if I didn’t do anything.
Gabriel Stark or Liam Cross. Whoever the hell he was in front of me right now, he’d have to answer me. Once and for all.
**
Francesca excused herself and left me alone with Gabriel. I didn’t want to stay at the restaurant, so he invited me for a walk.
The Stark sports estate was purely astonishing. I guessed even if I exhausted my feet from walking, I wouldn’t be able to see the other end. I’d always thought my father had unimaginable wealth, but clearly, there were always people above others.
Gabriel let me walk ahead of him for a few more minutes while he was behind me. I was still gathering myself, compiling the questions in my head. We were strolling around the track and field stadium, and there was no one else around but us. Everyone was resting in their rooms for the games tomorrow.
I lifted my arms in the air and took a deep breath, and turned around to face him while walking in back steps and Gabriel matching my pace.
“I honestly don’t know what to say, Gabriel,” I admitted. “I don’t know what to ask. I don’t know how to open up.” I shook my head. “I tried to give it a thought alone, but nothing was happening.”
“I know it’s hard. Come.” He reached out a hand to me, and without hesitation, I held onto his hand and walked next to him. “What exactly were you thinking about when you found out it was me?”
“That you’re actually Liam?”
He nodded.
“I can’t believe it.” I crossed my arms. “It’s beyond my comprehension.”
“What exactly can’t you believe, Audrey? I think I’ve sent you some hints, but you didn’t seem to want to believe what’s already in front of your eyes. It starts like that, Audrey. Belief.”
I looked up at his gorgeous face, his chiseled jaw, and he was still ‘Gabriel’ to me. Well, he is Gabriel. I just couldn’t look at him as the guy I first met on the train before, and that teenage boy Samuel introduced me to run away.
“How should I put it?” I said. “Looking at you like this doesn’t really help. I can’t see Liam. You look like him, but it’s like you are a completely different person. You’re Gabriel.”
He smirked. “I would be shocked if you think he’s still me. I am Gabriel, Audrey, because that’s what I want the people to think and see.” He shifted his gaze to my side. “This is who I am now, and don’t confuse yourself. You just have to accept the fact that we were both tangled up in the web of our pasts.”
I set my eyes back on the field. The wind was skin-shuddering, but its iciness didn’t help ease the tension between us.
“Are we going to talk about this now?”
He chuckled. “What else do you think we’re doing? But thank you for not taking long to reach out to me. You’re learning.”
“You hated waiting.” I smiled back at him—finally, for the first time since that night. It’s been almost a week since I tried to distance myself.
“What happened to you?” And finally, I asked.
“Now we’re really talking.” He flashed out a pleasant grin. “As you can see, I survived. Audrey, everyone in our town thinks I was dead, but I got away.”
“How? I saw you being taken by my father’s men. What did they do to you?”
“I was tortured, whipped, stabbed…” The frown on his brows deepened. “I didn’t know how I survived, Audrey. The last thing I remembered was being thrown away in the lake, and I woke up in a hospital two days later, and Dad’s—I mean, Elazar Stark’s assistant was there next to me. They found me. I thought I was going to die.”
Elazar. Of course. Liam mentioned this name before. How could I be so blind and so deaf to the things happening around me? I was easily fooled by my own intuition.
I clenched my fist and gritted my teeth in unison. I was apparently ashamed of my 0wn father, as he was the root of all our miseries. I wondered if he even had a soul left in his body. How could a person be so evil—let alone my own flesh and blood?
“I’m sorry about what happened. I should have been stronger, but I wasn’t. I was a coward.” I apologized from the bottom of my heart.
“You were young. We were.”
“What happened then?”
“I looked for you, but you were gone. I thought you abandoned me.”
“I did,” I admitted. “I abandoned you. I left, and I’m sorry for that and for giving me a chance to find peace of mind.”
He let out a half-smile. “How are you feeling now?”
“Better now. It’s enlightening. Thank you, Gabriel.”
He reached for my hand and brought it to his mouth to kiss. “You’re welcome.”