Chapter 53
"I'm home."
Gabriel said as he walked into the living room.
The feeling in the penthouse was different. Without the staff, it felt more homey, more relaxing.
Lori was in the kitchen washing some bottles. She was in an oversized T-shirt and some leggings. At some point, Gabriel had agreed that was all she had in her closet.
"Hey!"
She called out as she waved towards him.
"How are you?"
She asked as she started washing her hands.
Gabriel walked up to her and hugged her from behind, burying his face in the crook of her neck, generously sniffing her in. She smelled like baby powder.
"Good. You?"
He asked, still holding on to her and Lori nodded. She was practically beaming.
"Me too."
She said as she blushed furiously.
He broke away slowly to turn her around to face him. Her hair was in a ponytail and part of her face had baby powder on it.
"You have baby powder on your face."
He said as he gently wiped them away with his fingers.
Lori rolled her eyes.
"Yea... I just changed Emilia and put her down for her nap."
He nodded.
"Okay. That's good."
He said as he hugged her again.
Lori hugged him back carefully, her hands were wet and soapy and she didn't want to stain his suit.
"Go get changed. Grace made us some spaghetti."
She said and Gabriel raised his eyebrow.
"She did?"
He asked and Lori nodded.
"Oh."
He didn't seem too excited about that. Weird. She thought that he would since they had been surviving on junk food for the last few days.
"I thought you'd be more excited..."
She said and Gabriel shrugged.
"Oh I am but I just planned for us to have a dinner date tonight."
Lori's eyes shot up to him.
"A date?!"
She asked and he nodded.
"Yes... I was about to make a reservation..."
Lori chuckled.
"Who would watch Emilia if we go on a date?"
She asked and Gabriel pointed to the door.
"Elliot should be able to do that... or we could call Grace..."
Lori shook her head.
"Maybe another time."
"Is that okay with you?"
She asked and he nodded.
But he still looked unconvinced. Like there was something else on his mind.
"What's wrong?"
She asked and he walked to the living room and collapsed on the sofa.
Lori followed him.
Gabriel stared at the window. It was getting late and the sun was setting. The sky was a pretty orange. He forgot how much he loved the view from his penthouse. The sunsets were amazing but the starry night sky was even better.
"Nothing... I just feel like so much has been happening and we barely have had enough time for each other."
He answered.
Well. That was true.
They had both been occupied for the last few days and with everything that had happened... oh well. It wasn't that easy.
It was crazy that just about a week ago he had asked her to be his girlfriend and then everything had gone by pretty fast after that.
“That’s true. But a lot has happened. You should cut yourself some slack and rest more.”
She said as she sat down next to him. Gabriel entwined his fingers with hers.
He was exhausted. He had to figure out why Sabine was trying to attack him and find better ways to protect Lori and his daughter.
He also had to find Lori’s adoptive crazy brother who was still at large and could be potentially hiding from him if he found out that Asher had been kidnapped.
He also had his grandfather to worry about. The old man was trying to set him up with a ‘suitable partner’ and while Kate was by all standards fit for the job, he didn’t want her.
He was happy he told her the truth.
He didn’t want her to have any false hope. And she had taken it well, claiming that she wanted to have lunch with Lori soon.
“Oh. Do you remember the woman that came over that night of the attack?”
He asked and Lori nodded. How could she forget.
“I do. Elliot told me she was your ex.“
Gabriel nodded, slightly surprised by how quickly Lori replied him. And how quickly her demeanor changed too.
Was she jealous?
“What about her?”
Lori asked eagerly and Gabriel shook his head.
“She came to see me… I told her about you. I told her what you meant to me..”
“Oh… and how did she take it?”
“Very well. Kate has always been very level headed. She wants to have lunch with you some times soon. And of course come and say hello to the baby.”
“Oh. That would be nice…”
Lori said. Even though Kate had made a very bad first impression on her, she was going to give her a second chance.
“And by saying what I mean to you… does that mean you told us that we’re mates?”
She asked nervously and Gabriel nodded, a smile on his face.
“Yes. I did.”
Her chest felt like it would explode… in excitement and also extreme anxiety.
From what he had told her and from what Elliot had told her… being mates, especially when the parties involved were publicly official was akin to being married.
That seemed a little fast.
She was worried they might be taking things too fast.
“Are you okay?”
Gabriel asked and she nodded.
How did he do that?
How did he sense the smallest changes in her mood?
Lori was pretty sure her face had not given away any of her emotions. How much she worried and how anxious she was.
“How do you do that?”
She asked and he raised his eyebrows.
“Do what?”
He asked and she leaned towards him searching his face.
“That thing you do… you notice even the smallest details about me… my mood.”
Gabriel smiled.
“Give me your other hand.”
He beckoned and she stretched her hand towards him.
“The connection between mates… it’s a powerful thing. I can tell the slightest changes in your mood and your emotions because the first thing your body will do is send me a signal.”
“And the more time we spend together the stronger this connection gets.”
Lori raised her eyebrow.
“Wow… how strong can it get?”
Gabriel shrugged.
“I’ve heard of mates who could talk to each other without their mouths moving. Just their minds talking… some mating bonds are so strong that if one person is hurt the other will feel it.”
“I’ve been able to feel when you’re distressed…”
Lori wasn’t sure she had felt those before, but she did remember that when she saw him in his werewolf form she had strangely thought he looked very familiar.
Could that have been because of the mating bond?
“Do you think our bond will ever get that strong? I mean… we’re not exactly the same.”
Gabriel shrugged.
From what he had seen or heard it didn’t really matter.
“Doesn’t really matter. When we start doing some things… it could potentially help strengthen our mating bond.”
“What things?”
Lori pressed on.
Gabriel scratched his temple.
“Uhm… you know… spending time together, touching each other… making love to each other.”
Lori blinked. Then her cheeks stained pink.
“Oh.”
She murmured.
Gabriel nodded as chuckled nervously.
She looked so nervous that he decided to calm her down as quickly as he could.
No he didn’t want her to feel pressured into having sex with him so soon. After everything she’d been through he would understand if she wasn’t ready yet.
“Obviously we don’t have to do the last one now. I mean… I don’t want to rush you.”
He said quickly.
Lori nodded.
She wasn’t particularly feeling rushed into anything. He was taking his sweet time with her. They were taking things slow.
Extremely slow.
“I don’t feel rushed…”
She said and Gabriel paused.
“You don’t?“
He asked her and she shrugged.
“I don’t.”
She answered again as she placed a hand on his left thigh, her hand high enough to suggest her intentions. She looked at him coyly.
Gabriel’s mouth went dry. He was mere moments away from losing all of his self control.
If Lori kept looking at him like that… he wouldn’t be able to control himself.
He had been starved for a very long time…
Suddenly, Emilia’s cry pierced the air and Lori quickly jumped to her feet and rushed to the guest room.
Gabriel groaned in frustration.
*************************
Elliot got off the elevator, deep in thoughts. He just wanted some fresh air. While his apartment looked nice and airy, it strangely felt choking.
A few minutes outside would do him some good. He thought as he started walking towards the lobby. didn’t think it was possible to be as jittery and nervous as he had been the last couple of days. He couldn’t stop thinking about the possibility that his brother had been the one to initiate the attack.
He shuddered to think of what Gabriel would do to him if he found out that he knew that his brother was alive or that he had talked to him.
Ever since that attack he had been unable to think straight. Should he come clean? Or stay mute? Does were the words that played in his head everyday.
When they moved, he had gotten distracted for the last few days he took them to unpack until he received that awful phone call.
Which was from his brother.
He had confronted his brother, but to his greatest surprise Lyle sounded genuinely clueless.
Lyle didn’t seem to know anything about the attack. Elliot struggled to disbelieve him but his brother sounded very believable. Plus, there was no way he could have actually pulled it off. That was what he said.
And he realized it was true. Lyle had been in hiding for years, too scared to ask for Gabriel’s forgiveness. He had no allies, no money, no pack, it didn’t make sense for him to initiate such an attack.
The only other problem he had was that Lori had walked in on their conversation and while she was clueless, he didn’t particularly trust her not to tell Gabriel.
He got a text and looked at his phone.
It was from his brother.
Hey. Why don’t we meet up for some drinks? I happen to be in town for one more day- Lyle
His heart skipped a beat. Lyle was in town.
Should he go out?
Sure Gabriel wouldn’t care if he did, in fact nobody would care he wasn’t sure it was a good idea.
He decided to call his brother to decline his invitation.
“Hey…. I don’t think I can make it.”
“Oh come on! I don’t know when next I’ll be back in town! This is our last chance!”
Lyle said from the other end and Elliot sighed.
“I’m not sure…”
“Please Elliot! I just want to see my little brother again. One last time before I leave for Chicago!”
Elliot hesitated. Then he finally caved in.
“Oh okay. No problem.”
“But I can’t stay long and I’m not drinking!”
He warned and Lyle agreed.
He ended the call and pocketed his phone.
He’d go back upstairs to change.
He turned back and saw Draco a few steps away from him and froze.
Draco raised his eyebrow, wondering why Elliot had looked so shocked to see him.
“Draco…”
Elliot said nervously.
Draco narrowed his eyes at him.
“Everything okay?”
He asked and Elliot started chuckling.
“Sure! Sure! Everything’s fine…”
“Where are you going?”
Draco asked and Elliot shrugged.
“Nowhere.”
One. Two beats skipped.
He was lying.
Draco caught him. Even without listening to his heartbeat, his whole body language had made it pretty obvious.
The only question was why was he lying?