Chapter 56

"I decided to catch you before you left... I hope I didn't interrupt anything..."

Draco asked as he walked in. He didn’t, they were just talking about mundane stuff before Gabriel went back to work, nothing more.

After Gabriel had dropped the bomb about him having Asher, the three of them had stayed in bed for a little while, just resting till Emilia had demanded for food and they got out of bed.

“Hi Lori.”

Draco said as he waved.

“Hey Draco.”

She waved back. Now that she knew who Gabriel was and what he meant to Gabriel, she felt much more comfortable having him around, more safe.

“I know this place is a downgrade compared to the mansion, but I hope you’re adjusting well..”

He said and Lori scoffed. Downgrade?! No way he just said that.

“Downgrade?! This is my first time living in a penthouse.”

“Besides… I prefer this place. It has a great view.”

She said and Draco raised his eyebrow.

“Really? How are you finding the lack of help around here?”

He asked and she shrugged.

“Grace comes over once in a while. But I can manage.”

It wasn’t like there was much to do… there wasn’t really. All she had to do was take care of the baby. The apartment had room service to help people clean up, although Lori had never used them before she felt particularly relieved that she could call on them if she needed their help.

She and Gabriel had been surviving on takeouts although sometimes he made breakfast before leaving for work. They were starting to fall into a very comfortable routine.

“Don’t worry. This will all be over soon..“

He assured her and she nodded.

“Why are you here?”

Gabriel asked from the kitchen as he grabbed a bottle. He was making formula for Emilia who was currently sitting on Lori’s lap and content with babbling. After her bottle Lori would put her down for a nap.

Draco sighed. He had planned to wait… talk to Gabriel about it later but he couldn’t… he couldn’t stop the pit that was growing in his stomach. Something was up with Elliot and he felt like he had to let Gabriel know sooner than later.

“I have something very serious to discuss with you…”

He said and Gabriel urged him to go on. Draco glanced at Lori and Gabriel shrugged.

“She already knows everything there is to know about us… nothing more to hide.”

He said and Draco sighed.

“Very well then… I think something might be up with Elliot.”

Elliot?!

Lori overheard as she turned her head to look at Draco. He looked every bit serious too.

“What’s wrong with him?”

Lori found herself asking and Draco sighed.

“He lied to my face yesterday night. I ran into him and he looked so jittery and nervous that I knew something was up, when I asked him where he was going he lied.”

Gabriel paused. The spoon of formula hanging mid air while he contemplated Draco’s words. Draco’s instincts were rarely wrong. In fact they had never really been wrong.

He glanced at Lori and saw that she was also listening attentively to what Draco was saying. He knew that Elliot and Lori had grown close recently and while he didn’t mind their closeness he wasn’t particularly Elliot’s biggest fan.

“Hmmmm. Why did he lie?”

Draco shrugged.

“I don’t know… I have no idea… but I think it’s a good idea for us to start watching him closely from now on…”

“I’m talking heavy surveillance…”

Gabriel nodded.

“I agree. We’ll watch him closely.”

Lori shrank in the sofa as she remembered what Elliot had told her that day when she saw him frustrated and yelling on the phone. He had mentioned the name Lyle.

And not only that… he had begged her, practically pleaded with her to keep it from Gabriel.

Was he truly hiding something?

Lori thought as she rubbed her forehead nervously. If he was hiding something that could affect them negatively, did she still have to keep his secret?

Wouldn’t it be wiser if she just told Gabriel?

“Lori?!”

Gabriel called from the kitchen and she jumped. He had startled her.

“What?!”

She asked and she noticed that Gabriel was staring at her intently.

“Do you have something to say?”

He asked her and she shrugged.

“What do you mean?”

She asked and she carried Emilia, putting her on her shoulder and hastily standing up from the sofa. She walked to the kitchen, walking past Draco and straight to Gabriel who was in the kitchen.

“Is her bottle ready?”

She asked him, avoiding his eyes as she lifted the bottle. He just had to put in the water. That was all.

Gabriel sighed. He held her hand, stopping her from touching the bottle.

With one finger, he pulled her chin upwards, to face him.

“I could feel your anxiety from across the room. Tell me what’s wrong.”

His voice was soft. Pleading. Almost as if he was begging her.

If she told him what Elliot had told her to hide, she would be breaking the promise she made to him.

But seeing how everything had taken a different turn, she had no choice.

“I don’t know… it’s probably nothing.”

She said as she quickly looked down.

“What is it? Is it about Elliot?”

He asked and she remained quiet.

Draco sighed.

“Lori… if you have information that can be useful to why Elliot is acting the way he is… it’s best you reveal it now because it might keep all of you safe from danger.”

Lori’s eyes darted between the two men, the clear desperation and anxiety in their faces and caved in.

“I ran into him and he was on a call with someone. He sounded angry and frustrated. I couldn’t make out most of what he said but I heard him call out a name.”

“What name?”

Gabriel asked and Lori shrugged.

“He said Lyle.”


“Lyle?!”

Draco choked.

“No that’s not possible!”

He said.

Lori watched Gabriel’s reaction, his expression was blank.

“Gabriel?”

She called but he didn’t answer. Almost as if he was in another planet.

“Gabriel?!”

She called again as she shook him lightly.

Gabriel broke out of his trance.

“I’ll be right back.”

He said as he rushed out of the kitchen.

“Where’s he going?!”

Lori called out alarmed but Draco ignored her and ran after him.

“Stay here?!”

He called out to her as he slammed the door in her face.



**************************


“I can’t believe your brother is so gullible.“

Sabine said as she laughed again. She rose slightly and dumped her cigar on the ashtray on her nightstand.

Lyle was in bed next to her. Naked and deep in thoughts.

She snuggled back into the sheets, back into his warmth.

Lyle nodded. Ever since he saw his brother at that club and slipped the truth potion the witch had given him in his drink, he felt like a heavy weight had been put on his chest. He couldn’t stop thinking about how Elliot had actually sounded so excited and happy to see him.

And he… well he just wanted to use him.

He couldn’t shake away the guilt no matter how many times he distracted himself with alcohol or the beautiful woman that he was bedding.

He couldn’t shake the fact that he had betrayed his own brother’s trust. Elliot would go home having no memory of the questions he had asked him at the club just like the witch had promised, he would simply remember that he had a good time. Unfortunately for him, he had managed to divulge everything that Lyle needed to conquer his cousin. Not only that, he had also given them their new location.

This time… Lyle planned to use the information he had to the best of his abilities.

He would take ample time to draft a plan, a foolproof one that wouldn’t fail like the one they made before.

“He’s not gullible.”

Lyle answered.

No. Elliot wasn’t gullible. He just made the mistake of trusting him. He was his little brother and he had failed him.

Sabine scoffed.

“Oh don’t be like that… you know he is.”

“You’re a crook, I knew what you wanted from the very first day I met you, I can’t believe your brother really thinks you’re back with zero plans of revenge after what Gabriel did to you.”

Lyle sighed, he gently pushed Sabine’s arms away from him and turned to the other side of the bed.

“That’s enough. We got what we wanted from him didn’t we?”

He asked and Sabine beamed. She couldn’t stop smiling ever since Lyle had came back. With good news too.

It had almost even made her forget about Vara and the missing hired wolves.

What luck! What good luck!

Elliot was going to lead them right to Lori.