“Thank you,” Derek said.
Hank muttered something under his breath.
“Dad?”
Hank raised an eyebrow. “What?”
“That’s what I want to know. What’s bugging you?”
His father leaned his elbow against the arm of the sofa. “Nothing.”
“Then what were you mumbling about?”
Hank frowned. “You aren’t going to like it.”
Derek raised an eyebrow. “Tell me, anyway.” He’d rather have things out in the open.
“I’m just thinking that Gabrielle wouldn’t be in danger if she minded her own business. Digging into other people’s lives isn’t a very nice way to earn a living.”
“Holly, let’s go take Fred for a walk,” Uncle Thomas said. Rising from his seat, he gestured for her to follow him.
“But…” Holly remained sitting until her uncle forcibly pulled her up. “Fine,” she said, grumbling, clearly not happy about being left out of the conversation. “You know Grandpa’s just going to tell me later,” she said, shuffling her feet as she made her way out the door.
Derek would have laughed if he wasn’t so intent on dealing with his father. He strode over to Hank, who had risen to his feet.
“I think it’s time we have this out once and for all,” Derek said. “What do you have against Gabrielle? Please don’t tell me it has to do with her career choice or the subject matter of her newest book.”
“Fine.” He exhaled a harsh breath. “It’s not about the book. It’s about her. And you.”
Derek narrowed his gaze. “You always liked Gabrielle. So what gives now? Especially since you haven’t seen her in over ten years?”
Hank stomped over to the window and glanced out at the yard between their two houses. “When she first came back, it was about the curse. I didn’t want her dragging up old issues that should remain dead and buried.”
“Not possible, but go on.”
“When I saw how many people showed up for her talk, I realized you were right about that. People are fascinated by our love lives, or lack of them.” Hank braced his hands on the windowsill. “I resigned myself to her writing the damn book. Because whether she does or not, people around here are still going to gossip about the Corwin men.”
Derek nodded. “Agreed. So…?” He prodded his father, wanting him to get to the point. “What’s your problem with Gabrielle?”
“She’s setting you up for another fall, that’s what.”
Derek had a feeling he knew where his father was going. To a place he’d been avoiding thinking about since his night with Gabrielle.
“You’ve been spending a lot of time with her and now she’ll be living with you. You’ll fall in love with her all over again and it’ll make what you went through with Marlene seem like child’s play in comparison.”
Derek’s head began to pound. “I won’t fall in love with her.” He clenched his hands into tight fists at his sides.
“Good.” Hank turned to face him. “I hope you mean that. You weren’t in love with Holly’s mom, isn’t that right?”
Derek nodded. “She was a good woman, a good friend and a good mother. She deserved better than what I was able to give her because I wasn’t in love with her.”
“And yet?” Hank asked, obviously pushing him to say the words.
“And yet I lost my fortune, my marriage and I nearly lost my daughter,” Derek muttered, hating like hell having to discuss the curse out loud.
Hank wrapped a fatherly arm around his shoulder. “I know it hurts, but ignoring the truth will end up hurting even more.”
Derek breathed in deep. “I won’t fall in love with Gabrielle,” he said to his father, wondering how he’d keep his promise when he feared he’d already broken it.
SHARON PACED THE SMALL bedroom of the house she and Richard had bought together. After Gabrielle had dropped her off, she’d called her fiancé and asked him to meet her after work. They needed to talk.
She’d decided to level with him about what was going on. She only hoped he could handle it.
Expecting him around five-thirty, which was when he usually left work at his law firm, Sharon was surprised to hear his key in the lock late that afternoon.
She met him at the front door.
He stepped inside, and though she started forward to embrace him, he walked past her and placed his briefcase down on the floor.
Uh-oh.
She swallowed hard. “You’re home early.”
He inclined his head. “You said you needed me.”
Yet he remained at a distance, emotionally and physically. And she hadn’t even confided in him yet.
“So how was your conference?” he asked.
She rubbed her hands up and down her bare arms, but the chill remained. “There wasn’t one.”
He turned toward her, his handsome face more a mask of disappointment than confusion. She shivered even more.
“Would you care to explain?” he asked.
“Come. Sit down.” She led the way into the small study they would one day share. They planned on building bookshelves to line the walls, her own little library, his desk and home office.
He sat on the couch while she chose a chair across from him. Elbows resting on his knees, he stared at her, his gaze intense. He didn’t say a word.
She studied him, too. His dark hair, neatly combed, gave him that air of propriety she both loved and feared would be the end of them.
She drew a deep, fortifying breath. “A few days ago, I received an anonymous letter in the mail.” She glanced down at her hands, not surprised to see they were shaking. “And though I’m not sure who sent it, it was clear what was in it.”
He met her gaze. “What was it?” he asked, his voice steady.
He was everything she loved and wanted in her life. But there was obviously more separating them than the story she had to tell. Not knowing what it was scared her beyond belief.
“A picture,” she whispered. “An old photograph. One of those old photographs, if you get my drift.”
“Oh, I get it, all right,” he said, clenching his jaw.
“There was also a note demanding five thousand dollars.”
“That bastard.” He rose from his seat in a burst of sudden, angry energy. “I’m going to kill him.”
She came up behind him and placed her hand on his shoulder. “No, you’re not. Because then I’d lose you to prison instead of just…losing you.” She stepped back, easing away from him.
This time he came up behind her and she felt his body heat close. Reassuring.
“Why would you say that?” he asked.
She faced him again. “Because I didn’t get the letter today. I got it a few days ago.”
“And you didn’t tell me.” His disappointment spoke louder than his words.
Nausea rolled through her and she wished she’d listened to Gabrielle’s advice about telling Richard sooner.
She shook her head. “You had so much on your plate between work and the campaign. I thought, I hoped, I could make it go away.”
“How?”
“The note had instructions. A drop point for the money. So I withdrew the cash from the bank and Gabrielle and I went to the Wave.”
He stared at her in disbelief. “You two went to meet with your blackmailing ex-con boyfriend alone?”
She winced at the fury in his voice. “Not exactly.”
He ran a hand through his hair. “Then what, exactly, Sharon? Spell it out and be clear.”
She knew what she’d say next would only make her keeping him in the dark even worse, but she had no choice. “Gabrielle was thinking more clearly. She knew better than to go there alone, so she told Derek. He showed up before the set meeting time.”
He stared at her in silence. She could almost hear his thoughts. Gabrielle trusted Derek but you couldn’t trust me?
“I trust you,” she assured him. “I just didn’t want to burden you with my problems when you have so many of your own.” God, her words sounded lame.