Gabriel's Redemption (Gabriel's Inferno Trilogy) (37 page)

“This is ridiculous.” Julia pushed her cell phone away from her the following evening.

“What’s the matter?” Rebecca breezed into the kitchen with a stack of dish towels, fresh from the laundry room.

“Gabriel. I’m receiving his messages, but we haven’t been able to speak since he left. I keep calling and calling and all I get is voice mail—on his cell phone and in his hotel room.” She placed her head in her hands. “I found the charger cord to his phone upstairs. He’s going to have to buy another one. Or call me from the hotel. But he seems to be out
all the time
.”

“They took most of the pay phones off the streets of New York. He’ll have trouble finding one while he’s out.” Rebecca folded the dish towels and placed them in a drawer.

Julia drummed her fingers on the granite countertop while staring daggers at her cell phone.

“I should have gone with him.”

“Why didn’t you?”

“I had papers to finish. I still have one left to do, but now I can’t concentrate.” She lifted her face to look at Rebecca. “I’m worried about him.”

“I’m sure he’s all right. Although it isn’t like him to forget something.” Rebecca gestured toward the phone cord. “He’s usually so—fastidious.”

“That’s a polite word for it.”

Julia glanced at the mail that Rebecca had stacked on the kitchen island and noticed an envelope addressed to Gabriel from JetBlue.

She stood up straight.

“Do you think I could get a flight to New York tonight?” Julia reached for her laptop.

“It won’t be cheap, but you could try.” Rebecca smiled gently. “Gabriel has only been gone two days.”

“It seems like forever,” muttered Julia.

Rebecca’s face wore a knowing look. “That’s because you’re still newlyweds.”

Julia pulled up the JetBlue website and began typing furiously.

“The prices are a fortune,” she lamented, as she scrolled through several pages.

“Think of it as an early Christmas gift.”

“It isn’t as if I spend a lot of money on things,” she rationalized. “Gabriel is the one who insists on paying top dollar for everything.”

“He’ll be glad you bought the ticket when he sees you.” Rebecca glanced toward the stairs. “I can pull out your suitcase and help you pack. If your flight is tonight, you’ll probably have to leave right away. You don’t want to be stuck in rush hour traffic on the way to the airport.”

Julia lifted her arm and gave Rebecca a hug. “Thank you. He’ll be so surprised.”

“He’s probably in worse shape than you,” Rebecca observed, as she headed toward the stairs.

Within two hours, Julia was at Logan Airport, waiting for the last flight to John F. Kennedy Airport in New York. She left a message for Gabriel with the concierge at the Ritz-Carlton, telling him that she would be checking in later that evening, and she ordered sparkling water, strawberries, and truffles to be delivered to their room.

Rebecca had been in the middle of packing her carry-on when she’d flown into the bedroom, telling her that the taxi was on its way. Julia was in such a hurry, she’d quickly grabbed her makeup and toothbrush, leaving her other essentials behind.

She packed up her laptop and research (which were far more important than personal items, since she needed to finish her seminar paper), located her purse, and made it to the front door just in time to greet the arriving taxi.

Gabriel was going to be surprised.

The Professor ordered the cabbie to wait for him before exiting the taxi. They’d parked down the street from the house he was interested in, so as not to attract attention.

He walked down the street slowly, noting the numbers on the houses. It was a residential neighborhood on Staten Island, populated by old, small homes.

Then he saw it.

The house itself was unremarkable—small and white with a detached garage and a short, paved driveway. It was situated on a very small lot, with a tiny fringe of lawn that separated the front of the house from the sidewalk. A new-looking black Mercedes was parked at the curb.

Gabriel stood, two houses down, watching.

To his surprise, the front door opened and a man with gray hair exited. The man turned his body, coaxing an elderly woman. After she’d closed and locked the door behind them, he took her arm and painstakingly escorted her down the front steps.

Gabriel approached.

The woman must have been hard of hearing because the man’s voice was raised, but not in anger. Gabriel heard something about a doctor’s appointment and Joey’s birthday party.

The woman caught sight of Gabriel and stopped, staring over at him.

He slowed his pace, finally pausing on the sidewalk across the street.

This was his moment.

Now was his opportunity to speak to her, to demand answers to questions, to reveal himself.

The man she was with glanced in Gabriel’s direction, then began tugging at the woman’s arm, his voice still raised.

The woman turned away from Gabriel and obediently followed her escort to the Mercedes, where he opened the door and patiently waited while she situated herself.

The man seemed oblivious to the Professor’s presence as he closed the car door and rounded the vehicle. He started the car and drove away.

Gabriel watched the Mercedes turn the corner and disappear out of sight.

Chapter Sixty

I
t was well after midnight when Gabriel entered his hotel room. He was world weary and tired, his hair disheveled, his tie askew.

Without bothering to switch on a light, he threw his winter coat over a chair and kicked off his boots.

(It should be mentioned that his boots were almost, but not quite, bad-assed, given that they were worn with a suit.)

Just as he was removing his tie, light streamed from the lamp on one of the nightstands.

“What the—”

Gabriel’s curse was interrupted by a feminine voice. “Sweetie?”

His eyes focused on the sight of Julianne, naked in bed with tousled hair. Her dark eyes were soft and sleepy, her ruby lips parted, her voice deliciously husky.

She looked like a sex kitten.

“Um, surprise.” She waved.

With a cry, Gabriel ran toward her, crawling across the bed and placing his hands to her face so he could kiss her. He kissed her long and he kissed her well, their tongues touching until they were both breathless.

“What are you doing here?” He pushed her hair lovingly back from her face.

“Delivering the charger cord for your iPhone.” She pointed to the forgotten item sitting on the nightstand.

His long fingers slid to the back of her neck, where they massaged her skin. His eyes gleamed.

“You flew to New York to give me my phone cord?”

“Not just your phone cord. I also brought the attachment that plugs into the wall. You know, in case you wanted to charge it through an outlet.”

He kissed her nose. “I really missed that cord. Thank you.”

“Did you miss the attachment?”

“Absolutely. I was very, very lonely for it.” His lips curved into a half-smile.

“I was worried about you. We kept missing each other on the telephone.”

Gabriel’s expression shifted and his eyes looked tired. “We need a better form of communication.”

“Smoke signals, perhaps?”

“At this point, I’d accept passenger pigeons.”

She gestured to the table that held the strawberries and chocolates, some of which had already been consumed. “I ordered room service. I’m afraid I started without you. I didn’t expect you to be so late.”

He moved so that his back was against the headboard and pulled her into his lap, tucking the sheet around her naked body so she wouldn’t catch cold. “If I’d known you were waiting, I’d have come home hours ago. I was on Staten Island and then I went to Brooklyn to see our old apartment.”

“How did it go?”

“Everything seemed smaller than I remember it—the neighborhood, the building.” He brought their foreheads together. “I’m glad you’re here. I regretted my decision to come on my own almost the moment I left the house.”

She breathed deeply, inhaling his scent. She smelled Aramis and coffee and something that could have been soap. But she didn’t smell smoke.

“You’re quite the secret agent, Julianne. I had no idea you were coming.”

“I left a message for you with the concierge. When I arrived, he had one of the porters escort me.” She gazed around the room. “It’s a beautiful room.”

His lips twitched. “I would have booked a suite if I’d known you were coming.”

“This is far nicer than I could have imagined. And it has a breathtaking view of Central Park.”

His arms tightened around her. “So now that you’re here, what am I going to do with you?”

“You’re going to kiss me. Then you’re going to take off your suit and show me just how much you missed your phone cord.”

“And the attachment.”

“And the attachment.”

“I hope you napped on the plane.” Gabriel grinned before bringing his eager mouth to hers.

Chapter Sixty-one

G
abriel was still inside her, their bodies entwined. Julia was running her fingers lazily up and down his back as he held himself above her.

“You’re my family.” His thumb traced the curve of her cheek.

Julia’s eyes met his.

He continued, his voice a husky whisper. “All this searching, all this anxiety, when what I was looking for was right here.”

“Darling.” She pressed her palm against his jaw.

“I’m sorry I got lost in my head and shut you out.”

“Sweetie, you needed to find out more about your family. It was part of your healing.”

“What I needed was you.”

She gave him a heartbreaking smile, as if he’d handed her the world.

“I need you, too, Gabriel. I was sad while you were gone, even though Rebecca stayed with me. The house was so empty. And sleeping alone sucks.”

He laughed, and her body reacted to his movements.

“Remind me of this conversation the next time I’m determined to go off on my own.”

“
A man has to do what a man has to do.
But he should bring his wife with him.” She pushed his hair back from his forehead.

“I’d never argue with a naked woman.”

Her pretty features grew pensive.

He stroked her cheek again, his blue eyes darkening. “Have I made you sad?”

“I was just thinking about what Grace used to say.”

“And what’s that?”

“That marriage is a mystery. That two people somehow become knitted together until they’re one. When we’re separated, I feel as if part of me is missing.” She shifted slightly beneath him. “I’m glad you feel it, too.”

“I felt it before we were married, but it’s different now. The ache is more intense.”

“For a long time, I didn’t see how marriage could be something over and above love. But it is. I just can’t explain it.”

“Neither can I. Perhaps that’s why she called it a mystery.”

He looked down the length of their bodies.

“I suppose I should let you go.”

“I like this. It’s postcoital-cuddling-while-you’re-still-inside-me.”

“That’s the technical description, yes. If we wait long enough, we’ll be able to start up again.”

Julia flexed her muscles around him, and he twitched in response.

“As I recall, Professor, your recovery time is minimal.”

“Thank God for that,” he murmured, beginning to move inside her once again.

It must be said that in general, the Emersons slept better when they were together than they ever did apart. That evening was no exception.

(When they finally stopped making love long enough to sleep, that is.)

The following morning, Gabriel awoke, noticing that Julianne was still slumbering, her face pressed against one of his pectorals. He studied her profile without moving, resisting the urge to lift her chin so he could kiss her.

Instead, he memorized the skin of her back and shoulders with his fingers.

A great burden had been lifted from him. He hadn’t received exactly the answers he’d wished, but he’d received something better—the gift of his sister and his grandfather. Professor Spiegel was erudite and noble, well known for his intellectual insight and charity. He was a man Gabriel desired to know better. He was an ancestor whose blood he would be glad to pass on to his children.

The thought comforted him.

Kelly had introduced a seed of suspicion that their father was not the monster he’d thought. Gabriel’s memories and dreams were mixed to such a degree that it was possible he’d confused one with the other. Still, the facts he knew for certain about his father were damning enough.

What kind of man abandons the mother of his child and disowns his son?

His throat tightened as he thought of himself.

“Did you see your grandmother?” Julianne blinked up at him sleepily.

“Only from a distance. She was walking from her house to a car, with someone who is probably an uncle. At least, I think she was my grandmother. She lives in the same house.”

“You didn’t speak to them?”

“No.” He moved his hand to the small of her back, spanning the twin dimples that were above the curve of her backside. It was one of his favorite parts of her body.

(Privately, he contemplated planting a flag there in an act of corporeal colonialism.)

“Why not?” Julia was puzzled.

“They aren’t my family. Standing there, I realized I might as well be an alien to them. There was no connection. Nothing.” He sighed. “At least when I met my sister I recognized her eyes.”

Julia gave him a questioning look.

“She and I have our father’s eyes.”

“Don’t you need to speak to your grandmother to find out about your mother’s medical history?”

“Carson was able to get the autopsy report for my mother. He was also able to get information about her medical history, through dubious means.”

“And?”

“Heart disease and high blood pressure run in her family, but there wasn’t anything especially worrisome.”

Julia visibly relaxed under his fingers.

“That’s good news, isn’t it?”

“Yes.” Gabriel sounded strangely underwhelmed.

“What about your father’s side?”

“Kelly told me there was some heart disease on their side.”

“So you don’t want to meet your grandmother or your other relatives?”

“I have my mother’s diary and a few anecdotes from Kelly. That’s enough.”

“Kelly knew your mother?” Julia sat up next to him.

“She remembers meeting her when she worked for our father. And she recalls her parents fighting, presumably over my mother and me. I’d like to introduce you to Kelly. She and her husband have invited me to dinner tonight and then Friday night we’re supposed to go and visit our Aunt Sarah in Queens.”

“I’d love to meet your sister. But you might have to take me shopping for something to wear to dinner. Rebecca packed for me, so I have a carry-on full of lingerie and only one dress.”

Gabriel’s eyes grew heated. “Clearly, she doesn’t know you very well.”

“Why do you say that?”

He leaned forward, brushing her ear with his lips. “Because you sleep naked.”

Julia thrilled to his nearness. She began playing with the few strands of his chest hair.

“Did you finish your mother’s diary?”

“Yes.”

“And?”

“It’s about what you’d expect. As time wore on and she realized she would never have a life with my father, she grew more and more despondent, until finally, she stopped writing altogether.”

Julia rested her hand over his tattoo, gently pressing into the skin.

“Are you glad you came to New York?”

“Yes. Because of Kelly, I have some good news. Professor Benjamin Spiegel of Columbia was my grandfather.”

“Benjamin Spiegel,” she murmured. “I don’t recognize his name. Was he a Dante specialist?”

“No, he specialized in Romanticism. We read some of his work in grad school.”

“Katherine Picton despises the Romantics. She accused me once of giving a Romantic reading of Dante.”

Gabriel chuckled. “Not everyone appreciates the Romantics. But Professor Spiegel did. His writings were the gold standard for decades. He published in German, mostly, but a few of his articles are in English.”

“And he was your grandfather?”

“Yes.” Gabriel wore a look of pride. “Kelly tells me he was much loved at Columbia and well known for his charity work and his leadership in the Jewish community.”

Julia’s eyebrows lifted. “Why didn’t you know about him?”

“He and my father had a falling out. My father changed his name, turned his back on Judaism, and didn’t speak of his family. Kelly knew, of course. She’s in touch with our cousins.”

“Did she know him?”

“Unfortunately, he died before she was born.”

“I guess we know where your passion for literature came from. And your interest in kosher sex.”

He laughed. “My interest in kosher sex is derived from other things, but maybe there’s a connection.”

His face grew serious. “Learning about my grandfather was the saving grace of my visit.”

Julia’s smile faded. “What about your sisters?”

“Audrey won’t have anything to do with me. Kelly is wonderful, but she views my father in a very different light.” Gabriel grimaced. “I don’t know where the truth lies. Was he the loving dad she remembers or the man who hit my mother?”

“Maybe he was both.”

“Impossible.”

“I hope that he didn’t hit your mother or you, but it’s possible his relationship with his wife and other children was very different.”

“That isn’t comforting.”

“I’m sorry.”

Gabriel buried his face in her hair.

“Why didn’t he want us?”

Julia’s heart clenched.

“I think he wanted you, along with his other family. That was the problem. He wanted to have it all and he couldn’t. Any failure on his part is his, not yours.” She kissed Gabriel forcefully. “Will you tell me more about your sister? So much has happened and I’ve only been hearing pieces of it.”

“I will, but can it wait? There’s something
kosher
I’d rather do instead.” Gabriel rolled to his back, pulling her on top of him.

After room service had been delivered and eaten, Julianne returned to bed, covering herself with a sheet.

“Let’s just stay here all day and have sex.”

Gabriel sat at her feet, his eyes sparkling. “Now that’s the Julianne I know and love. But don’t you have a paper to finish?”

“I’d rather finish you.” She crooked a finger.

He was just about to pull the sheet from her naked body when his iPhone rang.

He glanced at it.

Then his eyes traveled to Julia’s.

“Who is it?” she asked.

Gabriel wore a sour expression. “Your uncle Jack.”

“Why is he calling you?” She sat up, tugging the sheet with her. “Do you think something’s wrong with my dad? Or the baby?”

“I hope not.”

He unplugged his phone and held it to his ear. “Hello?”

“Emerson. I’m standing in a Fed Ex depot in Washington, D.C.” As always, Jack came straight to the point.

“And?”

“I’m holding a flash drive that contains videos and photographs, some of which are of my niece. And they aren’t exactly G-rated.”

Gabriel sat down on the edge of the bed.

“You told me you got everything,” he growled.

“Thought I did. The girl must have had a backup hidden somewhere. She tried to send it to Andrew Sampson at
The Washington Post
.”

“Then fix it. This is your problem.”

“Know that. Just called to discuss the play.”

Gabriel’s eyes darted to Julia’s.

What’s going on
? she mouthed.

He held up a single finger, indicating that she should wait.

“What do you suggest?”

“The girl is angry with her boyfriend because he dumped her to marry someone else. She wants to embarrass him and his father. I say we help her. I’ll copy everything having to do with the girl and her boyfriend to a new flash drive and send it.”

“Isn’t that risky?”

“It implicates them and keeps my niece out of it.”

Gabriel looked at Julianne—at the way her eyebrows were knitted together, a wrinkle forming in between them.

“Your niece is here. Let me speak to her about it and I’ll call you back.”

“I don’t have a lot of time.”

“I’m not making this decision for her.” Gabriel disconnected the call, tossing the phone on the bed.

He scrubbed his face with his hands.

Julia moved closer. “What’s going on? Why is Jack calling you?”

“Apparently Natalie had a flash drive of photos and videos hidden somewhere. She tried to Fed Ex it to
The Washington Post
.”

“What?” Julia screeched. “It’s going to be on the Internet. It’s going to be in the newspapers. Oh my God. Oh my God.”

She buried her face in her hands and began rocking back and forth.

Gabriel reached out to touch her shoulder. “Not so fast. Jack intercepted it. He wants to know what he should do with it.”

Julia dropped her hands. “Tell him to destroy it. Ask him to find all the copies and destroy them, too.”

“Are you sure? He can delete the photos involving you and send the rest. They’d get what they deserve.”