COUNTERPOINT
An original romantic serialFrom Alina Adams the author of "When a Man Loves a Woman" (DELL 4/00), "Annie's Wild Ride" (AVON 8/98), "Inside Figure Skating" (METROBOOKS 11/00 & 9/99), "Thieves at Heart" (AVON 12/95) and "The Fictitious Marquis" (AVON 6/95)
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CHAPTER 24
"What is it, sweetheart?" Gabriel's smile made her soul dance. He clasped both her hands in his, playfully swinging them from side to side. "What did you want to tell me?"
She couldn't remember the last time she'd felt this way. She doubted she ever had. Nicole wondered what Robin would make of it. After all, he was the one who always told Nicole she never thought about anybody's happiness except her own, boasting, "That's why you and I compliment each other so well. None of those pesky, generous impulses to get in the way of our instant gratification."
If Robin knew what was going through Nicole's mind right now, he'd probably laugh. He'd tell her she was losing her edge. She was dropping her standards. What was Nicole thinking?
She knew exactly what she was thinking. She was thinking that Gabriel was her friend, the first friend she'd ever known. She was thinking that he was decent, and he accepted Nicole for who she was and he made her feel, if not suitable, than, at least less squalid, about the transgressions she'd committed to survive. And, when he smiled at her, she melted in a way she never had before, not even in the early days with Robin.
She also knew that she had no right to think that way.
From the day she turned thirteen, the newly christened Nicole Simonge had lived for only one objective, and everything she'd done since then had been a steppingstone to her achieving it. Now that she finally had it all -- well, all right, granted, maybe not all, in the original fantasy her husband had rarely expressed a wish to see her drop dead, but, hell, she could work on that -- Nicole was not about to surrender it.
And so she told Gabriel, without meeting his eyes, "We've had enough zoo for today. It's time to go home."
What exactly she planned to do once she got back to that sty, Nicole couldn't say. After Gabriel dropped her and Eve off, she spent an hour pacing the cramped room, growling at anything, from cockroach to daughter, that dared scurry in her way, and wondering what the hell had come over her that afternoon. She felt out of sorts, ready to leap from her own skin at the pettiest provocation, so on edge that she could feel her skin vibrating from the tension. Finally, unable to stand another minute, Nicole grabbed the phone, dialed the Fairmont, and asked for Robin's room. When he answered and confirmed that he was there, she hung up. Telling Eve to order something from room-service, Nicole grabbed her purse and left.
She didn't have too long of a wait outside the Fairmont. As was his habit, Robin exited around ten, dressed so divinely it made Nicole physically pine for the days when he liked to escort her on shopping sprees along the Riviera, demanding closing approval over everything she bought because, as he explained, "I insist on making my entrance with just the right accessories."
She shadowed Robin to a succession of nightclubs, thrilled to catch him flirting with any woman who wriggled across his path, and accepting phone numbers scrawled on everything from business cards to cocktail napkins to lipstick on his palm. The sight made Nicole grin. Obviously, Miss Morgan hadn't proven enough of a distraction to keep Robin's eye from wandering further.
Nicole could have told him that from the start.
At two-thirty in the morning, she assumed Robin was on his way to another club, and even considered calling it a night -- she had a hunch Gabriel wouldn't like her leaving Eve for this long -- when Nicole realized that Robin was headed for Victoria's apartment.
She watched him go in, and, quite patiently, waited for him to come out again. He never came out.
Nicole couldn't believe it. He was spending the night? Robin never spent the night. He preferred to fuck and get the hell out. Less complications that way.
This was getting way, way out of hand. Victoria Morgan had to be stopped. Quickly.
And so Nicole hurried home to pick up Eve.
Three hours later, she was feeling sorry she'd ever gotten out of bed. And not just because the sight of Robin defending his slut had made Nicole nauseous. But, because of the picture of Gabriel.
Victoria Morgan's brother.
Not even Robin's repeated infidelity had made Nicole feel as betrayed and as devastated as the sight of that photo. Maybe that was because Robin never claimed to be trustworthy, and Gabriel had worked so hard to convince her he was. And because she'd been fool enough to believe him.
Nicole was still shaking when she got back to the motel. She sat down on one of the beds, hugging herself so tightly her fingers left bruises on her forearms, and rocking back and forth, trying to regain control. Through tears, she swore she'd make them pay. All of them. Robin, Victoria, Gabriel.
Especially Gabriel.
At the conclusion of his shift at the clinic, Gabriel picked up the phone to call Nicole without fully realizing that it was a habit he'd gotten into over the past weeks. Their association had crept up on him almost without Gabriel's knowledge. When he first saw Nicole in the Cooper parking garage, his only goal had been to rescue the beautiful damsel in distress. Later, he'd been moved by Eve's hunger for affection. Gabriel might have blamed her mother for the neglect, if only Nicole weren't suffering so severely from the same ill. She touched him. He couldn't explain it. Despite the misery he encountered daily at work, Nicole touched him deeper than anyone he'd ever known. She reminded him of a princess forced to survive in a world of ugliness. A changeling of sorts.
Gabriel chuckled. Such flights of fancy were out of character for his usual, pragmatic approach to life. Yet, Nicole aroused him to poetry. If not honesty.
He hated himself for deceiving her about his relationship with Victoria. But, once he'd chickened out of telling her immediately, the moment was permanently lost. He couldn't tell her now. Nicole would never understand why he had kept quiet for so long. Frankly, sometimes Gabriel didn't understand it, either. All he knew was, the prospect of being cut out of Nicole's life for good was a risk he'd rather sacrifice his principles for, than take.
He'd planned on taking her and Eve to the movies that evening, and, since the theater was closer to his place than theirs, Gabriel gave Nicole a key to his apartment, telling them to meet him there and wait, in case Gabriel got held up at work. Which, of course, was precisely what happened. However, by the time Gabriel arrived home, forty minutes late, there was still no sign of Nicole or Eve. Thinking maybe they'd gotten their signals crossed, Gabriel called Nicole at the motel, and, when there was no answer, drove over.
When she opened the door, all it took was one glimpse into her eyes, and Gabriel saw that she knew everything.
She stared at him with such hate, such malice, and with such heartbreaking grief, it was all Gabriel could do to prevent himself from taking her in his arms and comforting her. The notion that he was responsible for contributing pain to the life of a woman who'd already suffered so much tore at his soul, and he would have been willing to do anything at that moment, to make it all better.
Nicole never gave him the chance.
He expected her to yell, or to call him some of the expletives she'd accumulated to heave at Robin over the years.
But, Nicole only swallowed hard and slammed the door, leaving Gabriel outside. Alone.