“You wanna see the rest of it?” I asked.

  I pulled her back inside securing the doors behind us. The kitchen was laid out for a gourmet chief. Even though she didn’t cook, it was still setup with anything a cook would need. I planned to appreciate it even if she never used it. Stainless steel appliances complimented the space. Granite counter tops rested around them. The hardwood floor, that had been in the living room, stopped at the threshold of the kitchen and was replaced with stone tiles.

  We passed by the dining room that matched the living room in design but was large enough to seat a family of twelve. I dragged her passed three guest rooms, plus one and a half bathrooms, until I pulled her into the master suite.

  It was divine. A large king size bed rested against a wall, which was made entirely out of glass. Matching nightstands were placed on either side of the bed. The closet was a walk-in with enough room for a small study. The last place I led her to was the master bathroom. It had a huge claw foot tub, big enough for two. The entire room was covered in stone tiling. The shower opened up into the space. It held no door. His and her sinks sat in a granite counter top. The entire apartment screamed wealth and luxury.

  “Is this for us?” she whispered.

  “All for us.” I wrapped my arms around her waist.

  “It had to cost you a small fortune.”

  “You’re worth it,” I whispered against her neck.

  She spun in my arms to face me. “I love it, but you do know that I was entirely happy where we were.”

  I smiled shyly. “I know. I knew you would never ask me to move. But I think this was the right thing.”

  “And the other apartment?”

  I shrugged. “We’re keeping it. That way if we have visitors that we don’t want staying with us,” I cleared my throat, “like my parents, they’ll have their privacy and we’ll maintain ours.”

  Gaby

  After christening a few rooms in our new apartment, enjoying a well-deserved meal, followed by breaking in our new bedroom, I was busy unpacking one of the boxes we had loaded up that morning.

  “There’s something I wanted to show you that we didn’t get to earlier,” Grayson whispered against my neck, making me whimper as his hands slid around my waist.

  “Really? There’s more?” I didn’t understand what else there could be. He nodded then tugged me along.

  We moved down the hall until we stood by the door just outside of our bedroom. He opened it and flipped the lights. The room was empty.

  “I don’t understand,” I glanced around for some sign as to why he brought me here.

  “This is the baby’s room,” he breathed. My lips parted feeling enlightened. “I read new moms like to nest so I didn’t want to have the designer do this room if you wanted to do it, but at the same time, I can call her if you have other things you’d rather…” I cut him off with my lips on his.

  “Thank you,” I whispered before kissing him again. He pulled back with a smile and nodded.

  The first day Grayson went to work after moving us into our new apartment, I felt lonelier than ever even though I wasn’t alone. Sebastian sat on the couch flipping through the channels. Grayson hadn’t been too enthused with his appearance that morning, but my safety couldn’t be one hundred percent on Jade. It would be too much for her alone.

  “You know there’s a guide channel?” I asked flatly sitting at the opposite end of the couch.

  “Sorry. Did you want to watch…” he offered me the remote. I held my hands up and shook my head. “Something wrong?” he asked. I sighed and handed him my phone. I knew what he would see as he thumbed through the lock screen. He didn’t even need to unlock the phone to see the contents. I had half a dozen missed calls and twice that in texts, all from Shawn.

  “He was working with Ava,” I said tightly.

  Sebastian frowned. “That explains why she disappeared.” I hadn’t known about that. “You wanna get some air? Being stuck inside, even in an apartment as nice as this, has to be a little suffocating.”

  I nodded gratefully. Fresh air sounded great.

  Sebastian took us to Washington Square Park. I had figured with him being new to the city he’d have tried Central Park, which was where Shawn and I normally met. It was huge and we could easily get lost in. Seeing as it was early November, I was surprised to see so many people scurrying about. I was bundled up in my gray peacoat that I could no longer button while Sebastian, staying true to his sense of style, wore his black leather jacket. I wasn’t sure how the cold affected angels or if his jacket even prevented the cool air from penetrating, but he seemed comfortable.

  “It’s lunch time,” Sebastian explained when my brow knitted from seeing so many people about. After some walking I started having a difficult time catching my breath. My hand rested on my belly where some pressure was building. “Here,” Sebastian turned to me. He replaced my hand with his. With a little pressure from his fingertips and the gentle circle he rubbed, the tension disappeared. He smiled tenderly with his eyes not meeting mine. Speaking low, he explained, “It was a foot.” Swallowing hard he led me to a bench to rest. I didn’t ask how he knew I needed to sit. He seemed to need the silence.

  When a lady asked if she could sit, I smiled and scooted towards Sebastian. He rested his arm on the back of the bench as I slid closer. The lady seemed to need more room and I was soon pressed against Sebastian’s side. Instead of tensing over his proximity, I leaned in and rested my head on his shoulder. After a moment, he draped his arm over my shoulder and for a brief instant it felt like we were old friends.

  “Gaby?” A strident voice called out.

  I sat up searching for who called me. My eyes landed on the familiar man. Ralph had been my boss at Gates and Summers before they pushed me out and forced me to take a leave of absence, which I was still technically on.

  “Ralph?” I stood from the bench with Sebastian’s help and approached the balding, middle-aged man. He eyed Sebastian suspiciously then his gaze came to rest on my protruding stomach.

  “Oh wow! Look at you,” he stunned me by pulling me into a hug. “I heard you tied the knot.”

  I smiled and nodded. “A few months ago.” His focus returned to Sebastian. I thought it would be rude to ignore him. “Ralph this is my…friend, Sebastian. Sebastian this is my old boss Ralph.”

  “Nice to meet you,” Sebastian offered his hand. Ralph tentatively took it before returning his focus back to me, blatantly ignoring the fallen angel.

  “Well this explains why you didn’t return back to work,” he said admiring my tummy.

  “I’m sorry?” I didn’t know what he meant.

  “I mean when we offered your position back.” When I still stared at him bewildered he tried again. “We called and sent a letter to you. We discovered that the complaint wasn’t from an employee at all so we had no grounds to keep you from doing your job, which you were fabulous at by the way.” I was still confused. “You didn’t know?” I shook my head. Ralph began shifting uncomfortably. “Well, I’m on lunch so I better get back. It was good to see you. Congratulations on the baby and the new husband. Alexander is a lucky man.”

  I stood there staring at the space Ralph had just occupied. How could they have offered my job back and I not know? I missed a letter and a call?

  “Gaby?” Sebastian approached hesitantly, his palm finding the small of my back. The moment I felt the pressure of his hand I spun to face him.

  “I need you to take me to see Grayson.” He studied me. He seemed unsure if he should give into my request. He had just heard the same conversation too. “Please?” He let out a deep breath, wrapped his arm around me and led the way.

  When I arrived at Alexander Holding Incorporated, it felt odd to have Sebastian accompany me. He had offered once before to escort me, but it had been when Grayson was missing and it felt wrong to have Sebastian’s presence there. This time I was doing my best to rein my temper. I was livid and I was trying to discover whom I needed to aim my rage at. Grayson was first on my list. He was the only one with access to both my phone and the mail.

  Betty had the day off so Ms. Giles sat behind the desk. “Miss Carmichael he’s on a call.” She stated when she saw me approach.

  “It’s Mrs. Alexander and tell him he has five minutes or I’m coming in.”

  Ms. Giles’s eyes bugged, but she nodded before moving to Grayson’s office. “I’m sorry Mrs. Alexander. I forgot that you two were married,” she replied once she returned to her desk. She eyed Sebastian who stood by with his arms crossed over his chest. He wouldn’t let me come up alone. Ms. Giles’s face lit up then flushed red.

  “Gaby?” Grayson’s voice pulled me away from studying his secretary. I wasn’t sure if the woman was in awe of Sebastian’s otherworldly features or what. She seemed agitated staring at him. I stood from my seat and was grateful Sebastian didn’t follow.

  Once the door was closed, I spun on my heels. “Did you know?” I spat.

  Grayson glared at me confused. “I need a little more to go on, Gaby. You’re angry. What happened?”

  “I ran into Ralph today at the park.”

  He groaned running his fingers through his hair with agitation. “What were you doing at the park? I thought you were home?” He seemed upset. He couldn’t be upset. I was upset. I couldn’t believe he had the audacity to be upset when I clearly had been first.

  “That’s not the issue. I was with Sebastian. I was safe. He could have gotten me out of there in a moments notice. Now did you know?”

  “Know what?” his voice orotund.

  “About Ralph? About Gates and Summers?” He stood there staring at me. He seemed to be waiting for something to trigger in his mind to make sense. “They offered me my job back.”

  “And that’s why you came barging in here yelling at me? Is it because of Ava?”

  “What? No!” I was getting aggravated the more I talked to him. “Is that why you gave me Social Productions?”

  “Gaby,” he groaned running his palm over his face. “I really don’t know what you’re upset about. I thought you’d want to run your own business. If working at Gates and Summers is what you want, we can sell Social Productions, or hire someone else to run it, but then it could be awkward for you working at a competitor.”

  “So you didn’t tell me about them offering my job back because you assumed I’d want to be my own boss?”

  He gawked at me in disbelief. “What are you talking about? You just told me about the job offer.”

  “Grayson,” I yelled frustrated. “Gates and Summers offered me my job back months ago. They called and sent a letter. Neither of which did I receive.”

  The room grew quiet. Grayson seemed to finally understand why I was so upset. “Gaby,” he sighed. “I would never interfere in your work that way. I didn’t know about the job. I never hid anything from you. I’m hurt that you think I would.”

  Even without my vampire hearing I knew he was truthful. I suddenly felt completely irrational. Grayson had never shown that he was capable of what I was accusing him over. The fight drained from me and I let out a heavy breath. “I’m sorry. I was upset when he told me and I don’t know why. I don’t even want that job. I want Social Productions. I want to run my own business. And I should know you’re not capable of that. You’ve never given me a reason to think you were hiding something from me.”

  I watched him stiffen. It was so brief and then he pulled me into his arms. “I’m sorry too.”

  I eyed him from under my lashes. “You have nothing to apologize for. I came in here throwing accusations around. Forgive me?”

  He gave me a tight-lipped smile that was forced. “Of course.” Then kissed me. “There is something I have to tell you.” He looked nervous which was unusual for Grayson.

  “Oh?”

  His fingers tightened around my waist. He looked anywhere but at me. Finally, he let out a sigh. “I can’t go with you to your mother’s tonight.”

  Grayson

  “Oh,” I could hear the disappointment in her voice, but at the same time there was a surprised undertone not expecting that to be my answer. With the poison she still had in her system it dulled her supernatural capabilities, although she was still far from human.

  Persephone had called that morning before dawn. She knew I got up early for work. She invited Gaby and I over for a family dinner at the New York nest. I was a little taken aback for two reasons. One, she hadn’t taken it well when she discovered Gaby was feeding from Sebastian, but she could join the club on that one. I at least tried to keep my opinions to myself. Two, since she married Damien, almost everything was done at The Angelo Tower.

  “There’s something I have to take care of, but I’ll meet you there to take you home.” She would be safe at the nest her mother ran.

  She smiled gently and cupped my face. I hated keeping things from her, but I wasn’t ready to tell her. “It’s all right.” I turned my head and kissed her palm. Just then Ms. Giles knocked on my door.

  “Mr. Alexander?” she barely cracked the door. “Your one thirty is here.”

  “Thanks,” I called out just as she closed the door.

  “I guess I should get going.” Gaby said and I agreed with a nod then led her to the door. “I’ll see you tonight? After, I mean.”

  “Of course,” I kissed her chastely since we were no longer inside my office. She pulled away and began moving towards the elevator. When she noticed she was alone she turned back glancing at Sebastian.

  “Go ahead. Give me a second?” He told her. She hesitated for a moment. I know she was nervous every time we were around each other. Not that I blamed her. Sebastian wanted what was mine. But Gaby moved towards the elevator and waited. “Tonight when I drop her off at her mother’s, I’m going to feed her, just so you know.” A brick sank into my stomach. I hated that he was the one to do this for her.

  “Thanks for the heads up.” When he didn’t move I eyed him with a furrowed brow.

  “You shouldn’t lie to her,” he stated.

  I stiffened trying to not show my temper. Did he think I was capable of keeping Gaby’s job from her? “I didn’t,” I spoke through clenched teeth.

  “I’m not talking about her job. Whatever it is that you’re lying to her about, you should tell her. Not only because she deserves it, but because she will find out eventually and it will only make it worse.” I opened my mouth to argue, but he silenced me with a wave of his hand. “I don’t need to hear it. My hearing is perfectly fine, even through an office door.” Without waiting for a reply he stalked towards my wife, who smiled as he approached.

  I took my meeting after Gaby and Sebastian were gone. I had been upset that she was out of the apartment, but I knew she wasn’t a prisoner and I couldn’t treat her as such. I just wanted her and the baby safe. When she started in on her job, I knew she had a right to be furious, but she was just angry about the wrong thing.

  When five thirty came, I grabbed my stuff to head out. Gaby should be on the way to her mother’s and I thought about trying to meet her after Sebastian had mentioned feeding her. My plans could wait.

  Ms. Giles sat nervously, fidgeting at her desk when I exited my office. I was perplexed to see her still there. I had sent her home thirty minutes earlier.

  “Mr. Alexander,” she jumped when I closed my door.

  “Ms. Giles, why are you still here?” I wondered if she was riding out the clock. If she needed extra money, I could find her something to do.

  “I was hoping to speak with you, but you’ve been busy today.”

  “By all means,” I gestured for her to speak freely. The woman was old enough to be my mother. I allowed her more liberties than I would other employees.

  She worried her hands and I didn’t know why she was nervous. I could practically smell it coming off of her. “Did you want to speak in my office?” I thought it was silly to ask. We were the only two people on the floor, but maybe being in the office would make her comfortable enough to speak. She nodded. I turned, opening the door and gesturing for her to step inside.

  “It’s not my place, but I felt like I should say something,” she announced as we approached my desk.

  “Alright…” I sat on the edge of my desk while Ms. Giles took the seat in front.

  “I’ve always liked Miss Gaby, but when you went missing… The way she…” My breathing halted and for a brief moment, I froze. This was about Gaby. I hadn’t expected that. “That man she was with today. Are you aware of who he is, sir? He was photographed her with,” she lowered her voice and whispered, “kissing,” like it was a curse.

  I gripped the edge of me desk unable to do anything else. When the wood started to crack under the pressure I released it. Putting on the mask I had worked on manufacturing I smiled at Ms. Giles as sweetly as I could. “I appreciate your concern. I am perfectly aware of who that man was.” Her eyes caught mine. They dilated until her pupils practically covered her hazel irises and I knew I had her. “He is no one but a friend. So unless something new arises you will forget about Gaby kissing that man. You will forget about the news article you read and you will treat Gaby just the same as if nothing had happened. Do you understand?”

  “I will forget,” she whispered, her gaze locked on mine. I broke away severing the link. When I returned my focus to her she was blinking, trying to clear her head.

  “Is there anything you needed to discuss, Ms. Giles? You asked to speak to me?”

  She glanced around unsure of what happened. “I apologize sir. It seems to have slipped my mind. Old age,” she offered.

  I smiled understandingly and escorted her to the elevator. When we arrived at the ground floor I bid her goodnight. I needed to hurry with my plans before I met up with Gaby, deciding it couldn’t wait.

  Gaby