Chapter 6 - A New Dawn
Six months later, the bay outside the Costa estate sparkled under a brilliant autumn sun.
The house was different now. The armed guards were still at the gates, but the heavy iron doors were open more often than not. The east wing biometric scanner had been reprogrammed, and my name was on the access list.
I sat on the stone patio overlooking the water, grading a stack of fourth-grade spelling tests with a red pen.
Footsteps crunched on the gravel behind me.
“You’re working too hard,” Gabriel said, setting a ceramic mug of black coffee on the table beside my papers. He leaned against the stone balustrade, wearing a casual navy sweater that made his gray eyes look startlingly clear.
“Someone has to teach the next generation how to spell bureaucracy,” I replied without looking up from a particularly disastrous attempt at the word.
“Vance and Diane got their sentencing yesterday,” Gabriel said quietly.
I paused, my red pen hovering over the paper. “How many years?”
“Twelve for Vance. Ten for Diane. They’ll be sharing a federal facility about two hours north. And the courts officially restituted your father’s estate, along with punitive damages seized from their hidden offshore accounts.” Gabriel smiled slightly. “You’re a very wealthy young woman, Nora Mercer.”
I set the pen down and leaned back in my chair, looking out across the sparkling water.
“I don't care about the money,” I said honestly. “Well, maybe a little bit. It buys good coffee.”
“And what about your stepfamily?”
“They’re ghosts, Gabriel. Just bad memories I used to think I had to live with.” I turned my head to look at him, meeting his steady gaze. “What about you? Are you going to keep running this syndicate forever, or are you planning on retiring to a nice quiet vineyard somewhere?”
Gabriel stepped closer, resting his hands on the arms of my chair, caging me in gently with warmth and strength.
“I was thinking,” he said, his voice dropping into a low, rumbling timbre that sent a pleasant shiver down my spine, “about investing in a schoolteacher. Someone stubborn, dangerous with a candelabra, and entirely impossible to get rid of.”
I reached up, wrapping my fingers around the lapel of his sweater, pulling him down just an inch.
May you like
“You already bought me, remember?” I murmured. “Fifty thousand dollars. No refunds.”
Gabriel laughed, a rich, genuine sound that chased away the last shadows of the storm, and kissed me softly in the bright afternoon sun.
