Chapter 13

CHAPTER 13

Kat

I t's not quite dusk as I pull up to Gabe's sprawling new mansion, but every single interior light is turned on, as is the outdoor landscape lighting, making the house glow warmer than the sinking sun. The classic terra-cotta brick with stark white accents provide a sharp contrast to the early-evening hues of blue and pink. The front is framed by fluted columns rising from stone bases to support a gabled portico large enough to hold three cars side by side. I park on a herringbone pattern of brick paving as Sylvie leans forward in the passenger seat and practically shrieks. "Oh, wow… look at that house."

Indeed.

I gave Gabe a lot of shit about buying something so grandiose, but one cannot deny its beauty. I can't help but smile at Sylvie's enthusiasm, as she's been practically bouncing in the seat with excitement to see her uncle. The entire drive here, it's been a running litany of chatter filling the car. If I had to name an emotion I'm feeling right now, regrettably, I'm looking forward to seeing Gabe and I have no clue why. I'm still angry that he kissed me three nights ago at the gala.

I have to remind myself that I am here to discuss business. There are only two things relevant to this visit—for Sylvie to see her uncle, who is so important to her, and for Gabe to go over an offer by an investor to fund the expansion. Other than that, there should be nothing even remotely interesting to me and if anything, I should hate being around him.

My Jeep is barely in park before Sylvie's tossing the door open and scrambling out. "Come on, Aunt Kat."

I grin as I follow, thoroughly warmed by the way she calls me aunt . I've only held this title a few months now, but it's opened inside me a love I never knew I could have for a child. I've never thought I'd make a particularly good mother, but Sylvie makes me rethink that. Granted, I work with kids on a daily basis, but teaching them how to ride horses doesn't necessarily translate into maternal instincts.

Sylvie, however, makes me think otherwise because she's so damn easy to love.

The door swings open before we make it onto the portico and there stands Gabe dressed casually in a pair of cargo shorts and a navy T-shirt. I haven't seen him dress like this since our college days and he sure as hell looks boyish enough right now with a whip of his blond hair hanging over his forehead. His molten expression is guarded as his eyes come to me first and then warm with welcome when they land on Sylvie. She throws herself into his arms and he hugs her tightly.

"Your house is amazing," Sylvie gushes, having seen nothing but the exterior at this point.

Chuckling, Gabe puts his arm around her shoulders and guides her inside without casting a backward glance at me. I know I'm invited to follow along because technically, I'm still a chaperone. Ethan's not prepared to let Sylvie have alone time with her uncle quite yet.

I enter behind them, closing the door. Gabe leads his niece through the foyer into the formal living area. "I'll give you the grand tour."

Sylvie's head swivels as she looks around the opulent room. She moves to the grand piano that sits atop the circular dais and touches a few of the keys. "If you want to continue lessons," Gabe says to his niece, "I'll be glad to set them up."

I'm stunned by this revelation. "You play piano?"

Sylvie nods with a toothy grin. "Started when I was four."

How did we not know that?

As Sylvie walks around the living area, I take a moment to really soak in the décor. It's sophisticated yet looks homey at the same time, and homey is the last word I'd use to describe Gabe. In fact, it's completely impossible for me to envision Gabe in such an environment but what do I know. This is his home now. Maybe he's changed.

Sylvie is as shocked as I am by how beautiful the house is. Such a stark contrast to the cold contemporary feel of Lionel and Rosemund's house, and yet also completely different from the Blackburns' historical home.

Gabe takes Sylvie through each room, culminating on the top floor where the bedrooms are located. I'm shocked when he takes us into the master bedroom as I didn't think he would share that personal side of himself with me in tow.

My mouth is totally agape when we walk in and I know I'll never see as beautiful a bedroom as this one. Three exterior walls are nothing but massive bay windows with white shutters and I can only imagine how bright this room is at midday. What's most shocking is that the room is filled with plants of all types, from small trailing vines to young trees in large pots. They're all healthy and some are budding with flowers and I refuse for a second to believe that Gabe takes care of them himself. I'm not ready to admit he might have normal talents.

"Isn't this room amazing?" Sylvie asks me as she gazes out one of the windows.

I glance at Gabe who leans against the doorjamb watching. "It's definitely… tranquil," I admit.

We move down a long hall to look at some of the guest rooms. Gabe opens a door to a room, motioning me and Sylvie in. "I thought that maybe one day, if you're allowed to come stay here with me for a visit, this could be your room."

Sylvie gasps as she enters and I see why. It's a little girl's dream.

It's not overtly feminine but it fits Sylvie. The room is anchored by a wrought iron bed, dressed in layers of puffy white bedding that looks as soft as a cloud. A luxurious chandelier with crystal droplets casts a soft glow, enhancing the room's warm taupe walls. Flanking the bed are nightstands, topped with crystal lamps and a circular, off-white lounge chair nestles in the corner. Along another wall is a desk that sits atop a zebra-print rug, which is exactly the dash of whimsy that Sylvie would want if she were to ask.

"I bought this place fully furnished and I'm guessing they had daughters."

Sylvie's smile wanes a bit. "I don't think my dad will let me stay anytime soon."

"That's understandable," Gabe says, and I do a double take his way. The fact he'd validate Ethan's feelings is astounding and well… appreciated. His eyes flick to me briefly before he says, "Well, maybe your aunt Kat can stay overnight with you?"

My stomach flutters because while I'm sure he's talking about only in my capacity as a chaperone, for a fleeting moment, I wonder what it would be like if circumstances were different. What would it be like to lie in that big bed of his? Have his skills as a lover grown over time? Although I admit, he was damn good when he was younger.

Sylvie rounds on me. "Would you stay over here, Aunt Kat?"

"I don't know," I say hesitantly and her smile falters, so I hastily amend, "I'm sure we can work out something."

"Can Renault stay?" Sylvie asks as she glances back to her uncle. Renault is her dog that she had in France and Gabe worked to bring here to the States for her.

"Always," Gabe says easily.

The house is so enormous it takes almost half an hour to see everything and then we're walking out onto the back patio along a garden path to an enormous building of iron and glass.

"What is that?" Sylvie asks.

"The pool house," Gabe says. "You did bring your bathing suit, didn't you?"

She did indeed because I told her to pack it. Sylvie, however, presumed Gabe had a run-of-the-mill, in-ground pool, not a gorgeous Olympic-size indoor pool.

"Wow," Sylvie exclaims as she rushes inside, leaving Gabe and me to follow.

"Aren't you even the slightest bit embarrassed how ostentatious all of this is?" I ask as we stand shoulder to shoulder, watching Sylvie traverse the custom tilework that surrounds the pool. I know I asked him something like that once before, completely nasty and condescending.

God help me… now I seem to be teasing.

"Not at all," he says with a grin.

Gabe shows us an upstairs living area above the pool, the pungent smell of chemicals not as strong up there. It has a balcony that looks over rolling hills all bordered by white fencing and in the distance atop a ridge sits a beautiful barn that I'd estimate could hold eight horses. "Maybe you can have a horse here one day if you decide you want to ride," Gabe says.

"How about I take a lesson if you take a lesson?" Sylvie asks him, her eyes twinkling mischievously.

I'm completely caught off guard by her offer to Gabe as Sylvie has been adamantly opposed to riding. It's been a sore spot with Ethan—he believes every Blackburn has equine DNA in their blood. She's admittedly been afraid and hesitant but she's spent a lot of time in the barn lately, so maybe she's getting used to the idea.

Gabe's eyes slide to me. "Is your aunt Kat willing to teach us both how to ride?"

I smile at him tartly. "For Sylvie, absolutely. For you, it will cost."

Gabe chuckles. "Fair enough."

We head back to the house and Gabe says, "I was just going to order some Chinese food for us. Sound good?"

"Can I swim first?" Sylvie asks.

Gabe looks to me and I shrug. "Sure. Gabe and I can go over winery stuff while you swim, then we'll eat."

Sylvie scrambles for the bag she brought in. "I'm going to get dressed in my room."

I start to correct her but then stop myself. This is exciting to her and I can never forget that Gabe is the closest thing Sylvie has to her mother. And if I were to guess, there will come a day when Sylvie will have full access to her uncle. It's just not for me to say when.

When Sylvie disappears up the staircase, I turn to Gabe. "I have some good news for you."

One eyebrow arches high. "Since when does a Blackburn give a Mardraggon good news?"

My lips twitch, but I press on. "Ethan is going to let Sylvie go to France with you as soon as school is out. Our parents will still take her in August, but she's really homesick and so he thinks this will be great for her."

"Really?" Gabe exclaims. "I didn't think he'd ever go for it."

Neither did I, to be honest. It was a hard sell and tempers rose around the dinner table last night. I waited until after we'd all eaten and Sylvie had gone upstairs to shower and lay out her clothes for the school day. That gave me about half an hour of privacy to get the group's collective opinion, because I knew Ethan wouldn't make a decision without running it by everyone.

"Gabe has requested that he be allowed to take Sylvie back to Saint-émilion when she gets out of school." Mouths opened and glares formed, but I hastily added, "Obviously, I would go along as a chaperone and it would give me a better idea of how the winery operates."

Ethan was silent, but that is his way. If he wasn't in flat-out, one-word denial, he was thinking. Marcie reached over and put her hand on his, showing that she would support his decision regardless. My mom was bothered that she wouldn't have the first opportunity to take Sylvie to France and immediately started talking to my dad about canceling their other trip they had already planned and paid for which conflicts with their ability to take her now instead of in August. Trey and Wade were the ones who blew up, immediately fueling the flames and, in a way, attacking me.

"There's no way that asshole is allowed to take Sylvie out of the country," Wade snapped. "Are you crazy? He's Mardraggon."

"He can't be trusted," Trey added. "None of them can be. How could you even bring something like this to the table for consideration?"

They raged and cursed, but a sharp look from our mom ended their protests. Still, it didn't stop them from calling me ten kinds of stupid for even thinking it. Throughout it all I didn't say a word, just waited for them to run out of steam and when they finished, I reiterated my reasoning. "Gabe has shown his loyalty is to Sylvie, not the Mardraggon family. Sylvie loves him deeply and needs this relationship because he's the last tie to her mom. She's homesick and she's going to be perfectly safe with me along."

Ethan sat back and pondered it all.

When my bonehead brothers finally shut up, I realized it wasn't just me I was defending in my reasoning for letting her go but also Gabe. Something in me had softened toward him—not as a man who I had a prior relationship with but a human being who was desperately trying to hold on to a bond with his niece because he cares so much for her.

I continued laying it all out there, mostly for Trey and Wade's benefit, so I looked directly at them. "I don't feel like I should have to remind you, but apparently I do because you two are too dense. Gabe turned his father in to the police and is the one person who guaranteed Sylvie's safety. On top of that, he removed the death clause from the trust agreement, which not only further guarantees her safety, but in case you didn't figure it out, it removed the winery from the Mardraggon legacy. That business has been in their family for over a hundred years and he basically gave it to the Blackburns. He's busting his ass to make it better for Sylvie and he gets nothing from that. So quit trying to paint him as a villain when in this instance, he's not."

Trey and Wade kept their mouths shut but I could tell they didn't like those reminders. My parents looked stunned and then pensive.

But they didn't matter. I turned to Ethan. "What do you think?"

He didn't answer and I had to suppress a grin when he turned to Marcie. "What do you think?"

She immediately shook her head and held out her palms. "Oh, no you don't. That's not my decision."

"Your opinion matters to me," he said, taking one of her hands in his. "Give it to me straight."

Marcie's eyes softened and she smiled at Ethan. She then glanced around the table at everyone, her gaze holding the longest on my brothers before she said, "I think it's important to let Sylvie have a relationship with Gabe and not just a surface relationship. I think it needs to be fostered… deepened, even. Everything that Kat said is true and he deserves our trust, I think. But more importantly, Gabe is the last representation that Sylvie has of her mother. You can't take that from her."

Ethan nodded and I could tell by the expression on his face that was exactly what he was thinking. "She's really homesick for France and she deserves some fun and goodness right now." He glanced over to my parents. "I'm sorry. I know you want to take her and you still should at the end of the summer, but I think it would be great if she went now." Ethan then brought his attention to me. "But you'd have to go, Kat. You made a compelling argument that Gabe has earned some trust, but he doesn't have my full level and I'm not sure he ever will."

I was happy that Ethan decided to let Sylvie go and there was one thing he and I were absolutely aligned on. I wasn't sure Gabe would ever have my full trust either, and that's not just because of his last name.

"And you'll be coming with Sylvie and me?" Gabe asks.

And… is his voice huskier than normal? I shake off that notion. "Yeah, you still need a chaperone."

Gabe snorts in amusement, shaking his head but then when his eyes land on me, they're warm and filled with gratitude. "Kat, this—thank you. It means a lot that you managed this."

I cross my arms, leaning against the wall. "Sylvie deserves this and it's important to her. We're all working in her best interests."

Gabe steps closer, his presence overwhelming. "And what about you? Going to France with me—this isn't a simple decision."

I avoid his gaze, focusing instead on the patterns in the wood grain of the parquet flooring. "I've arranged for my brothers to cover for me at the farm. It's handled."

"That's not what I asked." Curiosity lifts my head to meet his eyes. "Are you okay with this? With us being there together?"

I don't like the softness in his voice or the promise in those words. Or maybe I don't like imagining such things. "There is no us," I say flatly.

The corner of his mouth curves upward and he actually taunts me. "Didn't seem that way the other night."

A sound rattles in my throat, dismissively haughty. "It was just a kiss, not that good and already forgotten."

Stroking a thumb along his chin, he murmurs, "Not the way I remember it. Maybe you need a reminder."

"Maybe you need a swift kick to the balls if you try it," I reply sweetly, even fluttering my eyelashes. My words have bite and determination, but I can tell by the way he's looking at me that he knows as well as I do that if he kissed me, I'd go all in.

Luckily, Sylvie's footsteps pound down the stairs. We both turn to see her coming at breakneck speed with a towel slung over her shoulder. She's sporting a cute yellow bathing suit with white polka dots and ruffles along the shoulders and hips. "Let's go swimming."

"Let's do it," Gabe says, slinging his arm over her shoulders. He walks her toward the back patio door that will lead to the pool path and I follow along. I watch as they chat easily, Sylvie's smile as bright as her swimsuit and that makes having to deal with Gabe Mardraggon very easy.