Gabriel narrows his eyes, not buying my words for a second. “In other words, you mean you know, but you won’t tell me any more.”
He’s clearly frustrated with me, and I hate myself for it. “Gabriel, I’m sorry. There are just some things I can’t tell you. It’s not because I don’t want to, you have to believe that. It’s for your own protection. It’s just not safe for me to tell anybody.”
His jaw tenses, and I close my eyes waiting for him to erupt. I’m sure this is going to be it. He couldn’t possibly want to be with me when I refuse to tell him the truth. But after a moment his hands are on my face again, gently cupping my chin.
“Look at me,” he whispers.
I open my eyes and his face relaxes, along with my own.
“Look, Victoria, I don’t know what happened in your past, but I want to. I can see you aren’t ready to tell me yet, and I don’t like it, but I accept it for now. I just hope that someday soon you’ll realize you can trust me.”
“I do trust you.” My voice cracks as I shake my head. “Please don’t think that I don’t.”
“Shhh, baby.” He pulls me back down onto his chest. “Let’s go to sleep now and only have good dreams okay?”
***
The next morning, Gabriel’s spot on the bed is empty. I roll over and feel a sharp sting of pain on my arm. When I look down, I find the bruises have worsened while I slept. So much for trying to forget the events of last night.
I sit up and swing my feet over the edge of the mattress, standing up like a zombie. I need to find Gabriel.
When I open my bedroom door, I can hear Alanna talking to someone in the kitchen as I shuffle down the hall.
Gabriel is leaning up against the counter, waiting for a pot of coffee to brew. Alanna is sitting at the kitchen table talking his ear off about Nathan. They both turn and look at me as I approach.
“What the hell!” Alanna shoots up and stomps across the kitchen, grabbing me by the arm to inspect my bruise.
“Who did this to you?” she demands.
“Alanna.” I shake her hand off my arm. “I’m fine. It’s Gabriel I was worried about, look at his head. We were attacked last night, walking home from dinner.”
“Oh my God,” she gasps. “Are you serious? What happened?”
I walk towards Gabriel and curl into his arms. He leans down and kisses me, stroking my back as I explain.
“It happened so fast.” I shudder, remembering the thud as Gabriel fell to the ground in front of me. “Two men came up behind us and hit him in the head with something. They were trying to rob us.”
I look up at Gabriel for reassurance, and he pulls me closer. “And then I made it worse,” I mumble.
“What? How?” Alanna asks.
“She was trying to help,” Gabriel interjects. “But one of them turned on Victoria and attacked her.”
“Oh my God, Toto!” Alanna lunges forward and pulls me into a bear hug. “Attacked you how? Did he touch you? I swear to God if someone else hurt you like that again…”
I cringe as Gabriel shoots Alanna a questioning glance. She realizes her mistake immediately and silently begs me for forgiveness.
“What do you mean?” he asks in a low voice. “Again?”
“I’m fine.” I groan in frustration. “Everybody just needs to relax. Nothing happened and I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”
“I’m sorry,” Alanna whispers.
Gabriel pulls me back to him, enclosing me in his arms. I can tell he’s irritated by another secret, but there isn’t much I can do about that.
“I know you said you’re fine,” he says stiffly. “But you might not feel that way later. I don’t want you being left alone for a while.”
“I can guarantee you she will not be left alone,” Alanna assures him.
“I don’t need to be babysat.” I scold them both.
“Well, it won’t be for long anyway,” Gabriel announces. “I want to take you away for the weekend. We can leave tonight, just as soon as I’ve wrapped up some loose ends at work.”
“What?” I blink in surprise. “But Alanna…”
Alanna holds up her hand. “No, Victoria. Don’t worry about me. I can stay with Nathan. And I think you should go, it would be good to get away for a couple days.” She looks at Gabriel sternly. “As long as you promise to take care of her.”
“Always.” He smiles, kissing me on the temple.
“But where will we go?” I ask nervously.
“I have a place, it’s only a couple hours from here. Nobody knows I have it. It will just be you and me for the weekend.”
I can’t stop the grin from creeping across my face. That sounds blissful.
***
Gabriel leaves a couple hours later after making me promise that I wouldn’t go to work today. He arranges to pick me up at 5:00 pm sharp this evening and tells me to pack light, whatever that means. He has no clue how women work.