Abject shock and disbelief made me instantly light-headed.
“Callie?”
“I’m here,” I choked out. “I … I … don’t know what to say.” The thought of Gabriel, beautiful, charismatic Gabriel, gone … “How did he die?”
“It was a self-inflicted gunshot wound. But there’s a journalist here in Paris who is calling it foul play. He said Gabriel was working with him to expose the corruption at his station. That he’d run away because he was in trouble and that he was killed for what he knows.”
Oh my God. I stumbled back, grasping blindly for one of the stools we kept in the kitchen. I felt hands on my shoulders and turned to see my mum gently steadying me, her eyes wide with worry.
My tears slipped free. “Thank you for telling me,” I said through them.
Stephanie sniffled. “He was a good person. He cared about you.”
I nodded, my tears falling faster as a sob broke on my lips.
“I will let you go, but I will text you the funeral arrangements once I know.” She hung up quietly.
“What’s going on?” Mum asked in a panic as I lowered the phone.
“Gabriel.”
“Your ex?”
I nodded, swiping at my tears. “He’s dead.”
A heavy cloud hung over me as I waited at the house for Lewis to return from work. I knew I’d have to tell him about Gabriel because I couldn’t force myself to pretend I wasn’t deeply saddened by the news. I might not have been in love with Gabriel, but I’d cared about him, and every time I thought of his special spirit gone from this world, I wanted to cry all over again.
Yet I was worried about Lewis, how he might misinterpret my sadness.
We’d come so far in such a short time. We’d offered each other trust so quickly, and I was proud of us for dealing with our past with such forgiveness and understanding. Still, I knew my relationship with Gabriel was a sore spot for Lewis.
I didn’t want anything to ruin what we were building, but I also didn’t want dishonesty between us.
When he strode upstairs into the living room that evening, I waited on our borrowed sofa, my hands twisted on my lap as I picked at a hangnail.
Lewis was already chatting about the lunch he’d had with his dad, but I couldn’t process anything.
“Callie?”
Suddenly, he was in front of me, lowering his tall body onto his haunches to take my hands. Worry creased his brow. “Callie?”
A tear slipped down my cheek before I could stop it.
Fear darkened Lewis’s eyes. “The baby?”
Guilt flashed through me as I reached for his face, not having realized that would, of course, be his first thought. “No. God, no. The baby is fine. I’m fine.”
He covered my hand and lifted it but only to press a kiss to my knuckles. “What’s going on?”
Taking a deep breath, I told him about Gabriel, and I couldn’t help the tears that freely fell down my cheeks.
Lewis muttered a hoarse curse and sat down beside me to pull me into his arms. “I’m so sorry, mo chridhe.”
Surprised, I sniffled. “You’re not upset that I’m upset?”
“Of course not.” He kissed the side of my head. “Baby, I’d be upset if Roisin died. Of course you’re upset. You dated him. He was a part of your life for a while. Plus, the circumstances are awful if that’s true.”
I sobbed suddenly, clinging to him. “I love you. You can never die, Lewis. Promise me.”
