“Mmm.”
“Relaxing?”
“Sure.” Until Eve had turned his world upside-down.
A little black puppy tumbled out of the house. The mutt was fluffy, one slightly smaller ear giving him a mischievously quizzical look. He chased his tail around twice, yelped, and came over to attack Gabe’s feet. “Who’s your new friend?”
Kareem beamed. “Aunt Livvy gave me a wedding present.”
“Wait, wait.” He lowered the boy and raised an eyebrow at Sadia. “You gave me grief for giving Kareem a drum set, but Livvy gets to get him a living creature?”
Sadia stepped in for a quick hug. “The puppy has been discussed before. The drum set was not.”
“I haven’t seen Uncle Gabe’s drum set in a while,” Kareem said.
“That’s weird,” Sadia said vaguely. “I’ll look for it when we get home.”
“What’s the dog’s name?”
Kareem squatted and petted him. “Smoke.”
“You said you wanted to name him Cookie,” Sadia observed.
“I like Smoke more now.”
“Smoke’s a good name.” Gabe gingerly took a step away from the puppy. He was so small Gabe feared he would crush him. “Cute.”
“Hello, Sadia, Kareem.”
Gabe tensed at Eve’s voice and tensed further when Kareem squealed, “Aunt Eve!” Kareem darted around Gabe to launch himself into her arms. “Hi.”
“Hi there.” She ruffled his hair and pressed a kiss on his forehead. For a second, when she looked up, their gazes met, and he forced himself to look away. He couldn’t. His mask would crack.
Sadia embraced Eve. “You look like you got some sun. Sorry we had to sit out a couple of days.”
“Yeah, I did.” Eve tugged at the hem of her cover-up. Her legs were short and perfect.
He wanted them around his waist.
Gabe crouched down and scratched the puppy’s ears, the silky fur not calming him. He had to control himself.
Eve shifted. “I’ll go help Jackson in the kitchen.”
Kareem brightened. “I’ll come with you. Uncle Jackson says I’m a big help in the kitchen.”
“I’m sure you are.” Gabe didn’t look up when she moved around him.
“Maybe we can all go for a nice walk around the lake after we settle in,” Sadia said brightly.
Gabe didn’t hear Eve’s reply. He was too busy panicking.
He didn’t want to hear Eve speak. He didn’t want to see her move. He didn’t want to go on a walk with her. He didn’t want to be reminded that she knew.
Not with Jackson and Kareem around.
The circle of people who knew Robert Kane was his father had been limited to Robert, Tani, his parents, and Rhi. That was it. To the rest of the world, he’d been the housekeeper’s kid, nothing more. For the first time in his thirty-five years, someone else was in the inner circle, and he didn’t know how to compute.
He abandoned the puppy, who scampered after Kareem, and rose to his feet, facing Sadia. She smiled at him, the lines around her eyes crinkling. Even during some bad spots, Paul had always thought the world of Sadia and so did Gabe. “Sorry we were delayed,” she said.
