I turn to Charles. “Tell Gabriel that I’m with Ginevra. Please.” I don’t want him going after my dad but I can’t say this in front of Ginevra. It seems too personal.
After Charles nods, I face Ginevra. “Ok. Let’s go.” I grab my coat and follow her out of the house. I know this is risky but I don’t care. Gabriel thinks he can treat me as his prisoner but I am not his prisoner.
I inhale deeply once I step outside and find my lips turning up into a smile. I ignore the sense of unease in my stomach and follow Ginevra to her car.
Chapter Eleven
Aurora
“How has Gabriel been as a husband?” Ginevra asks. We sit in the backseat of her car, a driver taking us to a shopping center. She gazes down at her red nails.
“I’m not sure I’m comfortable speaking on that.” I shift around in my seat. Next to Ginevra’s long legs and expensive pencil skirt and silk blouse, I feel shabby, even though I’m wearing the expensive clothes Gabriel gave me.
“Why not? We’re both women. We’ve both been with Gabriel. We can talk about this.”
The thought of Ginevra being with Gabriel makes my stomach drop to my feet. Why should I care about his past? I don’t care that he’s been with other women but I do care that he’s been with Ginevra, who’s flaunting it in my face.
“What Gabriel and I do is personal and I’m not comfortable sharing that with you.”
A look of annoyance flashes in her eyes. “I was just trying to get to know you.”
No. She was trying to get information. It’s obvious to me. But I’m only doing this to check in on my dad without him getting hurt.
“If you wanted to get to know me, you’d ask me what my favorite color is. Not what my husband and I do in the bedroom.”
She huffs. “I never asked about your bedroom activities. Presumptuous of you to assume I was.”
“You said we’ve both been with him. It was implied.”
“Not to me. You’re the one assuming things. I don’t appreciate that.”
I flinch, feeling like I was scolded. “You invited me out here.”
“Yes. And I expect you to be a nice guest. Right now, you’re being rude.”
“You can just drop me back at home.” I love my father but I’m not sure I can withstand a day of Ginevra trying to see if my dad is all right.
“No. We’re going shopping. So that’s what we’re going to do.”
We sit in silence for the rest of the ride. Once we arrive in the city, I gaze out at the people walking on the streets. How much freedom they have. They don’t have to worry about their father’s life on the line. They don’t have to worry about their conflicting feelings for their husbands who they both hate and desire at the same time.
Ginevra and I get out of the car and before I even know what’s happening, a group of other women hurry over, hugging and chatting with Ginevra. There’s three of them. With Ginevra, that makes four.
“Who’s this?” one of them asks, looking at me with an upturned nose. Her long, jet black hair makes her striking.
“This is Aurora… Gabriel’s husband.”
The three women all give Ginevra sympathetic looks.
“So she’s the one, huh?” This comes from a tall blonde. Her tone is condescending.
Ginevra nods. “She’s the one.”
“The one… what?” I ask.
The blonde looks me dead in the eye. “The one who stole Gabriel from Ginevra.”
“But isn’t she married?” George’s dead face flashes in my mind and I quickly push it away.
