“But even if she did pay girls to come forward, DNA tests would prove that the kids weren’t yours, right?”
She was suddenly afraid to hear his answer.
“Honest DNA tests would, yes, but Leslie is not an honest woman, I’m afraid. She would probably pay the lab to switch the tests; even exchange the DNA of our children for the other bastard children.”
“I thought your kids weren’t yours.”
Robyn was very confused. Had Gabe been lying to her the whole time, she thought? Was she an even bigger idiot that she’d ever thought possible for sleeping with him, for letting herself fall in love with him?
“I thought I’d told you that Jessa was mine. There was a mix up at the stupid lab. It’s not hard to see how they could screw things up since they’re a bunch of imbeciles. It probably wouldn’t cost Leslie more than a few thousand dollars each for them to falsify a bunch of blood tests. There could be scores of women that she could get to come forward and say they had my child. There have been plenty of women that I’ve turned down over the years, and some none too nicely. I’m sure they would get plenty of satisfaction out of charging me with child support for another man’s child while preventing me from seeing my children at the same time. Now Robyn really, I don’t want to talk about any of this. Let me show you how much I love you.”
He took her hand and she followed him to the bedroom. Her feelings of lust had faded and she felt guilty for taking Gabe away from his daughter when she was sick.
She let him undress her, and tried to let herself get lost in the sex. It didn’t work though, because she had doubts. Even more than usual.
“Gabe,” she said, once he had finished and moved to the other side of the bed. She reached out and ran her hand over his chest.
“Yes darling?”
“Do you think that you could pay that investigator to look for Neal’s daughter anyway? I’m sure he would be so happy that you found her that he’d forget about wanting to do everything himself.”
Gabe sighed, and turned away from her. She thought that she liked the view of his chest much better than his back. He had a skillfully done tattoo of his children on the back of his leg and their names on his back. It always made her feel a little weird looking at it. That night it made her feel almost nauseous.
“Robyn, you are so soft hearted. Neal only told you that story because he finally got his balls up enough to think that he could get into your pants.”
“Yeah, Gabe,” she said sarcastically. “A woman who is six months pregnant is every guy’s dream woman, right?”
“Hush Robyn. You’re beautiful. Are you sure you don’t want to quit now and go on maternity leave early?”
“I’d go out of my mind if I quit this early. I wouldn’t know what to do with myself. I think it’s better if I keep working until I’m about eight months along, like we agreed upon before. Besides, I can’t let you take care of me anymore than you already do. It already makes me feel bad as it is.”
He turned back towards her. “Why does it make you feel bad letting me support you love? I want to marry you, as soon as I can get all this crap figured out with Leslie so that she doesn’t tear me to shreds in court. I want to be the father to your baby that Fuller never could have been.”
“I know Gabe. I just. . . I don’t know. Maybe I’m letting my hormones get to me.” She put her hand on his chest again and leaned toward him, kissing the side of his neck. “Will you please think about what I asked you about Neal?”
Gabe sighed again and pulled away from her, reaching for his pants. “Are you attracted to him Robyn? I’m not going to lose my favorite girl to some broken down, pathetic loser am I?”
“Any straight woman with a pulse would find Neal attractive Gabe. But no, I don’t plan on leaving you.”
At least not right now anyway, she thought. She wasn’t sure how much longer she could take being with him if he didn’t divorce his wife, though. She also had a bad feeling he wasn’t being honest with her about a lot of things.
“Good. I wouldn’t know what to do without you, my beautiful Robyn. I never knew what real love was until you walked into my life. Will you get off of my back about my divorce, at least for a while, if I do this for you my darling?”
She hid a sigh. Gabe had promised her over and over again that they’d be married before her baby was born. Now, when she only had three months left in her pregnancy, she was beginning to wonder if he’d ever marry her. “I promise Gabe. It hurts to think of you with her. You don’t still love her do you?”
“There is a part of me that will always love Leslie I suppose. But you are mine Robyn. We are tied. When you told me you wanted me in your bed, I was so happy I could hardly believe it. When you told me that you loved me, I knew that I was the luckiest man in the world. It kills me to think that I’ll lose you, especially to someone like Neal.”
“You won’t lose me Gabe.”
She made herself get up and kiss the tattoo that had his children’s names on it. She’d once been very excited about being their stepmother.
He turned to her and put his arms around her. “I couldn’t stand it if I lost you Robyn. I don’t know what I would do. I think I might go a little crazy.” He laughed.
“I’m sorry Gabe. It bothers me sometimes to think that you still make love to her.”
“If I didn’t have sex with Leslie, she’d know something was going on. You don’t turn down Leslie’s advances and expect to walk out of the room with your genitals attached. She is a very hard headed woman. That’s why I have been working so hard with my lawyer on the divorce. I can’t let her drag my reputation through the dirt and then walk away with full custody of the children too. It will take time Robyn. You must be patient with me.”
“I’ve been trying Gabe, but it’s so hard sometimes.” She forced a laugh. “I think it’s my hormones getting to me.”
He kissed her. “I happen to like your hormones very much. I have to go my love. I’ll try to come to you tomorrow. Do you need anything? How did your doctor’s appointment go?”
“It was fine. They did an ultrasound. Do you want to see the pictures?”
“I’d love to darling, but I really do have to go. My wife was ridiculous enough to get my son a cell phone and he’s been texting me incessantly. Christian doesn’t read anything besides comic books, but he will pore over that screen for hours. Goodnight my beautiful Robyn. I love you.”
“I love you too, Gabe.”
He kissed her one last time and then was gone.
When she heard the door close behind him, she knew that he’d locked it like he always did, so she flopped back on her bed, feeling dejected and more depressed than she thought she’d felt since she’d began her affair with Gabe.
Her cell phone rang on the nightstand, and she reached for it, thinking that it must be Gabe. But there was no name, just a number. She answered it warily, wondering who would be calling her at eleven o’clock at night.
“Hello?”
“Robyn?”
Her heart started to beat faster. It was Neal. “Hi.”
“Hi. Um, I’m sorry if I’m bothering you. I hope I didn’t wake you.”
“No, you didn’t wake me. How are you Neal?”
“I wanted to talk to you about something Robyn.”
“Okay.”
“When Gabe walked in tonight, I was going to kiss you. I thought that you wanted me to kiss you. But he told me he was going to your house. Is there something going on between you and Gabe? It’s not really my business, so you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to. Hell Robyn, just hang up on me. I’m sorry I called you.”
“No Neal. I’m glad to hear from you. Yeah, there’s something going on between me and Gabe. I can’t believe he told you. I feel like such an idiot.”
“I kinda got the feeling that he was warning me to stay away from you when he said it. He had this look on his face like he’d beat the shit out of me if I came near you. Was I wrong Robyn? Did yo
u not want me to kiss you?”
“You were right. I wanted you to kiss me Neal. I’ve had a crush on you since the first night I met you. I waited for a month for you to ask me out. Then I gave up and went after Gabe. Yeah, he’s married and I know I’m a moron, but his wife seems like such a bitch and he was so nice to me. I probably wouldn’t have half the stuff for the baby that I have now if he hadn’t helped me, and I know I wouldn’t have the health insurance that I do now. I even fooled myself into thinking that he loved me too, that he would leave his wife for me.”
“Are you really in love with him Robyn?”
She sighed. “I don’t know anymore. I don’t think he’s ever going to leave his wife. He’s still loves her, even if she is a bitch. I feel like just another stupid person waiting for their married lover to leave their spouse, and knowing that they probably never will.”
“You’re not stupid Robyn. Stupid is the last thing you are. Did you really have a crush on me?”
She laughed. “I still have a crush on you Neal.”
“Really?”
“Yes.”
“I always had kind of a crush on you too. I just feel strange asking anyone out. Yes, it’s been a really long time for me, but I can’t get mixed up with someone like Tress again. I couldn’t take it. And I live in constant fear for my daughter. I feel really bad about bringing someone else into that, because I feel like it was my fault.”
“It’s not your fault Neal. You made the mistake of trusting someone you shouldn’t have. We’ve all done that. I’ve done it way too many times myself. First it was Fuller, and now it’s Gabe. I feel lost sometimes too. I wanted my baby to have a father, a real father. Gabe loves his kids so much. I’m beginning to think that I sacrificed my self-respect and my morals for nothing, though.”
“It will get better Robyn. And thank you, you’ve made me feel better about myself tonight than I have in a long time. Usually I don’t like to tell people about my daughter, I’m so embarrassed. Um, Robyn, this may be out of line and if it is, just tell me, but would you like to go out with me sometime?”
‘I’d really like that Neal.”
“Great. When sounds good for you? I don’t work tomorrow but you do, right?”
“I do work tomorrow, yes. With Kasia.”
“Oh.”
“Do you like not like Kasia? She’s always been really nice to me and the tips are awesome when I work with her. Probably because she’ll flirt with any man with a pulse. Sorry. I shouldn’t be judgmental. I don’t know what’s wrong with me tonight.”
“I like Kasia just fine. I worked with her for every night for a while. It took her months to give up on flirting with me. But a lot of people say that she’s sleeping with Gabe. He paid for her car. Some people say that she got pregnant with Gabe’s kid about a year ago and aborted it without his permission. She supposedly had the combination to the safe in his office and took money out of there to pay for it. I don’t know if it’s true. I mean, the talk around town says that Kasia doesn’t just flirt with a lot of guys; she goes to bed with a lot of guys, so a lot of different guys could have been the father, just like with her son. But people said that she knew it was Gabe’s somehow. I don’t know how-you know how rumors are. They said that she aborted the baby because Gabe refused to leave his wife for her. I do know that around the time the rumors were going around, she came into work with a black eye. You work with Kasia so you know that she always wears makeup. But when she had that black eye, she didn’t try to cover it up. It was like she was proud of it.”
“Oh my. You don’t think that Gabe gave it to her, do you?”
“I wouldn’t be telling you any of this if I didn’t think it was relevant to what you’re going through with Gabe right now Robyn, please understand that. I don’t like gossip because it can obviously be very hurtful. In a small town like Brunton, it can ruin a person’s reputation completely. But, people said that Gabe’s wife had an abortion too. I think it was supposed to be before she got pregnant with their daughter. She supposedly didn’t tell him she was pregnant. But people said that he beat the crap out of her when he found out and she refused to call the cops. I have no idea if it’s true since I didn’t live here at the time, but I think that you should be very careful with Gabe.”
“He does get really angry sometimes. He tries to keep it really controlled, but you can see it’s there. Oh Neal, what have I gotten myself into?”
“I wasn’t trying to scare you Robyn. I just want you to be careful.”
“I wish you could come over. I suddenly don’t want to be alone. I just don’t want you to have to drive in this weather.”
“I wouldn’t have to drive. We live in the same apartment building.”
“I never knew that. How come you didn’t tell me before?”
Neal laughed, though it sounded a little strained to Robyn’s ears. “I moved in after you started at the bar. The investigator got a really good lead on Ash, or at least he thought he had, so I got a two bedroom, thinking that I would have her living with me. I always wait to leave work until a few minutes after you. I never wanted you to think that I was following you home.”
“I never would have thought that Neal and I probably would have noticed your car if I wasn’t so damned distracted all of the time. Would you mind coming over? Do you know which apartment I’m in?”
“I wouldn’t mind at all. I don’t think I’d mind having company myself right now. You’re in number 3 right?”
“Yes.”
“Okay. I’ll see you in a few minutes.”
“Thank you.”
“Thank you for listening to me Robyn. It feels worse sometimes, keeping everything inside.”
“I know. I’ll see you Neal. Goodbye.”
“Bye Robyn.”
She clicked end on her phone, and realized how nervous she was about seeing Neal. She rushed into the bathroom and flipped the light switch, scrutinizing herself in the mirror. She thought her lips looked puffy. Sometimes Gabe was almost forceful with his kisses when he made love to her. She sighed, and picked up her hairbrush, running it through her long hair, thinking that she’d definitely have to cut it before she had the baby. She wouldn’t want to have to deal with all the hair when she had a newborn to worry about.
She splashed some water on her face and then went out to the living room. She wondered what was taking Neal so long, and then wondered if he was feeling as nervous as she was. She was pacing a few minutes later when there was a knock at her door.
She opened the door to see Neal standing on the other side, his cheeks already pink from the cold. The wind was howling. She let him in and shut the door quickly, locking it again. She crossed to her thermostat, turning it until it clicked on, and then sat down on the couch, suddenly feeling very tired.
“Sit down,” she said, because Neal was still standing.
He sat on the other end of the couch. They were both silent for a moment, and then she said “I’m scared Neal.”
“I’m sorry Robyn. It was all that stuff I told you about Gabe wasn’t it? I don’t know if any of its true. It might just be rumors. You know how small towns are.”
“But there are things he’s told me that don’t make any sense. He told me that Leslie was pregnant when they met and that she refused to tell anyone who the real father of the baby was. He said that at first she messed around with other women, but that there have been plenty of men, too. I’m positive that he told me that his daughter wasn’t his either and then tonight he told me that his daughter is his. I’m beginning to think that his son is his, too. I don’t understand it. I could understand maybe if he had told me this if he was trying to make me feel sorry him and thought that it would help him get me into bed, but I’m the one that started the whole thing. I seduced him. He’d make remarks sometimes that would make me think he was flirting with me, but he never made any inappropriate moves. So why would he lie to me?”
“I’m assuming you’d heard some rumors about him before
you started working at the bar?”
“I actually went looking for a job there because someone told me he’d hire any woman that walked in there, even if they didn’t need the help. They also said that he pays women more than men, and I really needed the money at the time. I was only a few days away from being evicted.”
“I’ve been there. Tress took off with our rent money when she left me. I had to stay in a shelter for a couple weeks. How much do you get paid Robyn, if you don’t mind me asking?”
“He told me that he’d start me out at $10 an hour when he hired me, with a raise every six months. But most of my paychecks are at least twice what they should be. He pays me more like $20 an hour, sometimes even $30.”
“Wow. I make $8.50 an hour and I thought that was decent because we usually make really good tips.”
“And you’ve been there a while, too. I’m must be the world’s biggest idiot. I can’t believe I fell for all of his bullshit.”
“I really don’t think you’re the first one Robyn. Did anyone tell you about Brandy?”
“He did, yeah. The first night that we were together, he talked to me about the rumors and told me that none of them were true. He told me that he only regretted one thing he’d done with a girl that had worked at Gabe’s Place, and that was that he’d given that girl Brandy a line of coke. He said she was a recovering addict and that she threatened to kill herself if she didn’t do just one more line and that everybody knows about it because some guy that used to work for him walked in on it. He said she was crazy.”
“Well, part of this may just be rumors too, but they said that he made her screw him in the back of his truck the day he hired her. Some guy taped it. It’s supposed to be floating around on the internet somewhere. Eric’s supposedly seen it. People say that Gabe drove her a little crazy. He was supposed to be screwing Brandy and this other girl that worked there at the same time -Cara or something. Both of them told him that they didn’t want to see him anymore. This other girl, I don’t think her name was Cara-but it did start with a C I think-took off with some guy she met online. Brandy was in love with another guy and she was supposed to have ended up pregnant with Gabe’s kid. She had an older kid that she’d put up for adoption. Gabe was supposed to have paid the adoptive parents to give her the kid back. But his condition was that she spent one last night with him, even though she was marrying this other guy. That’s supposed to be why she made him give her the coke. He was supposed to have tricked her into getting pregnant and then demanded that she sleep with him again.”
Misty Reigenborn Romance Boxed Set Page 66
