Falling For You

by Nicole Taylor

  Lord Lamport, however, did not look amused. He watched Leiliana unyieldingly. “Is this what I sent you to Ireland to do?”

  “Daddy!”

  Lady Lamport gave her husband a subtle jab in the ribs with her elbow.

  She smiled warmly at him. “Welcome to Belfield Manor, Gabriel. You’re not intruding at all. Any friend of Leia is a friend of ours. Please make yourself at home. I have got to oversee the final preparations for the party, so we will be quite busy this morning, but we look forward to getting to know you,” Lady Lamport said.

  Lord Lamport silently watched him, perhaps not quite in agreement with that.

  ~*~*~*~

  It was a lovely summer day, bright and sunny. All nature seemed to have conspired to make it a glorious day. Birds sang in the trees, the flowers were beautiful and in full bloom, releasing their perfume to tantalize the senses. Well trained staff worked behind the scenes to ensure that everything was perfect. There was a string quartet providing beautiful instrumental music, and there were enough foods to delight even the pickiest epicurean.

  It was in this setting that Leiliana took delight in introducing Gabriel to the rest of her family. She was so proud to show him off. Some of her female cousins gave him the appreciative once over, and she preened, proud that he was all hers.

  “Welcome to the family,” Benjamin declared when they were introduced, heartily shaking Gabriel’s hand and clapping him on the shoulder. “It’s quite an introduction, but you’ll soon come to find that there is nothing more delightful for the Lamports than a celebration. Birthdays, anniversaries, weddings, national holidays. Anything. You name it, we celebrate it. Any excuse whatsoever to entertain.”

  The entire Foster clan was there, eagerly filling each other in on new developments in their lives since the last celebration. The children were having their own kind of sport apart from the adults, having the common interest of play that instantly made them pals.

  Nia and Liam’s twin girls had the time of their lives riding on the backs of older cousins while their parents took to the stage and sang with their band Redeemed.

  Everyone gave themselves up to the celebration. The ladies of the hour most of all. Even at 90, the Dowager Lady Lamport and her sister Lady Kate Brennan were as sprightly as ever. Everyone said they looked amazing for their ages. They could hear it again and again, not being immune to vanity even at an age that had heard it all.

  Gabriel instantly hit it off with Liam and Nia Lamport. Leiliana had told him that her brother’s name was William, but that was seldom remembered. It seemed to be true. No one called him William.

  Liam had question after question for him, but Gabriel understood that Liam was just being a protective older brother, so he didn’t mind.

  Nia Lamport, Gabriel found to his surprise, was a very down to earth, matter-of-fact person. He had expected her to be this flamboyant, larger than life pop star, but she really was not. She and Liam looked very happy. Though he didn’t know much of the backstory, he knew from Leiliana that they had almost been divorced. Despite that, or maybe because of it, they seemed extremely close, constantly touching each other and exchanging kisses.

  At one point, Leiliana excused herself for a moment to attend to something, and Gabriel was introduced all around as a close friend of Leiliana’s. Everyone understood this to mean that he was the lucky gent who had finally melted her heart. Certainly, that was the case if the good-natured ribbing and slapping of back and pumping of the arm was anything to go by.

  When she returned and came and plopped down beside him, he couldn’t restrain himself from linking his fingers with hers and kissing their intertwined hands. He really wanted to kiss her lips but felt a little self-conscious doing it in front of her family just then. Those opportunities were sure to come.

  As they sat at the dining table, which had been set up on the vast grounds, Nia made a comment which caught everyone’s attention.

  “We’re taking a hiatus from touring,” she declared. “Liam and I feel it’s time to focus on our growing family.”

  “Growing family?” Barbara Lamport asked curiously.

  Nia nodded. “I’m two months along.”

  “Ah!” Barbara exclaimed. This was followed by laughter, words of congratulations and hugs and kisses.

  Sometime late in the day, supper was served outdoors.

  When no one could eat any more, Lord Lamport offered a toast.

  Three cheers went up at the end.

  Nyla and Lola presented the ladies with little red wagons pulled behind them containing a few of their gifts. The remainder were brought in and laid at their feet by their grandchildren.

  A huge cake was unveiled. The ladies of the ball blew out their candles. Everyone cheered. Fireworks were set off.

  After the cake was served, Leiliana and Gabriel drifted off alone with their cake in hand. The night was clear, cool, and starry, and they found a secluded spot on the grass to enjoy the view of the stars.

  “This has been a truly wonderful day,” Leiliana sighed, sliding a forkful of vanilla cake with milk cocoa buttercream frosting into her mouth.

  “I hate to spoil it,” Gabriel said.

  Leiliana halted mid-chew and looked at him sharply.

  “I know that I promised to spend a few days, but I’ve got to leave early tomorrow afternoon.”

  “Why?”

  “Alexei Lebedev called me a short while ago and told me he will meet with me tomorrow night.”

  The man’s call had been abrupt. “Walsh, I’m having meetings all day today. I will be at Platinum Dolls tomorrow night. I’ll be there from around 7 o’clock. I will spare you a few minutes of my time.”

  While Gabriel had never been to the popular gentlemen’s club and sports bar, he knew that it was basically a glorified strip joint. He would rather eat nails than go there and on a Sunday night too.

  “Is there somewhere else we can meet?”

  “No,” Lebedev said flatly. “It is tomorrow night at Platinum Dolls or maybe a week from now. Your choice.”

  “Fine. I’ll be there,” he’d said.

  “Oh Gabriel. I don’t like the idea of you dealing with this mafia boss.”

  “I have to meet with him, Leia. Honestly, I can’t rest thinking about this. Suppose your father finds out I borrowed money from this man do you think he would feel comfortable with me dating you?”

  Leiliana placed her cake down beside her and turned to fully face him. “I know that you’re innocent of this, Gabriel. That’s what matters.”

  “Yes, and your family matters to you too. I don’t want to force you to have to choose between them and me.”

  She sighed deeply then reached for her phone. “I’ll tell Elizabeth I’m dealing with the negotiations again.”

  “Is she okay?” he asked with a slight smirk.

  “You mean after you terrified her?” she responded, tapping out the text on her phone.

  “I didn’t mean to scare her. I just missed you terribly, and she seemed to be the person standing between you and me.”

  He ran a hand down her arm that made her shiver.

  “Gabriel, I can’t think straight when you’re doing that.”

  “How about when I’m doing this?” he asked, kissing her ear, her cheek, the corner of her mouth.

  She ducked, giggling.

  He kept it up, however, and she soon gave in, collapsing on the grass with him leaning over her, covering her face with kisses.

  ~*~*~*~

  After church, the next day, Leiliana’s father asked Gabriel if he rode.

  “Ride, sir?”

  “Horses.”

  “I rode a horse once before in my life.”

  “I’d like to invite you to come riding with me before you leave. I’d like to show you around the estate. It will give us a chance to talk.”

  Leiliana whispered in his ear as she walked with him to the stables, “Sláinte is táinte! (all the best).”

  Gabriel gave her a sm
ile then leaned down to whisper in her ear. “Tá tú rí-dhathúil. Is breá liom tú go mór (You’re so beautiful. I love you so much.)”

  She reached up and tenderly kissed his cheek. “Tá mé i ngrá leat freisin (I love you too).”

  The stable hand chose for Gabriel a reasonably tame mare. At first, the animal wandered where it liked, stopped to eat where it liked, and generally took Gabriel for a ride. Though not the ride he wanted.

  “If you allow her to carry on like that, we won’t get very far,” William Lamport observed dryly over his shoulder.

  “What should I do?”

  “Take control of the animal. Show her that you are the boss. It’s the only way to earn her respect.”

  That was all Gabriel needed to hear, and from then on, he was in control and having fun.

  The two men stopped by a river and dismounted. Following Lord Lamport’s lead, Gabriel took the horse to drink and went to sit on a nearby stone bench.

  They sat in silence and enjoyed the tranquil surroundings. The gurgling river, gentle breeze, chirping of the birds, and other wildlife and lush verdant vegetation and forestry.

  William Lamport said at length, “I brought you here for a very specific reason, Gabriel. You are dating my daughter, and I want to know your intentions toward her.”

  While Gabriel had expected questioning along this line, he was momentarily stunned by the man’s directness. And that piercing blue gaze seemed to search his very soul. Fortunately, he had nothing to be ashamed of. His intentions towards Leiliana were very good. In fact, he had every intention of proposing to her in the near future. The only niggling concern he had was this situation with Alexei Lebedev. He couldn’t marry her until that was sorted out. He only prayed that it was an easy fix. But William Lamport didn’t know this and what he didn’t know couldn’t hurt him. Gabriel met his eyes with his own, unflinchingly.

  “Frankly, sir, I intend to marry your daughter if she’ll have me.”

  The man eyed him closely for a long time. Finally, he looked across the stream at the horse and said, “My daughter is an amazing human being. She’s not perfect, of course. No one is. But she is a gem. A ruby among women. I know how her mother and I raised her, and I know that she has stuck to the principles of Christian living.” He turned back to Gabriel. “So, my question to you is, why do you think you’re good enough for my daughter? What is so special about you that I should hand her over to you?”

  Gabriel’s back stiffened, and his jaw tightened. His immediate thought was to take affront. He had been nothing but polite to this man. He had been frank about his intentions towards Leiliana even though he had not yet discussed it with the lady herself. And to think that this man would challenge him now. Was William Lamport saying that he wasn’t good enough for Leiliana? Did he believe that his money and title made him better than Gabriel? He surely had a nerve!

  But before Gabriel could fly off the handle and say something that he would forever regret, the Holy Spirit prompted him to be still. He was silent as God reminded him of the importance of having a humble spirit. He reminded him that anger lay in the bosom of a fool and that a soft answer turned away wrath. Gabriel felt a calm and a peace wash over him. At that moment, he began to think clearly. He placed himself in Lord Lamport’s shoes and realized that the man was right to ask him these questions. His instinct as Leiliana’s father was to protect and shield her from harm. As the man seeking Leiliana’s hand, he should be prepared to answer them. If he wasn’t willing to make a case to her father, then he wasn’t worthy of her.

  At last, he took a deep breath and turned to William Lamport. The man seemed to be observing him closely as though he was assessing his reaction and making a judgment.

  “Well, sir, all I can honestly say is that I love the Lord Jesus Christ even more than I love your daughter. I seek to honor God with my life, and I believe that this desire to honor God above all else, will enable me to treat Leiliana as she should be treated, to love her as Christ loved the church and gave himself up for her.”

  Lord Lamport watched him with a serious appraising expression for a long time. Presently, his face relaxed into a smile. “Then you have my blessing, Gabriel. Because I know that a man who loves the Lord and puts Him first in his life will treat my daughter the way she ought to be treated. I wish you all the best in your quest to have her hand in marriage.”

  ~*~*~*~

  When Gabriel walked into Platinum Dolls the next night, he began to question the wisdom of his decision to meet Lebedev in this place.

  He told the man at the door whom he was there to meet. The man summoned a scantily clad woman and told Gabriel to follow her. Gabriel determinedly kept his eyes away from her exposed derriere and cleavage. He began to get cold sweats just thinking that if Leiliana’s father ever got wind of where he was, it would be all over.

  Gabriel easily spotted Lebedev. The man was in his early 60s, stocky with black hair and bushy black eyebrows. In another setting, sitting there in his fine suit and a cigar clamped between his fat lips, he might have looked respectable. In this setting, polluted with smoke, liquor, drugs, naked dancing girls, loud, raucous laughter, and profanities, he looked just like the mafia boss that he was. There was a woman with bright red hair wearing a tight red dress, glued to his side. Two men were seated close by with whom he appeared to be conversing. Dmitri was one of them. He was tall and broad with blond hair and dark brown eyes.

  Gabriel began to approach them but didn’t get very far. A tall, burly man stepped into his path, He stared down at Gabriel, hands clasped in front of him. Three other men close by put their hands to their holsters.

  “Name?” he barked.

  Gabriel glanced at Alexei Lebedev and saw him observing him with cool eyes. His gaze slid to Dmitri. The man was watching Gabriel with resentment as though he had somehow offended him. Imagine that this man had once claimed to be his friend yet had supplied his brother with drugs, ran off with his fiancée, and was now laundering his dirty money through his company and had the nerve to act like he was the injured party. Some people just had a twisted view of life.

  “I have an appointment to see you, Mr. Lebedev,” Gabriel called out to Alexei.

  Alexei Lebedev drew on the cigar, and watched him through the haze of smoke. “You look more like your father every day.” He gestured beside him with the cigar. “Come, have seat.”

  The men stepped aside, and Gabriel took the proffered seat.

  “What do you want to drink?”

  “I’m fine,” Gabriel said.

  The man watched him with hard eyes.

  “Nothing at all? Surely something. Scotch, vodka, whiskey? Your father loves his whiskey.”

  “I don’t drink, Mr. Lebedev. Can we get down to business?”

  Lebedev exchanged amused glances with Dmitri.

  “You don’t drink? I don’t trust men who do not drink. I especially don’t trust an Irishman who doesn’t drink.” There was raucous laughter at the table. Gabriel didn’t react, he just continued to watch Alexei patiently. When the laughter died down, Alexei watched Gabriel unsmilingly through his dark eyes for a long time. Neither man broke eye contact with the other.

  Eventually, Lebedev glanced down to rest his cigar in an ashtray.

  A waitress appeared at the table and placed a meal before him. He draped his napkin across his lap, picked up his knife and fork, and said, “Would you like something to eat or don’t you do that either?’

  There was another round of laughter.

  “You’re very kind, Mr. Lebedev, but I already had dinner.”

  Alexei Lebedev snorted and took a few huge bites of the greasy meal then wiped his mouth with a napkin. He turned to Gabriel. “Over the phone, you said you wanted to discuss the terms of our business agreement?”

  “Yes. I would like to repay the loan to purchase JJ Inc. as soon as possible. There is a business transaction I’m involved in that will provide me with some liquidity. I just want to be clear on the terms of
repayment. The documents my brother signed didn’t contain that information.”

  “Repayment is tricky,” Alexei said, tucking into his meal again. He followed it up with a swig of his drink. “The penalties are severe.”

  “When you say severe…?”

  “I run a business. What I mean to say is that when I lend out my money, I am expecting a certain amount in return, and I plan my affairs accordingly. If someone wants to repay early, they will have to cover my expected expenses.”

  “That doesn’t seem fair,” Gabriel said.

  Alexei Shrugged. “Business! I’m sure you can relate. When you broke the contract with me for the trade-in coal, I wasn’t pleased, but it was business, and I accepted it ‘without fuss’ as they say.”

  “You threatened me. Don’t you remember? You told me that I should sleep with one eye open.”

  “Well, you are still here, aren’t you? I was angry, that is all. I said some things. This now, this is different. I cannot allow you to renege on agreement your authorized agent signed without penalty. If you pay the penalty, then the score is settled. It is good, yes?”

  “You have said that the penalties are severe. How much are we talking here?’

  “The total interest I expected from this loan is twenty million dollars. I’m told that the interest you have paid so far is $1.1 million. You will, therefore, have to pay me $19 million plus the $11 million you still owe. The total is $30 million. If you pay that to me in full, we will conclude our business.”

  Gabriel didn’t speak for several minutes. He was praying to God to give him the self-control he needed. He wanted to reach over to this man and squeeze his fat neck, but he knew that would mean certain death. He couldn’t be so rash. He should have expected this. But somehow, he had not expected the man to be so wicked and unreasonable. No wonder Patrick was afraid.

  “This is extortion,” he said almost conversationally when he trusted himself to speak.

  Alexei laughed lightly. “Call it what you want. Those are my terms.”

  “I will repay you what I owe. Nothing more.”