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“He sounded excited I get the impression they were surprised, but I didn’t want to ask too many questions”
“That’s probably wise At least I knohat to buy him for Christmas”
“What?”
Gabriel’s mouth widened into a slow, satisfied smile
“Condo estured between them “That depends on us They want us to be there, so as soon as we can get back”
Gabriel frowned “I’”
“Easy, tiger They’re asking us to fly to Selinsgrove for a weekend e get back They want us to give them sooing to be a big sister”
A startled look passed over her features
“I’,” she breathed “I alanted a brother or sister”
“Big sister Julia,” said Gabriel “With all the rights, privileges, and responsibilities I always hated being an only child I was glad when Scott and Rachel becah Scott was a pest for most of his life”
“I don’t kno this happened”
Once again, Gabriel suppressed a grin “I’m disappointed to hear you say that, Mrs Emerson Obviously, our nocturnal activities haven’t been—ah—h”
Julia frowned “You knohat I meant My dad is old”
“He isn’t that old Diane is even younger”
“She’s forty She toldchicken”
Julia looked at hi chicken?”
“I did Your dad found hi fiancée and now he’s about to be a father Again”
“My dad is going to be a father,” Julia repeated, a faraway expression in her eyes
“I think you’re in shock” Gabriel stood up “Maybe I should get you a drink”
“Rachel wants to have a baby, Dad is having a baby, and we” She didn’t finish the sentence
Gabriel leaned over her “Look at it this way There will be lots of older kids for our children to play with during Christmas and summer vacations Eventually”
“Christmas and summer vacations All those kids Holy shit”
“Exactly” Gabriel smiled “Holy shit”
Chapter Twenty-three
That same day, Christa Peterson strode into the Department of Italian at Columbia University a few minutes early for her appointment with Professor Lucia Barini, the chair Christa had successfully escaped Professor Pacciani and returned to New York, nursing her wounds (both internal and external) and vowing her revenge
When she thought about what had happened to her at the Malmaison Hotel in Oxford, she did not use the word rape But she had, in fact, been raped He’d forced her to have sex and used violence to subdue and overpower her For various reasons, Christa chose to think of what happened to her as a loss of control He took poay fro to do the sa toa halfhearted apology She’d ignored it
In fact, she’d decided to dedicate her considerable energy to ruining hi their affair from the early days when she was Pacciani’s student in Florence She enclosed photographic evidence (so with copies of salacious eh to make his life difficult, she intended to bide her ti