ISOLATED

c h a p t e r 3 3

Chapter 33

Gael looks in the mirror and he takes his time to really see all the details. The only thing Genesis couldn't make invisible, was the cut on his cheek. "Your dad will probably ask about that," Genesis says, entering the bathroom as she holds up her dress, "Can you zip me up?"

He steps forward and helps her zip up her dress. "You look fantastic," he says, looking down at her and then back up as he takes in how the navy-blue dress fits around her. The dress has long sleeves, which makes the dress modest, but it's balanced out by the cleavage it has. She has a beautiful golden necklace that's resting around her neck.

"You look amazing yourself," she says, tugging the shirt under his suit to straighten it a little bit. Gael looks down at her. "He's going to know," Gael says, "My leg still isn't completely over yesterday."

Genesis cups his cheeks carefully, her fingertips gently moving through the short hairs on his hairline. "And if he does, I'll tell him he's delusional," Genesis answers him, "I might even bring up a few sexual hints so that he stops talking." Gael laughs and shakes his head, her hands dropping from his face. "Gael, I promise, you'll be alright," Genesis says and she stands on her tiptoes to kiss him.

She's still overwhelmed from last night's events, but she's not going to let Gael know that. She didn't sleep at all last night, partially because she was terrified that she'd hurt him in her sleep, but she also didn't sleep because every time she closed her eyes she could hear the gunshot again.

She saw Gael fall to his knees and then she watched Wayne's body get dragged away again.

Maybe eventually she'll get over it, or maybe she won't and she'll just learn to live with it. "Are you ready to go?" Gael asks, immediately snapping Genesis out of her thoughts and back into reality. "Yeah," she says and she takes his hand to follow him out.

Gael knows that she's still not over what happened last night, but his head is so full of the fact that he might be losing everything he's ever worked for, that he doesn't want to ask her if she's right now. He'll ask once everything clears, that'll give her some time to rethink everything.

Marcus is already waiting in the car, he's the one driving them today so Gael wouldn't have to pay more for valet parking or worse – walk.

Genesis takes his hand and she looks at him. "What even is being auctioned?" She asks, trying to get her mind off everything. "Johnathan's in charge," Gael answers and he pulls his hand back, looking out the window. Genesis watches him, not entirely sure why he shut down so easily.

When the car finally comes to a stop in front of Johnathan's estate, Genesis gets out of the car and she waits on her side for Gael. He walks around and offers her his arm. "Why didn't you wait?" he asks, immediately commenting on her not waiting for him to open the door. "I thought we were past that," Genesis says, taking his arm as she walks towards the entrance.

"In private maybe, but in public it's still normal," Gael explains. Genesis looks at him and then she shakes her head, trying to keep her lips together and not laugh. "Ness," Gael says and he turns to her.

Genesis looks up at him, and then at the mansion in front of her. She's wondering if he means it, or if he's just acting like this because he's back in his old home.

She decides not to bring that up because she knows that he's already tensed because of his house and his dad being here. Ginny's smarter than talking about how he's feeling right now.

"I'll wait for you next time," she lies, just wanting to satisfy him with her words. Gael walks towards the entrance and he opens the door, allowing Genesis to walk in first. She can barely look around because Johnathan's wife, Gigi, is already coming over to welcome them.