Buying Gabrielle

Chapter 3 (edited)

EVAN's POV

She smiles at me and says, "I don't see you as a Beast right now."

I frown and say, "You've yet to see my dark side."

"So where is my dad now?"

"I haven't harmed him, if that's what you're worried about. He is alive, but he will never come near you again."

Or he will be a dead man.

"So, are we going back to my house? There are some things I need."

"I'll replace all your things, so there is no need to go back there."

"But..."

I silence her and say, "Don't argue with me, Gabrielle. It's been a long day, and we are home. We will get you inside and settled in, and you can argue things out with me later, alright?"

She frowns and her lower lip quivers, but I harden my heart as my driver pulls open the limo door. I get out and grab her hand to tug her out after me. I lead her inside, hoping she likes the home. It is beautiful, spacious, and boasts the finest accommodation that money can buy. There is nothing she could possibly need from that old house that I can't already provide for her.

She follows me inside, wide eyed as she takes it all in. I smile. I like that she is impressed, and I like that she will be safe within my walls. I've never had anybody to take care of before, and I will provide for Gabrielle to the best of my ability. When she goes off to college, she will be well prepared to take on life. The thought creates a hollow feeling in my chest, but I know I can't keep her. She's a seventeen- year- old kid, and I refuse to be a pervert. I will stay away from her as much as possible.

I leave her with the housekeeper to see to her needs and escape to my home office. I need to see what my men have dug up on James' illegal activities.

I also had every bit of information on Gabrielle that could be found delivered to me. I look at her grades from throughout the years. She had perfect grades and excellent reviews from all of her teachers, until her mom's death last year. Her grades plummeted to a C average, but I know that had to be a result of the stress her dad was putting her through. I should still be able to pull some strings and get her into one of the finest schools in the city, and if they give me any trouble I'll wave a bunch of money in front of their noses. If there is one thing I've learned in the past five years, it is that there is very little that money can't buy you.

Two hours later I walk towards my bedroom, but I stop in the hallway when I hear Gabrielle's voice in the spare bedroom.

"I know, Carly, the whole thing sounds totally crazy. But I'm in Evan Hunter's home right now, I swear. He's enrolling me in a new school, and he says he's going to buy me all new stuff. But I'm not a charity case, Carly. And all of my memories of Mom are in that old house, and I don't know if I'll be able to retrieve them. There's the photographs, scrapbooks, the blanket she crocheted for me when I was a baby...you know, stuff that has emotional value. Evan Hunter can't just produce a wad of cash and replace all of that."

I realize she is crying, and that she is right. There are some things that even my money can't provide.

I walk back downstairs and jump inside my car, driving in the direction of Gabrielle's old home. I had been thinking of clothes, not of sentimental items. Of course, the girl would miss her mother.

I go inside her old house, gathering up all of the items that I heard Gabrielle mention and a few other things as well.

I drive back to my house and walk inside with the items in a box. I walk upstairs and knock on her bedroom door.