As Long As You Love Me ✓

31. River Flows Into You

She gazed up at him. "So, you think fear of the unknown is causing my anxiety?"

He wrapped her in his arms and held her so tight, she could barely breathe.

"Yeah. That scares the shit out of all of us."

*

It wasn't the unknown that scared Gabriel. Just the opposite. He knew exactly what would happen once Zari found that missing piece she was so desperately searching for. His undoing. He'd thought about confessing. Tell her everything. But why? The end result would be the same. He'd kept the secret too long, so revealing the truth now had no meaning. His only salvation was to hope when it happened she loved him so much, she'd be willing to forgive him.

He didn't know Perry. Didn't want to know him. But no way in hell he loved Zari or he'd shown up here and ask her to go home back with him. That's what Gabriel would have done. Or anyone in love. Hell, he'd fought for Rosie even after he'd stopped loving her. So, if Perry loved Zari, why wouldn't he want the best for her? And that wouldn't be in a town filled with strangers. Maybe she didn't know that, but Perry did. Had to.

Yeah, that same storm cloud gathering in Zari's head was also building in his. Her boyfriend was due to show up anytime, and the thought made Gabriel sick to his stomach. What if she took one look at him and it all came crashing back? What if everyone was wrong and everything she felt for Gabriel turned out to be displaced affection for Perry?

If that happened, there'd be no use in fighting for her because everything they'd shared had been one monumental lie.

He walked to the back door. Zari and Silbie had been in deep conversation for the last fifteen minutes. He liked the bond they'd formed. Hell, he loved how his family had accepted Zari. And more than that, how she'd fit in with little effort.

He spoke over his shoulder. "What do you think they're talking about?"

Mom rolled her eyes. "Boys. Body image. Fashion. In that order."

"Really?"

"Um-huh. Just like guys talk about sports, women, jobs, women, women." Her smile turned saccharine.

He turned to face her. "You think you're funny, don't you?"

"I am funny."

"You think they're talking about me?"

She raised her brows. "What about you?"

"Oh—uh—I don't know."

Her eyes widened. "Lord have mercy."

God, Gabriel hated that response. It meant she knew things he didn't want her to know. No need to lie. He'd never been good at it where she was concerned. She had more power than Wonder Woman's Lasso of Truth.

"Don't say that."

"Oh, I'm saying it all right. Believe me, you're going to need the Almighty's blessing."

Gabriel walked to the bar and slumped onto a stool, then took a deep breath. "I'm in deep shit. It's too late to come clean, and Dick can show up any day now. I can't let her go with him."

She folded her arms over her chest and fixed him with sardonic exasperation. "Don't you mean you can't let her go—period?"

"Yeah. What do you think I should do?"

She raised her eyes to the ceiling, then closed them as if praying.

"Mom? Did you hear me?"

She snapped her head forward, blinked, and placed a hand on her chest. "I'm sorry. I just wanted to bask in the moment of you asking for my advice. It happens so seldom."