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Quinn set out two wineglasses on the kitchen counter and poured generous servings of a ruby-colored Rioja in both of them. She had about fifteen minutes before Gabriel showed up.
Before she watched his feelings for her change from love to contempt.
She took a gulp of wine and carried the glasses into the living room area, putting Gabriel’s on the coffee table before she slumped onto the sectional.
She’d never had to tell someone the truth about herself. Mikel had already known because he’d done a background check. He had told the king. No one else in Caleva knew.
Jean-Pierre Dupont knew. However, he didn’t count because he was from France, and he was a criminal himself.
Who was she kidding? Secrets always got out. Even a skilled con man like her father got caught. She let her head fall back against the sofa.
This was going to suck.
A few minutes later, the French door swung open, and Gabriel stepped through, all six feet, one inch of him, dressed in his usual jeans and black T-shirt. For a moment, she drank in the sculpted curves of his sensual mouth and the light of concern in his silver-gray eyes.
“Quinn?” Closing the door, he walked over to give her a kiss before he pulled back to search her face. His concern sent a jab of pain through her. “Are you all right?”
“No, but only because I don’t want to have this conversation,” she said. “I think you should sit down. Over there.” She waved at the chair across from her. “And have some wine.”
He hesitated before he picked up the wineglass and sat where she’d indicated.
She twisted her fingers around the stem of her glass and took a deep breath. “I promised I would tell you about my father and my past. I’d hoped to put it off a little longer because…” She glanced up at him. “Because it will change the way you think of me.”
He shook his head. “Nothing can do that. I know who you are.”
“You don’t.” She stared into her wine for a long moment before saying in a level voice, “I am a convicted felon. Grand larceny. I served thirteen months in a federal prison in the United States.” She had hated her father every minute of her time there.
The silence pressed against her chest. She didn’t dare look at Gabriel.
“Why?” His voice was soft. Curious, not accusing.
That jerked her gaze up to his face. There was surprise but no horror or disgust written there.
“Why?” she repeated.
“Why did you steal whatever you stole? You must have had a good reason. Was your father ill? Did you need money for medical bills?”
She flinched at his faith in her. “You met my father. His health is fine.”
“But there is more to this story,” Gabriel said. “Why were you so upset that your father came to Caleva?”
In a weird way, this was safer ground. “Because Brendan is a con man, a criminal in his own right. He’s been to jail more than once.” She made a wry face. “The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.”
Gabriel ignored her last statement. “From the conversation last night, I suspected something like that.”
“I thought I could start over here. Mikel gave me that chance.” She sat up straighter. “I didn’t trust my father not to screw it up for me, so I told him never to come here.” And she had been right. “Now you know.”
Gabriel put his glass down with a loud click. “I don’t know the most important thing. What drove you to do it.”
During the hearing, no one had asked her what her motive had been. They’d wanted to know how she’d done it and where the money was so they could retrieve it. “It was a cryptocurrency scam. So easy to trick gullible investors who wanted to be on the cutting edge.” That’s what her father had said. “They understood nothing about it, so it was simple to take their money. That’s why I did it.”
Gabriel ran his hand through his hair in a gesture of frustration. “That’s bullshit. I’m a rich man, yet you’ve never asked for a gift or quizzed me about my real estate holdings or even wanted to eat at an expensive restaurant.”
“Who needs a fancy restaurant when you can eat at the Castillo Draconago?”
He snorted. “You hate going there.”
She knew she was in trouble when he pushed up from his chair and prowled over to sit beside her. He took her glass away before he wrapped her hands in his and pulled her around to face him. His gaze rested on her face like a searchlight, blasting away any chance of concealment. “I hoped you would trust me with the truth.”
