The Law of Attraction(83)
“So, why are you dressed like that?”
“Because we were trying to get a handwriting sample,” he explained.
“And for that you had to dress like one of the Village People?” Adam asked.
“The person whose sample we needed was at an underground sex party,” Jess offered helpfully.
“At a what?!” I had also never heard Braden yell before.
“She didn’t go in!” Mark said in a panicked voice. “Only Jess and I did. They just wore costumes in case they had to come in to help us.”
“Help you to do what?!”
“Get out after I spanked Cole Stephenson into giving the sample,” she answered.
“The state congressman?” Adam asked. “Wow, Gabrielle, you really are dangerous.”
“That’s all I did – when they crawled out the window and the bouncers started coming after us – I told them where to run so that they could get away. That’s all.” My voice was starting to quaver. I hated seeing Braden this upset.
“Oh that’s all, huh?” Braden stood up and plowed his fingers through his hair and started pacing angrily. “You promised me that you wouldn’t knowingly put yourself in danger and you lied to me.”
“I didn’t lie to you! I didn’t think it would be dangerous!”
“Why would you even do this?”
“Because you and my parents are worried about me. I didn’t want you to worry. I honestly believed that either Marla or Cole or possibly Mrs. Mason was the anonymous letter writer. I figured if I just had a little proof I could tell them to back off.”
“Why couldn’t you just have told me that, or told the police that?”
“Because if you had them investigated it could cause a backlash for you and your family. I didn’t want to see that happen over a couple of stupid notes.”
“A couple? You got more than one?”
“I didn’t want you to worry. I thought that if I told you that I had gotten another one, and I told you who I suspected, you might do something rash.”
“I might do something rash?! You went to a fucking orgy dressed like the fifth member of KISS!”
“My plan worked! We got the handwriting sample from Cole!”
“Did you know that Marla’s a call girl by the way?” Jess asked.
“She’s a what?!”
“Don’t worry about that now!” I glared at Jess. “I just wanted to find a way to make the letter writer leave me alone so that you wouldn’t worry. I love you and I don’t want to cause you stress.” Finally his expression softened a little.
“Well, I happen to love you too and if you don’t want to cause me stress then you can try actually talking to me rather than assuming that you know how I’ll react to something. From now on, and I mean this, Gabrielle, you will not keep this kind of information from me. Do you understand?”
“Yes. Braden, baby, I’m so sorry.”
“Do you promise me?”
“Yes. I promise you.”
He paced some more and raked his fingers through his hair some more. We all sat quietly, not wanting to say anything to make him any more agitated. Finally he stopped pacing and turned to face me with a very determined look.
“Okay, you really want to make sure that I don’t worry about you?”
“Yes, of course.”
“And you love me?”
“Yes! So much.” I could feel tears start to sting my eyes.
“Then marry me.” Huh?
“Did you just ask me to marry you?”
“Yes. And believe me, it never would have occurred to me that one day I would be proposing in front of four other people to someone dressed as a dominatrix. Yet here I find myself. And the fact that I’m still standing here extending this offer should tell you something, Gabrielle.”
“It does!” I smiled with incredible, almost irrational, joy as I felt the tears completely filling my eyes. “I thought that my dad was the only guy in the world romantic enough to knowingly marry into pure insanity just because he really loved somebody.”
“So is that a yes?”
“Yes!” I ran over to him and hugged him tightly. I heard a yip and Bruno ran over and started humping Braden’s leg.
CHAPTER THIRTY
“Mazel tov. Does this mean you’re going to convert?” Adam asked.
“Who cares about that? Does it mean you’re not going to kill me?” Mark wanted to know.
“What it means is that Gabrielle won’t be digging through garbage or attending underground sex parties anymore. Well, unless I go with her. It also means that if someone is harassing her because they’re hoping that she’ll leave me, they’ll probably just give up.”