There, sitting on Gabi’s left ring finger, was a rock the size of Judy’s thumb. “She didn’t.”
“I think she did,” Rick said.
Judy turned from the monitors and headed for her office to retrieve her purse.
“Where are you going?” Rick asked, following her.
“To talk to her. She’s obviously upset. My guess is no one knows what’s going on. If Meg and Val knew, Meg would have called me.” Meg was Judy’s best friend and Gabi’s sister-in-law.
“I’ll take you.”
Judy pushed her hand on Rick’s thick chest. “No. She’s still not completely comfortable with men. I’ll go.”
“I guess it’s pizza for me tonight,” he said with a grin.
“Save some for me, Green Eyes.”
He kissed her and patted her butt as she walked out the door.
The doorbell buzzed several times before Gabi moved from the kitchen counter to answer it. She shouldn’t have been surprised to see Judy’s face behind the peephole, but she was.
Running her fingers under her eyes, Gabi knew it was useless. She’d been weeping since Hunter left, the reality of what she’d done set in.
She opened the door and tried to smile.
Judy’s face filled with sympathy, and her first words brought fresh tears to Gabi’s eyes. “Oh, hon . . . what happened?”
Judy pushed inside, kicked the door closed, and dropped her purse on the floor.
Gabi accepted the other woman’s hug and cried. “I-I got married.”
They stood in the hall for a couple of minutes, Judy tried to soothe her over with soft words. Who would have thought a woman a good five years younger would be the one comforting her?
“C’mon.” Judy led them into the living room where they sat on the couch. “Start at the beginning.”
The thought of letting it all out, every detail, was tempting. But what would be the point? Judy was a direct link to her brother, and if Val found out that Hunter had blackmailed her into marriage, she’d have to contend with his wrath instead of focusing on clearing her name.
“His name is Hunter Blackwell,” Gabi told Judy.
“An Alliance client?”
“Yes.”
“If he’s a client, how is it you married him?” Judy asked.
Gabi shook the truth from her tongue. “He needed a wife, fast.”
“Why?”
“I’m not entirely sure.” There was no way around that truth. Gabi knew that fact shook Judy. “But he’s a friend of Blake’s.”
Judy seemed to like that piece of information. “Did Sam approve?”
Gabi shook her head. “Jordan’s really sick. She asked me to deal with Blackwell.”
“Deal with . . . not marry.”
The image of the justice of the peace asking her if she’d take him as her husband shot into her head. “He made me an offer I couldn’t refuse.”
“I don’t think—”
“Twenty-four million.”
Judy stared, open-mouthed. “Oh.”
“Yeah . . . oh!”
They were silent for a minute, before Judy asked, “So if you wanted the deal . . . why are you so upset?”
Half the truth came out. “Memories.”
Judy grasped both Gabi’s hands and held them in her lap. “I’m sorry.”
“Me, too.”
She thought she’d loved Alonzo when he convinced her to elope. The memory was clouded, where the image of Hunter vowing to be her husband was fresh in her head.
Judy ran her thumb over the ring on Gabi’s finger. “This is crazy,” she said.
Gabi really hadn’t noticed. She twisted the ring on her finger now . . . realized the size of the thing that very moment. “It is, isn’t it?”
“It’s got to be at least five carats.”
“I don’t know.”
The tears were drying up, the memories of Alonzo with them.
“So what now? Are you moving in with him?”
Gabi focused on her hand, lifted it high to really look at the ring. “No . . . I need to find a house.”
“What?”
Gabi dropped her hand, offered a grin. “I told him I wouldn’t live in his house, that he needed to buy us a new one.”
Judy let out a laugh. “Seriously?”
“Yeah. I figured that would give us some time to get to know each other before we’re living under the same roof.”
“So let me get this right . . . he’s giving you twenty-four million . . . a house . . . and a ring that belongs in a safe and not on a hand?”
Gabi smiled, thought of the other ridiculous stipulations she’d added to their contracts. “I told you the offer was too good to pass up.”