“There’s nothing.” Julia sniffled, wiping her nose with a tissue.

Soraya tossed her long, dark hair. “Then he must be keeping

secrets from you too. I can’t imagine what would be more damaging

to him than confessing to having an inappropriate relationship with you. I thought you told me you didn’t sleep with him until December?”

“That’s right.”

“Then why would he tell them you were together while you were

still his student?”

“Do you think they fired him?” Julia changed the subject.

Gabriel’s Rapture

“No.” Soraya exhaled loudly. “Emerson is tenured and from the

body language in the room, he has the support of his Chair. But who knows? David is a self-righteous bastard.”

“You don’t think Gabriel was lying to protect me?”

Soraya smothered a patronizing smile, for really, it would have

been inappropriate to smile at that moment. “Human beings are

selfish. He was protecting himself — hiding some secret that he didn’t want to come out or trading a confession for leniency. Gabriel went rogue and refused to let John fight the charges. Otherwise, we’d still be sitting in the hall, waiting.”

Julia stood at the sink and washed her face and hands, trying to

make herself appear presentable.

Soraya shook her head. “I don’t mean to be callous, but I really

don’t think you should be wasting your tears on him.”

“What do you mean?”

“I’m sure you were an intriguing diversion, in comparison to his

other women. He probably said pretty things so you’d screw him

and keep your mouth shut. But men like him can’t be trusted. And

they never change.” She continued hurriedly as she saw the horrified expression on Julia’s face.

“I wasn’t going to mention this, but a friend of mine hooked up

with him a couple of times. They met at a club about a year ago and ended up fucking in the washroom.

“One day last fall, he called her out of the blue. One more hook

up and she never saw or heard from him again. It was as if he’d vanished.” Soraya measured Julia’s reaction. “Why would you want to

be with someone like that? He was probably screwing other women

the entire time he was with you.”

“You don’t know him. Don’t judge him.” Julia’s voice was quietly

aggressive.

Soraya simply shrugged and dug around in her briefcase for her

lipstick.

Julia closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to process

these new revelations.

Gabriel and I started getting close last fall — was he sleeping with someone else when he was sending me flowers and emails? Was he lying to me about Paulina?

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Sylvain Reynard

Julia didn’t know what to believe. Her heart told her to believe

Gabriel, but she couldn’t deny the fact that Soraya had planted a

seed of doubt.

They walked into the hallway and headed for the stairs, hoping

to make their escape.

John and Gabriel were doing the same thing. Neither of the

men looked happy.

“Gabriel!” Julia called.

John glared in her direction. “Let’s go, Gabriel. You can’t be

seen with her.”

Julia looked over into conflicted blue eyes. He didn’t look dis-

gusted anymore; he looked sober and anxious.

“Haven’t you done enough damage for one day?” spat his attorney

as Julia took a hesitant step in their direction.

“Don’t speak to her like that.” Gabriel moved to stand in between

them, shielding Julia with his body. He still wouldn’t look at her.

“Listen, you two, David and his minions are about to come

through that door, and I’d prefer to be gone before that happens.

So whatever conversation you need to have, make it quick,” Soraya

snapped.

“Over my dead body.” John glowered. “We’re in enough trouble

as it is. Come on.”

Gabriel shot his lawyer a look of warning and gritted his teeth,

turning around to face Julia.

“What’s going on? Why did you tell them our relationship was

inappropriate?” Julia looked up into dark, tormented eyes.

“You were not sensible of your own distress.” Gabriel leaned forward to whisper in an urgent tone.

“What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means that he just saved your ass, that’s what it means!” John interrupted, pointing at Julia contemptuously. “What, exactly, were you trying to accomplish by emotionally vomiting all over the proceedings? I knew you were naïve, but just how stupid are you?”

“John, take your finger out of Miss Mitchell’s face or I will separate it from your body.” Gabriel’s voice dropped, his tone quiet but chilling. “You do not speak to her like that. Ever. Do I make myself clear?”

230

Gabriel’s Rapture

John closed his mouth.

Soraya used this as an opportunity to put him on the defensive.

“My client is better off without the theatrics of either one of you. Don’t pretend you weren’t going to blame her for everything to save your client. Bloody coward.”

John muttered an oblique curse in response, but said nothing.

Julia turned to search Gabriel’s eyes. But his mask was firmly

in place.

“Why did the Dean say that they were going to protect me from

you?”

“We need to go. Now.” John tried to separate the couple as a noise inside the meeting room alerted them to the fact that the hearing

officers were about to recess.

“Did they fire you?” Julia asked tremulously.

Gabriel gave her a pained look, then shook his head.

“Well done, John. I’m sure you’re proud of yourself,” Soraya hissed.

“Did you have to sell your soul to David? Or maybe your body?”

“Blow me, Soraya,” said John.

“So you kept your job, but you can’t talk to me? What about last

night, Gabriel?” Julia reached out a trembling finger toward his hand.

He pulled out of her reach and glanced sideways at John and

Soraya, shaking his head.

“You promised you’d never fuck me. But what about last night?

No words, no I love you, not even a note or a text this morning. Is that all it was to you? A good-bye fuck?” Julia’s whisper caught on an involuntary sob, and she raised her voice. “Who’s the Angelfucker now?”

Gabriel flinched.

It was more than a flinch; actually, it was more like a reel back-

ward from a punch. He closed his eyes and groaned softly, shifting his weight to his heels as his fists clenched at his sides.

Everyone watched as his skin took on a ghostlike pallor.

“You wound me, Julianne,” he whispered.

“You keep your job, but you won’t talk to me? How could you

do this?” she cried.

His eyes flew open, and they were a brilliant, livid sapphire.

231

Sylvain Reynard

“You think that I’d just show up, fuck you, and that would be how I would say good-bye?”

Julia watched his fists shake as he fought to maintain control.

“That was good-bye?” Her voice caught on the last word.

Gabriel’s eyes lasered into hers as if he were trying to communi-

cate something wordlessly. He leaned forward so his nose was only

inches from hers and dropped his voice so it was almost inaudible.

“I did not fuck you. I’ve never fucked you.”

He pulled back slightly so there was some distance between

them. He drew a long, unhurried breath. “You were throwing your

life away for nothing — all those years of hard work, everything you dreamed of and ever wanted was going to be taken from you and

you would never be able to get it back.

“There was no way I could watch you commit academic suicide.

I told you that I would go to Hell to rescue you and that’s just what I did.” He lifted his chin. “And I’d do it again.”

Julia leapt forward, jabbing a finger into Gabriel’s chest.

“You don’t get to make decisions for me! This is my life and my

dreams. If I want to give them up, who the hell are you to take that decision away from me?

“You’re supposed to love me, Gabriel. You’re supposed to support

me when I decide to stand up for myself. Isn’t that what you wanted me to do? And instead, you cut a deal with them and dump me?”

“Would you two shut the hell up?” Soraya hissed. “The Dean will

be walking through the door any minute. Come on, Julia. Right now.”

She tugged on her client’s elbow while John tried to step in

between the two quarreling lovers.

“So that’s it? They say it’s over and it’s over? When have you ever followed the rules, Gabriel? Now you decide to follow them?” Julia asked, still furious.

Gabriel’s expression changed immediately. “I had no choice,

Héloise,” he whispered. “Circumstances were beyond — ”

“I thought my name was Beatrice. Of course, Abelard abandoned Héloise to keep his job. So I guess the name is more than apt,” she spat, stepping away from him.

At that moment, Professor Martin entered the hallway. He

scowled and began walking toward them.

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Gabriel’s Rapture

Gabriel turned away from Jeremy, lowering his voice further.

“Read my sixth letter. Paragraph four.”

Julia shook her head.

“I’m not your student, Professor. I won’t be doing any reading

assignments.”

Soraya pulled Julia away, and the two women hurried down the

stairs just as the hearing officers came through the door.

233

Chapter 27

Gabriel ducked into the men’s room as soon as Julia left. He

couldn’t risk calling her, since Jeremy might enter at any mo-

ment, but he was far from satisfied that she understood what was

happening. Turning on a faucet in order to make noise, he quickly

tapped out a short but explanatory email on his iPhone.

Having sent it, he turned off the faucet and exited, tucking his

phone into his jacket pocket. He tried very hard to look grim and

defeated.

As he walked over to the two men, Jeremy’s cell phone chirped.

P

When Julia awoke the next morning the numbness had worn

off. Sleep would have been a welcome respite from reality, except for the nightmares. She’d been haunted by various dreams, all involving the morning she woke up alone in the orchard. She was frightened

and lost and Gabriel was nowhere to be found.

It was almost noon when she crawled out of bed to check her

messages. She’d expected at least a text or a one line email, offering some kind of explanation. But there was nothing.

He’d acted so strangely the day before. On the one hand he’d

told her he hadn’t fucked her; on the other, he’d called her Héloise.

She didn’t want to believe that he was so cruel as to flaunt the fact that he was ending things with a play on words, but he’d used the

word good-bye.

Gabriel’s Rapture

Her feelings of betrayal ran deep, for Gabriel had promised

that he would never leave her. He was far too eager to go back on

his promise, she thought, despite the fact that the university had no jurisdiction over his personal life, so long as she was no longer his student.

A dark thought occurred to her. Perhaps Gabriel had tired of her

and decided to put an end to their union. The university had simply handed him an opportunity to do so.

If her falling out with Gabriel had occurred a few months earlier, she would have stayed in bed for three days. As it was, she dialed his cell phone with the intention of demanding an explanation. He

didn’t answer. She left a terse and impatient voice mail, asking him to call her.

Frustrated, she took a shower, hoping that the time to herself

would afford her the opportunity to see her situation with clarity.

Unfortunately, all she could think about was the evening in Italy

when Gabriel showered her and washed her hair.

After she dressed, she decided to search for Gabriel’s sixth letter, so she could read paragraph four. He’d given her a clue, she thought, as to what was really happening. All she needed to do was find his words.