Keiran stepped forward into the room. “That’s fantastic news. I always knew you two belonged together.” He stopped beside Gabrielle and smiled across the room at Damien. “Just like I knew these two belonged together.”
“Oh, so you saw it, too,” Russell said, leaning back on the pillow with the air of a man who had everything now.
“I sure did. And it makes my heart glad for them both.” He smiled at her, but his eyes were cold. “I’m sure nothing can come between them now. Don’t you agree, Gabrielle?”
Her nerves tensed. “I—”
“You got that right,” Damien cut across her from his position at the window.
Keiran inclined his head, but the smug smile stayed on his lips. He was in control of her and Damien’s future, and he knew it.
Then Keiran looked down at Gabrielle beside him, making her jump when he lifted her wrist and turned it over. “Oh my, coz. How on earth did you get this nasty bruise?”
She’d been too upset to notice the bruise herself until now. It wasn’t large but it was dark purple where Keiran had dug his thumb into her. Thankfully, it was on the underside of her wrist and hard to see.
Gabrielle snatched her hand back. “Um…I’m not sure,” she said, darting a look at Damien and seeing his eyes sharpen.
“You’ll have to be more careful in the future,” Keiran said with fake concern.
Her mother moved closer and picked up Gabrielle’s hand to check the inside of her wrist. “Keiran’s right. That’s a nasty bruise, darling.”
Gabrielle could feel heat creeping into her cheeks. Her mother would be shocked to know that her nephew had put the bruise there. They would all be shocked. She found it hard to believe herself.
Keiran gave a light chuckle. “She tripped the other day and would have fallen if I hadn’t saved her,” he lied. “She always was a bit of a klutz.”
Caroline frowned. “I don’t remember that, Keiran.”
“Me, neither,” Russell said with a scowl, and Gabrielle’s heart jumped in her throat. Her father was looking at Keiran with slightly narrowed eyes. Did he suspect the truth? Oh God, she hoped not. It would lead to dangerous secrets being exposed.
Her mother’s face cleared. “How about I make us some iced tea?”
Gabrielle quickly forced a smile. “That would be lovely, Mum,” she said, all at once knowing that Keiran had tripped her up the other day. It hadn’t been an accident.
Keiran smiled at her mother, but Gabrielle thought he looked a little nervous now, as well he should. “Yes, that would be perfect, Caroline.”
Gabrielle swallowed hard as her mother left the room with a spring in her step. Her father was still frowning slightly, but it was Damien whom Gabrielle was worried about now. His eyes were on Keiran with a lethal calmness that seriously worried her. She had the feeling he had caught onto what Keiran was doing.
Damien didn’t know how he managed to get through the next half hour. He hoped to God he was wrong, but his gut was telling him differently. Tension coiled inside him.
“Okay, Gabrielle,” he said once they were home. She’d been sending him wary glances on the way, and he’d done nothing to put her mind at ease. He wanted her to spill all, and he wanted no procrastination. “Tell me. How did you get that bruise?”
Seconds crawled by. She shot him an anxious glance. “Um…bruise?” she said, not fooling him for an instant.
He jerked his head at her hand. “The one on your wrist there. Or should I say the one under your wrist?”
“Oh, that one.” She shrugged as she placed her handbag on the sofa. “I can’t remember.”
“Keiran knew it was there,” he pointed out.
One delicate eyebrow rose. “What are you implying, Damien?”
They both knew she was hiding something. “Keiran was being a smart-arse about it. He doesn’t do that for no good reason.”
“That’s just Keiran being Keiran.”
He held back his irritation at her delaying tactics. “The thing is why did he feel he had to point it out?”
“How do I know?” she challenged, but there was something in her blue eyes telling him she wasn’t nearly as defiant underneath. There was a hint of fear in her eyes.
His gut knotted more. “I think you do,” he said silkily.
She squared her shoulders. “Are you calling me a liar?”
“Yes.” He stared hard, letting her know he wasn’t about to give up. He would find out what all this was about if it was the last thing he did.
Suddenly her shoulders slumped just a little. “Damien, please let things be.”
He expelled a harsh breath. “Jesus, did Keiran really put that bruise on you?” Even though he’d suspected, it was a different thing knowing for sure.
She wrapped her arms around herself in a defensive gesture. “Yes, Damien. He did.”
A knifing pain sliced through his chest. “I’ll kill him,” he rasped, taking a step toward the door.
“No!” She stepped in front of him. “What’s the use now, Damien? Let it be.”
He stopped, looked down at her face. “Why didn’t you tell me?”
“Because it didn’t seem much at the time.”
He swore. No one should put up with physical abuse, and certainly not from a weak-willed coward like—
“I wouldn’t listen to him this morning, you see,” she said, cutting across his thoughts. “He grabbed my wrist too tight, that’s all.”
He gave her a glance of disbelief. “All? He was gloating. He did it deliberately.” Something occurred to him. “Hell, he was gloating over you tripping up, too. Did he trip you, Gabrielle? The truth please.”
She winced. “I…I think so.”
Damien’s jaw clenched. There was more to this than she was saying. “Why wouldn’t you listen to him? What was he saying?”
“Nothing. It was just about work,” she said, but her eyes darted away again, making him increasingly uneasy.
“You should have told me. If he did it once he would do it again.”
“I kept thinking he wouldn’t.”
“Not bloody likely,” he rasped.
She sighed. “I know.”
All at once he realized something else. Gabrielle had no trouble standing up to Keiran before. So why wasn’t she standing up to her cousin over this? What did Keiran have over her? There was only one way to find out.