Free A Wolf's Heart (Harlequin Nocturne) by Vivi Anna Page B

me?” she stuttered.
“Of course not. I could never replace you.”
Lily chewed on her bottom lip. “I’m so sorry, Elise. I don’t know how it happened. It just did, then I got caught up in it and it just steamrolled from there.”
“I understand. Diego has his charms, however hidden they may be.”
Lily wiped at her eyes. “I’ll break it off, I swear I will. You’re more important to me than he is.”
“I know.” Elise pressed a kiss to her forehead.
Still wiping at her red-rimmed eyes, Lily turned and looked at Gabriel. “Bet this wasn’t what you were expecting to hear.”
“No, not really,” he said, “but it would explain where you were the night Elise’s car was vandalized. You were with Diego, yes?”
She nodded. “Doing it in the cloakroom of all places. I can’t even believe how tacky that is. His date was off dancing with someone else at the time.”
“Yes, but it does provide Diego with an alibi.”
Elise turned her gaze toward him. “I didn’t realize that Diego was even a suspect.”
“Everyone’s a suspect at this point. Everyone who knows you or has had a close relationship with you at sometime or another. The perp knows your habits and your schedule. Not just any stranger off the street can get access to that information.”
Lily eyed him curiously, her cheeks still streaked with tears. “I’m not a suspect, am I?”
Elise chuckled. “Of course, you’re not.” But her smile fell when Gabriel didn’t quickly agree. “You can’t be serious, Gabriel.”
“Everyone is a suspect until they’re not.”
Elise shook her head. “Well, that’s just ridiculous.” She patted Lily on the shoulder.
“I get to decide what’s ridiculous, this time around.”
Pursing her lips, she eyed him carefully then she turned and smiled at Lily. “Could you grab my bags for me? And bring them to the front door?”
Lily nodded and, after wiping at her face one last time, walked out of the living room to do as Elise asked.
Twirling a ring on her finger, Elise walked toward him. “Are we really back there, again, Gabriel?”
“What?”
“You know what. Fifteen years ago.”
Gabriel moved away from her and started for the front door. “We should hit the road if we want to make it to your cottage before dark.”
But she wouldn’t let him escape. She moved with him, matching him step for step. Finally, she caught him, or he let her catch him, he wasn’t sure which. Standing in front of him, she laid her hand against his cheek. “It’s not your fault, Gabriel. What happened to me all those years ago was an accident. You couldn’t have changed it.”
“I could have, if you had let me.” There was pain in his chest. It felt tight and he found it hard to breathe. He wanted to wrap her in his arms, to press his lips to hers and taste her again. But he beat the urge down like forcing a wild beast back into its cage.
“It’s not your job to save everyone.”
“It is now.” He lifted his hand and trailed his fingers along her shoulder down to the dip in her blouse. There he found the scar just above her right breast. It was small, nearly invisible now, but he saw it. He knew it was there.
It was where his best friend, Yves Martin, had torn at Elise’s flesh over fifteen years ago. It was Gabriel’s scar as much as it was hers. It was a reminder to Gabriel that he’d failed in the most important test of his life—keeping the love of his life safe.
She covered his hand with her own. “You didn’t know Yves was rabid, Gabriel. You couldn’t have known that he would attack me.”
“If I hadn’t been late that night meeting you…”
She shook her head. “It’s not your fault. You saved my life, remember? You were the one who pulled him off me. You healed me.”
“If only you hadn’t been so reckless and had done what I asked of you.”
She squeezed his hand then. “What? I wasn’t reckless.”
“You were always reckless. And I don’t think things have changed much.”
She dropped her