“She was looking for you rather desperately,” Veronica said. “I can’t imagine why.” She cast a pointed look at the girl’s protruding stomach.

“No, that’s— It can’t…” I trailed off as I flashed back to the night Seanna had drugged me. The night I couldn’t remember. Waking up fully dressed suggested I hadn’t done anything to Seanna. It did not mean she hadn’t done anything to me.

The scene went dark again and…

I woke in Gabriel’s lap. He was crouched, as if he’d caught me mid-fall. Patrick stood over us, his face colder than I’d ever seen it.

“Discovered a new power, Olivia?” Patrick said.

“You didn’t seduce Seanna,” I said. “You didn’t even have a fling. You rescued her, and she repaid you by robbing you blind. But your watch and money wasn’t all she took. She drugged you and had sex with you. Without your consent.”

His face went even colder, and behind his eyes I saw a rage that made me want to take his advice, to get out as fast as I could.

I looked him in the eye. “It was blackmail, wasn’t it? She knew you had money. Another of her half-baked schemes. Only this one worked. She did get pregnant.”

“Get out. Now.”

I rose. “I will. But you—”

“Stop talking,” Patrick said.

Gabriel shouldered between us. “Don’t tell her—”

“Get out of my house, Olivia, and if you ever invade my privacy again—”

“Do not threaten her,” Gabriel cut in, his voice quiet. “If you want to blame someone, blame me for pressing. I asked because I needed to understand, even if I would love to say it doesn’t matter and I’m quite over it. I asked, and you refused.”

“I—”

“You refused—to protect your ego and your pride. You were conned and assaulted by a teenager. That did not fit the image you wish to project. So you refused the one thing I asked of you. I will not forget that.”

Gabriel ushered me through the house and out the front door.

—

Lloergan fell in at my side. We’d walked to Patrick’s, leaving Rose’s car at her house. I had to nearly jog to keep up with Gabriel’s long strides as he headed back there. Lloergan whined and pushed at my hand.

In rejecting the overture, Patrick rejected him. It was a reminder that Patrick had left him with Seanna, turned his back, and then said, “Hey, kid, I helped you with the gargoyles. What more do you want?”

What happened to Patrick was horrible, and if it was possible to hate Seanna more, I did. But Gabriel had nothing to do with that. If the admission was too shameful for Patrick to share, he could have made up a story. She got me drunk and…I guess we had sex.