Carly excitedly babbles on about baby powder, mobiles, and blankets.
For the first time in months, I hear Carly laugh. I lean my head back against the wall and swallow hard. I don’t deserve Valentina’s cover-up, but I take it anyway.
Valentina
We park in front of a two-story house with a circular entrance hall like an abstract castle tower. The pillars framing the entrance are a modern, off-kilter version of the Arc de Triomphe. The house is painted gray, black, and burgundy. I’ve never seen anything like it.
“Where are we?”
Gabriel turns off the engine, but doesn’t answer. He exits and comes around to help me from the car. It was a long drive to the northern suburb of Broadacres, and we got stuck in traffic. I stretch to relieve the ache in my back. His hand moves to my lower back, his fingers gently massaging the sore muscles.
At the glass doors, he hands me a key with a red ribbon looped through the hole.
“Gabriel, what is this?”
“Our new house.”
Incapable of forming words, my gaze shifts from the keys to the doors. Behind the glass, there is a large, open-plan, furnished space.
“Aren’t you going to open it?” he asks with a quirk of his lips.
I fumble to fit the key in the keyhole and eventually manage to let us inside.
Our footsteps echo on the slate tiles. A spiral staircase leads from the tower to the first level. To the left is a lounge and at the back a kitchen. The finishes are in industrial steel.
“Come.” He takes my hand and walks me through the house.
The ground floor includes a wine room with walk-in fridge, an office for Gabriel, a soundproof cinema, an indoor barbeque facing a heated pool, a Jacuzzi, bar, bathroom, sauna room, and gym. The kitchen leads to a pantry and scullery, and the scullery to maid quarters and a double garage.
He gauges my reaction as he leads me upstairs. “Do you like it?”
The decoration is minimalistic and modern. I can see why Gabriel would like it. “It’s very impressive.”
Satisfied with my answer, he shows me four spacious bedrooms, each with an en-suite bathroom.
From the main bedroom, we step onto the balcony that has a view on the pool.
“Charlie can have the bigger bedroom on the right, and we can break a door from ours to the one on the left for the baby.”
I lean on the balustrade and look up at him. “Why?” Magda has a big house, and up to now Gabriel has been content to live there.
“I want you to be happy. I want you to buy what you please, decorate as you like, and paint the walls green if that’s your thing.”
I have to laugh. I can’t imagine the gray walls of this house being a crazy green.
He cups my hips and presses our lower bodies together. “Just promise me the nursery will have a jungle theme. I kind of have my heart set on it.”
More laughter bubbles over my lips. Baby and decoration talk is so unlike Gabriel.
“I want this to be good for you, Valentina.” He brushes the hair from my face. “Having a baby won’t be easy. I want you to be as comfortable as you can be.”
“Thank you,” I whisper, not for the house, but for his efforts.
He kisses me and smiles against my lips. “Does that mean you like the house?”
“I do.”
“Then we move next week.”
I weave my fingers through his thick hair, keeping him in place. “I don’t care where we live, as long as you never stop touching me.”
The smile is gone. His expression sobers. “I trained you so damn well.”
“Does that mean you like it?” I ask, throwing his words back at him.
“Like it?” Heat invades the icy blue of his eyes. “I love it. I fucking live for it.”
As his fingers go to the zipper of my dress, I melt for him, wanting what he can give me long before he offers. Whether he drags me to Berea, Broadacres, or hell, it doesn’t make a difference. As long as he feeds on my pleasure, his arms will keep me warm, and I can go on pretending he gives a damn about more than my body.
The move takes place the following Monday. By Tuesday, we’re settled. Since the house came fully furnished, all we had to transport were our clothes and Gabriel’s office equipment. On one of the nights Gabriel works late, I invite Kris over for dinner to show her our new home. I would not have felt comfortable inviting her to Magda’s house. At least here, I can do as I please. The freedom feels amazing. The irony of that sentiment doesn’t escape me. I’m anything but free, but as the days go by and my stomach grows bigger, a new numbness dulls my senses until I don’t think about my captivity, any longer.