“Christa accused me of exchanging sexual favors with you for

academic benefits.”

“What?”

While Julia hurriedly described the nature of the complaint and

David and Soraya’s exchanges, Gabriel’s expression grew darker and more dangerous. When she quoted David’s final words, he took a

large step away from her.

He reared back and thrust his fist through the wall. Then, for

good measure, he withdrew, dragging fragments of plaster and dust

with him, before punching through the wall twice more in rapid

succession.

Julia stood, open-mouthed, as Gabriel trembled before her, eyes

closed and chest heaving. Part of her wanted to run, but she found herself rooted to the spot.

No matter how much she wanted to run at that moment, the

sight of a few drops of blood dripping from his knuckles and onto

the hardwood floor captured her attention.

“What have you done to yourself?” She looked up into his blazing

eyes and pulled him toward the guest washroom. “Sit down.” Once

he was situated, she examined his knuckles and found the skin had

split in more than one place.

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Sylvain Reynard

“You might need stitches,” she said. “I’m worried you’ve broken

something.”

Gabriel opened and closed his hand several times, wordlessly

demonstrating that his hand wasn’t broken.

“I think you should have an x-ray, just in case.”

His only response was to rub at his eyes with his uninjured hand

and heave a deep, shuddering sigh.

She opened the medicine cabinet and removed a few first aid

items. “I’ll try to clean this, but you should go to the hospital.”

“I’ll be fine.” His voice was tight.

Using tweezers, she removed the bits of plaster from his wounds

and cleaned them with iodine. Gabriel barely flinched as she bathed his knuckles, and she noticed that he was shaking, possibly from

residual anger.

“I’m sorry I upset you,” Julia whispered.

“I nearly brought a wall down, and you’re apologizing to me?”

“I should have told you when you were sitting down. Or after

you’d had a drink.”

He shook his head. “Then I really would have knocked the wall

down. I’m too angry to drink.”

Julia continued her first aid until the wound was completely

clean. When she was finished, she ghosted her lips over his bandaged knuckles. “I’m so sorry.”

Gabriel caught her hand in his. “Stop it. I seem to remember

another time in this washroom when I was the one playing doctor.”

“I was mortified. I wanted to make a good impression and then

I smashed your crystal and sprayed your nice shirt with Chianti.”

“It was an accident. I had to work up the courage to put iodine

on your cuts. I was afraid of hurting you. And that was before I…”

He closed his eyes and rubbed at them again. “What happened

to you today is my fault. I should have protected you.”

“Gabriel,” Julia said, her voice a warning. She leaned over and

took his face between her hands, forcing him to look at her. “Don’t.

We knew the risks when we got involved. I don’t care what they do

to me.” Her voice broke on the words, but she spoke them anyway.

“I don’t care about Harvard or my PhD. I don’t want to lose you.”

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Gabriel’s Rapture

A strange fire illuminated Gabriel’s eyes. “Not even Hell could

keep me from you,” he whispered.

The lovers embraced desperately, drawing comfort from each

other’s very skin.

“Are you going to tel me what happened with Professor Martin?”

Gabriel took Julia’s hand and led her into the master bathroom

where he began drawing a bath. “You relax, I’ll talk.”

“I’m not in the mood for a bubble bath. I kind of feel like taking a crow bar to something.”

(Something appalling and poorly made. Like domestic beer.)

“That’s why you need a bubble bath. I have to preserve the walls

of my apartment.”

Julia undressed and settled herself amongst the suds. He regarded

her intensely — the way her long hair was pinned up haphazardly on top of her head, the gentle contours of her breasts floating amidst the water like two white, pink tipped lilies, the way she bit at her lip until she realized he was staring at it.

“Do you remember the first time we bathed together?” she asked

as she watched him settle his tall form on a low stool.

“I’m not likely to forget it.”

“You were worried I was hurting, and you carried me to the tub.”

She smiled shyly. “That was one of the kindest things you’ve ever

done for me.”

“Thank you.” He gave her a peck on a cheek. “But I can’t reminisce about happy things with you. I’m far too angry for that. I’d like to rip out David Aras’s tongue and strangle him with it.”

“What about Professor Martin?”

Gabriel paused, clearing his throat. “If Christa’s complaint had

stood alone, he would have interviewed me, perhaps spoken to a few others around the department, and concluded that her charge was

fabricated. Her complaint against you, however, complicates things.”

“What did your lawyer say?”

“I decided to meet with Jeremy alone.”

Julia sat bolt upright, the water sloshing around her. “What?

I thought you told your lawyer about the complaint so he would

accompany you.”

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Sylvain Reynard

Gabriel leaned forward, resting his forearms on his knees.

“Jeremy hired me. I consider him a friend. I thought it was more

likely that we could cut through the bullshit and deal with the issue if I didn’t bring my lawyer.”

Julia’s eyes widened in disbelief. “What did he say?”

“Christa claims that I tried to initiate a sexual relationship with her on a number of different occasions, including meetings that we had on and off campus. She mentioned our interactions at Starbucks and at Lobby.” His eyes shifted to Julia’s.

“She’s also accusing me of punishing her by rejecting her thesis

proposal and threatening to have her dismissed from the PhD pro-

gram. She claims that after she spurned me, I made her life hell.”

“But it’s all lies. She was the one harassing you.”

“Exactly, and I said as much. Jeremy was quite cross. He told me

that I should have come to him immediately and filed a complaint.

Obviously, my claim is not very credible at this point, but there are a couple of things that Christa did not take into consideration.”

“Such as?”

“Her academic file. Jeremy and I had at least two discussions

about her poor progress over the course of last semester. He was well aware of the fact that she was struggling. Notes from those discussions, along with copies of her work, are in her file. Also, Paul was present during some of my interactions with Christa. I suggested

that Jeremy speak with him, along with Mrs. Jenkins.”

“Paul was with me in Starbucks the day you met with Chris-

ta. She told us she was planning on persuading you to take her to

Lobby — that she was going to be exchanging more than names with

you that evening.”

Gabriel’s eyebrows furrowed. “What?”

“I forgot about that conversation, or I would have mentioned it

earlier. Paul and I were having coffee and Christa came in before you arrived. She was bragging about how she was going to seduce you.”

Gabriel stroked his chin, deep in thought. “And Paul heard her

say this?”

“Yes,” said Julia, fighting a smile. “I guess the Angelfucker might turn out to be a guardian angel.”

Gabriel scowled. “Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. What else

did she say?”

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Gabriel’s Rapture

“Not much. We saw you meet with Christa, but we were too

far away to hear what you were saying. Her body language seemed

pretty obvious. She was trying to flirt with you, and you scolded her.

I could tell Professor Martin that.”

“Absolutely not. You’re too involved as it is.” He scratched at

his chin once again. “Jeremy asked that I not speak to Paul about

Christa. The situation is a bit touchy because Paul is working for me, but Jeremy agreed to talk to him. It would be best if you didn’t speak to Paul about this, either. The less said on the topic the better.”

“He doesn’t like Christa. One of the first things he ever said to

me was that she wanted to become Mrs. Emerson. He knows she

was after you.”

Gabriel grimaced. “I reminded Jeremy that I approved Christa’s

dissertation proposal back in December, after giving her numerous

chances to fix it. Let’s hope that when he talks to Paul, he’s able to grasp a clear picture of what actually happened.”

Julia closed her eyes, resting her head back in the bathtub. She

knew that they could rely on Paul to tell the truth. Despite his an-tipathy to Professor Emerson, he wouldn’t give credence to Christa’s false allegations.

Gabriel stood up. “There’s one other thing I need to tell you.”

“What’s that?” Julia asked, eyes still closed.

“Jeremy asked if we were involved. And I said — yes.”

She opened her eyes, staring up at him. “What?”

“I told him that we didn’t get involved until the Christmas break.”