Fatal Wild Child Read Free Page B

heard his soft exhalation and looked up again. He tilted his head slightly. "You think the world doesn't know that you have a rocky relationship with your father?" He said it almost apologetically.
    Gabrielle smiled. "You said you didn't read the tabloids."
    "I don't. I never have. But for a while there, it seemed like you were everywhere. A person couldn't turn around and you weren't plastered on billboards, the internet, call waiting, TV, radio...everywhere. You and that scuzzball that wouldn't leave you alone and did the dirty on you in the end, and—"
    " Scuzzball ?" She started laughing.
    "What?"
    "That's a new one. Is it Canadian?"
    He shrugged. "You don't like it? I got plenty more for jerks like that. Dickwad. Fu—"
    "It's okay," she said quickly. "I get the general idea." She stared at him. "You sound...almost angry about it."
    He frowned. "He was an asshole who treated you like dirt," he said flatly. "What ever did you see in him?"
    She sighed. "And this is why I get tired of people recognizing me. That was three years ago, but the entire world seems to feel they deserve an explanation for my actions whenever they demand one. What were you doing three years ago, Seth? Any mistakes you made that you're glad you've put behind you? How would you feel if, everywhere you go, someone came up to you and told you what an idiot you were back then, just to make sure you got the point, good and proper? Think you'd get a little tired of it after the first fifty or so times?"
    He sat on the edge of the fireplace. "I never said you were an idiot, Gabrielle. I was talking about him. Now I've met you, I really don't get it. I'd like to skip back three years and tear the guy a new one for treating you the way he did."
    He spoke quietly, with no emphasis, his big hands hanging between his knees, but Gabrielle shivered, because she knew with sudden certainty that if he had a mind to, he could tear Adrian a new one. He could do things to another human body that would terrify most people.
    She knew that she had to be honest. "I was different then, Seth. I've cleaned myself up a lot since then. Adrian was the last straw, really. My father made me promise to keep out of trouble, after that."
    Seth lifted a brow. "Or what? He'd cut you out of the will or something?"
    She smiled. "This isn't Peyton Place, Seth. He made me see that the path I was on was self-destructive. So I agreed to try and change. And so far, in three years, I'm doing okay."
    "'Okay' doesn't sound like much fun," Seth observed.
    She grimaced. "You should have seen me before. It looked like fun on the outside. It looked like a laugh a second. But if you compare my life these last years with what went before, these three years are a joy." She rubbed her temples, suddenly realizing what she was saying. "God, listen to me," she breathed. "Seth, I'm sorry. I don't normally inflict this upon a total stranger."
    His gaze didn't waiver. "Who do you inflict it upon?"
    No one. She carefully changed subjects. "My father was wondering if you would be kind enough to sneak me back into Jasper Park Lodge. There's media people hanging around and I really don't want them to see me like this."
    "Of course," he said evenly. She mentally sighed in relief. He wasn't going to pursue the question. She had a feeling that if he persisted, he would eventually dig whatever answers he wanted out of her. That was a novelty, for she had spent years honing her verbal evasion skills with the media. Yet in three minutes she had blurted out more to Seth about her true feelings than to a single other soul on the planet.
    She stood up abruptly, annoyed with herself. It was just the accident. Adrenaline aftermath. She'd get it together and be just fine, once she was back with the family at the lodge. And after Christmas, when they were back in the States and a long way from here, she'd be even better.
    She looked at Seth. He was watching her again, very still, the painted blue eyes framed by the black