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Present — At the park on December 10

Angela\'s breath hitched upon hearing the last words that came out of his mouth. The entire time, her eyes swiftly scanned his body as though she was trying to guess where his wounds were, and then she would drag her gaze to his face as if she was trying to see what else was hurting. 

Gael didn\'t go into the gory details of how he bled or exactly how many of their men died. She didn\'t need to know everything—he believed she didn\'t have to know how gruesome it was to paint the picture. He didn\'t want to scare her.

Even so, with Angela\'s creative mind, she saw a vivid picture of what happened during his birthday. What was supposed to be a lovely celebration became bloody. She couldn\'t imagine seeing Gael bleeding out. Her heart dropped to her stomach at the image of him in her head losing so much blood that he almost lost his life.

She had been speechless while he narrated bits of what happened to him and his family. He took a deep breath after mentioning the part about Gabriella getting kidnapped because just the reminder of it still haunted him. After all, he was unconscious for days while his family was experiencing chaos. And when he woke up and learned about what happened, he was at the lowest point of his life—where he questioned what his purpose was. He was breathing, which signified that he was alive, but he was useless all the same. 

Angela took his silence as her chance to react and release what she had been holding in for the last half hour. 

"Oh, my god… are you okay now? Your grandma… your sister… How…" Even after being able to drop the words that were at the tip of her tongue the whole time, she was still too shocked that she didn\'t know how to construct a proper sentence. She clutched her hands together when her imagination became chaotic. 

Seeing the concern on her face, Gael was somewhat relieved. That only meant that she cared enough to worry about him, right?

He offered a small smile as he reassured her, "They\'re okay. Gabby\'s safe now. Grandma was shocked after that incident, but she\'s a strong woman. She\'s back playing scrabble with her friends." He softly chuckled at the thought.

"But… who did all this? And why was there no security? You had plenty of men around you all the time—which I can only assume is your security detail." Angela got worked up that she couldn\'t even look at him while she spoke as she was too busy imagining in her pretty little head.

"New York is our home as well as the neighboring states around it. It should have been the safest place for us that security was tight for years and hadn\'t been an issue. We didn\'t need to be careful in our own turf and we earned that after many years of hard work. Perhaps we were too lenient and that was our fault." 

Seeing the confusion in her eyes, he decided to cut his explanation short. "A new leader rose recently, and our enemies found out about him replacing the previous one who stepped down. A lot of them think he\'s not worthy of the position. This created more chaos… and we experienced another betrayal from someone who had been with us for over a decade. It was the reason why that happened." He sighed. 

"I\'m sorry…" she muttered.

"What are you sorry about?" He cocked a brow.

"About what happened to you and your family."

Gael saw the sincerity in her eyes, and he could only give her a small nod. "Trust is one of the priceless intangibles."

When she didn\'t respond, he shifted the topic, "I know I should have called… Or at least informed you—"

"I get it. You couldn\'t." Angela leaned against the backrest and stared at nothing in particular.

She appeared as if she was thinking of something only she knew, and he wanted to ask her what was going on in her mind. It bugged him that he couldn\'t read what she was thinking at the moment.

Meanwhile, Gael realized that he hadn\'t decided whether he should tell her the real reason why he was back right now. They were finally talking again, and he didn\'t want to ruin this right off the bat. Trust did indeed take time to be earned. And right now, the boat was too small against the violent waves coming their way. 

"Have dinner with me," he spoke after quickly checking a message he received on his phone. 

Angela gave a \'what the heck\' look. "You\'re inviting me out all of a sudden?"

"It\'s not all of a sudden. I\'ve been asking you that the whole week, but you\'re not giving me a chance."

"You were just telling me about what happened to you—oh, you know what I mean."

Gael lightly waved the phone in his hand, a hint of a smile dancing on his lips. "I\'m being called to an emergency meeting. I have to leave." He got up to his feet and extended his hand towards her, offering to help her up. "How does tonight sound?"

Angela glanced at his waiting hand. She initially didn\'t think much of it, but then she cleared her throat and stood up on her own. "Can\'t. I\'ll be busy working. I need to write… stuff."

Dropping his hand to the side, he nodded his head in the direction of the exit. "I\'ll walk you home then."

Angela didn\'t argue with him. What was a harmless walk going to do?

It was quiet on the way back home. She glanced at him a few times, and that was when she realized how vigilant he was with their surroundings. His eyes would scan here and there, and he\'d give some people what she thought was a \'warning\' look.

"You look at everyone as if they\'re out to get you," she commented with a small laugh, rolling her eyes and appearing calm about it. "This is a pretty safe neighborhood, Gael. Relax."

"Can\'t be too careful." He smiled, then grabbed the chance to ask her, "So… are we good?"

"By good, you mean what?"

"I mean… we\'re talking again?"

Angela knitted her brows. What kind of question was that? "We\'re talking, aren\'t we?" As soon as the words left her mouth, she let out a sigh. "I\'m just taking things one at a time, Gael. I\'m done being mad at you. It\'s very exhausting. But that doesn\'t mean I fully trust you."

"Got it. Taking things one at a time—I can work with that."

Once they were in front of her building, Arthur, the doorman, greeted the two of them by their last names.

Angela thought it was a little strange. The two became friends so fast that Arthur even knew Gael\'s surname. \'Geez. Why not follow each other on your socials?\' she thought.

"Thanks for coming out this morning," said Gael, interrupting Angela\'s thoughts.

"You don\'t have to thank me. I\'m just following my routine. You just happened to be here." Angela entered the building and headed straight to the elevators.

"I\'ll call you!" he said in a loud voice, making her turn around with a surprised look on her face while people in the area looked at them.

A few strangers snickered, and it made her blood creep up to her face. "Oh, my god, you don\'t have to yell!"

Gael grinned, seeing the way she was flustered. "Just making sure you heard me. Everyone here is a witness. I\'m not going to go back on my word, Angel."

\'How bold…\' Angela swallowed. Not liking the eyes that were glued on her, she hurried towards the elevator. If she didn\'t get out of here as fast as she could, who knows what else Gael decides to yell, with all those people watching?