I PACED BACK and forth wringing my hands together as we waited for the judges to give their results. All I wanted was to place. And of course beating Katerina would be nice.
“Stop pacing, Gabi. You’re making me nervous.”
Stopping, I smiled at Liza. “Sorry. I’m going out of my mind waiting.”
“What you need is another sneak away with Nic,” she said while wiggling her eyebrows. My face heated and I looked past her to see Nic. He was over at his mother’s station across the room. My heart dropped thinking about almost being caught by Katerina. That was twice she’d almost caught us in the middle of the deed.
“We only went for some air.”
“Uh-huh. Please. I can practically smell the sex on you.”
My mouth fell open. “Liza!”
With a nonchalant shrug, she replied, “What? I’m not naïve, Gabi. I see the way he looks at you like he wants to devour you. It’s hot.”
I chewed on my lip and grinned. “He’s so amazing.”
Liza laughed. “Charity said, from what she hears coming from your room, Nic surely must have a magical dick.”
Now my face really felt hot. I slumped down into the chair and stared at Liza. “She did not say that.”
“Oh, she said it. I think she said it in front of Max because she thinks he has the hots for you.” Liza laughed. “Which is so far from the truth.”
With a frown, I asked, “Why is that so far from the truth?”
With a surprised expression on her face, she pinched her brows together. “You don’t know, do you? Oh. My. Gosh. Neither one of you know.”
“Know what?” I asked in anticipation of what she was going to say.
“Max is gay, Gabi! He’s been in a relationship with the same guy for three years.”
I looked at her like she had grown two heads. Not that I cared Max was gay, but how could Charity and I miss that?
“Max is gay? How did I miss that?”
Her right shoulder lifted. “Beats me, but I can’t wait to tell him this.”
I jumped up to beg her not to when the host of the event spoke.
Nic walked up right then and wrapped me in his arms. “It’s okay, agapiméni. No matter what happens, you’re my number one.”
Smiling, I reached up on my toes and kissed him. They were announcing the top five winners, staring with number five. I prayed like hell I got it.
“Our fifth runner up is, Lauren Night.”
My body sank against Nic. “There are four other spots,” he whispered. I smiled, knowing he was right. There was a small chance I could make fourth . . . maybe even third.
Glancing over to Katerina, she looked confident. Why couldn’t I be that confident?
“Fourth place goes to Michelle Smith.”
My heart was pounding in my ears.
“Third place goes to Katerina Drivas.”
Closing my eyes, I fought to not cry out. Nic chuckled next to me. “Oh, she is not going to be happy with third.”
I turned and sat down on the chair. She still won and I would never live it down.
“Second place goes to Elizabeth Rainy.” Burying my face in my hands, I tried not to let it get to me.
Why?
Why did Liza have to tell her about the competition?
“And the winner of the Tenth Annual Colorado Springs Cooking and Baking Competition is Gabi Mandola.”
My head jerked up as Liza and Nic both cried out in celebration. “You won! You won!” Liza yelled as she pulled me up and threw her arms around me.
Tears started to form in my eyes and when I pulled back and gazed over at Nic, I lost all control. He looked so proud of me and when he held his arms out, I nearly knocked him over when I rushed into them.
“You won, Gabi. I knew you would.”
His words filled my heart with so much love it felt as if it would burst. When I pulled back, I had tears streaming down my face.
Nic smiled. “I’m so glad you’re happy you won. You deserved it.”
I shook my head while wiping my tears away.
“I’m happy I won, but I’m freaking ecstatic I beat your mother!”
Nic stared at me for a few seconds before he busted out laughing and pulled me in for another hug.
A voice cleared from behind me and I stepped back to see Katerina standing there. She wore a huge smile. I was terrified this would make her dislike me even more.
“Congratulations, Gabriella. I’m proud of you.”
My chest tightened. “You are?”
She laughed. “Of course I am. I knew that day in your bakery you had it in you. You are a very talented young woman.” Her eyes swung over to Nic. “My son is very lucky to have found you.”
The room spun.
Did she say what I think I heard?
“He is?” I asked with a stunned expression. “But . . . I’m not . . . I’m . . . I’m not Greek.”
Katerina shrugged. “Some of us can’t all be that blessed, my dear.”
I couldn’t help but start laughing. I knew no matter what I did, I would always have that one thing against me that Katerina would hold over my head, but I was okay with that. As long as I had Nic by my side, everything else was a walk in the park.
The red phone rang and my heart stopped.
It never rang.
Ever.
I slowly made my way to the drawer and pulled it open. With shaking hands, I reached for it and took a deep breath.
“Hello?”
“Gabriella, my sweet girl.”
“Daddy? Is everything okay?”
He laughed. “It is. I wanted to make sure you had everything ready for the trip.” I breathed a sigh of relief. In the last four years I’d only spoken to my father twice. Once was to tell me my aunt had passed away. Not being able to go to her funeral was hard.
“I’m all set. Are you sure this is safe?”
“Antonio and I wouldn’t allow you to come if we didn’t feel that it wasn’t.”
“Are they still watching the house?” I asked while I nervously bit my fingernail. My arm wrapped around my stomach to try to settle it. An image of my old boyfriend, Dante, flashed through my mind.
“Not in two years. Nor have they had anyone trail us to Italy. If you ask me, the man is an idiot. He has no clue what he is doing.”
I thought I had loved him at one time.
How wrong I was.
Dante thought my family was naïve. He had no idea who Antonio really was. My brother was always at least two steps ahead of him.
I stayed silent for a few moments before he broke into my thoughts.
“Antonio said you were worried about someone last month.”
Frowning, I nodded. “Yes. Someone came in and ordered a large number of cakes, but it turns out it was for an office party. It was nothing. Me being overly paranoid.”
“That is what has kept you safe the last six years, Gabriella. Don’t let your guard down now. The more you stay out of the public eye the better.”
My stomach dropped. I wasn’t sure if I should tell him about the picture or not. I decided it was probably best I do. If I’d put my life in danger last week at the cooking competition, my father needed to know.