Page 38 of Captive Vows
But I saw it.
Since I showed her the studio that I’d ordered to be built for her, she was there all the time. When she wasn’t near me to eat with me and be civil, accompanying me to meals, she was dancing. If she wasn’t sleeping, she was dancing.
Giving her that studio was the ultimate reward for me, too. Because while a big question mark loomed about what I’d do with her, it felt too damn good to know I’d given her this.
Her passion only grew. And when I sought private instructors to come and give her lessons, she seemed more content than ever before. Vetting the instructors had been Allen’s task, and once I witnessed the professionalism they exercised, I trusted the situation.
Watching Gabriella open up as a dancer was a beautiful thing to experience. She was still guarded with me. Even with Emil, Ivan, and Alexsei when they joined us for meals. But it was so clear that dance was how she truly expressed herself.
Every night, I was beholden to watch her and see with my own eyes how her skills improved, how she executed her moves more precisely under the private lessons. After a month of these private lessons, even I could witness and track her progress and improvement. She wasn’t frilly or girly. Strictly a studious athlete under these instructors, she excelled.
It was an expression of art, which could’ve been surprising with how hard her life had been so far.
More and more, she talked with me. I had to ask. I had to initiate the conversations, but she was sharing now. About how her mother passed away. How Miguel was never there for her. How she fell in love with dancing.
One night, after she said she’d had enough in the studio, she walked with me toward my private wing of the house. While I enjoyed her softening toward me as much as she had been, I still wondered how to get that smile from her.
“What would you say if I arranged a private audition for you?”
She stopped short and grabbed my arm. I looked down at her fingers on my sleeve, then slowly dragged my gaze up to her face. She had no clue what it did to me when she initiated a touch like that.
“What?”
I nodded. “I could do that.”
She tilted her head to the side. “As in you could pay off someone to give me an audition?” She shook her head quickly. “No. Nope. I don’t want to be— No. You can bribe someone to pretend to let me audition. Then bribe someone to just give me a part. I want to earn a spot on the stage—any stage.”
“Then earn it.” I smiled at her stubbornness, her earnest desire to work for what she wanted. “I can arrange the audition, but you have to go through with it.”
She gawked at me and almost smiled. “You’d do that?”
I nodded.
“You have connections like that?”
“I have all kinds of connections.” Or I’d make them. Money did grease the wheels that made the world go round.
Still, she was hesitant. I urged her to walk again, ready to call an end to this long day of being in the office, checking on some things in the field, and then dealing with more headaches that came with running multiple businesses. Those parts were the same old. But coming here to see Gabriella dancing was my secret vice.
“You’d do that forme?” She asked.
Fuck.She was still too nervous to trust me. I sighed heavily as I opened the doors to my private wing.
“I’m hesitant to believe it. To trust that you’d want to do this for me out of, I don’t know, the goodness of your heart. If you have one.”
I shot her a look. One she returned in kind.
“I’m serious. I never know how to read you or interpret what you do. I’m warning you…”
I snatched her by the waist, pushing her against the wall to cage her in as I laughed. “You’re warning me?” Pulling her close, I stared her down and wondered how she’d react if I just decided the hell with it and kissed her. If she’d ever been kissed before. If she?—
Stop.
I was getting too carried away with these damn thoughts and moments of desire.
“Yes.” She tipped her head up and gave me an indignant, smug expression that made me laugh more. “I’m warning you not to play games with me.”
“Oh, really?” I stepped into her space, wedging my leg between hers.
