All Chapters of The Life Rebirth: Chapter 31 - Chapter 39

GABRIEL "I've already told you, none of you are leaving here. If there's something you need, just say the word, and it's yours." Why does my patient tone set her off? She's been like a grizzly ever since waking up this morning. Maybe I'd kept her up too late. It's not my fault I find her body so appealing. Now that I don't have impending death hanging over my head, I find new freedom in our lovemaking. In fact, I'm finding freedom in a lot of things that I never gave myself a chance to enjoy. But as much as I have changed, she seems to have done some changing of her own. Her mouth, for one, has gone through a drastic metamorphosis. She never used to talk back before. In fact, I can count on one hand the times she'd raised her voice before and never at me. Now she gives me looks, sucks her teeth, and rolls her eyes. Italian brat! "I'm guessing your ass isn't sore anymore, right." And the truth just positively enrages her. It's like stating the obvious is anathema to her. I have to

LANCE I felt like Daniel heading into the lion's den when I approached the door to the twins' suite of rooms. Only I doubt any angel anywhere would tussle with these two. I knocked on the door and opened and entered when given the okay to come in. As soon as they saw that it was me, Anna turned her back while Rosa stuck her nose in the air. "So you're still upset with me, okay, let's hear it; what is it that has got you two so mad at me?" "You know the answer to that already, so why pretend?" "Are you two seriously jealous of this girl? Why? What is she going to take from you?" They didn't have an answer, just looked at each other with frowns on their faces. I guess it's mine and their brother's fault that they're so spoilt, though I've never seen them acting this shitty before. I'm trying to understand their position, hell I'm confused myself with a lot of things that are going on right now, but the one thing I know for certain is that I don't want them acting like this. The

LYON We were packing up to go since things were pretty much settled on this end. The boy seemed to be getting his shit together and was no longer hell-bent on destroying himself. Then again, the fact that he didn't know where Ricci was could have a lot to do with his easy acquiescence, but who knows. I don't exactly trust these brainy types because they always got some shit going on. If he's anything like the rest of them, namely my own kid, I know he could stand in front of me and lie with a straight face while plotting chaos and mayhem in his head. My phone rang, and I answered without checking. "Lyon!" "Hey Dev, is everything okay?" The others stopped what they were doing to look at me. Since the call was coming from the island, it could be anything. "Yeah, uh, Nia tried to hack into the secured again." "Wait, I'll put you on speaker. Say that again." He repeated himself. "How far did she get this time?" "A little further than before, but we caught her just in time." "

GABRIEL "Gianna, baby, where are you?" "I'm in here!" I played with the ring box in my pocket as I made my way towards the bathroom, where the sound of her voice came from. I still get a little choked up these days when I walk into the house, and they're here. It had taken at least three or four days before the pit in my stomach disappeared. That feeling of dread that they'll all be taken from me again. Maybe that's why I've been rushing to do things, trying to bring us up to speed and correct what was wrong in the last almost two years. She doesn't know it, or maybe she does and just hasn't said anything, but everything is new to me too. When she was no longer here, there were things I didn't let myself enjoy or even participate in; now, I have a hankering for all those things. My sisters, in their bid to keep her here with me, keep giving me advice on dating. They seem to think that their brother is a colossal screw-up in that department, and there's no guessing who they hold

GIANNA Sometimes I'm afraid to be as happy as I am. I think it's a fluke, an anomaly, and that someday something's going to go wrong, and it'll all be snatched away from me again. I find myself lying still in bed some mornings, waiting for the fog to clear, so I'm sure it's not a lingering dream but reality and then somedays like a child, I wanna pinch myself because my life has become too good to be true. I guess there was never any doubt that I'd forgive Gabriel; how could I not, once I heard his story? And even though I tried to hold onto that anger in the face of that because I thought it was justified, there was some innate part of me that knew it would've been wrong. Wrong to punish him further, to make him suffer even more than he already has. But now I see clearly that my forgiving him has wrought wonders in mine and my children's lives. In short, I've gained more by letting go than I would've had I held onto anger and hurt feelings. Gabriel says it means I've grown up, I