Please confirm with this office that you have received this letter and that you will be attending this meeting. If you do not attend, an investigation into the complaint will begin automatically.

Yours very truly, David Aras, PhD Dean of Graduate Studies Gabriel looked down into Julia's panicked eyes and tried to find the words to rea.s.sure her that she had nothing to worry about-but he couldn't.

Chapter 18.

Julia saw fear flash across Gabriel's eyes, but only for an instant. There was nothing more terrifying to her than the sight of Gabriel's fear.

He helped her take off her coat and urged her to sit down in the red chair next to the fireplace. Flipping a switch, which caused the flames to ignite, he walked to the other room. Julia leaned back in the chair and covered her face with her hands.

"Drink this." He nudged her hand with a gla.s.s.

"What is it?"

"Laphroaig. Scotch."

"You know I don't like that stuff."

"One swallow, just to take the edge off."

She tipped the crystal gla.s.s to her lips and drank, feeling the burn of the alcohol in her mouth and throat. Coughing wildly, she handed the gla.s.s back. He downed the rest of the Scotch and sat on the sofa opposite her.

"What's the 'Code of Behaviour on Academic Matters'?" she asked.

"It's the policy that governs any kind of scholastic infraction-cheating, plagiarism, fraud, etc."

"Why would someone report me for academic fraud?"

Gabriel scrubbed at his face. "I have no idea."

"Are you sure?"

"Of course! You think I'd keep this from you?"

"You've been keeping something from me. That night you were working late in your office, you wouldn't tell me what you were-"

"I was working on a job application," he interrupted. "Greg Matthews called me the night that you and I went to Auberge for dinner. He invited me to apply for an endowed chair but told me they needed my portfolio right away. Preparing it took longer than I expected."

"Why didn't you tell me?"

He averted his eyes. "I didn't want you to get your hopes up. The chances of me getting that job are slim. I'm not a full professor and without a doubt they're recruiting senior people. But I had to try-for your sake."

"I wish you'd told me. I imagined all kinds of things."

His eyes flew to hers. "I thought you trusted me."

"Of course I trust you. It's the women around you I don't trust."

"I shouldn't have kept my application a secret." He shuffled his feet. "I didn't want to disappoint you when I don't get the position."

"You aren't going to disappoint me, Gabriel, unless you keep secrets from me."

He grimaced and disappeared into the dining room. When he returned, he was sipping another finger's worth of Scotch.

"I have a meeting with Jeremy this week. I could ask him about you."

She shook her head. "You should stay out of this."

"Do you have any idea what the complaint might be about?"

"I haven't done anything but go to school and do my work since I got here. Except for having some conflict with Christa and that run in with Professor Pain-Professor Singer. Do you think that she...?"

Gabriel seemed to consider this possibility for a moment.

"I don't think so. She was hauled in front of a Judicial Committee last year when Paul Norris filed a complaint. I'm sure she wouldn't want to appear in front of them again. She isn't one of your instructors, so how would she know about your academic work?"

"She wouldn't." Julia paused and a look of horror came over her pretty face. "You don't think Katherine Picton reported me for something?"

"No. She wouldn't do that without confronting you first. And she'd call me, as a courtesy."

"What are the penalties for academic infractions?"

"It depends on the severity of the offense. They could reprimand you or give you a zero on an a.s.signment or in a course. In extreme circ.u.mstances, they can expel you."

Julia inhaled shakily. If she were expelled, she wouldn't be completing her MA. And that would mean that Harvard...

Gabriel fixed his gaze on her. "Would Paul do this?"

"No. He wants to help me, not hurt me."

"Angelf.u.c.ker," Gabriel muttered.

"What about Christa?"

He shifted against the leather of the sofa. "It's possible."

Julia's eyes narrowed. "What aren't you telling me?"

"You already know she's a troublemaker."

"What's going on with Christa, Gabriel? Tell me."

He stood up and began pacing in front of the fireplace. "I don't want to talk about it."

Julia grabbed the Dean's letter and walked to the front hall.

"Wait, what are you doing?" He jogged after her.

"I warned you not to lie to me. I guess I should have been more specific and told you not to be evasive, either." She retrieved her coat from the hall closet, pulling it on hastily.

"Don't leave."

She looked up at him, eyes blazing. "Then tell me about Christa."

He pressed the heels of his hands over his eyes. "Fine."

Gabriel helped her take off her coat and escorted her back to the living room. She refused to sit down, choosing rather to stand in front of the fire, arms crossed.

"Is Christa blackmailing you? Is that why you approved her thesis proposal?"

"Not exactly."

"Spit it out, Gabriel."

He turned away from her, looking out the window at the Toronto skyline. "Christa Peterson has accused me of s.e.xual hara.s.sment."

Chapter 19.

Julia stared at Gabriel, wide-eyed. "What?"

"Christa filed a complaint with the s.e.xual hara.s.sment officer, who referred the file to Jeremy. That's why I have to meet him this week."

Shakily, Julia lowered herself to sit in the red velvet chair. "When did you find out?"

A muscle jumped in Gabriel's angular jaw. "He called me a few days ago."

"A few days ago?" She clenched her teeth. "How long were you going to wait before you told me?"

"I didn't want to ruin our trip to Belize. I was going to tell you when we got back. I swear."

Julia glared at him angrily. "I thought we weren't keeping secrets from each other."

"It wasn't a secret-I just wanted you to have a few days to relax before I gave you the bad news." With a sigh, he turned to face her.

"Why would Christa accuse you of hara.s.sment? She's been hara.s.sing you!"

"I don't know the specifics of the allegations. I should have filed a complaint with the hara.s.sment officer, myself, but I didn't want to draw unwanted attention."

"What are we going to do?"

Gabriel stared determinedly into the fire. "I'm going to call my lawyer, and we're going to see that both of these accusations are dealt with. Swiftly."

Julia stood up and clasped her hands around his waist, burying her face in his sweater.

"What is it now, Emerson? I'm in bed with a hot young law clerk from a competing firm." John Green answered his cell phone amidst the sounds of squealing and high-pitched giggles.

"Zip up your pants, John. This is going to take a while."

The lawyer cursed before covering his cell phone with one hand. "Don't go anywhere, sugar." He addressed his female pelvic affiliate before scuttling off in his red bikini briefs to the washroom.

"I'm already on top of your hara.s.sment complaint, Emerson. You don't need to pester me. I was about to have the best s.e.x of my life."

"I need to speak to you about something else." Gabriel briefly summarized the contents of the Dean's letter to Julia.

"I can't help your girlfriend."

Gabriel began to sputter and protest, but John ignored him.

"Listen, if they're dragging you in for s.e.xual hara.s.sment and your twink-ahem-girlfriend in for some kind of academic infraction, I'll bet my Porsche that the two complaints are connected. Have you told her not to mention you during her conversation with the Dean?"

Gabriel gritted his teeth. "No."

"Well, you should. You don't want to be drawn into anything through her. You have enough to worry about."

The Professor breathed in and out chillingly slowly.

"I'm not in the habit of cutting loose my friends, least of all Julianne. Is that clear? Or do I need to find myself another lawyer?"

"Fine. But she needs her own attorney. If these two matters are connected, it's likely to raise a conflict of interest for me. And I think the university might become suspicious if I represented both of you."

"Fine!" spat Gabriel. "Who do you recommend?"

John thought for a moment. "I'd recommend Soraya Harandi. She works for one of the Bay Street firms, and she has represented faculty against the university in the past. We had a thing a couple of years ago and she hates my guts. But she's good at what she does."

He grunted into the phone, apparently reaching for his BlackBerry. "I'll text you her contact information. Ask your girlfriend to call Soraya's office and explain the situation to her secretary. I'm sure she'll jump at the opportunity."

"What's the likelihood of either complaint resulting in-negative consequences?"

"I have no idea. It's possible the university will conduct an investigation and dismiss both complaints. But don't let her go in there without a lawyer, or this could turn around and bite both of you in the a.s.s."

"Thanks, John." Gabriel's voice was laced with sarcasm.