15. Chapter 15
It was a Sunday, two weeks after the ball, when my doorbell rang. I had blueprints spread on my dining table and my laptop as I worked on Callum Pierce”s project.
I looked through the peephole and felt a chill. I”d just managed to calm myself down and stop obsessing over Gabriel Rhodes, and there he was at my doorstep.
I opened the door and ignored the feeling of discomfort that I was wearing ratty jeans and a loose T-shirt that kept falling off my shoulder. When you grew up the way I did, appearances became important—so you wouldn”t be quickly identified as poor and destitute. But like hell, I was going to change and put my face on for Gabriel. He”d have to take me in my home wear with my hair tied in a messy bun and my face makeup-free.
At least I was wearing a bra, one I”d put on to go buy myself a quick sandwich for lunch and hadn”t taken it off yet.
”Hi.” He smiled.
I nodded nervously.
”May I come in?”
I took a deep breath, unsure of what I should do.
”Just for a few minutes, Aurora.”
”Of course.” I opened the door to let him in. I walked to the dining table and poured myself some more red wine. I”d opened a bottle of Merlot the night before.
”Would you like a glass?” I asked politely.
”No, thank you.”
”Water?”
”No, thank you.”
I waved a hand at my living area and walked to sit down on my couch. I tucked my feet under me, feeling vulnerable.
He sat down on an armchair, facing me. He was in jeans and a T-shirt, and neither were ratty. He wore some snazzy shoes that I knew were Gucci because I”d seen them before. He looked devastatingly handsome, and I regretted that we weren”t together anymore. I couldn”t run a hand through his disheveled hair or kiss his jaw.
It wasn”t cool at all that he still looked so good to me. The universe was a right-on bitch.
”What can I do for you?” I asked after taking two fortifying sips of wine. Because I was worried, my hands would begin to shake, I set the wine glasses down on the coffee table and set them firmly on my thighs.
”Thank you for letting me talk to you. After how I behaved, you have every right to not speak with me again.”
He seemed to stop after that and wait for me to say something. I just stayed silent and looked at him, schooling myself to be expressionless. I wouldn”t give him the satisfaction of knowing how much he”d hurt me. I had my pride.
”First, I want to…I”m so fucking sorry, Aurora.”
His voice was hoarse, filled with regret and emotion. I steeled myself against it. Men like him only cared about themselves and how they felt. This was about his guilt for shaming me in public. It was apparent from the way his friend Beau dragged him out of the hotel ballroom that he”d not been happy with Gabriel”s behavior.
”Okay,” I said coolly.
He nodded and then rubbed his face with his hands. He did that when he was frustrated.
”I know Sophia lied about you.” He surprised me. I”d not expected that at all. ”I know she”s been treating you horribly. She”s been trying to break us up.”
Wow!I nodded dumbly because I could hardly believe that he knew the truth and that he accepted it.
”I”m so sorry for everything.”
I waited to check if he was done, and when I was confident he didn”t have more to say, I straightened. ”Okay. Anything else?”
I saw a harshness enter his eyes. I”d seen it before when he wasn”t getting his way, and he”d assess the best way to proceed.
”Can you forgive me?”
”Of course.”
It was his turn to be surprised. ”You forgive me?”
”Yes,” I said easily. ”I don”t like carrying anger.” This was true. I had forgiven him, I just had to find a way to forgive myself for falling for him, for making this mistake. It was not his fault that he”d taken advantage of me; it was mine.
”I wish you”d yell at me and call me names.”
I smiled. ”That may make you feel better, but how will it help me?”
He chuckled. ”Yeah. It would make me feel better. Make me feel less guilty.”
”It”s not all always about you.”
”I know.” He looked at me, his blue eyes filled with remorse. ”I hurt you.”
”Yes.”
”It tears me apart that I hurt you.”
”Again, it”s not all about you…Gabe.” I couldn”t call him Gabriel. Everyone called him Gabe. Gabriel was something between us, almost an endearment. He didn”t deserve it anymore, and I didn”t have the right either.
”Gabe?”
I shrugged. ”Look, it”s all fine. I”m sure things will work out for you. I hear you and your wife are reconciling.”
He frowned. ”You heard? From whom?”
I licked my lips. ”Your wife.”
”Ex-wife.”
I didn”t reply. My hands were not shaking, so I picked up my wine and drank a little. This man wasn”t going to rattle me again. I wouldn”t let him.
”Iris told you she and I were getting back together?”
”Yes. At the ball. I mean, she was talking to a friend, but she was really telling me. It was in the ladies” room,” I explained.
”We”re not getting back together, Aurora.”
I didn”t want to call him a liar to his face, but I also wasn”t going to let him get away with it. ”She showed me the bracelet you gave her.”
”Fuck, I didn”t give it to her. Sophia found it, and…Iris liked it.”
I nodded. ”Well, if that”s all, I have some work to get through and—”
”I love you.”