28 Gabriel
28
Gabriel
Gabriel: Hey, Kierra. Missed you this morning at the coffee shop. I hope you’re doing okay.
Kierra: Hi, sorry. Crazy morning. Henry’s in a mood. All is well. I’ll reach out later on.
Gabriel: Are you okay? Do you need me?
Kierra: I’m okay. Can we talk later?
Gabriel: Always. How are you?
She didn’t answer.
I knew I shouldn’t have read into her messages too deeply, but frankly I was worried. She seemed nervous. At least to me she did. That shit worried me more than anything, based on the man she was married to and the way I knew he fucked with her mind. I could hardly imagine the mind games Henry was playing with Kierra. Her text was seemingly simple, but I could almost feel her anxiety coming through every letter she’d typed.
It wasn’t until her husband showed up to my office in a huff later that day that I grew extremely worried for her safety and well-being.
“Stay away from my family,” Henry said as he marched into my office. He was dressed in a designer suit and messing with his cuffs. “Do you understand me?”
“You have a lot of nerve showing up here,” I said, rising from my chair. “It might be best if you leave.”
“Trust me, I’m not planning on staying long. I just wanted to make one thing clear, and it’s that I want nothing to do with you. I want you nowhere near my property. Your staff can handle all the details from now on, but you will not set foot on my property.”
“Is that it?” I asked, crossing my arms over my chest.
“No, that’s not it.” He marched toward me, puffing out his chest as if trying to be the alpha. “If I find out you touch my wife again, I will destroy your life.”
“From what I can tell, you don’t have a wife. And Kierra damn sure doesn’t have a husband.”
“That’s not for you to decide. I mean it. Stay away from her and my daughter. Or else.”
I arched an eyebrow. “Is that a threat?”
“It’s a promise,” he said, sliding his hands into his slacks pockets. “You think Kierra is unhappy with me now? Trust me…I’ll make her life a living hell if she keeps seeing you. I will not only destroy you; I’ll ruin everything good she has going for her.”
“You’re a fucking bitch,” I growled, feeling my protective nature grow as he spoke about harming Kierra. “If you hurt her—”
“That’s my right,” he cut in. “She’s mine to have, and mine to handle. So stay the fuck away and stop texting her. You sound pathetic.”
“You’ve been reading her messages?”
“She’s my wife. Mine. I’m allowed to read anything she sends out. And the last I heard, she made it clear that she wanted nothing to do with you. So, do us all a favor and stay far away from us all. You’re lucky I don’t press charges against you for hitting me. A punk-ass hit, too. If I’d had my footing, it would’ve never stuck.”
Sure, Henry. Whatever you fucking say.
“Are we done here?” I said through gritted teeth, knowing he was trying to get a rise out of me. A part of me wanted to step toward the challenge, yet another part worried what he’d do to Kierra and Ava if I did step up to him. If I did knock him out. Because I would. I would knock him out faster than he could say a word.
“I think we are. Pretty sure you got the message.”
“Loud and clear,” I muttered.
He smirked his annoying smirk, smoothed his hands over his blazer, and headed out of the room.
My first thought was to message Kierra, but now I knew he was monitoring her phone. I didn’t want to make things messier for her, but I did need to see her. So, I grabbed my keys and headed over to her therapy clinic, hoping I might be able to catch her at the end of her day.
When I showed up, I found Joseph in the front lobby, finishing up some paperwork with the receptionist. When he saw me, he smiled widely.
“Gabriel, hey there. How goes it?” he asked, walking over and extending his hand my way.
I shook it. “It’s going. I was just wondering if Kierra was free for a few minutes to chat.”
He glanced at his watch. “I believe she has a meeting with a client in about fifteen minutes, but I can see if she’s free.”
“That would be great. Thanks.”
He headed back to Kierra’s office, then emerged with a soft smile on his face. “Come on back, Gabriel. She’s in her office waiting for you.”
I thanked him once again and headed into Kierra’s office. She was standing in front of her desk, pulling on the sleeves of her shirt, which I was picking up was a nervous habit of hers.
After I walked inside, I closed her door behind me and moved toward her. She stepped backward slightly, making it clear that my closeness wasn’t welcome, so I paused.
“Hi,” I breathed out, feeling sick to my stomach. She was so close to me, but so far away at the same time. She looked tired. As if she hadn’t slept for days. Her distance made my mind want to start spiraling into a pit of despair, but I wasn’t ready to go that far yet. Not until I knew she was okay. “How are you?” I asked.
Her eyes blinked, and she looked as if she was on the brink of tears, but she didn’t cry. “I’m fine. Sorry. I meant to get back to you earlier today, but I’ve been—”
“How are you?” I asked again, taking a step nearer to her, repeating the question I asked her earlier that day.
She took a step back. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. When she reopened them, she looked sadder than before. That broke my heart. She was suffering in silence, yet the pain was clear in her eyes. A deep sadness floating in those brown eyes of hers. “Gabriel, don’t.”
I stepped closer. “How are you, Penguin?”
She stepped back and hit her desk. Her hands fell to the edge and she gripped it. “I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
“I’m not.”
I moved closer.
She looked down at the floor.
I placed a finger beneath her chin and raised her head so she’d meet my stare. “Is he hurting you, Penguin?”
“Only emotionally,” she softly replied.
“Has he ever laid his hands on you?”
She shut her eyes and tears began rolling down her cheeks. She didn’t answer me, but the slight shake to her body and the release of the tears told me everything I needed to know.
“I’ll kill him,” I promised.
“You won’t. It’s fine. I’m fine. Everything’s—”
“He hurt you, Kierra. He’s abusing you both mentally and physically. Nothing is fine. Not until he’s dealt with.”
“That’s what I’m doing,” she said, shaking my hand away from her face. She stepped to the side, away from me, and began pacing as she wiped her tears. “I’m dealing with it.”
“Let me help you.”
“You can’t.”
“Why not?”
“Because.” She sighed. “He said if you’re around me, he’ll make things harder for you.”
“I know. He stopped by my office to threaten me.”
Her eyes widened. “He stopped by your office?”
“Yeah. That’s why I’m here. I wanted to make sure you’re okay, which you’re not, and—”
“Did he follow you here?” she asked as she moved to her window and peered out toward the parking lot.
“What? No. Kierra—”
“You can’t be here, Gabriel.” A clear panic grew in her, telling me that this man had her spooked the hell out. That made me uneasy in a way that I couldn’t express with words. “We can’t see each other for a while. I’m sorry. There’s just so much going on, and I can’t risk your safety, or the safety of Ava and me. I’m working with lawyers to get things in order, but until then, you and I can’t be around each other.”
“Slow down. We’ll figure this out together.”
“ We can’t! ” she cried, tossing her hands up in defeat. “Don’t you see? There can’t be a ‘we’ right now. I’m not in a good place, and I know you’d do anything to help me get to a good place, but the best way for you to help now is to leave .”
That felt like a dagger to my chest, but I tried not to show how much it hurt. This wasn’t about me. It was about her and her safety.
“I can’t leave you knowing he’s hurting you,” I told her quietly.
“I can handle Henry. I can handle all of this. I just can’t have you in the mix with how my prenup is set up. He’s threatening me big-time, Gabriel, and I just can’t move so freely. So please. Just…” She took a deep breath and shook her head. “I need you to stay away from me.”
“But…” My voice dropped and the hurt that sliced through my soul leaked out from between my lips. “I just got you back.”
I saw it in her eyes, too. The heartbreak. The realization that we had to walk away from each other before we even had a chance to really find one another again. She was hurting just like me. She was hurting more than me. That was when it officially clicked in my mind. I found Kierra amid her storm. She was going through wars of torment when I reentered her life, and me being there was making it harder than before.
So even though it hurt, I understood her. I understood her pushing me away, because she couldn’t see a path where we could be together.
“I need to let you go again,” I whispered, the truth stinging my heart as it slipped between my lips.
Her tears fell at a rapid pace. “I’m so sorry, Gabriel. I should’ve never brought you into all of this. I should’ve never…” Her words fumbled off as she broke eye contact.
I moved over to her and took her hands into mine. I pulled them to my mouth and kissed her palms gently. “I’m glad you found me, Kierra. I needed to remember.”
“But this is a mess…and we just… I–I love you,” she cried out, allowing herself to move in closer to me. Allowing our closeness to come back to us. She was fighting it so much, but it was no secret that whenever we were near each other there was a magnetic pull, bringing us closer.
She was home to me.
I wanted to be home to her, too. Her firm foundation that would be there when she made it out of the storm—and she would. She’d make it out.
“I’ll wait for you,” I swore.
“I can’t ask you to do that, Gabriel. Who knows how long this whole process with the divorce might take? It could go on for a long time with Henry being petty and cruel.”
“I’ll wait for you,” I repeated.
“I can’t ask you to do that.”
“I’ll wait for you,” I promised once more.
She tilted her head up toward me and shook her head. “I want you to live your life to the fullest. I want you to not sit waiting for me to come back to you. I’m not even a good thing right now, Gabriel. I’m broken,” she cried, shaking her head in disappointment. “I don’t even know why you’d want me as I am right now. I’m too much. I’m too weak right now.”
“You’re not weak.”
“Yes, I am. I’ve been weak a long time. I know you think I am, for staying with a man like Henry for so long.”
“No,” I disagreed. “It takes strength to endure the treatment you did for so long, Kierra. But I just want you to know that you deserve better. You deserve to walk away, and I’m proud of you for doing that. And I understand, okay? The last thing I want you to feel is guilt for pushing me away. You handle yourself and Ava, and I’ll be around. Even if you tell me not to wait, I’ll be here waiting for you.”
“Why?” she whispered. “Why would you do that?”
“Because I finally know what love is. It’s patience during the storms. It’s sometimes waiting. I’ll wait for you.”
She kissed me with a fervor born from a deeply painful realization. Her lips met with mine in a poignant seal of our shared past and uncertain future. She kissed me for all our missed yesterdays and all our unsure tomorrows. I despised the bittersweetness of the kiss. It was a perplexing mixture with the kisses whispering goodbye, yet in the same breath feeling like a promise of eternity.
It wasn’t until that very moment that I understood how kisses could both heal and break one’s heart at the same time.
“I love you,” I whispered against her lips. “I love you, I love you, I love you,” I repeated. “I love you, I love you, I fucking love you .”
I said it so many times because I needed her to know that when she was going through the darkest times. I told her I loved her because it was the only truth I knew. I told her repeatedly, because my soul craved for hers to imprint those words on her heart and remember them when she felt like she wasn’t strong enough to continue.
“If it ever gets bad, you’ll call me?” I asked.
“It will be okay,” she swore.
“If it ever gets bad, you’ll call me,” I repeated, more as a statement.
She nodded. “Yes.”
“Good. And when you leave him,” I said, placing a gentle kiss against her forehead, “come home to me.”
“Gabriel—”
“I’m patient, Kierra. I’ve waited over two decades for you. I’d wait another if I had to. Take all the time you need. Do all that you need to do to get free from his chains. Then, you and Ava come home to me.”