Chapter 27
Gabe
Tori was in my arms, her body curled into mine, her hair smoothing with the strokes of my fingers.
I still expected to wake from a dream and find myself back in the nightmare, but the longer this continued, the more certain I became that this was real.
Kissing her again had lifted the cages I’d built to hold myself together, freeing the man she brought out in me.
I’d reveled in that kiss, soaking in the bliss of it until she drew away, her lips a gorgeous shade of red.
After she insisted I show her around the house, I’d given her a tour, sharing only the pleasant memories.
Nothing remained but furniture, yet the ghosts of my past were there.
I hadn’t lied to her. I’d bought the house from my father with every intention of leaving it empty until the day I brought my father down and could find her again.
At the time, it had seemed an impossibility, a reckless dream, but now the thought of her and Reid filling it with new memories no longer seemed like a dream.
Grabbing a blanket from under the sheet covering the couch, I had led Tori onto the deck.
Hours of talking, of hearing everything I had missed—all of Reid’s firsts, birthdays, holidays, lost teeth, and bruises—left me yearning to go back and experience them.
And I promised myself I would never miss another first. If it took me years to win Tori back completely, I would do it.
“I promise,” I said, kissing her head. “I’ll be at every first. Reid will never again question where his father is, and you’ll never be without me. I will be by your side, Tori. No matter what comes our way.”
She peeked up at me, her eyes glossy, and I leaned down and kissed her. We had stretched out on the wide lounger, a fire blazing in the fire pit. The waves crashed in the distance, the moon’s reflection stretching across the ocean.
I wanted to do more than kiss her. To remind her how much I worshipped her body, to have her fall apart for me and remind myself why I’d wanted no one but her.
But I understood the hesitation. I’d hurt her, left her in anguish to pick up the pieces of a life I’d shattered and to raise our son without me.
She could take all the time she wanted because I would continue to wait for her.
Dropping her head back onto my chest, she let out a long sigh. “We should go back. I’m not sure your sister is the best choice to watch our son.”
My hand froze, hanging in stasis as strands of hair slipped through my fingers. Our son? Had I heard her correctly? She lifted her head, eyes searching mine until understanding filled them. A small smile offset the emotion in her eyes.
“Prove yourself to me, Gabe, and I’ll tell him the truth. He’s your son, and he needs to know that.”
“And I’ll tell him the truth.” I had to because the blame was mine. The lost years. As much as I blamed my father, I had made the choice and done the damage. “I’m the one who should. You’ve done enough. It’s my turn.”
Her hand smoothed down my shirt. “We’ve both carried our own burdens, Gabe. I see that now. It’s time we stopped.”
My fingers returned to sifting through her hair. “And how do we do that?”
“By falling back in love with each other.”
I tipped her chin, forcing her eyes back to mine. “I never fell out of love with you.”
She moved her body further into mine. “Neither did I.”
The truth set my soul ablaze, burning away the pain of leaving her and offering an opening to finally heal.
I dragged her mouth to mine, capturing it in a kiss that ricocheted through me.
Knowing she didn’t want to move fast, I stopped myself from smoothing my hand over her body like I wanted, but when she climbed over me, my hold cracked.
I took her hips in my hands to steady her.
Sweatshirt lifting, my fingers spread over her skin, and I questioned how I’d ever taken it slow with her when we’d first met.
Her hands pushed at my shirt, tugging it free from my pants, and sliding over my chest. I sucked in a breath, pushing her back and seeing the desire that shadowed her blue eyes.
“Middle,” I said, hearing how strained the word came out.
As much as I didn’t want to stop, I didn’t want her to wake up in the morning and regret moving too fast. We had years of history behind us to work through and emotions that needed recognizing.
I wouldn’t risk losing her again on my body’s need to have her.
She crinkled her nose, twisting her lips as she contemplated the word.
“Your boundaries, Tori. Not mine, and I won’t risk plowing through them.” She ground down on me, and I groaned, the need for her howling through me. “Even though moves like that make me want to be the bad guy.”
Her smile broke through as she sat back. I grabbed her hips, giving her a warning look, although I knew she hadn’t done it to torment me like it had.
“You’ve never been the bad guy type, Gabe.”
Head tipping, I said, “I’ve been the bad guy for over five years.” Regret and guilt returned with the admission.
Leaning forward, she took my face in her hands. “Because you had to, which means you weren’t really the bad guy I thought you were or that you thought you were.”
Sweeping a piece of hair behind her ear, I studied her, taking in the small parts of her I’d missed.
The gentle smile, the depths of blue in her eyes, the thick lashes that outlined them, the dark locks with hints of brown in them, the small freckle on her left cheek.
Lifting her hips, I settled her back to my side, tucking her in as close as I could have her and rubbing my hand up her back.
“I don’t want to be that man anymore,” I told her, staring out at the ocean. “I want to be who I am when I’m with you. You make me a better man because you make me whole.”
She buried her face further into my chest. Silence fell over us, but it was a comfortable quiet, our breathing matched, our bodies calm. After a few minutes, I said, “A secret for a secret.” I hadn’t forgotten my intention in bringing her here—to stop the secrets between us.
“I told you everything,” she said, and I heard the mistruth.
“Tori, you know everything I kept from you. What happened with Bradman?”
She went rigid. “Nothing.”
“You were never good at lying. Remember that time we played poker?”
Her head shot up, her eyes narrowing. “I wasn’t that bad.”
“You were pretty bad,” I replied with a chuckle. “Talk.”
A roll of her eyes let me know she was going to fight me on this.
“There’s an NDA. I can’t tell you anything.” She sat up, rubbing her wrist, where I’d seen her do the same action when Carl had stopped by her office and another when I’d mentioned the company.
“My lawyers can shred it within minutes. I have more money and power than he has, so don’t worry about the NDA.”
“It was nothing,” she said, her sight on the water.
“Nothing doesn’t leave you this rigid and rattled. What did the asshole do?”
Her head turned to me, blue orbs wide.
“I’m not playing, Tori. What happened?”
“But the NDA—”
“Again, my attorneys are better and more expensive.”
I sat up further, suspicious that what she was about to tell me would piss me off.
Rubbing her wrist, she said, “He made a pass at me.” A slash of anger turned my vision crimson.
“We were working late, which wasn’t abnormal, but I’d never given it much thought.
We’d been working closely for years. He came behind me and put his hands on my hips and tried to push me onto the desk, saying I’d been flirting with him for years and he was ready to take me up on the invitation.
” She shivered, but the fire raging through me had me heated.
“I broke away, smacked him, and ran from the office. I hid in the lobby, shaking until I had no choice but to return since I’d left everything in my office.
Security took me up and let me back onto the floor.
He was gone by that time.” She pushed a strand of hair back.
“I gave my notice the next morning, and he slapped me with the NDA, saying he would smear my name and never give me a recommendation if I didn’t sign it. ”
And his recommendation had been glowing. No wonder he’d stopped by my office. He was checking on her to make sure she hadn’t broken the agreement. My teeth ground as I thought of what I wanted to do to the man. I wasn’t violent, but the thoughts were enough to let me know I could be.
“What did he do to your wrist?” I asked, taking her hand and gently caressing the soft skin around her wrist.
“He grabbed it when I broke free. I had bruises for a week. Only when I smacked him did he let go.”
I let my head fall against the seat. Power and money made men expect they could get away with anything. I’d seen it too often, and many of the companies I’d bought up had been owned by assholes like Bradman.
“You can’t do anything, Gabe. Besides, it brought us back together.” That truth still didn’t make what he’d done acceptable. “Forget about it.”
I turned her to me. “You can’t forget about it, so I won’t. He’ll pay. Trust me. I’ll find a way to make him pay.”
Cerulean blue set against the night sky had my anger calming. Her fingers draped over my jaw, soothing the tension. “It’s late. We should get back.”
Nodding, I helped her stand, taking her hand and drawing her in for another kiss. Hesitation turned to hunger, but recognizing it made me keep the kiss short. Until there was no hesitation, no question, I would take it slow. Because the day it faded, there would be no holding me back.