Chapter 27 #2
Quiet encompassed the ride home. Tori fell asleep within minutes, and I used the drive to think through the Bradman dilemma until I had a plan.
With my mind calming, I looked over at Tori, the corroded chambers of my heart healing with every minute more she was in my presence.
She stirred, her hand slipping, and I spied the engagement ring on her right finger.
While not on the correct hand, it was a ray of hope that I might remove it one day and place it where it needed to be.
I’d held onto it, keeping it and the flower with me as a reminder of what I’d lost. And now I had her back.
A tightness took over my chest, and I looked out at the road, unsure of what the future held but confident Tori would be in it.
“Tori,” I nudged her awake as I pulled into my spot in the garage.
Dusty eyes peeked open before she rubbed them.
“We’re back,” I told her, climbing out of the car and opening her door for her.
“That was fast,” she said with a yawn.
Laughing, I kissed her on the head, saying, “Maybe for you, sleepyhead.”
“Did I sleep the entire ride?”
“Yeah. It was cute. Especially the line of drool I wiped from your chin.”
Her jaw went slack before she gave me a mock hit. “You did not.”
I drew her into me, feeling more like myself than I had in years. Relaxed again, unburdened, happy. “No, I didn’t, but you were still cute.”
Grasping my face, she dragged my mouth to hers. Her smile continued through the kiss and remained when I tipped my head back.
“Ready to see if my sister lost our son?” I asked, loving the way it felt to say he was ours.
“Yeah.”
I took her hand, closing the door for her and leading her to the elevators.
“She isn’t really that bad, is she?”
Shaking my head, I said, “I don’t know that Liv has a maternal bone in her body. She hates kids, but he is her nephew, so there’s a higher probability he’s still safe.”
An elbow in my side accompanied the opening of the elevator doors. We found Liv sound asleep on the couch, with the television still running in the background. I left her there while Tori checked on Reid.
“She looks too comfortable to wake,” Tori said. “Leave her there. I’ll wake her in the morning.”
I eyed her. “You really want to deal with the wrath of my sister when she finds out we let her sleep with her makeup on?”
She gave me a brilliant smile. “I can handle it.” Taking my hand, she led me over to Reid’s room and opened the door a crack. “Look.”
I peered over her shoulder, my chest constricting.
Reid was wrapped up in the car blanket I’d seen Tori folding the last time I’d been there.
Clutched in his hand was the model car I’d bought him.
I couldn’t help the warmth that filled me at the sight of him.
His auburn hair was a messy clump of curls, his tiny hands holding the car tight, his face almost angelic.
A sting of pain ricocheted through me. I’d missed so much of his life that seeing him like that was a painful reminder.
Tori’s hand touched my cheek, and I looked down at her, realizing my eyes were misty. I turned away, but she brought her other hand up and forced my sight to hers.
“He’ll forgive you,” she said. “Just like I have.”
“Have you?” I asked, still not truly believing it.
A nod and a soft smile. “The hurt is still there, but it’s healing and will continue to heal. But I know why now, and that makes it easier.”
I wasn’t so sure it was that easy. Not after all I’d done. Peering back at Reid once more, I closed his door.
“You really want to leave her there?” I asked, gesturing with my head to where Liv was still dead to the world.
“Let her sleep. I’ll have Reid wake her.” The mischievous grin she wore had me wondering if this was payback for the phone call all those years ago.
“Don’t say I didn’t warn you,” I joked. “She’s a beast when she wakes up.”
“I made it through the toddler years. I can deal with your sister.”
Again, the thought that I’d missed too much resurfaced, and again, she read my change in emotion. Taking my hand, she reached up and pulled my mouth to hers. The kiss searched out the doubt, obliterating it, and as the ash settled, her teeth scraped over my bottom lip.
“Stop,” she said. “We can’t move forward if you continue to wallow in guilt. If I can set my pain aside, you can set yours aside. Only then can we make it from the middle to where we left off.”
I dropped my head to hers, breathing in vanilla and cherry blossoms. “I’ll work on it,” I said, giving her forehead a kiss.
“Good night, Gabe.”
Hand plunging into her hair, I wrapped my fingers around her neck and dragged her to me, kissing her once more. Heated, needy, and lingering, the kiss reinforced more of the corroded chambers of my heart. “Good night, luna mia.”
Her inhale, seductive and tempting, stayed with me long after I returned to my suite.
Walking to the bar, I picked up my scotch.
The bottle hovered in my hand, the liquid one minuscule movement from filling my cup.
Since leaving Tori, it had become my crutch, the only thing that got me through the day.
I set the bottle back down, replaced the lid, and turned from it, knowing I no longer needed it to make it through the day or the night. I had hope again, and I had Tori.
Movement outside my office had me lifting my head. I’d come in early to work out then entrenched myself in emails and reports, unaware of the time that had passed.
Liv walked in with a flourish, closing the door behind her. From the quick strides to my desk and the exaggerated drop into the chair, I could tell she wasn’t happy with me. I tried to hide my grin.
“That mongrel woke me up this morning using my back as a racetrack.”
I stifled my laugh, and it came out as a snort. “He’s not a mongrel. He’s your nephew.”
“Not after this morning. I’m disowning him. Do you have any idea how hard it is to make conversation with a child?”
“For most, not that hard. But you?”
She crossed her arms, pouting at me. “He made me eat some disgusting colorful cereal. It will take me weeks to clean that pollution from my body.”
“You’re full of crap, Liv. You used to love that stuff when we were young. I distinctly remember boxes of cereal with marshmallows in your dorm room.”
The roll of her eyes told me she wasn’t in a playful mood. She looked down at her nails, picking at one. “So how did it go?”
“Better than I thought it would,” I admitted.
Her eyes lifted. “And?”
“We’re taking it in steps, but there’s hope.”
She gave me a smile. “Good. She’s here, by the way. We rode in together.”
My grin grew. “You shared a car with Tori and Reid?”
“I put up with sharing a car with them. The child never shuts up. I haven’t heard so much about cars since you were an annoying brat.” A tug at her lips told me she’d enjoyed it more than she would ever admit to me. “Next time you need a babysitter, pay for one.”
“I’ll make sure Auntie Liv is available,” I teased as she walked to the door.
“Don’t you dare, or I’ll take a pair of scissors to every one of those designer suits you love and shred them.”
“Ouch. That’s extreme.”
“You owe me, Gabe.”
“And I know you won’t let me forget it.”
After she left, I made my way to Tori’s office.
Her door was open, and she was studying her computer screen, a pencil between her teeth.
She wore a navy dress that brought out the hues in her eyes and deepened the ebony in her hair.
I watched her, fully aware that it was a creepy move, but she had me mesmerized, and the idea that she could be mine again left me frozen.
Eyes lifting, she jumped slightly before a gorgeous smile lit her face.
“Morning,” she said.
I moved from where I’d been leaning on the doorframe and closed the office door before I made my way to her.
Leaning over, I tangled my hand in her hair and kissed her.
She clutched at my shirt, and I pulled her up, needing to feel her body against mine.
A reminder that I hadn’t dreamed this, that we were really getting our second chance.
“I’m not sure how appropriate this is for work,” she mumbled against my lips, her hand in my hair.
“Since I own the company, I’m making an exception.” My hands followed the curve of her waist. After years of yearning for her to be in my arms again, now that she was, it was difficult not to touch her. “Have dinner with me tonight,” I said.
“But I have Reid.”
“Then we make it pizza and a movie. Just like we used to do.”
She tipped her head, giving me a smile. “You’ll bring the beer?”
I laughed, trying to think of the last time I’d had a beer. “Definitely.”
“Sounds like a date, but I have to warn you, movie time isn’t what it used to be.”
Shrugging, I said, “Whatever Reid wants. As long as I’m with the two of you, I won’t care.”
Eyes the color of a clear summer day shimmered. “Why don’t you pick him up with me?”
My stomach knotted as the air in my lungs froze. “Really?”
“Yeah. But Gabe,” she dropped her arms from my neck, taking a step back, “he can’t know yet. Not until…”
Her eyes fell to the floor, but I put my finger under her chin and lifted it, saying, “Until we figure this out?”
A simple nod and melancholy eyes. “I’m sorry.”
“Don’t be. You need to protect him, and I’ve already hurt him. You don’t want to take the chance of that happening again.” It hurt to say, to know she didn’t fully trust me, but how could she? One night of confessions couldn’t erase years of pain.
“I want to let you back in, but I’m frightened.”
I stepped back into her space. “I’m never going away again, Tori. Nothing could make me leave your side or his. If I must spend the rest of my life proving that to you, I will.”
“Not the rest of your life. Just a little while.”
“Then you have whatever time you need, as long as you let me in enough to prove myself to you.” My fingers brushed over her cheek as I tucked a strand of her hair back. “Starting with pizza and a movie.”
“That sounds like a good place to start.”
While I wanted more, she was right. I needed to prove myself to her. A few kisses and confessions weren’t enough to win her back. I needed to earn her trust again, but I had destroyed it so completely that I didn’t know if I could ever repair it.