Chapter 38
Tori
My feet made a soft padding sound when I walked into the kitchen.
Our kitchen. It seemed surreal that Gabe had bought the house for us without even knowing if I would walk back into his life.
His confidence astounded me, and maybe it should have frightened me, but that was Gabe.
The mysterious darkness he held that drove that confidence and the man he was in the bedroom… or anyplace else he took me.
I shivered at the thought, my eyes landing on him and taking him in. He was shirtless in just his boxers, and I took in every sexy, defined part of him. Peeking up at me from where he was making us coffee, he gave me a coy grin.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
That mouth had brought my body to new heights the prior night, just like his body had this morning before he’d left me too weak to follow him to the kitchen. It had taken me a painfully long time to make myself get out of bed.
He put a mug of coffee on the counter for me, and I reached for it, hoping he didn’t notice how my hands were still shaking. He did, and a naughty twinkle lit his eyes.
“Guess it’s too soon to ravage you again?” He spread his hands on the counter. “We haven’t hit this spot yet.”
I whimpered, an unexpected sound that had him chuckling. “Maybe after my coffee,” I said, finally finding my voice.
Coffee in hand, I walked to the living room, taking in the view of the shore from the windows.
His hands wrapped around my waist, his face burying in my neck.
I leaned into it, glad Cash had asked to have Reid for the weekend.
He and Brandi were taking Shelby to the Christmas festivities in a nearby town and had asked to take him.
That left the weekend for just me and Gabe, who had insisted I help pick out furnishings for the master bedroom the day I told him.
By the time we’d arrived on Friday, the room was furnished, and the fridge was stocked with food.
We’d been making our own memories in the house since that night.
“What time is the car picking Reid up?” I asked him.
It had taken a lot of convincing, but I’d finally relented when he promised me his driver had been with the family since he was young and would ensure Reid got to Cash’s safely.
Cash had called me the moment he arrived at the same time the driver had called Gabe.
“Noon. We have plenty of time to squeeze in another movie and maybe a few more positions.” Another shiver raced down my spine, and his breath was warm on my neck as he chuckled.
The waves beat against the shore in the distance, the wind making their peaks frothy.
“That sounds perfect.”
I wiggled out of his hold and placed my coffee on a table.
“Can we talk first?”
“About what?” he asked, coming over to me.
I’d been putting this off, but Christmas was a week away. A text from his father on Thursday had reminded me of the deal I’d made with him.
“Do you remember when we talked to your father?”
His disposition turned, his eyes darkened, and I sighed. This was why I’d avoided bringing up the subject, but I was hoping with as happy as we were now, the blow would be easier.
“Yes.” Clipped and sharp.
“Well, I made a deal with him to get the information.”
“Secrets. I was waiting for you to tell me.”
Lips pursed, I tried to disregard the sting of his words. “There hasn’t been a good time. And you won’t like it.”
His hands dropped from me, and he backed away. “What did you offer, Tori?”
Great, exactly why I’d waited so long. “He wants to see Reid, but I told him he had to earn the right.”
He crossed his arms, waiting for more.
“I told him he needs to mend the relationship with you and Liv, particularly you, first.”
His jaw ticked, muscles going rigid. “There is no relationship, and whatever he offers, I don’t want it.”
“Gabe—”
“No, Tori. I have hated that man for years. There’s nothing to salvage and nothing he can do to take back what he did.”
“I know that, and that’s not what I’m asking.”
He tugged his hands through his hair, pacing. “And what is it you're asking?”
“For change. For him to show that he’s a better man, that he can do better with Reid than he did with you, for him to own up to his mistakes and show you he loves you.”
He froze, his head slowly turning to me. “He doesn’t love me or Liv. He loves his money and his power. That’s all he’s ever loved. I don’t want him anywhere near Reid, and after all he did to sabotage what we had, I would think you would want him nowhere near you. I certainly don’t.”
He stormed away, leaving me in the wake of his anger and hostility. The door to our room slammed, and a few minutes later he stalked down the stairs.
“Gabe, can’t we just talk about it?”
I trailed him as he grabbed his coat and put on his shoes. “No.”
“Where are you going?” Fear stalked through me. What had I done? It wasn’t my business, and I’d gone and stuck my nose in it.
“For a walk.” He threw the door open, slamming it behind him and leaving me to regret ruining our wonderful weekend.
After I showered and dressed, I warmed my coffee and sat on the couch, staring out the window and thinking of what I’d done.
The more I sat and stewed, the angrier I became because even if Gabe thought it wasn’t, this was my business.
It affected the man I loved and my son. It had shadowed our relationship from the start, and Gabe wore his trauma like a cloak that billowed around him.
By the time I heard the door open, my anger had grown to the point where I didn’t even turn around. He needed to face his past, and if he hated me for interfering, then maybe we weren’t ready to move forward with this.
His footsteps scuffed through the silence, but still I didn’t turn.
“I won’t apologize.” I said, my sight on a dune in the distance.
“You may think it’s not my business, but it is.
You are my business, and what hurts you hurts me.
The past hurts you, and I don’t know how to ease it from your shoulders, but if there’s a chance, even the smallest chance, that this does, then I will continue to advocate for it.
I’m not doing this for your father, Gabe.
I’m doing it for you and for Reid. You deserve something more than he ever gave you, and… ” I paused, sucking back the tears.
“Tori.” The pain in his voice had me turning, and the sight of him had me jumping from the couch. His shoulders were hunched, his entire demeanor drained. The powerful man I knew was no longer there, and in his place was a wounded boy with tears streaming down his cheeks.
I ran to him and folded him into my arms. He wrapped himself around me, burying his head in my shoulder.
I’d never seen him cry. The only signs he ever gave me of being vulnerable were when he would put his hands in his pockets or look away from me, palming his neck.
This was the broken boy below the man who took over companies and left men like Bradman shaking in their shoes.
The side I suspected he only allowed me to see.
I held him as he clung to me. How long had he held his emotions in? How many years had it been building? Long enough to burrow so far into him that it never escaped. Until now.
Cradling his head, I murmured, “It’s okay.”
“I just wanted his love,” he said, the words fractured by the sputtering sobs. “And my mother back.”
My heart splintered, and I hugged him tighter. I couldn’t fathom what he’d gone through because my childhood had been ideal. Other than my mother’s battle with breast cancer, there had been nothing but happy memories.
My father had been doting and protective, my mother loving and present, their relationship one I’d idolized. They laughed together, joked, and played. There was never tension, never a raised voice unless it was behind closed doors where it didn’t affect us.
All things Gabe never had. His mother had loved him, but her depression had stolen her from him. Perhaps his father had played a role in that, or perhaps his father had taken the blame in Gabe’s mind. Based on all he had done to Gabe, it was no wonder.
“You don’t have to do anything,” I told him, soothing my hand over his head.
“It’s your choice, and I made that clear.
” I pulled him further into my hold, where he remained, his face hidden in my neck, his arms clinging to me.
I lifted his head, seeing the tears as he looked away from me.
Rubbing them away with my fingers, I forced his eyes to me.
“But maybe it’s time for you to heal. Whether it’s with him in your life or not.
You’ve held onto this pain for too long, Gabe. ”
He sniffed, giving me a nod before he released me and wiped his eyes with his arm. “I’m sorry,” he said.
“Don’t be. I love you, and that means I love every part of you. The wounded boy, the intense man. The strength and the tears. This doesn’t make you weak, Gabe.”
He glanced away again, but I put my hands on his cheeks and brought his sight back to me. “It doesn’t, and that you trust me enough to let me see the pain shows me how much you love me.”
“I do. More than anything in the world.”
“I know.”
He inhaled and let out a ragged breath. “I don’t know what to do, Tori. What’s my next step?”
“What does your heart say?” I asked, placing my hand on his chest.
“To follow your lead because I trust you, and if you think this is what I need, then I’ll try.”
“And if you fail, then you walk away. I won’t judge you, and I won’t look at you any differently.”
He brushed a lock of my hair back, the intensity returning to his eyes. “I know you won’t.”
“I told him he could start with a Christmas present to Reid if and only if you agreed.”
He tilted his head and gave me a small smile. “You know how to hit him hard. That man never bought us presents. My mother always did Christmas, and it stopped the year she died. He never gave us anything after that.”
But a trust fund and a company he would have handed to Gabe if Gabe hadn’t stolen it from his father first. But I said nothing even when I had my suspicions that there was more to his father than he thought. Nothing excused the violence and the abuse, but maybe it would help with reconciliation.
“Then maybe this will be the first test.”
“Maybe.”
“I’ll text him your answer.”
A brow lift and, “You have my father’s phone number?”
I shrugged. “He texted me to see if you’d decided, so now I have it. I’m not sure where he got mine from.”
“My father has his ways.”
Amber eyes studied me until he touched his forehead to mine.
“I love you, Tori. I’m sorry I walked out.
You took me by surprise, and I needed time to think.
To contemplate letting that man back into my life.
I thought I was done the day I bought the company from him.
Washed my hands of him, but it seems I can’t escape him or the things he did to me.
As much as I hate him, he’s my father, and he never let us want for anything but his love. ”
“The most important thing.”
“Yes, but it made me into who I am today. For better or worse.”
I pulled his lips to mine. “Better,” I said. “You are everything he’s not, and you’re already a better father. I don’t doubt you’ll continue to be better.”
His kisses heated my core, the emotion in them reaching far into my being and reminding me of his claim on me. They didn’t stop until he had me screaming his name and drowning in rapture.