22. Chapter 22
Chapter twenty-two
Gabe
T he cold New York City winter chill cuts through me where I stand outside the shelter talking to Royce Walker from Walker Security behind a damn dumpster of all things. The cold cuts like a blade, but I don’t bleed with its impact, not yet at least, but some part of me is certain that is where I’m headed. I’ve been cut by a woman. I’ve bled for her. I’ve bled because of her and that’s not what I intend to live through again, but no matter how many warning bells I hear, I can’t seem to turn away.
“What do you think is going on with this woman?” Royce asks, cutting through the bullshit and getting right to the point.
“Who goes after a shelter?” I ask. “It’s bad press. Even asshole billionaires know this.”
“Well, he could disconnect himself to avoid the press and if you point fingers without evidence, he could sue you. Assuming that’s his plan, we have to assume either this is about your new woman or that property is worth a hell of a lot more and we don’t know it yet.”
“It would have to be substantial,” I point out. “Because if he takes the shelter, bad press won’t be as easy to hide from as it is now.”
“What are you thinking, Gabe?” he presses again.
“That this is about Abbie, not the shelter.”
“What does she say?” he asks.
“That it’s about the shelter.”
“But you don’t believe her?”
“I just need answers,” I say, avoiding one of my own.
He doesn’t push me. “We’re resourceful,” he says simply. “If there’s a reason he wants it, we’ll find out and fast.” He’s silent a moment. “What aren’t you saying?”
What am I not saying?
That I’m thinking with my dick and maybe even my heart, not my head, and that scares the fuck out of me. “My father is involved. This might not be about Abbie. It might be about Reid and I kicking him to the curb.”
“And he used Abbie to get to you?”
“I don’t want to believe that.”
“Because she did?”
My lips thin. “Yes, you fuckhead. Because she did.”
“There’s one that gets to us all, man. Welcome to the club. I’ll make sure she’s worthy. More soon.” He disconnects and I repeat those words “make sure she’s worthy.” If she is, I’m not. That’s the problem. I shove the phone back into my pocket. What is it about this woman that makes me ignore every promise I made to myself to fuck, get fucked, quite literally, and then fucking walking away?
I scrub my jaw and cut around the dumpster I’ve been standing beside. I enter the walkway leading to the shelter, only to have Abbie step in my path. “You don’t trust me.”
I feel that accusation like a punch in the chest. “You heard my conversation.”
“Yes, I did, and you know what? It’s okay. You shouldn’ t trust me. You shouldn’t be in this. You need out, Gabe.” She tries to turn away and I catch her arm and pull her to me.
“I don’t want out. I don’t even come close to wanting out.”
“But I want you out. I’m not ready to have anyone take over my life, and that’s what you’re doing, Gabe. You’re taking over. Stop. Just stop now. Thank you for all you have done, but stop now. We’re done.”
The cold air can’t cut me like those words. Words I should welcome. Words that protect me. Words that get me the hell out of what could very well be my father’s trap. But I don’t want her to walk away. I don’t want to walk away. “Is that what you really want?” I demand.
She cuts her gaze. “Yes. It’s what I really want.” She tries to pull back.
I tangle my fingers into her hair and drag her gaze to mine. “Say it again and look me in the eyes when you do it.”
Her eyes glint with anger. “Don’t bully me. I’ve had enough of that for the past five years.”
“I’m not bullying you, Abbie. I’m holding onto you.”
“We’re over, Gabe.”
“Is that what you really want, Abbie?” I press. “Tell me.”
“I already told you.”
“Then if I kiss you, you won’t kiss me back? Because you’re done with me. Right?” I lean in, my lips near hers, our breath warm, the promises of kissing and fucking this woman too good to walk away from. “Because we’re done, Abbie?”
“Don’t kiss me, Gabe,” she whispers, but the push is gone from her words.
“I have to kiss you.”
“You don’t have to do anything,” she says.
“Then I don’t have to let you go, now do I?”
“You have to.”
I kiss her, my lips finding hers, my tongue licking hungrily into her mouth, and I taste her barely-there resistance and I don’t like it. I deepen the kiss, letting her taste my hunger for her, my need to make her mine, and still, she tries to resist, but it’s a heartbeat before her sexy moan fills the air. Suddenly, she’s kissing me back, her fingers clutching my shirt and pulling me closer.
Her submission stirs every male part of me. I’m hot. I’m hard. It’s all I can do to not press her against the wall and find a way to fuck her right here in the walkway. I rotate her, and her back lands against the concrete wall, my legs shackling her legs. “Are we over?” I demand, my eyes meeting her eyes.
“Yes,” she says. “We’re over.”
“Do you want us to be over?”
“I heard the call, Gabe. Why would you want to be with someone that’s hiding something?”
“Are you, Abbie? Are you hiding something?”
“Yes. Now we’re over.”
Voices sound, growing closer and I recognize them. They can’t be ignored. “We’re not over,” I promise her, but I lift off of her, my hands settling on my hips, my attention holding hers, as I call out, “Over here, Grayson!”
Abbie inhales and breathes out. “We can’t,” she whispers.
“We are,” I promise, and it doesn’t matter exactly what she means. We can. We are. We will. To everything, including beating her ex.
Grayson and Mia round the corner, both dark-haired, a gorgeous couple worth billions, who now present themselves in sweats and rain boots ready to work. Both greet Abbie and promise her help. She gushes her appreciation. “Where do we start?” Mia asks.
“I’ll walk you to the back,” Abbie offers when Grayson’s phone rings.
He answers it and listens. “We’ll have someone meet you in the parking lot.” He disconnects. “The trucks to transport the animals are here. They need to know where to park.”
“I’ll go show them,” I say, meeting Abbie’s eyes. “Just tell me what you need and you get Grayson and Mia started.”
“We’ll wing it inside,” Grayson says. “You two deal with the trucks.” He grabs Mia’s hand and they head inside, leaving me alone with Abbie again.
She cuts her gaze again but not before I see the fear in her eyes. She’s afraid. I’m not sure of what. Maybe it’s me. Maybe she’s trouble and feels like I busted her, but that’s the cynical Gabe talking and thinking. This Gabe, the one standing with her, says she’s afraid of her ex, and I’m not allowing her to live that way any more than I’m allowing her to push me away.
I drag her to me. “There are too many ways you want to fuck me for us to be over,” I say softly.
She blushes and then laughs. “That I want to fuck you?”
“Yes, Abbie. And I’m going to let you.”
Her eyes narrow. “I’m not sure how to take that.”
I kiss her, long and deep, before saying, “We aren’t over and you aren’t getting out of telling me what just made you try to run, but do it later, when we’re alone and naked.”
“When you have the advantage?”
Exactly.