51. He Got the Suitcase #2
“He’s waiting out there like some smug shit while you pack up and go, is that it?
” The dark edge of jealousy burning inside my chest quickly morphed into something pathetic and crumbly.
“Do you want me to beg? Is that it? I’m not too fucking proud.
” Desperate, that was what I was. I wasn’t too proud to admit it, either.
If I lost Gwen again, I lost everything .
“Toby, what are you—stop that!” Horror widened Gwen’s eyes when I fell to my knees in front of her. “Get up!”
I ignored her. I latched my arms around her legs and dragged her close to me, stuffing my face in her scratchy wool skirt.
“Please don’t leave me for some bastard called Romeo or Elias wearing his stupid loafers.
Please, Gwen.” I hugged her closer. “I love you more than anything in the world. I’m nothing without you. ”
She wriggled out of my grasp. She fell to the floor in front of me and cupped my cheeks with her hands. “Now, you listen here, mister,” she commanded. “I’m not leaving you. Ever. That idiot out front is following me.”
My gaze snapped up. He’d been… what? I wasn’t sure I’d ever turned a glare that hard on Gwen in my life.
“He’s been following me for four days,” she hurried on. “I haven’t figured out why yet. I thought maybe it had to do with Kayleigh or her lawyer… I don’t know.” She tugged a hand through her hair and exhaled a breath. “I really don’t know.”
All the miserable emotions that had sunk me to my knees were hardening. Anger curled around my throat. “That man out the front has been following you for four days?” I bit out. “And you didn’t tell me? You didn’t call the fucking cops?”
“N-no.” Gwen cringed. “I didn’t want you to worry.” Her excuse was weak.
“Worry!” Fear made my voice cut too harsh. “Worry!”
I wasn’t sure who bolted up first, but we were both on our feet, scrambling in all directions. Gwen plastered herself across the front door. She was scared I was going to go outside to punch that guy’s lights out. Ha. I was way past that shit.
I turned my back on her and launched up the stairs.
“Toby!” she shouted after me.
I flew into the bedroom, straight into the walk-in wardrobe, hauled a suitcase off the top shelf, and tossed it on the bed.
Gwen shot into the bedroom behind me. “To–Toby—please!” She panted, her eyes ripping around the room as I threw open the drawers and scrambled to grab as many clothes as possible and stuff them in the suitcase. “Please! I’m sorry! I know I should’ve told you.”
She grabbed for my arm to stop me, but I shrugged her off. “I’ve been losing my shit for almost a week now, Gwen! I’d convinced myself I was going crazy and imagining someone following me, and then you walk in here and tell me this !” I raked a hand through my hair. “Fuck. I just… I can’t even…”
Her chin quivered, and she scrubbed at her eyes. Tears were coming.
Shit.
I couldn’t deal with Gwen being emotional right now. It wrecked me from the inside out, and there was no time.
“Go pack a bag for Noah,” I told her gruffly. So much for trying to be the strong one for once.
“No!” she screamed. “You can’t take him from me!”
The raw panic in her voice froze me on the spot. Something finally clicked. Christ, I was an ass. How many years of pain had I just dredged up?
“Come here.” I pulled Gwen into me, steadying her with an arm around her waist. “That’s not what’s happening.
I would never, ever do that. We’re leaving.
All of us.” I paused just long enough for it to land.
“If you think we’re staying here with some fucking stalker lurking around like this is a joke, think again.
I’m not risking you or Noah for a second.
We pack, we call the cops, and we’re gone. End of story.”
“We need to talk!”
“We needed to talk four days ago. The rest of your secrets will have to wait. We need to leave.” I pointed to the suitcase.
“I’m on autopilot, Gwen. My brain isn’t going to register a word of what you need to tell me until I get my shit back under control—and that isn’t happening when we’re in this house.
Pack a bag for Noah, okay? We’re going. All of us. Right now.”
Gwen nodded, teeth buried in her bottom lip and her gaze falling to her feet.
“I’m sorry,” she whispered.
“I know. And I’m angry. Not just because you kept this from me but because you didn’t trust me.
I’m going to stew on this until we’re booked into a hotel.
Then, I’m gonna need the full story and a hell of a lot of apologies in whatever form you’re giving ’em.
” I pecked her cheek. “You don’t always know best, my beautiful lady. ”
She nodded and shuffled to the doorway. She paused. “Can we, um, still maybe have a movie night? At—you know—the hotel?”
“Yup.”
“Second base?”
“Yup.”
A shy smile hinted on her face. “Third?”
I blew out a slow breath, pretending to think it over. “I don’t know about that. After all this secret-keeping, you might be pushing your luck to get me down on my knees twice in one night.”
A hot pink flush darkened her cheeks. She stammered a string of nonsense words as I lumbered over, not even bothering to hide my grin as I landed a playful smack on her butt to get her moving.
We were going to be okay.