Page 32 of This Thing of Ours

Gabby didn’t believe that. “No. I trusted you. I would have never gone off with someone else.”

“Then trust me when I tell you, they would’ve found a way.”

He paused a second, seeming to collect his thoughts. He quickly scanned the room before his eyes landed back on hers. “I didn’t know what they’d planned at first, you know, when I first got to know you. Those first few times I asked you out, it was just me doing the asking. I thought you were pretty, and I really liked you.”

He paused again. She was about to remind him, he was wasting his minutes, but he continued before she could say anything.

“When my father approached me, I tried to talk him out of it, but there was no reasoning with him.” Then almost as an afterthought, he looked off to the side and added, “There never is.” She got his eyes back. “He would go through with it whether I was a part of it or not. And I thought if I was involved, I’d be there to protect you.”

“Protect me? Is that what you’re calling it now?”

He had the grace to look sheepish. “I tried as much as I could. And I stopped Peter from—”

Gabby violently shook her head. “Stop.”

Derek sighed. “What I’m trying to say is, I’m sorry about what happened to you, and I’m especially sorry for my part in it. But I am glad I was able to help you in some small way.”

He sounded sincere, damn it. But even though he had saved her from an even worse fate, she still couldn’t bring herself to forgive him. But she could pay him back in some small way.

She sighed. “Listen, I accept your apology though I can’t forgive you for your part in all of it. But because you did, in a roundabout way, help me, I’ll give you some advice. Run. Run as far as you can because my brother and his men are looking for you, and you don’t want them to catch you. You have your whole life ahead of you, get out while you still can.”

“You of all people should know how impossible that is. I was born to this life—just like you.”

She nodded because she did understand even if she didn’t agree. God gave people free will so they could make choices. Good or bad was up to them.

“Your time’s up.” Gabby gave a small tug of her arm to remind him he still held her.

“One last thing. I think my father’s planning something else. I don’t know what. I came in on the tail end of a conversation, and he stopped talking when he saw me. I do know I heard your name, though.”

Gabby waited a second, expecting more. His dad planning something wasn’t anything new, but she would mention it to Marco when she talked to him. Gabby tipped her head in acknowledgment. “I’ll be sure to keep an eye out. And you should do the same. Goodbye, Derek.” She glared pointedly at her arm and he let her go.

She stood quickly, grabbed her stuff, and made tracks getting the hell out of there.

Hot water cascadedover her head as Gabby rinsed the last of the conditioner from her hair. She reached back and shut off the shower. That was when she heard the pounding that sounded like it came from her front door. Sliding the glass door open, she stepped out and grabbed a towel just as she heard a loud boom followed by the splintering of wood.

What the heck? Wrapping the towel around herself, she quickly—or as quickly as she could with wet feet on a tile floor—made her way to the bathroom door, throwing it open.

That’s when she heard her name bellowed. She rushed from her bedroom, stopping dead in her tracks when she encountered six-foot-two-inches of very angry male standing in her living room.

Marco.

He was breathing heavily, and a lock of his usually perfect hair had fallen over his forehead. A coating of red dusted his cheeks, and his eyes were blazing. His hands were clenched at his sides, and one foot was in front of the other as if he, too, had stopped mid-stride as soon as he saw her.

She glanced behind him at her busted front door, the wood splintered along the jamb, and with wide eyes, jerked her gaze back to his, stupidly saying the first thing that popped into her head.“You really need to stop kicking in my door.”

Chapter Thirteen

“Sir.”

Marco turned his gaze from the window to see Ricky stepping through the office door, his eyes on Nico.

Nico waved him farther in. “What is it?” he asked when he stopped in front of his desk.

“There’s been an incident with Gabby.”

That got Marco’s full attention. “Is she okay?”

Ricky’s eyes flicked to him, and he got a curt nod before he looked back at Nico. “She’s safe at home.”

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