Page 21 of Always Been Mine

No answer.

He squinted and saw her dark form against the available light streaming from under the door. What time was it? He checked the bedside clock. It was almost five in the morning.

“Beatrice?”

“What, Gabriel?”

Her voice was flat.

An uneasiness roiled in his gut. He reached for the lamp and turned on the lights. Beatrice had her clothes on and appeared to be looking for her shoes. She found them under the coffee table.

“What are you doing?”

“Isn’t it obvious? I’m leaving.”

“Well hell, babe, if you weren’t satisfied with the merchandise, maybe you’ll give me another chance to prove you wrong,” Gabe said bitterly. He got up from the bed and walked toward her. Since Beatrice was sitting on a chair slipping on her shoes, his semi-erect dick was right in front of her face.

Beatrice snorted a short laugh. “No need to be crude,Gabe.”

“No. Crude is you propositioning me and then making this all about sex,” he whispered harshly. “It isn’t. You know it isn’t. Why are you doing this to us?”

“Seriously? I did this to us?”

“I’m talking about right now, Beatrice. I want you back. What do you need me to do?”

Her face was impassive. He wasn’t getting through to her. Gabe crouched in front of her. “Three years ago—know that I had to leave, Beatrice. I had to. I hurt you because I wanted you to hate me—”

“It worked.”

He flinched but pressed on. “Because I didn’t know if I could make it back alive. But I came back to you, babe.”

“Three years too late and the same fucking problems, Gabe,” Beatrice snapped. “You said you cared for your job more than you did me.”

“I had to lie.”

“Your actions proved it wasn’t a lie.”

“It was the right choice at that time.”

Beatrice sighed and stood up. “Same excuses my dad probably had in his head when he forgot he had a family. Look what that did to my mother. She’s pretending to be happy with someone else when in truth she’s still in love with him.”

“I’m not your dad, Beatrice,” Gabe said quietly. “If I’d decided to stay with you then, that choice would’ve torn me up for the rest of my life. Now, there’s only you. You’re my priority. My job? I don’t have one. I quit. I’ll probably go private.”

She stilled for a beat. “I’ve changed.”

“What?”

“I don’t want a relationship right now after what happened with Eric.”

Gabe rose from his crouch and leaned into her, his face ahair-breadth away. “Don’t bring that fucker between us. He’s out of your life. Got me?”

“Ah, there you are. The old Gabe,” she smiled derisively. “For a while I wondered who this sentiment-spouting fool was.” Beatrice reached for the door.

“Don’t do this, poppy,” he growled, gripping her arm. “This is not you. You walk out now, I might not follow.”

“Pride, Gabe?” Beatrice mocked. The look in her eyes fisted his heart in a vise of panic as it was looking more and more certain that they were truly over.

“This isn’t about pride. It’s about you walking away from what we just shared.”

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