Page 35 of Always Been Mine

“Don’t start, Beatrice,” Gabe snapped. “I’m so pissed at you right now; you don’t want to test me.”

“You? Pissed at me? You’re the one who withheld information.”

“I didn’t haveallthe information. Now. Get. In.”

Something told her this wasn’t a conversation to be had on the streets, so she did as she was told, but slammed the door hard in protest. Gabe got in beside her and cut her another angry look.

They didn’t say anything for a while. Beatrice was busy checking out the contents of Nose Ring’s wallet when she realized he missed her exit.

“You missed the DC exit.”

Gabe glanced at her. “You’re coming home with me.”

She froze beside him,but the blowup didn’t come. Baffled,he glanced over to her and saw her brows were furrowed as she was inspecting the seam of the wallet.

“No comeback?”

“I’m spattered with blood,” Beatrice said matter-of-factly. “Makes sense to clean up over at your place before I walk into my condo.” Her head finally turned his way. “You do intend to return me to the condo, right?”

“We’ll discuss this later.”

She simply shrugged. This annoyed him. It was probably still the adrenalin pumping through his veins that fed the desire to strangle her, squeeze her, hug her, and feel her. There were many things he wanted to do to her, with her, and for her, but they needed to talk first. Gabe didn’t know where he stood with Beatrice. Well, he kind of knew, but he couldn’t accept that they were over. They still had a story ofthem,and he wanted their story to begin now. Not later, not tomorrow, and definitely not never.He didn’t know how to convince her to give him a second chance. Beatrice understood the meaning of duty and country. She understood why he had to leave her. The thing was, she was prepared not to be with a man like him. That scared him, because how could you reason with something logical?

Twenty minutes later, he was pulling up beside his house. He noticed Beatrice looking around the neighborhood, an emotion on her face that pinched his heart. She was rememberingthem.

“You live here?” she whispered, her eyes glazed.

“I do.”

“Why here?”

“I missed us, poppy,” he replied simply.

An anguished sound escaped her as she exited the car. She started stalking up the sidewalk away from his house.

“Beatrice!”

“Fuck you, Gabe!” she yelled, not slowing down.

He caught up with her, gripping her arm. She spunaround and her fists went flying, hitting him on the chest. She started crying and it broke his heart. He didn’t know what to do, except hold her, clenching her tight against him as she sobbed into his chest.

“I’m sorry, Beatrice,” Gabe whispered. “God, I’m so sorry.”

“How dare you do this to me!”

“I’m sorry—”

“Why couldn’t you just stay away?” she cried into his chest, trying to push at him, but he wouldn’t, couldn’t let her go. This was the closest he had gotten through to her, and he was not backing the fuck down from anything she wanted to throw at him. “Why, Gabe?”

“Because . . . I just can’t.” His mouth was by her ear. “Please, babe, give me another chance.”

Her crying faded into hiccups. She tried again to push away, but he only tightened his arms. Finally, she relaxed, much to Gabe’s relief. No way was he letting her go to build up that wall again. No fucking way.

Her body seemed to have lost all the fight as she leaned heavily against him.

“Let’s get you inside and cleaned up.”

She crumbled.She just fell apart and there was nothing she could do to stop the avalanche of hurt and rejection she had felt when he left her without looking back. The pain in her heart was excruciating, threatening to rip her chest wide open. When Gabe turned onto the street that looked so familiar, the street where they’d walked hand in hand so many times, it was simply too much. Now, with Gabe’s arms around her, gripping her like he would never let her go, they walked side by side toward his house.

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