Page 9 of Always Been Mine

“That’ll be a shame for you, babe.”

“You deserve to be castrated, you asshole!” Beatrice spun on her heels and stalked away from him.

Gabe tried to get up, but the pain was still so intense, he crawled. “Damn it, Beatrice! Wait!”

“What’s going on here?”

This just keeps getting better, Gabe thought darkly. Beatrice’s assistant showed up and he was down on the floor like a pathetic bastard. Not that he didn’t deserve it, but he’d rather not look too diminished in front of a potential rival, even if the admiral assured him Douglas Keller wouldn’t be competition.

The blond prick glared at Gabe and acted like he was going to beat him up.

Really, buddy? I just got kneed in the balls.

“What did he do, Bee?”

“I took care of it, Doug. Don’t worry,” Beatrice cast another wrathful stare his way. “The air out here has gone rotten. Take me home before I get sick.”

Gabe watched the woman who meant everything to him walk away with another man. A searing pain burned in his chest. He deserved it, but he wasn’t giving up. Not by a long shot.

“So who is Mr. Hottie?”

Beatrice collapsed against the passenger seat of Doug’s car. The calm she was feeling left her, and now she was a bundle of anxiety.

“That—is Gabriel Sullivan.”

“TheGabriel?”

“Yup. So stop perving. I don’t want to talk about it either.”

Doug was silent for a while and then, “He’s the reason you’re so messed up about relationships, honeybee. We need to talk about it, but not tonight. This day has sucked you dry.”

Understatement.

They were quiet on the ride home. Doug would have normally dropped her off, but this time, he insisted on accompanying her inside. It was only when Beatrice stepped into her condo that she felt safe enough to let go. It started with tremors in her hands until her whole body started shaking. Years of suppressed emotion, of keeping a facade that she had gotten over Gabe, finally caught up with her.

She broke down and wept.

Doug reached for her and clasped her neck, bringing her head to his chest.

Pain, rooted so deeply, prevented the sounds of her cries from escaping. She opened her mouth, but it was a silent cry. It hurt. The pressure in her chest pushed against her throat.All the inadequacies and insecurities she had held in for years threatened to unhinge her completely.

“Breathe, sweetie,” Doug whispered in her ear.

After one mighty indrawn breath, a wail of anguish finally escaped her and she sobbed until she thought she couldn’t stop.

“Why . . .wh . . . why did he have to . . . come back . . .” she mumbled between sobs. “I was fine. I. Was. Fine.”

This went on for a while—speaking incoherently between her tears. All through this, Doug held her and didn’t say a word.

Finally, Beatrice exhaled a shuddering breath. A feeling of cleansing and calm overwhelmed her. “Whoa, that was cathartic.”

“Feeling better?” her friend asked her quietly. His face was grim.

Beatrice nodded and pulled away.

“You should have let me beat the shit out of him.”

“I can fight my own battles.”

---