Page 46 of Gravity of Love
It was the first time he’d admitted his feelings, even to himself. That he’d thought those exact words, that plainly. He’d agreed to Ramesh making that statement, but he’d never actually allowed himself to say it, even silently, in his head. It was too scary, but it was true.
“New rule. I’m going to tell you what I have to tell you. You can’t askanyfollow-up questions. You are not even allowed to have any opinions on it.Capiche?”
He nodded.
She shook her head as she lowered her hand. Before it reached the console, she turned it back and pointed her finger in his face. “Oh, and once I tell you, you cannottreat me any differently. Deal?” She held out her hands, crossing her forearms to indicate a double shake. Crossing his arms he took her hands and shook with a silent nod.
“Okay.” She wiped her hands on her jeans, the way she did when her palms were sweaty because she was nervous, she stared out the windshield and took a deep breath, then exhaled before speaking faster than he’d ever heard her speak, which had to be some sort of record. “Tristan and I aren’t engaged anymore. I came to Yaya’s about a month ago because I saw a video on our shared iCloud of him having sex with Emmanuelle.” She turned towards Liam, just long enough to say, “Yes, that Emmanuelle.” Her hair flared out as her head spun back so she faced forward and the scent of vanilla and flowers filled the cabin. “She was his client for her divorce, and he had sex with her. Once I got here, I did some digging and found out that she wasn’t the first, he had sex with other clients and used icons of fleshlights to rate them. When I saw the video, I walked out of the conference room, went straight to the elevator, and did not pass go. Oh, I was doing a client intake when I saw it. Anyway, I went home to our apartment, packed my bags, and left without speaking to him. I still haven’t spoken to him. He keeps calling and texting, but, you know, I don’t want to talk to him, so I haven’t.
“I’m sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I wasn’t trying to lie to you, there just wasn’t a good time. And it’s not just you I haven’t told, I haven’t even told my mom. She finally took that European vacation she always talked about. She left the day before I saw the video, and I knew she’d come back to the US if she found out, so I didn’t tell her.” She leaned down and grabbed her purse off the floorboard. “Oh, and she called last week and told me she saw your dad in Paris, he asked her to dinner, and I guess they’re together now. They went to New York to tell me and Tristan in person, on their way to the Caribbean, but I wasn’t there, because I’m here. No, I don’t understand how that happened. Yes, I think it’s weird. I still didn’t tell her because I just wanted her to finish her vacation. I’m gonna tell her when she gets hometo California that Tristan and I broke up, and I’m not marrying him, we’re not getting back together, and I’m not going back to New York.”
With that final declaration, she opened the door and slammed it behind her, leaving Liam sitting there with so many competing emotions he wasn’t sure which to address first. He wanted tokillhis brother for hurting Frankie. He also had to admit he was fucking ecstatic that she wasn’t engaged and was not going back to New York. Also, his dad and Cora, what the fuck? How did that happen? He hadso manyfollow-up questions. He was pissed at himself for agreeing not to ask any.
“Are you coming?!” Frankie yelled, snapping him out of his information overload haze. He looked up and saw her waving her arms from the top step, looking exactly like Yaya. “Come on!”
He was still trying to process as he walked up to the porch silently and punched in the code to his front door. As soon as it opened, Frankie walked past him, and her hair brushed his nose, leaving a scent of vanilla and flowers trailing behind her, and something snapped open in his chest. He got the same feeling he had when he heard Frankie say he wouldn’t charge Phoebe because she was family. He knew that this was dangerous territory. He was playing with fire taking Frankie home, engaged to his brother or not.
Home. That four-letter word bounced around him like a silver ball, lighting him up like he was an emotional pinball machine. Happiness, sadness, hope, regret, excitement, envy, gratitude, anger, anticipation, fear, nostalgia, guilt, and love. This was the first time since Lauren handed him the keys that that word actually felt like that word applied to this space. The second Frankie stepped inside, that’s the feeling she brought with her.
Frankie took her shoes off, placing them next to a pair of Liam’s shoes that were lined up on the floor in the entryway. He removed his and placed them on the other side, so hers sat in the middle of his. A sense of rightness washed over him at how right her tiny boots looked sandwiched between his size fourteens.
He gave her a quick tour, first showing her the four upstairs guest rooms and bathrooms, which had the barest of furnishings, then going downstairs and to the basement to check out the theater room and game room, before heading back to the main floor and stopping by the library then ending up in the kitchen, which she referred to as the heart of the house. He deliberately omitted showing her the sunroom off of the kitchen, as well as his main bedroom and bathroom located off the great room. He watched as she ran her fingers along the edges of the twelve-foot island’s marble waterfall edge.
“This place is…” Her head tilted back as she gazed up at the twenty-foot vaulted ceiling, taking in the large wooden beams and oversized black steel fan.
“Empty?” He provided the most accurate adjective he could think of despite wishing he could say the thousand other things on his mind. The questions he wanted to ask. The things he wanted answers to.
The corners of her full lips twitched with amusement. “I was going to sayinsane, but yes, it is empty.”
“Insane?”
He wasn’t sure where she was going with that description, which was very Frankie-coded, as his niece Zoya would say. She always kept him guessing.
She nodded, her expression making it seem as if the one-word description was perfectly self-explanatory. Most people overshared, he felt that lately getting Frankie to speak was like pulling teeth, particularly when it was information he wanted to know. That had never been an issue in their relationship. Theirdynamic historically was that she talked and he listened. He missed that.
His left brow lifted as he leaned back against the counter and crossed his arms, trying to portray as casual a demeanor as possible, but inside he was feeling anything but casual. “Care to elaborate?”
She walked to the center of the great room that had his sectional sofa, a ninety-inch television mounted on the wall, and a floor-to-ceiling fireplace in it—nothing else. With her arms outstretched, she spun around in a circle several times. “This place could house the Von Trapp family.”
He could feel the skin between his brows wrinkle as he watched her hair fan out as her head fell back. He wasn’t sure exactly what she was getting at, but at that exact moment he honestly forgot what they were even talking about. All he could think about was the smooth line of her neck and how his finger would feel running along it. The way her body had felt pressed against his when he’d hugged her at the party. The way her breath had felt on his face as his lips had hovered above hers, just a few hours ago when she was sitting in the front seat of his car.
The last time they’d been that close was the night of his mom’s funeral. She’d climbed through his window to check on him, and he’d…he’d taken advantage of her.
He still hadn’t forgiven himself for that. And now, here he was, tempted to do the same thing. She’d just told him what his fucking idiot brother had done, and all he could think about was taking advantage of her again. She’d even made a point of telling himnotto treat her any differently. Could she be any clearer? She didn’t want him hitting on her. What the fuck was wrong with him?
She stopped spinning, her cheeks were flushed, and her breath was slightly labored. “It’shuge. Most single men who gethouses like this do it for one of two reasons. One, they want to start a family. Or two, they are compensating for something.” Her lips curled at the edges as her eyes danced with mischief, a look that had always amused him, even when they were kids. Now it did more than amuse him.
He shifted uncomfortably. Her insinuation had not gone unnoticed by his cock. It swelled behind his zipper.
“I should get you home.” He placed his hands on the edges of the counter and pushed off.
A wrinkle appeared on her forehead. “Home? I just got here. I haven’t even seen your room. What doesDr. Dreamy’sbedroom look like?”
Without waiting for his response, she turned and walked towards his bedroom. “Is it down here?”
Yes. Yes, it was.
14
