Page 157 of Knot For A Moment

“I’ll keep it in mind,” I finally told her as she took out the pins.

“Good. Now go have fun.”

I rolled my eyes, but as soon as I was out of sight, I practically sprinted up to Gabe’s office. He sat at his desk, looking up in amusement when I shut the door behind me and leaned against it. “Are you hiding from the law?”

“No, I’m hiding from the rest of the company.”

“Are they waiting outside?”

I laughed. “Anna told me you wanted to see me while I was in the costume shop. Everyone will know I’m here soon, and yes, they absolutely are going to think we’re having sex, even if we don’t.”

Gabriel smirked, sitting back in his chair. “Well, we wouldn’t want to disappoint them.”

I gasped. “Is that why you wanted me up here?”

“I always want you, little one. It wasn’t the reason I called you, but we’ll see how it goes.”

“Why did you call?”

“Besides wanting to see my Omega?” He tapped the desk in front of him. Dropping my bag on the floor, I went, perching there. Something about his posture told me it wasn’t about wanting to see me. He looked… tight. In my chest he felt like it too.

“Yeah, besides that.”

Gabe sighed, sliding his chair in so he could wrap his arms around me and press his face into my stomach.

“I need to talk to you about Craig.”

I stiffened—couldn’t help it. “Please don’t tell me he did something else.”

“Nothing new. It’s about what he’s already done. Harrison found out quite a bit.”

With his arms firmly around me, he outlined the truth of Craig’s desire for me. How they theorized it was why he approached me in the first place. I felt sick.

“So,” Gabe said, “when you left, it was one blow too many. And the hits kept coming. You wounded his ego, he lost what he hoped was the salvation of his career, had to shut down his business, and then showed up at your apartment and found Ash.

“In his head, you’re the only thing he has left. And maybe, if he still has you, he can fix things.”

It certainly explained the behavior, and it was a relief to know, but it didn’t make me feel better. If anything, it made me feel worse about the whole thing. Not one piece of it had been genuine, and even now, he thought of me as something to be claimed and owned rather than cherished and loved.

I swallowed down the nausea. “Clearly… he had to have thought all those things he said before. I know he snapped, but you don’t snap into brand new thoughts. All that stuff was already in there.”

“You’re right,” Gabriel said. “This is who he is.”

It hurt more than I thought to know someone you once trusted never even saw you as a person.

“I still don’t understand how I didn’t see it. Was I that desperately lonely? And I walked right back to him, opening up the door for all of it.”

“Sloane,” my name was a command on Gabriel’s lips, along with the strength of him now through our bond. “Look at me.”

Tilting my head downward, I met his gaze.

“Not your fault, remember?”

Of course I remembered. But I wasn’t blameless. You could say it wasn’t my fault forever, but I was responsible for some pieces. If I’d just gone to the fucking concert, maybe I could have let him down gently. And then…

I sighed. And then he would have tried to keep me regardless to get Grandma’s money. He would have done this either way. Even last year, if he hadn’t gotten what he needed, he would have turned into this monster. Only last year, they wouldn’t have been there to help me.

Guilt spiraled through me. This had been bad, but it could have been so much worse because I let my own loneliness and needs get the better of me.

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