Page 26 of House of Scarlett
“Fuck, don’t cry.”
“Flynn told you I was dying.”
“I knew what I wanted before that.”
“Like when you threw me out of your office as soon as you slid the condom off?”
He bows his head again. “I fucked up.Bad.”
All the emotions I felt in that moment come rushing back like a rogue wave. “No, you didn’t just fuck up, Gabriel. I put myself out there. You didn’t have to be on board with it. I get that I was taking a risk. But the least you could’ve done was treat me with an ounce of fucking respect. You’d just been inside me, and you threw me out liketrash.”
The heart rate monitor is going crazy beside me, and Gabriel squeezes his eyes shut like he’s in agony.
“I wish I could take it all back.” He opens his eyes, and his blue gaze is piercing. “You probably don’t believe me, and you shouldn’t. Words aren’t enough. I know that, but I’ll show you.”
There’s a knock at the door, and we both turn.
Flynn pokes her head in. “Oh, good, you didn’t kill each other. The doctors will be happy.” She comes in with Kelsey and Amy behind her. All three of them stare at Gabriel in his ribbed tank.
“What happened to his shirt?” Kelsey asks, always the one to address the elephant in the room.
“Her feet were cold,” Amy whispers, holding out the warm blanket she fetched for me.
“God, that’s too fucking cute,” Flynn says as a nurse also bustles in the door.
“That’s enough visiting for now. She needs to rest so she can heal. The doctor is hopeful she’ll be discharged tomorrow afternoon.” The nurse looks around the room at Flynn, Kelsey, Amy, and Gabriel. “Who is staying with her? Just one of you, if you please.”
Fourteen
Legend
“I’ll go,”I say as I rise from the chair beside her bed. I don’t want to say the words, but I know I’m the odd man out here. I meet Scarlett’s gray gaze. “For now. I’ll be back.”
Kelsey, Amy, and Flynn debate who will stay, and Flynn wins. Although, it wasn’t much of a debate. Flynn is impossible to argue with since she’s the only one with the smallest hint of a family connection.
Scarlett nods at me, and even though it isn’t much, I’ll take it. Fuck, I’ll happily accept scraps for however long it takes me to earn back her trust. I deserve that.
I make my way around the women, who are saying their good-byes, but Flynn follows me out into the hallway. I’m glad for that, even if her goal is to read me the riot act again.
Before she can get a word out, I shut the door and ask the question I didn’t want to voice in front of Scarlett, because I’m afraid the answer would crush her. “Is her dad coming?”
Flynn’s face falls. “I doubt it. He’s got a huge bash this weekend in the Hamptons, and he’d never miss it.”
Anger, my old friend, ignites in my gut. “Are you fucking serious?”
“Sadly, yes.” Flynn’s tone is just as disgusted as mine.
“What a fucking prick. His daughter just had emergency surgery.”
“Yeah, I know. And even the guy who dicked and dashed on her showed up. Makes dear old daddy look even more like the asshole we all knew he was from day one.”
I let Flynn’s dig slide. I deserve that too.
“So you’ll stay with her. All night? I don’t want her waking up alone. If there’s any chance of that, I’m not fucking leaving this building.”
“I have a race in Jersey. I’ll only be gone for a few hours. Back by four a.m. at the latest. She won’t even know I left.”
“Race?” I stare at the little brunette in confusion. “What the fuck kind of race?”
