Page 16 of The Heiress Bride
But there’s still a part of me that wants to walk away and take a breather. To make sure that this isn’t about staying in the circle.
He can be with King, separate from me. I’m not going to stop them. The heart demands what it demands.
“You really do, don’t you?” Then he shakes hishead. “Alex doesn’t want me anywhere near you and?—”
“He said that? When?”
“At your dad’s place. The night we got into it. And he’s right. I know I need to earn your trust again.”
Well, that makes my knees give out. I lean more heavily against the conference table, all the signs in my body pointing to the fact that I’m losing the battle to stay detached. Apparently, my lady bits have no desire to protect my heart.
“So I’m telling you that I know I fucked up.” He advances again. Two steps. Two steps that make it feel like we’re dancing. A gorgeous, choreographed historical number with big skirts and delicate footwork. The barest of touches of a gloved hand. The swell of anticipation. “I fucked up when I held what your grandfather did against you. You’re your own person?—”
“And I deserve the chance to make my own mistakes.”
He smiles, and cute crinkles form at the corners of his eyes. “I like that. I’ve already made several. The guilt’s been eating me alive.”
That wipes away all the lovey-dovey romanticism from my eyes. “Guilt?”
He nods and takes another measured step. “Itstarted the instant King and I watched you disappear into that SUV and be torn away from us.”
“You didn’t have me kidnapped.”
“No. Never. But I put it all into motion.”
“I don’t follow.”
“If I hadn’t been so hell-bent on buying out Cort, your mother never would have gone off the deep end.”
“Oh, Gabe…”
He won’t look at me now. Instead, he glares a hole through the carpet between our feet.
“I saw an opportunity, and I took it.” He rolls his shoulders, not in a defensive way, but like he’s trying to get comfortable with his truth. “I thought it would make something in me whole. Fix something or heal something.”
“Did it work?”
He lifts tortured eyes, jaw tight. “Not even a little bit.”
6
GABE
“Oh, Gabe.”
The shortened version of my name rolling off Katherine’s tongue is one of the sweetest sounds I’ve ever heard.
She reaches for me, a hand against my cheek, the other clutching my suit jacket. I can’t shake her off. I’m not strong enough to deny her a second time and don’t want to.
I slide my hands around the curve of her waist and instantly feel like I’ve come home. Like the world has righted itself.
“I’m sorry,” I murmur as she stretches up, peppering kisses across my chin to my jaw. I don’t know that I’ll ever believe the wheels I set in motion didn’t cause Lucinda Winthrop to go off the deepend. But I can forgive myself and work on making amends with Katherine.
Whatever she wants, whatever she needs, all she has to do is ask.
“I’m sorry too,” she says between kisses.
My fingers tighten around her, the guilt trying to rear up and take over. I can’t keep the growl out of my voice. “What are you sorry for?”
