Page 147 of Make Us Yours
I take a step back from the vanity, getting a better view of my body in the mirror. My fingers leave my bruised neck and travel down to my breast, over the little love bites Gabe left there yesterday. Then further down to my hips that still hold his handprints from how hard he took me.
A smile forms along my lips as I remember it all. I don’t want him to think I hate him, that I blame him in any way. I need him to know that I’m okay and that I forgive him. That this changes nothing between us.
How could it? Gabe has been nothing but wonderful to me. He’s been here, by my side, doing everything in his power to make me happy. He never once made me feel abandoned like Noah has these past few days. I can’t have him distancing himself from me because of this. I won’t let him.
I pick up the towel and wrap it around my body, then unlock the door and pull it open. When I step out, I find Noah sitting at the end of the bed, elbows on his spread knees, head in his hands.
He looks up the moment he hears me. “I know you said you didn’t want me tostay, but it didn’t feel right leaving you…”
“Oh, now it doesn’t feel right?” I scoff and turn for the walk-in.
“I’m sorry, Veronica. I know I messed up.” He drops his head back down.
I pull on a pair of white lacy panties with a tiny white camisole, then step back out of the closet with the towel in hand. “Where the hell were you, Noah? Where the fuck have you been for the last week? I asked you to give me news, to not take your fucking car when you’re drinking! You told me you would, yet you’re still acting recklessly! I get you’re hurting, Noah. I fucking get it! But you’re going to kill yourself if you keep going like this.”
He doesn’t even look up, doesn’t explain himself. All he says is a simple, “I know.”
His reply infuriates me even more. I stomp into the bathroom, throwing the towel into the laundry basket, and walk back into the room, stopping right in front of him with an outstretched hand. “Give me your keys.”
This time he lifts his head, looking at my hand. “What?”
“I said give me your keys. I can still smell the alcohol on you, so give me your fucking keys. I’m cutting you off.” I motion with my hand, telling him to hurry. He sighs and digs into his pocket, dropping his car key in my palm.
“You want to fucking go out all day and night and get drunk, find your own way.” I turn and storm out of the room.If I have to play the evil girlfriend to potentially save his life, then so be it.
I head into Gabe’s room and straight into his walk-in, where I pull down a big black hoodie from one of the hangers and slip into it. The thing is so huge it covers me up to mid-thigh. It also covers my neck slightly, which is what I was hoping for. I know if Gabe sees the marks, he’ll never forgive himself.
I then walk barefoot down the steps, looking for my poor broken man. He isn’t in the living room or the kitchen. I stop quickly in the laundry room, stashing Noah’s car keys in the back of the cleaning products cabinet.
He’ll never think of looking there, and if he knows what’s good for him, he won’t even try to look for them. Then I head for the home gym next, which is usually his sanctuary, but come up empty.
Where the hell is he? He’d better not have left!
I turn back down the hall but stop in front of the library. We never come into this room; I know Silas or Cecilia must have used it when they lived here, but I’m pretty sure it’s been vacant ever since Noah and Gabe moved in. Except for the weekly sweeping and dusting I do in here, no one ever sets foot inside.
I turn the knob slowly, push the door open, and immediately, my gaze falls on the man I’ve been searching for. His back is to the door, but with the way his musclestense up and his demeanor goes rigid, I know he senses me. And I love that about him, I love that the moment I enter a room, he instantly turns, instantly knows I’m here.
I walk up to the back of the couch where he sits, going around it to face him. But his head is down low, fingers entwined at his nape, elbows resting on his knees. “Gabriel, baby? Look at me.”
It’s so quiet in the room, all I hear is his deep, harsh breath. “I can’t…”
“Yes, you can.” I lower to my knees at his feet and cup his face with my palms. “Please, baby. I need you to look at me. I need you to see that I’m fine.” His hands drop their hold around his neck as I gently push his head up.
“But you’re not. I hurt you, Vixen…” His eyes are red, the skin around them slightly swollen, likely due to crying. There are also red scratches all along his jaw that I know came from me when I tried to fight him off.Oh, my poor Pretty Boy.
I smile at him, hoping to reassure him that I am, in fact, fine. “It was an accident. I know that, and you know that. I don’t blame you for this, baby. Not one bit, and I don’t want you blaming yourself either.”
“How can I not?” He delicately takes my wrists, removing my hands from his face, and I notice all the marks on his arms as well, causing the ache in my heart to grow. “Why don’t you hate me right now? I can’t be trusted around you. I hurt you when I swore to protect you. I can’t risk harming you again, Ronnie. I could never live with myself if I ever hurt you again.”
He releases my wrists and looks away as his eyes fill with tears. “You mean too much to me, Vixen… I would never forgive myself if I were the reason you left us,” he says on a shaky breath.
I push against his shoulders, forcing him back against the seat with my hands, then straddle his thighs before he can stop me and place my hands on his chest. “I could never hate you, Gabriel. And I’ll never leave you. You’re my forever. I trust you with all my heart, and I know we’ll figure it out together.”
His eyes bore into mine with so much pain in them. No matter what I say, his mind keeps telling him the contrary. “How?... I’m exactly like him… Victor… I’m exactly like them…”
I grab his face once more. “Listen to me, you arenothinglike them.Nothing!I love you, Gabriel Ellis. I fucking love you. And I refuse to let this destroy us, because there’s no way I can live without you.”
His eyes widen once they register what I’ve just said, and it makes my heart bloom, doing a tiny somersault in my chest. I bring him closer, his lips a hair’s length away from mine. “I love you, Gabriel,” I whisper against his lips before closing my eyesand sealing them to his.
