by Lynn, Sandi
Rolling my eyes, I laid my head back against the seat and took in a deep breath. The thought of going to see Caleb and his band play tonight thrilled me. The less time I spent cooped up in that house, the better. Edmond parked around the corner from Starbucks and we both climbed out and headed down the street, him walking behind me. Something he’d done all day.
“You can walk next to me. I promise I won’t bite,” I spoke as I turned my head and looked at him.
His eye narrowed as he stared straight ahead. We stepped into Starbucks and waited in line.
“Coffee’s on me today.” I smiled at him. “What would you like?”
“Nothing.” He stood tall with his hands folded in front of him.
“Oh come on, Ed. Lighten up and have a coffee with me.” I shoulder bumped him.
“I’m fine, Miss Harper.” He shot me a dirty look.
It was my turn to order and the barista gave me a cheerful greeting.
“Two Grande caramel macchiatos with non-fat milk, please.”
“Name for the drinks, please,” the barista spoke.
“Kate and Edmond.” I smiled.
Hearing a heavy sigh escape Edmond’s lips, I turned to him and spoke, “You’ll love it. Trust me.” I lightly hit his arm with the back of my hand. As soon as our coffees were ready, I grabbed both cups from the counter and handed Edmond his.
“Thank you,” he spoke as he cleared his throat.
A small smile crossed my lips. “You’re welcome. Now let’s go home.”
Edmond pulled up to the curb of the townhouse, climbed out, and stood on the sidewalk, waiting for me to get out of the car. I sat there, staring straight ahead as I waited for him to open the door. His face twisted as his eyes narrowed at me through the window. Finally, he placed his hand on the handle and opened the door.
“Is there a problem?” he asked with irritation.
“No. I was just waiting for you to be a gentleman and open the door for me.” I arched my brow.
He took in a sharp breath as he followed behind me up the steps and I walked into the house. When I reached my bedroom, I noticed a Victoria’s Secret bag sitting on the bed. Walking over to it, I removed the tissue paper and, one by one, I pulled out multiple pieces of pretty lingerie and matching panties. Gabriel had sexy taste, but I wasn’t surprised by what a god he was in the bedroom.
Grabbing my macchiato from the nightstand where I had set it down, I walked downstairs to the kitchen to grab a small snack. As I passed the living room, I heard sobs coming from it. Stopping, I saw Grace sitting on the couch next to a woman who was crying her eyes out.
“Umm, hello?” I walked towards them.
Grace lightly shook her head at me as her eyes widened. It was as if she was telling me not to say anything.
“Who are you?” the woman next to Grace asked in a snotty tone.
“Kate. Kate Harper. And you may be?” I arched my brow at her.
“Greta Stevens.” She sniffled.
Holy shit. It was the ex-girlfriend. What the hell was she doing here?
“Greta just stopped by to speak to Gabriel,” Grace spoke.
This couldn’t have worked out better if I had planned it myself. Sitting down on the couch, I hooked my arm around her.
“What are all the tears for?” I softly asked.
“A broken heart.” She dabbed her eyes with a tissue.
“I’ve got this, Grace.” I winked.
Her eye narrowed at me for a few moments before she got up and left the room.
“Are you his new girlfriend?” she scowled.
“Whose girlfriend?” I played dumb.
“Gabriel’s.”
“Oh no.” I laughed. “I’m Gabriel’s cousin. He was kind enough to let me stay here until my apartment renovations are complete. I just moved here from Texas.”
“He never mentioned he had a cousin named Kate.” She blew her nose.
“Well, maybe that’s because he’s an asshole.” I smiled.
“But you just said he was kind.”
“Yes. To let me stay here, but overall, he’s an asshole. But you already know that since you’re here crying on his couch. What did he do to you?” I gave her a light hug to play on her sympathy.
“Out of the clear blue, he broke up with me. And the worst part,” she looked at me with mascara-stained eyes, “he did it over the phone while he was in Seattle. I just can’t seem to get over him.”
“I’m not surprised.” I shook my head. “How long were you dating?”
“Six months. He was the man of my dreams and he did nothing but crush them.” She laid her head on my shoulder.
“Ugh. I’m so sorry. Did he say why he broke things off?”
“He said he wasn’t happy and that I couldn’t understand that his career came first. He was always working. All I wanted was to spend time with him. Was that so much to ask?” She looked up at me.
“No, sweetie. Not at all.”
“Then he told me that I was a whiny little child and I only cared about what I wanted.”
“What a jerk.”
“You know what the sad part is?” She lifted her head and blew her nose. “I would take him back in a second. Even though he shattered my heart into tiny pieces, I still love him.”
This girl had some serious self-esteem issues.
“Do you really love him?” I asked.
“Of course I do. Why do you think I’m here? I was hoping to see him and maybe we could talk.”
“So you were going to beg him to give you a second chance?”
She swallowed hard. “Yes.”
I shook my head as I got up from the couch and paced around the room.
“Greta, let me ask you something. Have you ever been with a wealthy man before Gabriel?”
“No.”
“So when the two of you got together, you thought it was amazing that a man like him would fall for a girl like you?”
She looked at me with her sad puppy brown eyes. “How dare you.”
“That wasn’t an insult, darling. What I’m trying to say is that you never thought in a million years that a wealthy and sexy man would fall for you. Am I correct?”
“I guess.”
“What type of men did you date before Gabriel?”
She shrugged. “Just typical guys. There was a construction worker, a paramedic, and a store manager.”
“So just ordinary guys. Probably cute, but not overly hot. Made an average salary. Perhaps enough to buy you a small house in the suburbs with a cute little white picket fence. Guys who worked nine to five and could spend all the time in the world with you? The type of men you only felt you deserved? Feel free to stop me if I’m wrong.”
“So far, you’re right.” She nodded.
“Then along came Cousin Gabriel. Gorgeous, sexy, and rich. He made you feel like a million dollars when you only felt like you were worth a hundred. The thought that a man like him could fall for you was intoxicating. Finally, a man you could rub into your family and friend’s faces, to show them that Greta Stevens was someone special and that a man like Gabriel wanted her.”
“What the hell is going on here?” Gabriel snapped as he walked into the room. “Greta, what are you doing here?”
I put my hand up to stop him from talking.
“It’s clear that you’ve broken this poor girl’s heart with your ball-less way of breaking up with her. Over the phone, Gabriel? Really?” I narrowed my eye at him.
“This is none of your business, Kate. Go upstairs!”
“Don’t you dare talk to your cousin that way!” Greta snapped as she stood up from the couch.
“My what?” He shot me a look and I gave him a smirk.
Walking over to Greta, I took hold of both her hands.
“Listen to me. You deserve so much better than him. You were in love with the fantasy, Greta. It was never really about Gabriel.”
“It wasn’t?”
“No, sweetie. No matter how poorly
he treated you, you just wanted to hold on to that fantasy. You deserve someone who makes you a priority in their life. Someone who is capable of giving you all the love you deserve. Who puts you first before anything else. Gabriel is incapable of any of that and you know it. He’s greedy and money is all he cares about. Why do you think he’s still single? Money will always be his number one love and anyone else would always come second. Or hell, maybe even third. He has a heart of stone. But I know deep down you already knew that. Do you think that’s something you deserve?”
“No.” She lightly shook her head.
“Of course you don’t. From what I can see, you’re a wonderful woman with so much going for you. You don’t need a man like him. He can’t be trusted, especially where women are concerned. He has a wandering eye, you know.”
“Okay. That’s enough!” he shouted.
“I know he does. I’ve seen it. The way he looked at other women when we were together.”
“So, even though you were flying high with the fantasy, he was slowly making you feel inadequate?”
“Yes. As a matter of fact, he was.”
“You’re strong, Greta. Now go out into that world and show it how strong you really are and how no man will ever make you feel like that again.”
“You’re right.” Her eyes diverted to him. “I never loved you, Gabriel. You were nothing but a fantasy to me. You, Mr. Gabriel Quinn, are mean and you’re a man who isn’t capable of truly loving anyone but yourself. I deserve better than that. Good luck with the rest of your life.” She grabbed her purse from the couch and walked past him. “I pity the next woman who falls for your dumb ass.”
I snickered as she left.
“What the fuck was all that about?” he spoke angrily through gritted teeth.
“Relax. You should be thanking me. She came here to beg you to take her back. Did you really want to deal with all that nonsense?”
“Why the fuck would she do that?”
“Because, you idiot, she’s obviously still in love with you. It’s beyond me why.”
“She just said she wasn’t.”
“Because I convinced her she wasn’t.” The corners of my mouth curved up into a cunning smile.
“And all that shit you said about me is not true!”
“That has yet to be determined, Mr. Quinn.” I winked. “It doesn’t matter anyway. She’s out of your life for good. Now if you’ll excuse me, I was on my way to the kitchen to grab a snack,” I spoke as I walked away.
I went into the kitchen, and when I opened the refrigerator, I heard Gabriel’s voice behind me.
“My cousin? Really?”
“Did you want me to tell her that you kidnapped me and are holding me hostage here as your sex slave for the next thirty days?”
“I did not kidnap you. You came here on your own free will.”
“You tricked me.” I pointed at him. “Isn’t it funny how we all have a little bit of con in us?” I arched my brow.
He took in a sharp breath and placed his hands in his pockets.
Chapter 22
Gabriel
I had no words for what I had just witnessed between Greta and Kate.
“You can thank me later in bed.” She licked her lips as she walked past me.
My cock twitched something fierce and it shouldn’t have. Grace walked into the kitchen and looked at me.
“I’m all done for the day, Gabriel.”
“Thank you, Grace. I’ll see you tomorrow.”
“I hate to admit it, but Kate sure is something else. Don’t be too hard on her where Greta is concerned. She came here telling me that she couldn’t live without you and if you didn’t take her back, she was afraid that she would hurt herself. I tried talking to her and to get her out of here before you got home, but nothing was working. Then she started with her damn crying, and that’s when Kate walked in. She has a way with words, Gabriel. You can’t deny that.” She smiled.
“She manipulates people, Grace.”
She shrugged. “Well, in this case, it was a good thing.”
I sighed as I went up to my room to change for dinner. Pulling my phone from my pocket, I sent a text message to Kate.
“We are leaving for dinner in approximately twenty minutes. Be ready. I want to eat before we head to the Bowery Room.”
“Give me thirty. If you can’t do that, then I will have to meet you at the restaurant.”
“I said twenty or forget it. We aren’t going out.”
“And I said thirty. Do you really want to have to explain to Caleb that we couldn’t come see his band play over ten minutes?”
I clenched my fist and took in a deep breath. Throwing my phone on the bed, I took a quick shower and changed my clothes. I went downstairs and poured a glass of bourbon while I waited for Miss Smarty Pants to come down. Looking at my watch, I saw that she had five minutes left.
“Don’t worry. I’m five minutes early.” She smiled as she walked down the stairs.
My eyes raked over her from head to toe as she took my breath away. She wore a high-waisted pleated short black skirt with a royal blue top that sat off both shoulders. Tall black boots that came over her knee graced her long lean legs, and the way she had her hair pinned up with a few strands of curls hanging down started to give me an erection.
“Well?” She did a spin as she held out her hands. “Am I dressed appropriately for the evening?”
A smile crossed my lips. “You most definitely are. You look beautiful.”
“Thank you, Gabriel. You look quite handsome yourself.” She grinned.
As we were sitting in the limo, on our way to the restaurant, I placed my hand on Kate’s.
“I’m sorry about earlier with Greta. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” She smiled. “I’m still trying to figure out what you saw in her.”
“To be honest, I don’t really know. I thought she was nice and sweet at first. But then as the relationship grew, she demanded more of my time. Weekends weren’t good enough. She wanted us to see each other every day and she would cry non-stop. If I sent her flowers for a special occasion, she would whine that they weren’t the right color. She would blow up my phone all day long and ask me what I was doing and then facetime me to make sure what I said was true. She nagged all the time. I took her on a business trip with me to Florida and the only thing she wanted to do was lie on the beach. And seriously, that’s all she did the whole week we were there. She didn’t want to sightsee or even shop. I was going to rent a boat for a day, and she claimed she got seasick, so that was out of the question.”
“She sounds complicated.”
“She was. She even had her mother call to tell me what a shitty boyfriend I was and that a man in my position should treat her like a queen.”
“Wow. Really?” Her brow raised.
“It just wasn’t a good thing.”
“Then why did you stay with her for six months?”
“I was in the middle of opening a new hotel and there were tons of problems. It was easier just to stay with her and keep blowing her off until the hotel was opened. Then, when I was in Seattle, she accused me of cheating on her and she called me, crying her eyes out every single day. I couldn’t take it anymore, so I ended it over the phone. I didn’t want to deal with her when I got back.”
“She sounds like a psycho.”
I sighed. “She pretty much was. The thing women don’t understand is that my career will always come first.”
“I totally get that because mine does too.” She smirked.
“Very funny, Kate.”
Carl pulled up to Tavern on the Green and I climbed out first. Holding out my hand, she placed hers in mine as I helped her from the car.
“Tell me more about your father,” I spoke as we were seated and sipping on wine.
“Can we talk about him later? I just want to enjoy this evening.”
“Fine. But we will discuss it.”
After we finished eating, we h
eaded to the Bowery Room.
“You made it.” Caleb smiled as we lightly hugged.
“Of course. I told you we would.”
“Hey, Kate. How are you?” Caleb asked.
“I’m good. Thanks. I’m really excited to hear you guys play.”
“Thanks. Let’s grab a drink before I go on stage.”
The three of us took a seat at a table in front of where Caleb was going to perform. The place was getting crowded. But that was no surprise. Fallen Angels could always pack a room.
“Would you like another tequila?” I asked Kate.
“Yes, and don’t forget the splash of lime.” She smiled.
I headed to the bar just as Caleb and his band started to perform. When I got back to the table, Kate was in her seat, moving to the music.
“Wow. They’re really good!” she exclaimed.
I smiled at her as I set her drink down. She sat and watched them play while I sat and watched her. She was having a good time and I couldn’t wait to get home and fuck her. The thought made my cock twitch. She definitely was one of the most beautiful women I ever laid eyes on. Too bad she was every kind of wrong.
“Thank you all for coming out tonight to see us play. It means a lot,” Caleb spoke to the audience. “I’d like to introduce you to someone. Her name is Kate and she has the voice of an angel. Kate, come up here and sing a little something for us.”
Kate was horrified and Caleb wouldn’t let it go. He jumped down from the stage and grabbed her hand, pulling her up with him. She tried to tell him no, but he wasn’t taking no for an answer. He handed her his guitar and she whispered something in his ear. Turning to the microphone, she spoke to the audience.
“This is a song my father used to sing to me.”
I sat and watched her, listening carefully to the words as she sang them. The way she sang it was haunting. I could feel the emotion pour from her, which told me that song had a special meaning. When the song was over, the audience clapped and cheered. Caleb gave her a kiss on the cheek, she stepped off the stage, and when she sat down, she finished off her drink and asked for another.
“You were really good up there,” I spoke.
“Thanks. I’m going to kill your brother for doing that.”
The waitress brought over another round of drinks and Kate chugged it as if it was water.
