Again, he leans down, and again, I give his hair a yank, pulling him back up. “And you didn’t tell me?” I ask accusingly. “Why the hell didn’t you say anything?”
A frustrated groan rumbles from his chest as he rolls his eyes. “Because it’s none of our business, baby. They’re both consenting adults and if they’d wanted us to know they would have said something.”
He attempts to kiss me again, and this time I let him…that is, until another question pops into my head. “Is Aldo a good guy?” I ask, lifting his head once more.
“Are we really doing this right now? Jesus, they’re managing to cock block and they aren’t even here!”
“Stop avoiding my question. Carmen is my best friend and I don’t want anything to happen to her. She deserves the best, so I’ll ask again. Is Aldo a good guy?”
Earnestness replaces all the frustration in his gaze. “He’s the best man I know. As far as I’m concerned, your friend is the lucky one.”
Hearing him speak with so much sincerity alleviates any reservations I might have had for Carmen’s sake. “You two are really close, huh?”
“He’s my brother.”
I love that Gabriel has someone he’s so close to. He looks at Aldo like I look at Carmen and Matt. They are more than friends, they are family, and I can’t help the happy smile that curls my lips.
“Now, if you don’t mind, can we please stop talking about Aldo and Carmen? I’d really like to fuck my girl before we have to both get ready for work.”
“Well, since you asked so nicely—” I say with a laugh just before Gabriel pounces, silencing me with a brutal kiss.
As usual, Gabriel manages to get what he wants—more than once—making us both late for work.
Not that either of us really cares.
***
Work is a whirlwind. Tourists and sports fans pack Fletchers today and between me, Matt, and Carmen, we’ve been working our asses off. Thing finally begin to slow down around nine o’clock and I’m finally able to take a breather.
“You need a ride home after work, or you taking the bus?” Carmen asks as she joins me out back for my much needed smoke break.
“Um, actually I’m good tonight. Thanks though.”
“I hate you taking the bus late at night,” she grumbles Just let me give you a ride home. It’s not a big deal.”
I take a puff and exhale noisily. “I’m not taking the bus tonight.”
She leans up against the brick wall next to me and grins. “Big bucks lover boy coming to pick you up?”
I release a nervous laugh and take another drag of my cigarette while shaking my head.
Carmen turns her head and looks at me suspiciously. “Then how are you getting home, Marley?”
“In my car,” I reply in a low voice.
“You bought a new car?”
Might as well just rip the band-aid off. “Gabriel bought me a new car.”
“Are you shitting me?!” Oh damn! What did Mr. Money Bags give you?” she asks as her eyes scan the staff parking lot in the back of the building. I don’t even have the chance to answer before she spots the car in question. “Holy fuck!”
She bolts over and cups her eyes, pressing her face against the driver side window and tries to peer in through the heavy tinting. “Oh my god, he got you a Mercedes? I officially hate you.”
I hit the button on the key fob, unlocking the doors. “No you don’t,” I reply as she pulls the door open and plops down on the black leather seat.
“This thing is sick!” she squeals in excitement. “I swear to god, Marley. You better keep a leash on this one. Do not let him get away. I can’t promise I won’t try to steal him from you, though,” she says with a wink in my direction.
“From how he acted over the phone, I’m thinking Aldo might frown on that.”
Carmen gives me tiny snort and a wave of her hand. “Please, that’s just sex.”
“Does he know that?” I ask with a smirk. I’d be willing to lay money on her being wrong on that one.
“A little help in here, please?” Matt hollers from the door of the break room toward the parking lot. “I only have so many hands, ladies. Wait, are you two stealing a car?” he shouts even louder.
“Jesus, Matty, will you shut the hell up? Of course we aren’t stealing a car,” Carmen hisses as we walk back, giving him a punch in his shoulder.
He glares at her as he rubs his aching shoulder. “Then what were you two doing? And why’s there a Mercedes in the staff lot? No way in hell anyone here makes enough to own a car like that.”
Carmen giggles and begins hopping on the balls of her feet. “Marley’s sugar daddy got it for her.” Now it’s my turn to punch her. “Ouch! Shit, that hurt,” she pouts as she rubs her aching shoulder.
“He’s not my sugar daddy.”
“Then what is he?” Matt asks with curiosity.
“He’s…” I have to give that some thought. Gabriel and I haven’t put any labels on what we have, but calling him a friend or someone I’m seeing just doesn’t sound right. “He’s my…boyfriend,” I say, testing the word out as it rolls around my tongue. I’m surprised to discover just how much I like it.
“Ooh, someone’s in luuuurve,” Matt croons, and this time, both me and Carmen hit him. “Ow! Jesus! Okay, okay. Let’s just get back to work before someone gets seriously hurt.”
By the time eleven-thirty rolls around, I’m counting down the remaining thirty minutes until the end of my shift. I’m having a fantasy of soaking in Gabriel’s mammoth bathtub when Carmen’s voice yanks me out of my daydream. “Get a load of that. I’d say someone stumbled into the wrong neighborhood.”
Lifting my head to see who she’s talking about, my eyes fall on the last person I ever wanted to see again. The devious grin on Kiersten’s face as she heads in my direction lets me know she isn’t here by coincidence. She traipses through Fletchers on her five inch black stilettos like she owns the place. Dressed in skin tight, black leather leggings and a sheer heather gray button down blouse, she wreaked of money. We aren’t in a pour area of town by any means, but the crowd we typically pull is hard working middle class. I don’t think Kiersten knows the definition of hard work.
“Hello again, Marley. How have you been?”
Placing her—no doubt expensive as all hell—designer clutch on the bar, she takes a seat in front of me like she has no intention of leaving any time soon. “I’ve been well, Kiersten, and yourself?” I ask with a tight smile.
“I’ve been fantastic, thanks for asking.”
“Can I get you something to drink?” I ask, trying to break the awkwardness that’s beginning to surround us. I can feel Matt and Carmen’s stares on me, but do my best to ignore them. The remaining stragglers in the bar seem to only have eyes for Kiersten, so I guess I should be thankful none of their attention is on me at least.
“Grey Goose martini, extra dirty with three olives.” She recites. “You do know how to make a martini, don’t you?”
“I do,” I answer through clenched teeth while trying to maintain my composure. “Coming right up.”
Turning my back on her to begin preparing her drink, I spot Matt and Carmen through my peripheral vision. Both have wide eyed stares that bounce between me and Kiersten. Ignoring them, I finish her martini and turn to place in on the bar in front of her.
Lifting it up, she scrunches her nose up after sniffing, like the smell of it is offensive. I know for a fact I make a great martini, so there’s no doubt this is all for show. She slowly brings the glass to her lips and takes a tiny sip before placing it back down on the bar. “It’ll do, I suppose,” she says with a sigh.
I can hear a huff come from behind me and don’t have to turn to know that Carmen is probably staring daggers at the entitled slut in front of me right now. “Is there something you in particular you came in for, Kiersten?” I ask, getting right to the point. I don’t want her here, and the faster we move this along, the sooner she’ll leave.
/> “How’s Gabriel?” she asks.
“He’s fine.”
“Mmm, that he is.”
My hands are tensed into such tight fists that I can feel my nails digging into the skin of my palms. “Why are you here?”
Discarding her full drink, she pushes the glass to the side and rests her elbows on the bar. “You’re out of your league, little girl. Cut your losses and leave a man like Gabriel to a woman who knows what to do with him.”
I blanch at her straightforwardness, but don’t refuse to back down. “And I suppose you’re the woman who knows what to do with him,” I say snidely.
“Oh, believe me, I can send that man to his knees. Gabriel’s all man. Someone as shy and timid as you doesn’t stand a chance.”
“I don’t see how mine and Gabriel’s relationship is any of your business,” I say in a hushed tone.
“Consider this friendly advice, Marley. You can’t possibly give that man what he needs. Let him go before he chews you up and spits you out.”
I can’t help but laugh at her desperation. “Oh please. You really think you have any shot with him if we break up? He told me all about, Kiersten, and I have to say, I feel sorry for you. This is just pathetic.”
Her eyes narrow into angry slits and I know I hit my mark. The satisfaction is short lived, however, when she opens her mouth again. “You honestly think you have something real with him? Oh, sweetie, now I feel sorry for you. He’ll grow tired of you, just like every other woman, and when he does, it’ll be me he falls back on. Just like every other time. Go ahead and live in your little fantasy land, but don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
My anger has reached boiling, and my need to put this woman in her place outweighs all rational thought. “Man, he told me how big a bitch you are, but I thought he was just exaggerating. Turns out he was right. Go waste someone else’s time, Kiersten. Gabriel’s with me now. You need to accept that and move on.”
I can almost see her next sentence forming in her calculating eyes. “You think he’s yours? News flash, honey, he’ll never be yours. Why don’t you ask him about Camilla, if you’re so sure about your relationship?”
My entire body stiffens and an evil grin stretches across her red painted lips. She knows she’s gotten to me and doesn’t hesitate to plunge the knife a little deeper. “Oh, he hasn’t told you about her?” she asks sarcastically. “So much for having something real. Next time you let yourself fall for a man make sure he you actually know who he is before you spread your legs for him.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“It means you don’t know who it is you’re fucking, honey. If you knew the real Gabriel, he’d have told you about his wife by now.”
With that parting shot, she hops off the stool and struts out, leaving me a confused, emotional mess. That one sentence feels like I knife to the gut. I can’t seem to catch my breath.
Gabriel has a wife?
“You okay?” Carmen asks, coming up behind me and wrapping an arm around my shoulder. “What did that bitch say to you? You want me to go kick her ass in the parking lot?”
I don’t have it in me to laugh at her attempt at humor. My entire world just crumbled from beneath me. I can’t believe he’s married.
“Carmen, what’s Aldo told you about Gabriel,” desperation lacing every word.
“Huh? Nothing, babe. We don’t really do much talking when we’re together.” She wiggles her eyebrows suggestively, but I ignore it.
“So Aldo’s never mentioned anything about him having a wife?”
“What?!”
At that very moment, the last of my resolve cracks and the tears begin trickling down my face as I break down in sobs.
“He’s married.”
She’s lying. She has to be lying. There’s no way Gabriel has a wife. I met his family, for Christ’s sake! But no matter how many times I tell myself she was just trying to get under my skin, I can’t stop questioning everything.
Instead of going to Gabriel’s from work like I had planned, I drive straight to my apartment. When my phone isn’t ringing, it’s pings every few minutes with a new text. I know who they’re from, but I can’t bring myself to respond just yet.
I need to think.
I’ve been pacing my apartment for the last hour trying to figure out what’s going on. I’m bouncing back and forth between disbelief and heart break. My emotions are all over the place. One second I’m crying, the next I’m angry, hating Gabriel for forcing his way into my life. I can’t get a hold on how I’m feeling.
Another text alert sounds and I finally pick up my phone to read through them.
GB: Hey baby, you off work yet?
GB: Are you still coming over tonight?
GB: Where are you? You should have been here by now.
GB: Why the fuck aren’t you answering your phone?
Each text grew more frantic than the last. His voicemails were the just as bad. As his anger grew, so did mine.
By the time I listened to the last voicemail, Gabriel was practically seething. “What the fuck is going on, Marley? Why aren’t you answering your phone? I know you’re at your apartment. I’m on my way over now. Don’t even think of not answering. I swear to Christ, Marley, I’ll break the fucking door down, so you better answer.”
Shit, a look at the clock tells me that message is eighteen minutes old. He’ll be here any second.
A loud bang on my front door causes me to jump, letting out a startled screech.
That was fast.
Breathing deeply, I prepare myself to face off with Gabriel. I have questions that need answering. No time like the present, right?
A quick look through the peephole shows a fuming Gabriel. Steeling my backbone and holding on to my own anger, I turn the lock and open the door, quickly stepping out of the way as he barrels into my apartment.
“What the fuck, Marley! Do you have any clue how worried I’ve been? You were supposed to be at my place when you got off work. You weren’t answering your phone, responding to my messages. I’ve been going out of my goddamn mind!”
I say the first thing that pops into my head. “How did you know where I was?”
“GPS tracker on the car, remember? And don’t change the subject. What the hell is going on?”
He tracked the car. Of course. He did tell me he’d always find me, after all. I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. Deciding to jump right in, I lift my chin and narrow my eyes at him. “Kiersten decided to stop by Fletchers tonight.” I stare in amazement as his entire demeanor changes. I didn’t think it was possible for him to get any madder than he already was, but judging by the tick in his jaw and the unnatural shade of red painting his face, I guess I was wrong.
“What did she say?” he asks in a deceptively calm voice.
“She felt it was in my best interest to warn me about you,” I quip sarcastically. “She also said I should ask you about Camilla.”
The moment the name leaves my lips, Gabriel’s eyes bug out. The air around us goes arctic cold, and his chest begins rising and falling at a rapid pace. “What did she tell you?”
“It doesn’t matter what she told me, Gabriel. What matters is what you have to say.”
He takes a step closer to me and I’m forced to back up. For the first time since we’ve been together, I actually feel a pang of fear course through me. I’ve never seen him like this. The look on his face is an almost frightening combination of pain and violence. He’s staring at me like a mad man. “Don’t play games with me, Marley. I know you have a question to ask, so just fucking ask it,” he grinds out through his clenched teeth.
I attempt the swallow past the nervous lump in my throat, refusing to let me fear hinder me. “Who is Camilla?”
He turns away, aggressively running his hands through his hair. His eyes squeezed close as if he’s trying to get control of himself before he can answer. Finally, when he turns his attention back to me, his eyes hold so much pain my heart breaks for him
. That is, until he speaks.
“My wife.”
It feels like the wind has been knocked out of me. I didn’t realize until this very moment, just how much I had hoped Kiersten was lying. Now that I know the truth, it’s almost too much the bear.
“You have a w-wife?” My voice cracks as a tear breaks free and slides down my cheek. The pain inside threatens to overtake me as Gabriel’s pained gaze holds mine.
“I had a wife,” he tells me. “But I’m guessing Kiersten left out the important parts.”
“So, what? You’re divorced?”
Collapsing onto the couch like the conversation has zapped every ounce of energy, Gabriel rests his elbows on his knees and clutches his head in his hands. His eyes are trained to the floor, his voice ragged as he tells me, “She died.”
Oh, god. The heartbreak I’m feeling instantly morphs into and ache for the man sitting in front of me. Gabriel looks crushed, and everything in me wants to reach out and comfort him. But I’m the cause of his pain right now. If I just would have trusted him…if I hadn’t let Kiersten get inside my head again, neither of us would be hurting right now.
“Gabriel, I’m so sorry.” The words feel empty as I kneel in front of him and run my fingers through his hair. What can you say to someone who’s suffered such a tremendous loss? There are no words that can sooth that kind of heartbreak. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t know…”
He releases a breath and sits back into the couch, resting his head against the back of it. “Of course you didn’t. I told you, Kiersten’s a manipulative bitch. She gave you just enough in the hopes of starting trouble between us.”
He’s right. I know he is, but I still wish he hadn’t kept this from me—something this huge. I rest my palms on his knees and ask, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”
When his head lifts to look at me, he’s wearing a sad smile and I can feel tears building in my eyes for him. “Because it hurts. Every single day. I was married, Marley. We had a child. I had a family and they were ripped away from me. You were so closed off when we first met, I was busy trying to bust through those walls of yours. I didn’t know how to approach something so painful.”
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