by R. E. Hunter
The bell over the door dings and the hairs on the back of my neck instantly stand on end. I don’t have to turn around to see who just walked in. My body’s still so in tune with his that I can simply feel when he enters a room.
“Uh, uh. Don’t even fucking think about it,” Carmen warns as she steps in front of me like her tiny body could possibly block me from Gabriel’s view. “You’ve got two seconds to get the hell out of this bar or I’m calling the cops.”
I drag my eyes from the top of Carmen’s head and meet the deep gray of Gabriel’s. My breath stalls in my lungs, and the tears I thought were all cried out begin to sting my eyes. He looks as awful as I feel. His natural olive tone is pale in a way I didn’t think possible. Red rims his bloodshot eyes. Several days’ worth of stubble covers his chin. He looks like he hasn’t eaten or slept in weeks. But despite all of this, he’s still the most beautiful man I’ve ever seen. He’s dressed impeccably in a designer suit that seems out of place on a man who looks so broken. I can see a glimmer of the confidence I’d grown to love shining in his eyes; but it’s diluted now, only a weak flicker of what once used to shine bright.
My attention is pulled from his haunting gaze by Carmen’s boisterous voice. Leave it to her to make a scene in the middle of our workplace. Thankfully, it’s still relatively dead. I can only imagine how entertaining our little show would be had it been the middle of the lunch rush. She stomps around the bar until she’s in Gabriel’s face… well his chest would be more accurate seeing as he’s a foot taller than she is. “Listen here, you piece of shit—”
“Carmen,” I interrupt, trying to defuse the situation before it gets too out of hand. “It’s fine, okay? I’ve got this.”
She spins around and pins me with a look that tells me she thinks I’ve lost my mind. “Uh, not no, but HELL no, Marley! This guy does not get to come waltzing in here whenever the fuck he wants after what he’s done.”
“Lower your voice,” I say at the same time Aldo says, “Carmen,” in warning.
“You’re making a scene, Car. Just let me handle this, okay?”
“No,” she insists, crossing her arms over her chest and lifting her chin.
Aldo grabs her by the arm and starts to tug, but her feet are firmly planted. “Let’s go, babe. We need to talk.” She jerks her arm from his grasp and turns her glare from Gabriel to him.
“Fuck off, Aldo. Like I’ve told you every time you’ve called, we’ve got nothing to say to each other. As far as I’m concerned, you’re just as bad as your BFF over here,” she says with a wave in Gabriel’s direction. “And the last thing Marley needs is to get sucked up in the shit storm that seems to surround you guys. You two are toxic.”
“You didn’t seem to have any complaints about me being toxic when I was fucking you senseless every night. If memory serves me, I’m pretty sure you begged for it on more than one occasion,” Aldo deadpans. Despite his calm tone, the reddening in his face proves he’s only moments from losing his cool.
“Well that was when I thought you were a personal security guard! You think I’d have let you anywhere near me if I knew you were a criminal?”
“Carmen!” I yell, but it’s cut off by Aldo’s deep baritone.
“That’s it, let’s go.” And just like that, he picks Carmen up, tosses her over his shoulder, and storms off toward the break room with her screaming and cussing the whole way.
Once they’ve disappeared, the few diners by the bar turn back to their own conversations, none the wiser; and I’m left without a buffer between Gabriel and me. With a heavy sigh, I turn my attention back to the man that I love and hate all at the same time. “What are you doing here?”
“I needed to see you.” The sorrow tingeing his voice squeezes at my heart, but I shove it away and stand my ground.
“There’s nothing left to say. You need to leave.”
Ignoring my demand completely, he leans against the bar and asks, “Have you gotten my gifts?”
“Yes, I got your gifts,” I spit at him. “And you’re wasting your money. Everything is in the trash, Gabriel. You can’t buy me with flowers and candy. There’s nothing you can do to make up for what you’ve done.”
“If you’d just let me fucking explain—”
“There’s nothing to explain!” I interrupt on a shout. I have to squeeze my eyes closed and take a calming breath before I can say anything else. “There’s nothing to explain,” I repeat in a lower voice. “It’s done. We are done. You need to get that. No more calls. No more texts. Stop sending gifts. I don’t want anything from you other than to leave me alone.”
“I can’t do that, my bella.”
My stomach clenches at his nickname for me and my heart begins an erratic beat behind my ribs. Why does he have to make this so hard? Can’t he see that this is killing me?
“Please, Gabriel.” Pain laces my words, causing him to flinch.
“I love you, Marley. And I’m not going away. I’ll make you understand.”
His hand reaches into his coat pocket and the items he drops on the counter make a loud clang. Staring down at the keys and access card, I know I’m only moments away from caving. The longer he stands in front of me, the weaker my resolve becomes.
“I told you, you can’t buy me. Nothing has changed. I’m not coming back to you.”
A traitorous tear breaks free and slides down my cheek. He leans over the bar and gently brushes it away with his thumb, causing more to fall with the tenderness of his touch. “I’m not trying to buy you, my bella. The car was a gift. There’re no strings attached to it. You need it to get around and I’m not letting you give it back. Please, don’t fight me on this.”
It makes me feel weak, but I can’t bring myself to argue with him. I take the keys and slide them into the pocket of my jeans, leaving the access card on the bar.
“Take it, baby. Just in case you ever need it.”
“I won’t need it.”
“Take. It.”
I want to pick it up and hurl it at his head. Even with everything between us, he still can’t curb his need to be controlling. However, instead of prolonging this fight, I pick it up and put it in the pocket alongside the keys. I know I’ll never use it; but if it will end this, I’ll do it.
Just then, Aldo and a fuming Carmen come from the hallway. With a lift of his chin, he’s out the door without another word. When Gabriel turns to leave, everything in me wants to reach out to stop him. Fear overwhelms me at the thought of never seeing him again, even though I know it’s for the best.
Just before he walks through the door, he turns back to me with his infamous, cocky smirk. “Don’t forget what I said, baby. I’m not letting you go.” And with that, he’s gone.
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Born and raised around Houston Texas, Jessica spent most of her life complaining about the heat, humidity, and all around pain in the ass weather. It was only as an adult that she quickly realized the cost of living in Houston made up for not being able to breathe when she stepped outside. That’s why God created central air, after all. Jessica is the mother of a perfect little boy—she refuses to accept that he inherited her attitude and sarcastic nature no matter what her husband says. In addition to being a wife and mom, she’s also a wino, a coffee addict, and an avid lover of all types of books—romances still being her all time favs. Her husband likes to claim that reading is her obsession but she just says it’s a passion… there’s a difference. Not that she’d expect a boy to understand. Jessica has been writing since she was a little girl, but thankfully grew out of drawing her own pictures for her stories before ever publishing her first book. Because an artist she is not.
Website: www.authorjessicaprince.com
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/authorjessicaprince
Twitter: twitter.com/JessPrince2013
R.E. Hunter, Unbroken (The Disclosure Series Book 2)
