Dare to Surrender (18 page)

“Happy birthday,
darling
.”

I narrowed my gaze, wondering what his agenda might be. “I’m surprised you remember. It’s not like you bothered when we were together.”

He’d managed to turn any birthday outings into business dinners, expenses he could write off. Early on in the relationship, he’d seemed contrite, like it was unavoidable. I realized later he just hadn’t cared.

“Oh, come on. I always bought you expensive gifts.”

I gritted my teeth, knowing he’d never understand that those weren’t the things that meant something to me. “Why are you here?” He’d clearly sought me out and had some sort of agenda.

“I wanted to congratulate you on landing another sugar daddy,” he said with a sneer.

My hands curled around the brown bag. “You’re a pig.”

I no longer wondered what I had seen in him. Three months of self-reflection had taught me the answer. I’d seen what I wanted to see, what I’d desperately needed in my life at the time. I’d allowed myself to believe I was getting a man who loved me and, eventually, the family I wanted. I hadn’t looked deeper at the man beneath the charming smile, and I’d paid the price.

I pushed past him, not wanting to listen to him further turn my relationship with Gabe into something cheap and meaningless.

He grabbed my arm hard enough to leave bruises. “What’s the matter? The truth hurts?” he asked, spinning me around.

I swallowed hard, ignoring the painful jab at my self-esteem.

A quick glance around showed me the streets were quiet thanks to the heat wave suffusing the city. I couldn’t make a scene, call attention to us, and get away.

“Why have you resurfaced now?” I asked, hoping the conversation would be brief.

“When that bastard Gabriel Dare pulled his accounts, he damaged my reputation within the firm. I couldn’t do anything about it at the time.” He flexed his hands, showing his impotence at Gabe’s treatment. “At least when I heard you were struggling on your own, that gave me some satisfaction. It helped tide me over.”

Nice, I thought. He was a real gentleman. I remained silent.

“But even Page Six picked up the new happy couple.” He frowned now, the expression showing the real Lance, the unhappy, evil man who lived inside him. “Now you two are together, and his business is growing while I’m still trying to hold my portfolio of clients together and explain how I managed to lose the firm’s biggest asset.” Anger radiated from him in ugly waves.

“So?”

“So your birthday seemed like the best time to come wish you well. And to remind you that bottom-feeders like you inevitably end up alone.”

I winced, unable to control my reaction to his words. Lance had always used words as weapons. Unfortunately, I knew from experience showing he’d hit his mark merely fed his appetite to spew more hateful things. I’d try to escape, but I didn’t want him manhandling me again.

“Just how long do you think it will take before Gabriel Dare sees the real you? The pathetic gold digger who is so frigid in bed I had to turn to other women to get what I needed?”

Tears burned my eyes as every word hit its intended mark. I raised my chin, but I knew he wouldn’t buy the unaffected act. But I wanted to be unmoved, and I reminded myself that Gabe wanted me.

But why? Your own parents didn’t
, a little voice in my head asked, one that sounded frighteningly like my own as a child. And one that reinforced Lance’s words. Maybe he had a point. How long before Gabe grew bored, as Lance had? Before he cheated and humiliated me?

“Ahh, there they are.” Lance swiped at the tears that had escaped down my cheek. “Proof you’re still the same whiny bitch I remember. Not so sure of yourself anymore, are you? Sometimes it just takes a little reminder.”

I treated him to a hate-filled glare. “You’re a despicable excuse for a human being.”

“And you’re pathetic.” He rolled his shoulders as if he hadn’t a care in the world.

And now that he’d wounded me, maybe he didn’t.

“Give your boyfriend my best,” he said and, with the smile he considered his most charming, strode off down the street, clearly pleased he’d just inflicted a deadly blow to my ego and self-esteem.

I raised a hand to my cheeks, coming away with black mascara streaks on my fingertips.

Knowing I couldn’t let Gabe see me like this, I rushed back upstairs, ducking my head as I passed the doorman. I hoped to repair the outer damage. The inner pain would take longer to go away.

I looked into the mirror as I methodically cleaned the mascara and eyeliner smudges, redoing the entire mess with shaking hands. As I fixed my makeup, I couldn’t help but remember Lance’s hateful words, frowning at the images
gold digger
and
bottom-feeder
created.

I had left Gabe and the safety he’d offered me. I’d been determined to be independent. Granted, three months wasn’t a lot of time to be on my own, but I hadn’t caved and gone running back to a man, unable to make a fresh start. True, I’d been living in a friend’s apartment, but I’d been paying rent, even if it had been below market value, along with utilities and expenses. Dammit, I’d tried. I was still trying. I had my own bank account, and I contributed to living here with Gabe—although I had to do it when he wasn’t paying attention.

And if things with Gabe didn’t work out for whatever reason, it wasn’t like I didn’t have the resources or the ability to start again.

I moved on to the lipstick and gloss, and when I was finished, I stepped back to look at the end result. Much better. If not for the painful knot in my stomach, I could almost believe the encounter with Lance hadn’t happened.

But it had
.

I groaned. “Are you really going to let stupid words and old insecurities send you running? For a third time?” I asked, taking in my reflection in the mirror.

“Running where?” Gabe appeared behind me.

I drew a deep breath and turned to face him. The scowl on his face told me he’d at least correctly interpreted the context of my statement, if not the reasons behind it.

He stepped forward, cupping my chin in his hand, tilting my head until I met his gaze. “I asked you a question.”

I noted the muscle ticking in his jaw, reminded myself that
he’d
sought me out. Kept tabs on me while I’d carved out a life for myself. Wanted me for me.

And though he rarely showed them, he had vulnerabilities he’d let me see. “I’m not running anywhere,” I assured him.

He studied me for a few more seconds, as if trying to get into my head and see what he’d walked in on. Finally, he released me and stepped back. “But you thought about it?”

“For half a second, after—”

His gaze strayed from my face to my bare arm. “What the hell happened to you?” He lifted my hand, brushing fingers over the deep red indentations my ex had left on my arm.

I swallowed hard. “I had a run-in with Lance.”

Heat flushed Gabe’s cheeks. “I’ll kill the son of a bitch.”

As happy as I was that he was no longer focused on my running anywhere, I didn’t want to have to bail Gabe out of jail. “He was just trying to upset me.”

“And he did.”

I sighed. “Because I let him get inside my head. Just for a few minutes. Maybe a little longer, but I pulled myself together. I’m good.” Or I would be, I promised myself.

Gabe glanced at the bruising and frowned. “I’m not.”

I stepped forward and wrapped my arms around his waist and laid my head against his chest. His solid body felt good against mine. He smelled like musk and man.

My
man, I realized, and I wasn’t letting go. “Better?” I asked.

He didn’t answer.

So I tipped my head back. “Gabe?”

“What did he say that made me almost lose you?” he asked, his voice a tender mix of caring and frustration.

This was hard, mostly because it was an embarrassing statement of who I’d been. Or who Lance thought I’d been, which still held some amount of painful truth.

I inhaled a deep breath. “Basically, he called me a pathetic gold digger and said he’d had to turn to other women because I’m frigid in bed. Then he asked how long I thought it would be until you saw the real me and did the same thing.” I looked away, rushing out the words, hoping that, once behind me, they’d lose impact.

They didn’t. They still hurt, whether I believed them in my heart or not. “I should have left him much sooner. There wouldn’t be any truth to his words if I had. Instead, I lived off of him even after I sensed things were over. And they should have been over.”

“You trusted him.”

I nodded. “He said he wanted me taking care of his home, that we’d have a family one day. I believed him. I honestly didn’t realize how he’d isolated me from everyone or the lengths he’d gone to in order to ensure I had no one. I was a showpiece when he needed one, a glorified maid and all-around useless female when he didn’t.”

It hurt to admit those truths, but it was freeing in a way too. I glanced at Gabe. “Thank you,” I whispered.

“For what?”

“For letting me go when I needed to. So I could come back when I wanted to. Even if you did set me up to get me here.” I couldn’t contain a smile.

“You were never really gone. Not from here.” He touched his chest, above his heart. “I didn’t expect to do this now,” he said, more to himself than to me.

“I don’t understand.”

He cupped his hand around the back of my neck, and I sighed into him. I always felt so good when he took hold of me this way. “I love you, Iz.”

I blinked, truly stunned. I’d hoped he did. It was everything I’d wanted him to say. Those three little words that set my heart soaring. “I love you too,” I whispered.

The harsh lines of his face softened at my words. Those intense blue eyes warmed as he slid his hands from my neck. He now framed my face as he lowered his head and kissed me. Slowly, intently, and lovingly, this kiss wasn’t all-consuming and hot, it wasn’t about need or want. The sweet slide of his lips over mine said more than words. He told me I was special, the center of his world.

And he was mine.

He broke the kiss, and I watched, speechless, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. A small, ring-sized jewelry box.

He popped the top open. “Marry me,” he said. He didn’t ask.

I trembled all over. And here I’d thought
I love you
was the greatest phrase I’d ever heard. Marry me? Cherry on top of an awesomely layered cake.

“Yes.” I held out my shaking hand. I’d barely noticed the actual ring before he placed it on my finger. Nothing mattered but the meaning behind it.

Of course, when I really looked at the stone, the emerald shape covered my entire finger and then some. I couldn’t begin to guess at the carat size, nor did I want to. “It’s gorgeous,” I managed to breathe out.

He shook his head. “You’re gorgeous. It’s just a diamond.”

The tears that fell now were the good kind. The kind that indicated happiness and trust, that held the promise of the future I’d always dreamed of.

“I love you,” I said, feeling the emotion with everything inside me.

“You do, huh?”

“Yeah.”

“Then fuck the party,” he muttered and lifted me into his arms, starting for the bedroom with a determined stride.

I clasped my hands around his neck, but his words hadn’t escaped my notice. “Party?” I repeated.

“Ahh, hell,” he muttered. “My entire family and our friends are waiting at Elite. We’re already late.”

My heart began a steady pounding. “You arranged a surprise party for me?”

He inclined his head. “I was going to propose there.”

I clasped his cheeks and kissed him again, sliding my tongue inside his hot, waiting mouth, but it didn’t last long. Gabe broke the kiss, looked at me, and groaned. “We have to get to the club.”

I brushed my hands through his hair, feeling the soft strands beneath my fingertips. “I know.” Unable to help myself, I nipped the side of his jaw, feeling playful and pleased. I’d conquered my insecurity and fear—okay, well, I still had some work to do on those things—but my reward for trying was fantastic.

Gabe’s fingertips bit into my waist. “You’re testing my restraint, kitten. But if we’re going to attend this thing, we have to go.”

I nodded. “One sec.” I dabbed at his lips with my fingers, wiping off traces of my lipstick. “All better. You can let me go now.”

He shook his head. “Never ever again.”

I smiled because Gabe never said what he didn’t mean.

Chapter Nineteen

Gabe: Invitation to Eden

G
abe loved this island. There was the privacy—they were alone on a stretch of endless white sand and clear blue water. There was the mystery—his entire family and many friends were here for the opening of Elite, and yet there was no one around to hear or see a thing. And there was the view—his wife in a red bikini, showing off her luscious curves.

So much had changed in a short time. Trust between them had blossomed. When he’d rescued her from the police station, he’d thought she was the one who’d needed to let down her walls. In the time since, she’d showed him trust ran two ways. Together they were creating a life, in more ways than one.