Freeing Her (22 page)

Kolson looked at her and chuckled. “You
Googled me?”

“
Well, yeah. I mean, after
Case investigated you, he said he couldn’t find anything so I
Googled you.” She tried to hide her embarrassment by turning away
from him, but he grabbed her arm and forced her back
around.

“
So, what did you learn?”
His eyes crinkled with mirth.

“
Nothing. I even Googled
how to keep your name off Google!”

Now Kolson laughed. “You are a curious one,
aren’t you?”

“
Well, yeah, because it
seems it’s all but impossible to do that.”

“
Gabriella, listen. I
employ a top-notch security team that keeps my name out of the news
and the gossip pages. I avoid the press and the paparazzi. That’s
why I use a security crew. I’m very careful who I associate with,
which is why I investigated you.”

“
I know very little about
you and you know everything about me. All my darkest
secrets.”

Gabby heard the air rush out of Kolson.
“Gabriella, I …”

“
You don’t trust me.” It
wasn’t a question; it was a statement.

“
I do. Surprisingly
enough. Which, for me, is unusual.”

“
Then why won’t you tell
me?”

“
Perhaps one
day.”

“
I don’t
understand.”

Kolson placed his hands on her face and
lifted it so he could look into her eyes. “My past is every bit as
twisted as yours and one day, when the time is right, you’ll hear
it all. But not now.”

His voice was wracked with an emotion Gabby
understood well—she had lived with it for years. Pain.

“
The psychiatrist in me is
screaming to get you to open up, but I make it a point not to
psychoanalyze my friends.” Then she held up her hand. “But I want
you to know I understand your reticence in digging up a fucked-up
past. Look how hard it was for me to tell you about mine. I should
be seriously pissed for how you manhandled the truth out of me. But
I’m not because I feel like a ton of bricks has been lifted off my
chest. I also want you to understand I’m here for you when you’re
ready to talk. And I won’t judge you, Kolson.” She placed her hands
on his. “Will you tell me something about yourself?”

“
What do you want to
know?”

“
Anything. Tell me about
your company. Hart Transportation Service. How did you start
out?”

He chuckled. “You don’t read the tabloids or
the financials, do you?”

“
Afraid not.”

“
I started with one cab
and one limo. I worked my ass off night and day until I could
afford another limo. And so it went. I’d hire drivers when I could
afford them and soon I had a fleet and was vying for contracts.
Honestly, the speed at which the business grew surprised me. I knew
how to negotiate from working with my father’s corporation, so
getting the business was the easy part. But I never thought it
would blossom the way it did.”

Gabby looked at him with admiration.
“Impressive. And I actually did know some of that. But why did you
leave your father’s business? In the report Case ran on you, it
said your father has a huge corporation too.”

“
That’s a story for
another day. But let’s say we didn’t see eye to eye.”

“
Far be it for me to judge
you on your relationship with your father when mine is
nonexistent.”

Kolson knew he had to switch gears. A
discussion about his father was off limits for now. “Did Danny ever
hit you?”

Gabby stiffened. His question fired from out
of the blue. Her head dipped before she answered. “Yeah, he
did.”

“
Tell me,” he
growled.

She backed away, but he caught her and said,
gentler this time, “I have to know, kea. How bad was it?”

“
Why is this so important
to you?”

“
It just is.” Kolson
wanted to hurt Danny. He could feel his hands around that bastard’s
neck, squeezing the life out of him. And Kolson knew he would take
pleasure in that act.

“
I don’t want
…”

“
Gabriella, please tell
me. These are things that we may need, in case the police need to
be involved. And your friend, Case.”

“
It happened a lot, but
the worst time was when he pushed me down the stairs after he
punched me in the nose. I broke my wrist, arm, and several ribs. Of
course my nose was broken too. He told my parents I tripped and
fell and he found me crying at the bottom of the steps. They
believed him, of course, because he was perfect Danny. He took me
to the hospital and on the way, he continued to beat me. The doctor
knew I was lying. He tried to get me to tell the truth, but I knew
if I did, it would be worse for me when I got home. By then, my
parents were convinced I was clumsy, because I had bruises all the
time. And those were only the ones they saw. They never saw the
ones I hid.”

“
Fuck. All this went on
during your middle and high school years?”

“
Yeah. I thought it would
stop when he went to college, but he stayed close and would come
home all the time. There was no escaping him.”

“
What the fuck kind of
parents do you have?”

“
Obviously ones who don’t
give a shit about me.”

Those words ripped through Kolson, words
that he could relate to wholeheartedly. Except for Kolson, his case
was different. His father had a motive and his mother was clueless.
“I’m so sorry. For everything you’ve been through.”

“
You sound as though you
can relate.”

His brows shot up, but he said nothing.
Turning away, he reached for his glass and she noticed how his arm
tensed as he stretched it on the counter. She stepped behind him
and wrapped her arms around his waist and rested her head on his
shoulder blade.

Somehow, this man had managed to take her
perfectly constructed fortress of protection and tear it down,
stone by stone, until she stood fully exposed and naked before him.
Not only that, he had achieved the unachievable. He had wriggled
the truth out of her. Every secret she’d ever had, every mystery
had been revealed and exposed to him. She’d dragged the last
skeleton out of her closet, dressed it up in all its finery, and
willingly displayed it for him to see.

And the greatest part? The burden that had
weighed her down all these years lifted, freeing her from its
gruesome memory. The air she inhaled was cleaner, fresher, and her
lungs expanded more because of it. The vertebrae in her back
separated incrementally, allowing her spine to lift higher. She
reached a fuller height, all due to Kolson. One man and his
persistence and his promise to believe her.

She tightened her arms around him and
pressed her lips to his back. “Thank you. For everything. For
standing firm in your belief in me.”

He spun within her hold and pulled her
against his chest, holding her so she heard his heart beat beneath
her ear. “I keep my promises, kea. I always keep my promises. You
can count on that.” He smoothed his hand over her hair and
murmured, “Enough talk for tonight. I know you must be exhausted. I
think it’s bedtime for us.”

She nodded, weary as could be. He walked her
to his bed, but right before she climbed in, he said, “Your things
are in the guest room and if you’d rather stay there, you can, you
know.”

“
Do you want me to stay
there?”

“
Hell no. I want you in
this bed. Next to me.”

“
Then this is where I want
to be too.”

He smiled. “I was hoping you’d say that.
Take off your clothes, Gabriella.”

Her face showed surprise. “I thought we were
going to sleep.”

“
We are. But I won’t lie
in bed with you and have any scrap of clothing between us. I want
to feel your smooth skin next to mine, touching me.”

That was all she needed to hear. He lifted
the covers for her and, naked, she slid under. He followed her and
tugged her into the curve of his body.

“
Go to sleep.”

“
Mmm.” She burrowed into
him and fatigue sent her straight into the arms of
sleep.

# # #

Gabby opened her eyes to brightness,
realizing they hadn’t closed the blinds or drawn the curtains. She
groaned because the room glowed with the rising sun.

“
What is it, kea?” Kolson
asked.

“
We forgot to draw the
curtains. It’s so bright.” She snuggled closer into his neck to
shut out as much light as possible, but it didn’t do much good.
After a few minutes, she rose and went to the bathroom.

When she came out, she noticed that Kolson
had fallen back asleep, so she went to the guest room. She opened
the closet and found her belongings Lydia had placed in there.
Turning to the dresser, she rifled through the layers until she
found her favorite pair of soft yoga pants and a cami.

Gabby was conflicted. Staying here was truly
her only option. There wasn’t anywhere else she could go. Sky lived
in a studio and Ryder only had a one-bedroom apartment so that was
out. As much as she adored Case, moving into his studio wouldn’t
work. She didn’t have the money to stay in a hotel for more than a
night or two.

Kolson was her salvation right now, but she
didn’t want to come off as looking like she was using him,
either.

Pulling on her clothing, she padded into the
kitchen to get coffee going. She checked out the contents of the
refrigerator to see if she could throw together a breakfast. It was
Sunday and she had to volunteer this afternoon at the women’s
shelter. But she would have plenty of time for a run and a good
meal first.

Kolson had a fully stocked kitchen, which
made her smile. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d been
around so much food. Searching for the proper pans and necessary
items, she set to work on making bacon, hash browns, and omelets.
She chopped onions, peppers, and mushrooms as the bacon cooked.

After the potatoes were grated and ready to
go, she heated the griddle and whisked up the eggs. It didn’t take
her long to have everything prepared, so she hunted down a tray for
her artfully arranged plate as well as for coffee, cream, sugar,
and orange juice. She smiled to herself as she carried it into
Kolson.

He was finally stirring, and he sat up,
confused.

“
Good morning,
sleepyhead.”

He flashed her a toothy grin. “What’s
this?”

“
Room service.”

“
Breakfast in bed? For
me?” He patted the bed next to him and she set the tray down. Then
he grabbed her and kissed her. “Sorry, I haven’t brushed my teeth
yet.”

“
It’s okay. I have coffee
breath. I’ll be right back.”

She returned a moment later with her tray
and climbed up next to him. Kolson took his first bite. “This is
excellent. Thank you.”

“
You’re welcome. It’s the
least I could do after everything you’ve done for me. Besides, I
was starving and your kitchen is a cook’s paradise.”

“
That’s Lydia. She keeps
everything stocked for me.”

“
Nice.”

“
How did you
sleep?”

“
Great, until the darn sun
woke me up. We didn’t shut the blinds.”

“
Gabriella, I don’t have
any blinds.”

“
Oh! How can you stand
it?”

He stared at his plate while he ate. “One of
the best omelets I’ve ever had.”

After a few more bites, he asked, “So what’s
on your agenda today?”

“
I have to volunteer at
one. At the women’s shelter downtown. And I was going to hit the
medical library to catch up on some journal reading a bit before
hand.”

“
I’ll drive you and pick
you up.”

“
That’s not nec
…”

“
Yes, it certainly is. And
I also want you to call your friend, Case. In fact, I think the
three of us should meet. What time are you free
tonight?”

“
Seven.”

“
See if he can meet for
dinner, my treat.”

“
Okay, are you sure,
though?”

“
Don’t fight me on this.
This is your safety we’re discussing. And while you’re gone, I’ll
work on getting an apartment locked down for you.”

She nodded. Gabby knew that was the
appropriate thing to do, but she enjoyed being here with Kolson and
wouldn’t mind staying here a while. The safety issue factored into
it, but that wasn’t all. Kolson had wedged himself into her life.
It would’ve been impossible to ignore, since he was such a
monumental presence. And if she were truly being honest, she
doubted he would let her disregard him anyway. He wasn’t a man who
would easily take being pushed aside. No, she could only imagine
the things he would do to ensure he was front and center with her.
She grinned as she thought about it.

“
What has you smiling
so?”

“
Nothing.”

“
Well, I hope that nothing
was me. I want to be the one who puts a smile like that on your
gorgeous face, kea.”

Oh, don’t worry about that. You do, Kolson
Hart, you do.

Chapter
Eighteen

After hanging
around
Gabby’s apartment for four hours on
Saturday night and then again late on Sunday afternoon, Danny’s
anger was escalating. He didn’t know what to do. That damn
boyfriend
of hers must
be monopolizing her time. He thought about sending her flowers but
nixed that idea. That would cost money and he was on a strict
budget. She would just trash them anyway. No, following her was the
best option to get her alone. Eventually she’d slip up, so he
needed to be prepared at all times.