Freeing Her (32 page)

“
So my trust factor was
obliterated. But you convinced me I was safe with you. Me and my
terrible secrets. That I could trust you. So I did. And what
happened? You accused me of betraying you. Well, I didn’t. But you
betrayed me, Kolson. You betrayed my love and trust in you. And
you’ve destroyed me. So we’re going to finish this night here, and
then you’re going to take me home.”

Kolson’s world was detonating, like a
nuclear blast. But how could he possibly find fault with her words?
She was right. He hadn’t given her a chance. She was only doing
what she thought was right. She was being polite to a charming,
handsome man who she knew absolutely nothing about. He hadn’t told
her that his father was a demon in disguise. He hadn’t told her of
the heinous things that had been done to him as a child. She
couldn’t have known. She only saw the persona he’d presented to her
and the public … the man everybody loved.

And now Kolson was losing the only person
he’d ever loved. All because of his stupid actions.

“
Gabriella, I’ll do
anything you ask. I am sorry. More than you’ll ever know. And one
day, I promise I’ll tell you. But I’m afraid to tell you now. I’m
afraid to speak of it because I think if I go back into that dark
past, I may never resurface. I’m so sorry. But for now, that’s all
I can tell you.”

“
I’m sorry too, Kolson.”
She turned and walked out of the room, leaving him to stare after
her.

The rest of the evening was spent making
inane small talk with people she neither knew nor cared to know.
The only thing she wanted to do was crawl into her own bed and ice
her hand. The dinner was excruciating, because her hand made it
difficult to eat, but also because she had to pretend all was well
with Kolson. Later, he danced with her several times, as was
expected, and he spent time with his mother. They finally said
their goodbyes and had the car drive them back to the waiting
helicopter.

When they returned to Manhattan, Gabby
didn’t stay with Kolson. She went to her own place and had a long
conversation with her ceiling.

For the first time in ages, she wished her
ceiling could talk back.

Chapter
Twenty-Four

Gabby was
heartbroken.
The only person she’d ever
trusted had let her down. Her heart had been cracked before, but
this time was different. The love she felt for Kolson was greater,
deeper than anything she’d ever known. How was she to pick up the
tiny specks of her heart and glue them back together? Was that even
possible? Gabby didn’t think so.

As she sat at her desk, her head pounded.
The ache in her heart overruled it, though. As she retaped her
injured fingers, she replayed over and over what happened at the
party. It was still shocking to her how Kolson had reacted.

Her phone beeped and she
looked at it, thinking it was another text from Kolson. He was
persistent, that was for sure. She was getting texts from him every
hour without fail. This one, however, was from
Danny
: Where’ve you been, cunt? I’ve been
waiting for you. I’m getting lonely. Don’t make me wait too long or
you’ll regret it. By the way, the bodyguards are getting
old,
precious
.

Her head snapped to attention and she bolted
out of her chair. She was between patients, so she ran straight to
Case’s office.

“
I just got another
text.”

“
Lemme look at it.” Case
read it and said, “Have you told Kolson?”

“
We’re not
speaking.”

Case checked her out. “What do you
mean?”

“
I don’t want to talk
about it.”

“
Does it have anything to
do with your hand?”

“
Drop it,
Case.”

“
How long?”

“
Huh?”

“
Since you haven’t spoken
to him, ’cause I gotta call him and let him know you got
this.”

“
Saturday
night.”

“
Shit. It’s
Wednesday.”

“
I know what day it
is.”

Case’s nostrils flared but he knew when to
keep quiet.

“
Go ahead and call him,
because I’m not going to. On second thought, don’t bother. I don’t
think I want him to know yet.”

“
Gabby,” Case said with an
undercurrent of alarm.

“
I’m fine. I have the
bodyguards. I have you. I’m not afraid of him anymore.”

“
Be smart, Gabs. He’s
probably escalating. You need to watch your back.”

“
Not to worry, my big
worrywart friend. I’ve got this. And besides,” she said under her
breath, “why would Kolson care, anyway?”

“
I heard that. It’s
childish and you damn well know it. I’m calling Kolson.”

“
Fine. You call him. I’m
not.”

Gabby left that night and went home. Sam
dropped her off and she was in a terrible mood. Her head pounded
and her belly ached. She rode the elevator up to her apartment, and
tried to piece back what she’d eaten that day. Maybe she was coming
down with something. She just felt off.

She unlocked her door and it wasn’t hard to
notice that someone had been in her apartment. The couch cushions
were pulled off and everything was in disarray. She opened the door
to the hallway and called out to Max, her bodyguard.

“
Max, someone’s been in
here!”

“
Dr. M., stay out here,
please. Let me check to see if it’s safe.”

Max went inside to check things out while
Gabby waited in the hall. She peeked inside, but couldn’t see
anything. As she stood with her back to the hall, she never heard
the door to the stairwell open.

“
You’re looking as sweet
as ever,
precious.”
Danny was standing right behind her.

Gabby didn’t move but opened her mouth and
let out a bloodcurdling scream.

Max came running into the hall and Gabby
kept screaming.

“
Dr. M.! What
happened?”

Gabby, violently shuddering, gripped Max’s
arm and tried to speak.

“
D-d-d-d ....”

Max took out his phone and called Case. “You
need to get over here, sir. Something’s happened.”

# # #

When case arrived, Gabby was sitting on a
chair and she was gray.

“
What the hell is going
on?”

“
I can barely get a word
out of her, sir,” Max said.

“
Gabby, what
happened?”

“
D-d-danny.”

“
What about
him?”

“
Here.”

Case looked at Max.

“
When I brought her home,
she called out to me in the hall and said someone had been in here.
I went inside to check and then I heard her screaming. I couldn’t
get her to stop.”

Case took a hold of her hands. “Talk to me,
Gabs. I can’t help if I don’t know what happened.”

“
I h-h-heard him. In the
h-h-hall.”

“
Fuck. Does she have
anything to drink in here?” Case asked Max.

“
No. Nothing,” Gabby
answered.

“
I’m gonna call
Kolson.”

“
No!”

Case blew out his breath. “Gabby, tell me
everything then.”

She took several deep breaths.

“
Gabs, it’s me. I won’t
let anything happen to you. You got that?”

She nodded. “Max was inside and I was trying
to see what was going on, and I heard this voice right behind me
say, ‘You’re looking sweet as ever, precious.’ That’s when I
started screaming. It was him. I’d know his voice anywhere.”

“
He must’ve been waiting
for you to come home. I have to call Kolson.”

“
Please don’t,” Gabby
begged.

Case still held her hands. “I wish you two
would fix your shit because right now I’m in a bad place. He’s
calling me every hour checking on you and when I tell him about
this, ‘cause you know I’m not gonna lie, he’s gonna blow a gasket.
Babe, I love you but this is driving me nuts. And I know how upset
you are. You need someone to stay with tonight.”

“
You.”

Case looked around. He knew what his answer
would be and so did she. He could never leave her in the state she
was in and Kolson wouldn’t trust just anyone with her. Hell,
neither did he.

“
Max, stay here until I
get back. Do not leave for anything. You got that. I gotta run home
to pick up a few things but I’ll be back as quick as I
can.”

“
No problem,
sir.”

# # #

Five days … it had been five days and he
hadn’t heard a word from her. He’d talked to Case yesterday and was
worried about her. That text from Danny wasn’t a good sign. But
after what Danny did yesterday, Kolson had to see Gabby. When Case
called him this morning, he’d barely kept it together. All he could
think about is what would’ve happened if Max hadn’t been there.
He’d immediately texted her countless times but still received no
response. At eleven thirty in the morning, he had Sam drive him to
her office. The receptionist greeted him and he said he wanted to
see her. She told Kolson that Gabby was with patients.

“
When will she be
free?”

The receptionist checked the schedule and
said, “Not for another thirty minutes, sir.”

“
Is she open for lunch?”
he asked.

“
Yes, sir, she’s open for
at least an hour. Her afternoon patients don’t start until one
thirty.”

“
Thank you. I’ll wait.” He
took a seat and stared straight ahead.

Thirty minutes later, Gabby escorted her
patient to the waiting area and saw him sitting there. She said
goodbye to her patient and could only stare at Kolson. “What are
you doing here?” Her greeting was less than welcoming.

“
I came to take you to
lunch since you won’t answer my texts. I had to see how you were
after what happened yesterday.”

“
Well, as you can see, I’m
fine. But I can’t do lunch. I’m busy.”

“
No. You’re free until one
thirty. I checked.”

“
I’m not
hungry.”

“
That’s fine. You can
watch me eat.”

“
Kolson, I …”

In a steely voice, he said, “Gabriella, we
need to talk. Now stop avoiding this. You could’ve been ... We’re
going to lunch.” He clamped his hand around her elbow and guided
her out the door.

They got into the waiting car and she
uttered not one word, not even to Sam. When they arrived at the
restaurant, Kolson got out and extended his hand to assist her, but
she ignored him. “Gabriella, please.” She brushed past him and
walked inside. He had no choice but to follow.

When the host spied him, he smiled. “Mr.
Hart, follow me, sir.” He took them to a private alcove, where a
table for two was set. Crisp white linens, silver, and crystal
completed the setting.

“
May I serve you
water?”

“
Please,” Kolson
replied.

“
Still or
sparkling?”

He glanced at Gabby and she said,
“Sparkling, please.”

“
I’ll have the same,
please.”

“
Coming right up,
sir.”

Kolson reached for Gabby’s hand, but she
moved to pull it away. However, he was too quick. “Please,
Gabriella, when Case told me what happened yesterday. This is
killing me.”

“
You’ve already killed me,
Kolson. It’s painful, isn’t it? It hurts when the one you love
makes you feel that way, doesn’t it?”

“
Yes, damn it. It does.”
He bowed his head for a moment, and the waiter returned with water
and menus.

“
Our lunch special today
is fresh Coho salmon, grilled on a cedar plank, served with quinoa
and fresh grilled asparagus.”

Kolson quickly replied, “Excellent. We’ll
have that.”

“
Very good,
sir.”

When he left, Gabby looked at him. “What if
I don’t want salmon?”

“
Are you intentionally
trying to be difficult?”

She winced at the phrase he used to describe
her. “Please don’t ever use that term to characterize me. You of
all people should know what a low blow that is.”

Kolson felt like he’d just murdered his
favorite pet. “Oh, God, Gabriella. I wasn’t thinking. Seems I’m the
fucking idiot who keeps putting his goddamn foot in his mouth.”
Then he took a long, deep breath. He tilted his head back and then
leaned forward. “I’m sorry. I should’ve been more sensitive. The
truth is I miss you terribly and I’ve been worried sick about you.
I love you and I can’t stand this … what’s going on between us. I
fucked up. Unbelievably so. I was wrong and if I could turn back
time, I would do things differently. But I can’t. So I’m begging
you, Gabriella, to please forgive me. You didn’t betray me at all.
It was my foolish mind that betrayed me.”

“
Kolson, why can’t you
trust me?”

“
I do. I do trust
you.”

“
No, you
don’t.”

“
Yes, it’s myself I don’t
trust. There’s so much you don’t know. But know this. There’s not
anything on this Earth that I wouldn’t do for you. And in time,
I’ll tell you everything. And when I do, perhaps you’ll
understand.”