He kissed her hair and then carefully pulled her upright so that he could look into her eyes.

“Listen to me, okay? Freshen up in the bathroom here. Take as long as you need. I don’t want anyone to see you this way. It would raise a lot of questions and I don’t want anyone to see you so upset. As soon as you’re ready, I want you to go back to my apartment and stay there until I get home.”

Fear and concern flashed in her eyes.

“Where will you be?”

He put a finger to her lips, indulging in their velvety softness. He traced the bow of her mouth and then followed it with a brief kiss.

“I’m going to ensure that Charles Willis never threatens you again.”

Chapter thirty-six

Gabe got out of the car on Lexington Avenue in front of the small office building that housed Charles Willis’s suite of offices, and he strode toward the entrance, his hands coiled into tight fists.

He’d bundled Mia into a car and sent her home after she’d ridded herself of all traces of upset, and after he’d asked her to describe the photos Charles had shown her in exacting detail.

Charles’s office was on the first floor, space he shared with another company because he wasn’t often in New York City. His worldwide construction company had many offices around the globe, but Gabe would never do business with the man again. If it weren’t for the fact that Charles’s company employed a lot of people—good people who depended on him to support their families—Gabe would utterly shut him down and run him out of business.

As it was, he’d never have anything personally or professionally to do with the man again.

Gabe strode past the startled receptionist and opened Charles’s door with a bang. Charles looked up, startled, from his desk and Gabe saw a hint of fear flash in the other man’s eyes before he rose to his feet and masked his features.

“Gabe,” he said in a cordial voice. “What can I do for you?”

Gabe slammed the door shut behind him and stared intently at Charles as he walked forward. He never lifted his gaze, and Charles was visibly uncomfortable with Gabe’s scrutiny.

“You fucked up this time, Charles,” Gabe said softly. “You touched what is mine. You put your hands on her. You hurt her. You frightened her. You threatened her.”

Charles battled his obvious panic and then arrogantly shrugged his shoulders. “She’s just another whore. What do you care?”

Gabe flew at him in rage, drawing back his fist. He punched the other man in the mouth, sending him reeling into the bookcase behind his desk. Charles’s hand flew to his mouth and when it came away, it was smeared with blood.

“I’ll have you arrested for assault!” Charles raged. “You can’t come in here and hit me!”

“You fucking piece of shit. You’re lucky I don’t kill you with my bare hands,” Gabe seethed out. “If you breathe in Mia’s direction again, I will ruin you. When I’m finished with you, you will have nothing. No credibility. No backing. No contracts. Nothing at all.”

Panic leached all the color from Charles’s face.

“I’ll go public with those photos!” he threatened, babbling out the words like an incoherent drunk.

Gabe went still, his nostrils flaring. “You do that, Charles. Make those photos public. I’ll have you charged with rape. It’s precisely what you tried to do to her, and those photos prove it. I don’t give a shit what it does to me or my reputation. But I won’t have Mia hurt or humiliated by you or anyone else. I’ll nail your ass to the wall and you’ll spend the next several years in prison being a fuck toy for your cell mate. If you don’t believe me, just try me.”

His voice was full of menace. And conviction. If Charles didn’t believe Gabe, he was a fool. Gabe had never been more serious in his life.

Charles paled and realization set in, his eyes flashing with recognition. Gabe was absolute and Charles knew it.

“I will spend every penny I own ensuring that you lose everything you have,” Gabe continued. “And I have a lot of connections. A lot of favors owed to me that I’m more than willing to collect now.”

Charles looked as though he wanted to faint. He tried to pick himself up from where he’d slid down the bookcase, but he wobbled and couldn’t gain his footing.

“I’m sorry,” he blurted out. “I was desperate. I knew you wouldn’t give me the bid after what happened. I need that deal, Gabe. I have to have it.”

Gabe held out his hand to help Charles to his feet. Charles stared warily at him but finally slid his hand into Gabe’s grasp.

As soon as Charles was back on his feet, Gabe flattened him with another punch. He likely broke Charles’s nose. Blood splattered over his face as Charles lay dazed against the bookcase.

“That’s for putting your hands on Mia. For leaving bruises on her skin. If you ever go near her again, there isn’t a rock on this earth you can hide under. I’ll hunt you down, and I’ll take you apart. I can make you disappear, Willis. No one would ever find your body.”

Knowing he’d made his point, Gabe turned and stalked from the office. Charles was stupid, but he was smart enough to know that Gabe was utterly serious. If he made good on any part of his threat to Mia, Gabe would destroy him.

Gabe got into his car and headed for his apartment. He was anxious to be back with Mia so he could reassure her that the matter was taken care of.

It baffled him and brought him to his knees that she hadn’t betrayed him. That her first instinct was to come to him and ask for help. To trust him to solve the matter when she stood to lose so much.

What a gift he’d been given in Mia.

His thoughts were consumed with her as he rode through town. There was a lot he wanted to discuss with her—matters he wasn’t sure how she’d feel about.

But this situation had brought to him in stark clarity how easily they could be discovered. Was such a deception worth the possible consequences?

Before, he agreed wholeheartedly with Mia in keeping their relationship from Jace. It only made sense because he’d known that whatever their relationship was, it wouldn’t last very long. If Jace never knew, there would be no awkwardness. No anger. They could go on as before, pretending his time with Mia had never happened.

Only now…

Now, Gabe was reluctant to think of the agreement between him and Mia ending. He wasn’t sure when it had happened that he’d started looking at her in a new light. As someone he had no intention of walking away from. At least not any time soon.

Jace needed to be told and then Gabe and Mia would deal with whatever fallout ensued. It was becoming increasingly more difficult for Gabe to pretend distance at the office. To pretend Mia was just an employee. Or that she was just Jace’s little sister and someone Gabe viewed with affection.

He wasn’t sure how Mia would feel about them going to Jace with the truth—or rather a simpler version of the truth. No one would ever know of their contract. It was a thing that shamed Gabe now, where before he’d lived by it, would never enter a relationship without one. Now? It seemed ridiculous and useless. A product of his overreaction to the past.

More important than any of that right now was ensuring that Mia was reassured, and that he soothed any worry or fear she had with regard to the threats Charles had made.

His hands itched to touch her. He wanted her against him, breathing the same air as he did. He wanted to taste her and to feel her against his skin.

He silently urged his driver to go faster. He’d been away from Mia for too long. She was his addiction, and he was already suffering from withdrawal.

• • •

Mia worried and fretted as she waited for Gabe to get home. She checked the clock countless times, the minutes passing with excruciating slowness.

What had he done? How could he possibly hope to take care of the matter? Had she done the right thing in going to him?

She was weary and her head ached vilely. She’d already raided Gabe’s medicine cabinet for ibuprofen, but nothing seemed to ease the pain at her temples and at the base of her neck.

And then she heard footsteps in the foyer, and she lunged up from the couch and met Gabe as he entered the living room.

She flew into his arms and he gathered her close as she all but crawled up his body. He hoisted her up and she wrapped her legs around his waist as she clutched tightly at his shoulders.

His hands palmed her ass, holding her up as he stared into her eyes.

“Are you all right?” he asked in a low voice.

She nodded. “I am now that you’re home. I’ve been so worried, Gabe.”

He carried her to the couch and sat down, her still straddling him. He pulled her down into a kiss and then smoothed the hair from her forehead.

“Everything is fine. I want you to trust in that fact. Charles will not ever be a problem for us again. I promise.”

Worry flashed in her eyes and her lips pursed. “What did you do?”

“He and I merely reached an understanding,” Gabe said calmly. “It’s over, Mia. He won’t bother you again.”

It was then that her gaze fell on his hand, at the scrape on his knuckles and the faint smear of redness, almost as if he’d wiped the blood but hadn’t gotten quite all of it.

She glanced back into his eyes, her brows furrowing. “What did you do, Gabe?”

“He put his hands on you,” Gabe said sharply. “That’s twice he’s forced himself on you with the intent of harming you.”

“If he presses charges, you’ll be arrested,” she said unhappily. “Then everything will come out. He’s not worth you going to jail for.”

A low growl echoed from his throat. “You’re worth everything. I’d die for you. I’d sure as hell go to jail to prevent some asshole from hurting you.”

Shocked to her core by the vehement words, she could only stare at him in utter bemusement. Hope was sharp and overwhelming, fluttering deep in her heart and flooding her veins with soothing warmth. Tears filled her eyes, threatening to spill over onto her cheeks.

She lifted his hand and gently kissed the abrasion.

His gaze softened and he cupped her cheek, rubbing softly over her jaw.

“There’s something else I want to discuss with you, Mia.”

She could sense the difference in his voice. He was a little less certain, and yet his words were firm, full of determination.

“What?”

“I think we should tell Jace about us.”

Her eyes widened in shock.

“He doesn’t need to know exact details. But we run the risk of discovery all the time. I’m tired of pretending you don’t mean a damn thing to me. You live in fear of him discovering us and what it will do to our friendship and your relationship with him. If we remove that fear, then it won’t have any power over us any longer. He may be angry at first, but he’ll get over it.”

Mia blew out an unsteady breath. This was…Well, it was huge. Gabe wanted to go public with their relationship? She dared not hope what that meant. She couldn’t afford to read anything into it, to assume that it was anything more than ending a source of considerable strain as they sought to keep their relationship secret.

“Mia? Do you agree?”

She blinked and refocused her gaze on Gabe. Saw the determination etched on his face. Then slowly, she nodded.

“When?” she whispered.

“When he gets back into town. He’s supposed to be back Monday or Tuesday. I’ll let him know that I have something important to discuss with him.”

“Okay,” she agreed, her pulse racing.

“Now, this is what I want us to do now that we’ve gotten all of that out of our way and decided, and the matter of Charles is dealt with,” Gabe said.

He touched her face, then threaded his hand through her hair, stroking in sweet caresses.

“I want us to spend the weekend together not worrying about a damn thing other than what pleases us. I’ll order in dinner for us, and we’ll have a nice meal by the fire and watch the rain turn to snow and sleet.”

She sighed and leaned forward, wrapping her arms around his neck in a hug. “That sounds wonderful, Gabe. It’s the perfect weekend.”

Chapter thirty-seven

Gabe kept a close eye on Mia throughout the weekend. She still showed signs of worry and anxiety, and he made every effort to distract her when it was obvious she was brooding over the situation with Charles. He had no doubt he’d made his point with Charles and that he wouldn’t be a threat to Mia any longer.

Still, he never assumed anything and so he’d placed a few discreet calls so that Charles’s activities could be monitored. But he kept that fact from Mia, not wanting to give her any reason to doubt his assurance that Charles would no longer pose a threat.

Sunday, he took her out for a late lunch, early dinner, and they sat in a restaurant that had already been decorated for Christmas ahead of the Thanksgiving holiday that was in a few days’ time. He knew she loved Christmas and everything having to do with it. Her entire face had lit up when they’d walked into the festively lit interior of the eatery.