“And I’ll report your sorry ass to your superiors if you don’t back the fuck off,” I replied, then took a measured breath and forced a smile, “Goodbye, Matthew. Don’t contact me again.” Then I hung up.
Kelly leaped off the couch and pumped her fist in the air. “Yes! That was perfect. I loved the part about me hearing the conversation and being willing to back you up. I am, you know. I’ll always be here for you, bestie.”
I put my phone down and took a step towards her, then stopped. Adrenaline coursed through my veins. I couldn’t stop at this, I had to finish it somehow. So I could move on with my life.
I grabbed my phone and walked for the door.
“Where are you going?” Kelly called out. She followed me to the front door and stopped. “Ally, where are you going?”
“I’m going to talk to Gabe. I have a feeling that he and Matthew’s rift goes deeper than either one of them are letting on.”
“Really?” Kelly asked as she grabbed her phone.
“Are you coming with me, or not?” I asked.
She slid her purse off the counter by the strap and shouldered it. “You bet your ass I am.”
Chapter 36
Ally
“Are you really ready? What if you find out something you don’t like?” Kelly asked, turning in the passenger seat to stare at me.
I gripped the wheel with both hands and swallowed. The lump in my throat had started at my apartment and only grown larger with each passing mile. My newfound bravery was starting to dissipate and I thought about turning back. Had I been alone, I would have. Kelly’s presence and support worked as a calming influence
“I’m as ready as I’ll ever be. No matter what I find out, I can face it and work through it. Look at everything I’ve endured in my life and I’m still standing. Neither one of these guys has the ability to break me. Gabe’s either going to come clean or he isn’t. He’s either going to move on with me or reject me. I won’t die from it.”
The word ‘reject’ was like a knife to the heart.
“He’s crazy about you, from what I’ve seen and heard, he really is. He won’t reject you. You heard him out when the whole Faith thing came out.”
I wiggled my head from side to side and steered right. “Maybe. I’m not sure about anything anymore. Even our physical attraction to each other. It seems to have cooled.”
“Stop,” Kelly said, then reached over and squeezed my arm. “Stop beating yourself up about this. Let’s leave the past in the past. Now is the time for action.” She gave another thumbs up in a gesture of solidarity.
“Right, so I can do this. It’s totally fine. Totally fine,” I murmured, then repeated that a couple times. I looked at her out of the corner of my eye. “I’m not crazy. Even though I’m repeating myself. I guess if I start sucking my thumb and drooling, you should worry.”
Kelly threw back her head and laughed.
The streets were pretty empty at this time of night, and the snow came down slowly, coating the sides of the road. My car made tracks through it and a red light allowed me time to catch my breath. And consider turning around again.
“You know this will all be okay,” Kelly said, leaning towards me. She peered up into my face and smiled. “I swear, everything’s going to turn out just fine.”
“Thanks, Kel, but I don’t want to get my hopes up. God, I’m still not sure I’m even ready for a relationship or whatever the hell this thing with Gabe is.”
I accelerated when the light turned green and crawled through the snow-covered streets. Every second brought Gabe’s apartment closer. Any minute now I’d walk up to his door, knock and see him again. For the first time since Matthew had burst into the kitchen and ruined it all.
I turned the corner onto his road and stopped a few feet behind a gorgeous silver Bentley.
“That looks out of place for the neighborhood,” Kelly said, squinting at the luxury car. “I’m surprised it still has its rims.”
“You’re not suggesting people steal in the downtown area, are you?” It wasn’t a serious question, but we always joke around this way when times were tense.
“Of course not,” Kelly winked. “Do you have a crowbar or know how to hotwire a car?”
“Sorry, I left the crowbar in my assault kit at home. The hotwiring, yeah, no, I don’t think that’s gonna happen either.” I plumped my lips, then grabbed my bag from Kelly’s lap and brought out my mirror. I stared at my reflection and grimaced. “I probably should’ve brushed my teeth.”
“You’re stalling.”
“Busted.” I took out a tube of lipstick and put some pink on, then studied my reflection again. It was marginally better. Not that he’d care much if he was about to slam the door in my face.
Butterflies battered the lining of my stomach and I gripped the arm rest. This was it. I nodded to Kelly then reached for the door handle.
“Wait,” she hissed.
I froze and looked at her. “What’s wrong?”
She pointed at the Bentley in front of us, then slumped down to avoid notice. I followed the line of her finger and gasped. Faith stood beneath a street light, looking ready to pop and a man stood beside her. Gabe.
I grappled with the handle and hit the power window about an inch. Bits of their conversation drifted through the gently falling snow to my ears.
“Just give me the car keys, Faith.”
“I’m pregnant, not a cripple,” she replied, then patted him on the cheek. Embarrassment and rage washed over me. So, they were back together after all. I’d been played.
“Maybe it’s not what it looks like,” Kelly whispered, but I could tell from her mortified look that she didn’t believe it either.
“I’m taking them, whether you like it or not.” Gabe grabbed the keys from her hand and unlocked the car. He walked Faith around to the other side, then helped her in and closed the door.
“Okay, maybe it’s exactly what it looks like,” Kelly murmured, then covered her mouth with her hand.
Gabe got into the driver’s side, then closed the door and started the car. He drove off down the road and I was left staring after him, with my best friend waiting for my reaction.
“Follow him,” she said, straightening in the car seat. “Come on, let’s find out what’s really going on here.”
“There’s no point, Kelly. I’m sure he’s going somewhere to fuck her.”
Right after he fucked me.
“Follow them, Ally” she yelled, pointing in the direction the silver car had traveled.
I started my car, shifted quickly into drive and gunned it, spinning the rear tires in the process. I spotted the fancy car about a half a block ahead of me, stopped at the intersection of Nicollet and 7th street. I inhaled a cleansing breath through my nose because my heart was racing so rapidly it felt like I might pass out. What the hell was Faith doing with Gabe? Was that her expensive car? She definitely reeked of money and had since my first encounter with her.
Was he really with Faith again? I’d probably driven him right back into her arms and she was … she was everything that I wasn’t. I felt dirty all of a sudden. Less than.
Unworthy.
I bit the insides of my cheeks and kept the tears at bay. There might be an explanation for this. Who was I kidding? If there was a reasonable explanation for all of this, he would have offered it up by now, if only to save his own ass and keep sleeping with me. Funny, he was getting everything that he needed and I was getting nothing that I needed in return.
The Bentley’s rail lights were mean, but Gabe drove slowly through the snow, allowing me time to catch up.
Ten minutes passed, then fifteen, and finally he turned into a driveway outside a pair of massive, black wrought iron gates. They opened slowly, and he drove inside and parked in the circular drive of a mansion.
“What the —?” Kelly murmured. “No, it can’t be.”
“What is it?”
“What did you say Gabe’s surname was?” Kelly asked.
I stopped my car in front of the gate and rolled down the window to watch. Gabe helped Faith out of the car and a man appeared on the stairs, tall and greying, but wearing a suit. Imposing. Hot as hell and probably in his late fifties.
“Moreno,” I murmured, “Gabe Moreno, why?”
Kelly gasped. “This is Donovan Moreno’s house.”
“Who’s Donovan Moreno?” I frowned, unable to tear my eyes from the scene. Gabe shook hands with the man and Faith hugged him.
“Only the richest guy in Minneapolis. He’s a billionaire. Which means your friend Gabe is loaded by association.”
Kelly’s words tore through my mind. He’d kept something from me again. Just another lie in a long line of lies that shattered every last shred of trust I still held for him. A house of cards.
“What are you doing?” Kelly asked.
I stared at Gabe’s retreating back as he entered the two story brick house and jammed the car into reverse.
“It’s over.”
Chapter 37
Ally
“Aren’t you angry about this?” Kelly’s gaze tried to cut right through the doubt that puddled in the center of my forehead. But that was the thing about doubt. It wormed its way through every cell. It overtook everything like an insidious disease.
So I was angry. Fuming. On fire with emotions and none of them positive, but that didn’t give me the right to…
The right to do what?
I cut the car’s engine and leaned on the steering wheel, glaring at the Moreno mansion.
I did have the right to be mad about this. Whatever this was.
“Ally, you should give him a piece of your mind.” Kelly sat back against the car door, unhooking her seat belt. “Make him look you in the face and spit out his latest lie, if only to see what he comes up with.”
I bit the inside of my cheek, then released the flesh slowly, considering the front of the mansion. Gabe and his father had already stepped inside, Faith in tow. The gates began closing.
“You’re right,” I replied. I fumbled the car door open and darted out, cheered on by Kelly’s ecstatic whoop of encouragement.
The gates swung towards me, and my heart skipped. What in the hell was I doing? I didn’t even have a real relationship with this guy. Did I have any right to go scampering up some stranger’s property to confront Gabe in front of his prominent family? But right now, I didn’t care.
I slipped between the iron bars, sucked in my stomach, and stumbled up the drive, led by emotion. When I heard them clank closed behind me, I glanced back. Kelly’s eyes were saucers, but she gave me a big thumbs up anyway.
“You go, girl!” she yelled out the window.
They had to have heard that.
I hurried up the drive, feet crunching on the stones. I let the anger at his betrayal bubble inside — which was already a fondue of disappointment. Why couldn’t he have been honest from the start?
We’d come far together. We would’ve gotten further and I’d invested too much of myself in this to let it slide.
“Gabe,” I yelled at the top of my voice. “Gabe Moreno! Get your butt out here, right this second.”
“Ass,” Kelly called from the car.
“Right,” I murmured, then turned up the volume again, “get your ass out here!”
The mansion’s front lights were on, but the massive oak door was shut tight. I examined it from afar, sucked in a breath and charged up the sweeping front stairs. I raised my fist to knock.
The door swung inward and Gabe stood there, blinking at me. His brow wrinkled. “Allegra.” The word seemed to strangle in his throat. “What are you doing here?”
“I could ask you exactly the same thing.”
“I… uh.” He couldn’t get a sentence out. Really? He couldn’t even defend this?
I restrained myself from turning back and scaling the gates to escape my rioting feelings. Escape. Flee.
Faith swaggered out the front door, led by her monstrous belly. “I thought she might pop up on your front doorstep, Gabe. I did warn you about mixing with the trash. You always wind up dirty.”
“Quiet, Faith.” Gabe gritted his teeth. “Allegra—”
“That’s a strange name.” Donovan Moreno strolled out of the house, surrounded by a cloud of cologne and an arrogant demeanor that said ‘this is my porch and anyone on it better explain themselves and be quick about it.’
I folded my arms. In defiance. And rage.
“Just who are you, young lady?” Donovan asked without presenting a hand for a proper greeting. I noticed the slight. It would be impossible not to. His piercing blue gaze swept over me from head to toe and then dismissed me with a flick of his hand and a soft smirk of recognition. Of knowing.
“I’m Allegra Wilson,” I said, dropping my arms to get rid of the defensive posture. I had to seem in control, even if I wasn’t. My torso immediately felt the loss of my self-hug.
“She’s a friend of mine,” Gabe said. Faith’s smile stretched her treacherous face into a balloon. Seriously, she looked like she’d pop at a moment’s notice and spill glee all over the toes of my pumps.
Why was I so nervous? This was his fault! He owed me an explanation.
I squared my shoulders. “What’s going on here, Gabe? You never told me your father was—” There wasn’t a polite way to put it.
“Loaded,” Faith said helpfully. Her balloon face hadn’t popped yet, but my fingers were crossed.
“The size of my father’s portfolio is none of anyone’s damn business. It has nothing to do with me.” Gabe’s reply hit me in the chest like a wrecking ball. Whooshing the air and the bravery and the anger from my chest.
“You were afraid I’d want you for your money,” I whispered, “you thought I’d ask for your help with the bakery.”
“This is all fascinating,” Donovan Moreno said, checking his nails, making it clear that nothing interested him less. “But we have business to attend to. I’ll open the gate and you can see yourself out. I’m sure you can see there’s nothing here for someone like you.”
“No doubt,” Faith snorted.
“You owe me an explanation, Gabe,” I said, but the hunky fireman was unreachable. He’d drawn a curtain across his gaze. His heart. I couldn’t penetrate it. “What the hell is going on here?”
Donovan clapped once. “Apparently, my son has lost his balls, mind or both, so I’ll do the honor of filling you in.”
“Stop, Dad, I’ll talk to her later,” Gabe said, finally breaking whatever vow of silence he took the minute I entered the grounds.
“Nonsense,” Donovan replied, his tone clipped and businesslike. “Gabe is going to marry Faith here, who’s pregnant with his child. You are an unwanted addition and will kindly remove yourself from these premises.”
“Or, he’ll throw you out,” Faith put in, gesturing over her shoulder.
I stared at them, standing on the porch in a row, Gabe furthest from me. He refused to meet my gaze, even though he had to know how this felt. Like someone had reached into my body and ripped my heart out through my chest.
Getting married? Engaged?
Faith raised her left hand and twiddled the ring finger to highlight the titanic-sized iceberg populating it.
My anger sucked down through my feet and drained into the top stair. I filled up with the horrid realization that I was totally out of my element here.
“I have to go,” I whispered, fingers creeping to my lips. I held them there and stared at Gabe, trembling. “I have to go,” I repeated.
“That’s right.” Faith took a wobbling step forward and Donovan’s hand shot out to steady her. “You’ve upset me enough. You’ll endanger our child at this rate.”
I shook my head, unable to say another word.
“It’s not the way it seems, Ally,” Gabe said finally. “I’ll explain later. But right now, I have to deal with this.” He made a sweeping gesture with both arms. As if I should know what this was. As if I were som
e addled toddler incapable of understanding basic English. “Okay?”
No, it was not okay. How could he think it was anything but fucked up?
I raised my palms and shoved them towards him, releasing an invisible Ally force field. “Don’t call me again.”
“That’s a wise decision.” Donovan adjusted his cuff links, huge silver squares with diamonds. He pointed to the gate. “It will open when you get to it.”
The dismissal was enough to set my feet moving. I turned and walked down the stairs, my spine threaded with iron which would melt any minute. Just one word from Gabe and I’d either collapse or start sprinting for the exit like a madwoman.
It sounded melodramatic in my head, but God, this man had dragged me over the coals. I should’ve known. I should’ve stuck with my initial instincts and protected my heart. Why did I have to insist upon answers? Closure that probably would never come. I should have just gone home and curled up into the fetal position to lick my wounds.
Bitterness spread across my tongue, flavoring it with defeat. Yes, Gabe Moreno was a damn liar. Donovan, however, wasn’t. The gate did open the minute I was within range and clanged closed behind me.
I opened my car door and slid into the driver’s seat.
Kelly was squished against her door in the exact position I’d left her. I probably hadn’t been gone that long.
“Do I even want to know?” she asked, biting off the nail of her middle finger. She’d correctly read my tragic expression. And defeat.
I shook my head mutely. Her expectant look, searching. But I couldn’t bring myself to articulate it. If I brought it out into the open, I’d never be able to shove it back inside for only me to know.
“Let’s go back to your place, hon, I’ll make you a cup of hot cocoa.” Kelly squeezed my arm, digging her fingernails in gently to snap me back to reality. A reality I didn’t want to be a part of right now.
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