“This is where you grew up?”
“Yeah. Lovely, huh?” His tone was ice.
His mood had blackened so severely that Gabby tried to lighten things. “It’s unreal. I’ve never seen anything like it.”
“Oh, and you never will.” His bitterness was unmistakable. She clasped Kolson’s hand and felt the moisture on it—this place frightened him.
She glanced at him. “Hey. We’ve got this, babe.” His face was a mixed bag of emotions. Worry, sadness, fear, and anger radiated from him. Though he attempted to shutter it, she knew him better than that now.
She pulled his head toward her so she could whisper in his ear. “It’s one evening. And when we get home, I promise I’ll do anything you want. You can paddle my ass all night, Kolson. Just know I’m with you on this. Now give me some sort of sign that you understand me.”
He looked at her gravely and nodded. Then she kissed him on the lips. Hard, with passion. They got out of the car, but not before she told him how much she loved him. She kissed him again and wiped her lipstick from his mouth. His half-assed grin made her relax a bit.
When they walked inside, Kestrel greeted them in the large entryway.
“Welcome to the Hart compound. It’s nice to see you again, Gabby, Kolson.”
“Nice to see you too, Kestrel.”
Kestrel leaned into her and whispered, “Beware of the dragon and his lair.”
Kolson was talking with someone else and didn’t hear, and Kestrel had already turned away. But she thought it a most curious thing to say to someone.
Kolson took Gabby’s elbow and led her into the next room to meet his parents. His mother, Sylvia, welcomed them. She was of medium height, blond and lovely, and nothing like Gabby expected. Sweet and kind, she hugged Gabby and treated her like she’d known her forever. “Please bring Kolson home more often. He never comes here and I rarely get to speak to my son. I miss him so.” Her words spoke to Gabby’s heart.
When Gabby met Langston Hart, she was shocked. She’d expected an ogre, an overbearing, manipulative control freak, but instead she met a charming, handsome man who went out of his way to make her comfortable in his home. It confused the hell out of her.
“Gabby! How wonderful it is to meet the girl who’s stolen my son’s heart. You must tell us how you managed to do it. Kolson was a slippery one. But in looking at you, I can see how easily smitten he must have been.”
“It was mutual, sir.”
“So I hear you’re a physician?”
“I am. I’m a psychiatrist.”
“Fantastic. It must be very fulfilling to be able to help people in need.”
“It is. Mental illness is a terrible thing. I also deal with addictive disorders. I volunteer at the substance abuse clinic and at the women’s shelter. You might say I have a soft place in my heart for people in need.”
“That’s amazing. Tell you what. I’d love to make a donation to the group you volunteer with the most. I’ll have my people contact you and we can get the ball rolling.”
“Oh my. That would be great. Thank you, Mr. Hart.”
“Please, call me Langston. We’ll talk this week. Now I hope you’ll forgive me for monopolizing your time. Enjoy yourself tonight.”
When she turned away, she was smiling until she saw Kolson. Anger and disgust radiated from him, but it was the accusatory look on his face that made her cringe.
“What …?”
He did a one eighty and stomped away from her, leaving a line of stunned faces, including hers, in his wake. She quickly followed him up a flight of stairs and down a long dark hall. She didn’t know where he was going, but she followed at a jog to keep up with his long, angry strides. He disappeared down a corridor and now she had to guess where he’d gone.
Heart pumping in her throat, she wouldn’t give up her chase.
She approached each polished mahogany door and put her ear up to it, trying to hear something, anything at all.
Then she started turning knobs. The rooms were opulent, filled with massive furnishings that made her jaw hit the floor. She couldn’t imagine growing up in this environment. Of course, who could envision growing up like she had, either?
When she reached the final door and hadn’t located him, she didn’t know what to do next. She leaned against the wall. Hearing a noise, she looked up to see Kestrel heading toward her.
“What are you doing up here? I thought you’d be enjoying the party.”
“I’m looking for Kolson.”
“He’s up here?” Kestrel’s narrowed eyes confused Gabby.
“Yeah. He was upset when I … never mind. Anyway, I followed him but lost him up here. This place is too damn big.”
“You get used to it. Hang here for a second. I may know where he is.”
He turned the corner and was gone. About ten minutes later, he returned and his face was tense when he said, “I’m to escort you back to the party and stay with you.”
“You found him?”
“Yes. Come, Gabby.” He moved to take her arm.
She stepped away from him. “No. Take me to him.”
“I can’t. He doesn’t want to see you right now.”
“I don’t give a damn. Take me to him. If you don’t, I’ll hunt him down, room by room.”
“You’ll regret it. When Kolson gets in one of his moods, it’s best to stay away.”
“Take me.” She persisted in her demand.
“Don’t say you weren’t warned.”
She followed him around a corner and down another corridor. He told her to go up the flight of stairs before her. She would find a door at the end of the hall. That’s where Kolson would be. Then he left.
When she opened the door, she found Kolson, naked from the waist up. His pants clung to his hips as his fists pounded a punching bag suspended from the ceiling. A fine sheen glistened on his torso and his muscles strained and corded when his arms extended, curled, and swung as he pummeled his make-believe opponent. Gabby watched the beautiful spectacle before her as he maintained a perfect rhythm, dancing and dipping with each strike. The hypnotic motion of his flawless form held her captive, motionless, until drops of blood flew from his raw fists, stirring her into action.
“Kolson! What are you doing?”
“Get the fuck out of here, Gabby.” He didn’t break stride but continued to swing his arms, battering away at the bag.
That he called her by her nickname was not lost on her.
“I’m not going anywhere until you talk to me.”
Not bothering to spare her a glance, he said, “You’re wasting your time.”
“You’re being an ass.”
“Not the first time I’ve been called that.” He grunted as his fists flew.
Now she was getting pissed. She walked closer to him. “Would you please stop and talk to me for a minute?”
“No. Get. Out. Of. Here,” he seethed.
“No, damn it. You’re not being fair.” She reached for his fists, which was not the smartest thing to do, but she knew she had to get his attention … had to get him to stop and talk to her.
His hand connected with her palm and smashed it against the bag. Two of her fingers got trapped between his hand and the bag. She sucked in her breath when they connected. She was too shocked to scream because it never occurred to her that he was hitting the bag that hard.
“What the hell are you doing?” he yelled in aggravation.
Her breath rushed past her lips in a huff. She couldn’t speak and it was all she could do to breathe. She cradled her hand and doubled over as he stared at her.
“Let me have a look.”
“No! Don’t touch it,” she hissed. Blinding pain shot up her arm, centered on her pinky and ring fingers. She inhaled through her teeth, attempting to clear her head, because right now, her fingers weren’t the most important things to her. Kolson was.
Swallowing her pain, she stiffened her resolve, and in a strangled voice, she said, “Just talk to
me, Kolson.”
“Why? You betrayed me.”
“What?” She was baffled by his statement. How could he ever think she would do such a thing?
“You knew how I didn’t want to have anything to do with him and the first thing you do is fall victim to his game.”
“What are you talking about?”
“The dragon. My father. He has you eating out of his scaly hand within five minutes of our arrival.”
“Well, I’m sorry. I didn’t know I was supposed to ignore him.” Pain radiated from her hand to her arm, but she forced herself to go on. She gritted her teeth and said, “You refused to tell me anything about him, and when I get here, he seems like a nice guy.”
“Seems. That’s the operative word, Gabby.”
“It’s your damn fault. For not telling me. You refused to share anything about your family or even yourself for that matter. You could’ve warned me. How am I supposed to act? What am I supposed to say? Tell me and I’ll do it, Kolson.”
His eyes pierced her for a second; then he stripped off his clothes.
“What are you doing?”
“Taking a shower. I have to rinse the sweat off from venting my frustrations.”
He walked away and as soon as he was out of sight, she doubled over again. Her fingers pulsated with pain. She was able to wiggle them, though the answering agony told her they were possibly fractured. She hunted for athletic tape to bind them together, to keep them from moving. Finding some in a nearby cabinet, she was finishing up by the time Kolson emerged from the bathroom.
“What’s that?” he asked, pointing to her fingers.
“I think they might be fractured.”
“I broke your fingers?”
“It hurts to move them.”
He went to pick up her hand but she moved them out of his reach.
“Jesus, I’m so sorry,” he said contritely.
“It was an accident.”
“It happened because of my temper and I’m sorry for it.”
“Not the first time something’s been broken. Kolson, the bigger issue is how you handled things with your father and me. I’m not a mind reader. I need to know these things. You say you love me. Well, I love you too and I did not betray you. I will never betray you.” She turned and walked toward the door.
“Where are you going?”
“Good question. If we were in New York, I’d get a taxi and go home. But here, I’m trapped.”
“Do you want to leave?”
“I want you to talk to me,” Gabby said in frustration.
Kolson cursed. “Damn it. You know I can’t discuss this.”
“I’m not asking you to bare your darkest secrets, unlike you did to me. I’m only asking you to clue me in to certain things. You haven’t told me anything about yourself or your family. I’m running blind here. And then you get pissed off at me for responding to your father, who was kind to me, and I have no idea what it is I did wrong. Don’t you see where I’m coming from? How unreasonable you’re being?”
“You’ve made your point, Gabby.”
“And stop calling me that, damn it!”
“Isn’t that your name?”
“Yes, but you never call me that!”
In three long strides he was standing in front of her. “So you prefer Gabriella, then?” His voice caressed her name and then he framed her face and said, “Or would you rather I call you kea?” Then his lips were on hers, tasting, licking, nibbling, sucking.
“Stop it,” she said, pushing him away. “Kissing me won’t solve this.”
“No, kea, it won’t. This issue runs deep and has for a long time. Now, let me take you to see about that hand.”
“No. We’re going to stay here, and you’re going to act like we’re fine. You’ll escort me around, chat with your mother, and we’ll dance and do the appropriate things. Then when I deem it’s time to leave, we’ll go.”
He raised a brow and narrowed his eyes. “But your fingers.”
“Right now, I don’t give a damn about my fingers.”
“So, I see how it’s going to be, then.”
“No, I don’t think you do. You told me once to trust you. Right now I’m having difficulty with that.”
She may as well have popped him with a right uppercut—he staggered when her words plowed into him.
“You don’t trust me?”
“How can I? You accused me of betraying you. After I swore an oath to you. Those words crushed me, Kolson. This,” she held up her hand, “was nothing compared to the pain of your words.”
“I’m sorry.”
“Don’t say it if you don’t mean it. I’ve shared things with you I’ve never shared with anyone. You know the ugly truth about me, every last tiny detail. And you made me believe I could trust you. Well, you managed to destroy that tonight with a few casual words. I’ve been destroyed, like you have, too much over the past to put myself at risk again. I promised myself I would never be vulnerable again. Do you know why I tried to kill myself? I never told you the whole story. Yes, you know how Danny raped and beat me. And how he told all my friends I was a whore. My parents even thought I was one, which was so ridiculous because I never went anywhere. He pushed all my friends away from me because their parents didn’t want them hanging around one of ‘those kinds of girls.’” She squiggled her index fingers in the air when she said it. “But when the teachers at school treated me differently, that’s what broke me. The isolation became unbearable. Danny would mouth things to me, terrible things that made me sick. And that’s when I wanted to die because I knew it was never going to stop. My only friend was the fucking ceiling that I stared at every night.
“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.”
Freeing Her (A Hart Brothers Novel Book 1) Page 22