Moonlight Seduction

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  She opened her hand, letting the necklace she’d given him four years ago fall to the coffee table. She started for the door, desperately trying to keep it together before she lost it.

  “Nic—”

  “Stay away from me,” Nikki warned, throwing up her hand. “If you care about me at all, you’ll stay away from me.”

  Chapter 29

  Gabe climbed the stairs to his apartment in a daze, the necklace held tight in his hand.

  He’d fucked up.

  He knew that to his core. He’d fucked up.

  Pushing open the porch doors, he came to a complete stop when he saw Sabrina sitting at the bar. At least she had clothes on, but it was obvious she had just gotten out of the shower. Her wet hair was slicked back and for once, there wasn’t an ounce of makeup on her face. Shock gave way to fury.

  “Are you fucking serious?” he demanded, stalking toward her.

  She held up a hand. “I know you’re mad—”

  “Get the fuck out of my apartment and this house or I swear to God—”

  “Or what?” Her lips parted. “You’re going to drag me out of here? You’re going to tell Devlin? I don’t think so.”

  “You are out of your fucking mind.”

  “No. No, I am not.” Her cheeks flushed red. “You’re only saying that because I’m a woman going after what she wants—what she deserves. If I were a man, you’d be applauding me.”

  “If you were a man, I’d physically kick your ass out of here.” He struggled to not lose it. “How in the hell did you know about my son?”

  She smirked. “I have my ways.”

  “Don’t give me any of that vague bullshit, Sabrina. Have you been stalking me?”

  Sabrina snorted. “You call it stalking, I call it keeping tabs. I mean, really, Gabe, it wasn’t hard to find out that Emma had a child. Not when you started going to Baton Rouge nearly every week. All I needed was to look into what you were doing—”

  “Did you have someone follow me?”

  She lifted a shoulder. “I saw a picture of him and I knew he was your kid. He looks like a de Vincent.”

  Holy shit, Gabe knew Sabrina was just about capable of anything, but this was fucking surreal. “You better not even think about going near my son.”

  “I don’t care about your son, but you know who probably would? Nikki. She probably would’ve cared, but it didn’t seem like she knew about him.”

  Gabe flinched.

  Smiling, she crossed one slender leg over the other. “I did you a favor. You should be thanking me.”

  “What?”

  “I got rid of Nikki for you. Come on, you couldn’t have been serious about her. I did your dirty work again.”

  All he could do was stare at her. “You told Nikki so she’d stop seeing me?”

  “Not like you two were really seeing each other, let’s be honest. You were fucking her. That’s all. Not like you told your brothers about her or were calling her your girlfriend,” she said. “She wasn’t perfect Emma.”

  As much as he hated to admit it, her words struck home. Was that how Nic felt about this—about how he handled things with her? Well, no shit. She did.

  Jesus.

  Gabe shook his head, focusing. “Did you push Nic that day? Did you push her down the stairs?”

  Sabrina tilted her head to the side. “That would be so trashy. I have more class than that.”

  He didn’t believe her for one second. “This all stops now. You stay away from Nic. You stay away from—”

  “Or what? I know you’re not going to say anything. I mean, you tell your brother, then I’ll make sure Nikki has the worst run of luck known to man. You say one word to Devlin, you know I’ll do it.”

  Gabe’s hands closed into fists. He knew she would try.

  “I’ll ruin her life. I’ll make it my life mission, and I have—”

  Gabe moved so quickly he didn’t even give himself time to really think about what he was doing. His hand went around her throat and he put just enough pressure on her so that she knew he wasn’t playing around with her. “You so much as look at Nic the wrong way, I won’t just stop at destroying you. Do you understand me, Sabrina? I am tired of your shit. I am tired of you messing around in my life. I am tired of you involving yourself where you don’t belong. I am beyond fucking tired of it.”

  Her lip curled. “Oh, do you like it rough, too, like Devlin?” She slipped off the stool. “I bet you fuck just as hard—”

  “I don’t want you,” he said, holding her gaze. “I’ve never wanted you. Dear God, woman, what have I ever done to give you that impression?”

  “You never let yourself want me.” She wet her dry lips. “First it was because of Emma and now it’s because of Nikki—”

  “It’s never been because of them. It was always because of you,” he shot back. “You may be packaged as pretty as they come, but you’re fucking ugly and rotten to the damn core. There has never been a single thing about you that is redeemable.”

  Sabrina flinched.

  “You need to get that through your head,” he said, shoving her away from him before he did something he just might not regret. “And if you ever—ever threaten Nic again, I will kill you. Do you understand? You know that’s not a threat.”

  Sabrina paled and he thought he saw her eyes start to glimmer before she straightened. “I never wanted Devlin.”

  “Then why in the hell are you marrying him?”

  “Because I don’t have a choice,” she whispered, and then her eyes widened. The rest of the blood appeared to drain from her face.

  “What the hell does that mean?”

  Sabrina shook her head as she seemed to pull herself together. “I will marry Devlin. And I will do anything to make sure that happens.”

  He stared at her, slowly shaking his head. The woman was unstable. “Get the hell out of here and stay away from me and my son.”

  Sabrina had enough common sense to hightail her ass out of his apartment, and it wasn’t until he slammed the door behind her that he realized what she’d said to him.

  I did your dirty work again.

  Again?

  What in the hell had she meant by that?

  Sabrina wasn’t the only woman who’d gotten the hell out of the house Monday afternoon.

  So had Nic.

  She’d left, and Gabe guessed it was a good thing that Dev wasn’t home for that, but she had come back Tuesday. Not that he approached her, but he knew she was there. He’d caught a glimpse of her that morning, carrying a rag into the sitting room.

  Their paths only crossed once on Tuesday. Down in the kitchen. He’d just . . . hell, he found himself in there and there she was, putting the groceries away for the week.

  But when Nikki realized he was in the kitchen, silently watching her, she’d left the room. Just up and walked away, leaving the groceries on the counter and in the bags. She hadn’t said a word to him and had barely even looked at him.

  Gabe had finished putting the groceries away.

  Now he was sitting on the foot of his bed, staring at that necklace he held in his hand. He wanted to talk to her. He wanted to try to explain why he hadn’t told her about William.

  He wanted to apologize, because what he’d said to her was wrong. She was more than a hookup, more than someone he was just wasting time with. That wasn’t what Nic was to him. He didn’t even know why he’d said that to her. Or maybe he wasn’t being honest with himself.

  He said it because he felt guilty—guilty that he’d kept it from her, ashamed that he’d hid William from her. And he’d lashed out at Nic just like his father had lashed out at their mother whenever he’d done something wrong and was cornered.

  Gabe was no better.

  But damn, he missed her.

  He missed the way she smiled. The way her laugh blew all of his concerns and worries out of his mind. He missed the way she could just sit next to him in the shop in silence and be happy. How they could work together an
d how she made him feel, like he was worthy of her attention and time. He missed how he could just talk to her about everything.

  Everything except the most important thing about his life.

  Shit.

  Why hadn’t he told her?

  The reasons he came up with weren’t good enough. Worst of all, his excuses didn’t give Nic enough credit. He knew that she would’ve listened to why he wasn’t raising William. He knew she was young and probably wasn’t even near the point in her life where she’d be thinking about caring for a child, but she’d said . . .

  She’d said she loved him.

  That she’d been in love with him.

  His eyes closed as he pressed his hand—the necklace to his forehead. His chest hurt like someone had taken a dull knife and carved his heart out. Worst part was that he’d wielded that knife.

  He knew why it felt that way.

  He’d felt that before.

  He didn’t know how to fix things with Nic. He wasn’t even sure he could, if he had it in him. The odds were fucking stacked against them. He’d stacked them himself.

  But there was something else he needed to do.

  He needed to talk to Dev the moment he was home. This kind of conversation wasn’t one you had over the phone. This was a face-to-face discussion and it was long overdue.

  This shit with Sabrina had to end.

  Nikki waved goodbye as Bev dropped off the dry cleaning. Gathering up the numerous plastic-covered suit jackets that all belonged to Devlin, she made her way to his rooms in the right wing.

  Devlin was the only one who seemed to get clothing dry-cleaned on the regular. It was rare for Lucian, and Gabe . . . he never wore anything that required dry cleaning, it seemed.

  Her chest ached as she drew in a stuttered breath.

  She didn’t want to be here, in the house where every damn thing was a constant reminder of Gabe. She’d rather be in her bed, under heavy blankets, eating beignets and corn chips until she passed out from a food coma.

  The hurt she was feeling now made what she experienced four years ago feel like an unrequited crush. She was absolutely destroyed.

  Blinking back fresh tears, she unlocked Devlin’s room and quickly hung up his suits. He preferred the plastic to be left on, for whatever reason. She left the room, locking up.

  The house was eerily quiet as she made her way back downstairs. Her father was gone and Lucian was with Julia at their house to go over some of the renovations.

  She had no idea where Gabe was, but she didn’t think he was here. She hadn’t seen him since yesterday in the kitchen. He’d walked in and just stared at her, like he was going to say something to her, but Nikki couldn’t deal. So she’d left, and thankfully, Gabe had the decency to put away the groceries before they’d gone bad.

  There was just nothing Gabe could say to her at this point. He’d said it all, with words and actions.

  Grabbing the vacuum, she made her way to the smaller room with the TV, and by small, she meant by de Vincent standards. It was still larger than most living rooms.

  Nikki was about to plug in the vacuum when she heard footsteps in the hall. Her stomach dropped as she looked up and stepped back from the outlet, thinking it was Gabe.

  She wasn’t ready to see him. No way. She didn’t think she’d ever be ready—

  Parker stepped into the doorway, and her stomach dropped for a whole different reason. Muscles all along her neck tensed up. “What are you doing in here?”

  His lips thinned. “Wow. I see the last time I told you that you needed to speak to me with respect went in one ear and out the other.”

  Nikki hadn’t forgotten his threat, and after her showdown with Sabrina, she was worried about how it could affect her parents. But she couldn’t imagine that after what Sabrina had done, Gabe wouldn’t talk to Devlin.

  “I’m not trying to be rude,” she said, and that was only partly true. “But how did you get in the house? My father isn’t here to let anyone in.”

  He cocked his head to the side. “If you don’t want people roaming into the house, then perhaps you should lock the doors.”

  People shouldn’t be entering homes they didn’t live in randomly, but that wasn’t the point. Nikki was damn sure all the doors were locked, all twelve billion of them.

  “I came to see Devlin,” Parker said, stepping into the room.

  “He’s not home.” Unease blossomed in the pit of her stomach like a noxious weed. How did he not know Devlin wasn’t home?

  He had to.

  Nikki didn’t believe him for one second. A shiver coursed down her spine. Why was he here?

  “Is that so?” Parker mused, flicking an imaginary piece of lint off his pressed navy-blue dress shirt. “Doesn’t look like anyone is here, actually. Anyone but you.”

  The unease grew as Nikki stepped to the side, so she wasn’t standing between the TV and one of the chairs. “Gabe is here.”

  “Is he?”

  She wasn’t sure, but she sure as hell hoped someone was here. She nodded.

  “Cool. I’ll have to pay him a visit.” He looked around the room and then his pale-blue-eyed gaze settled on her. “But I’m glad that I’ve found you, especially now.”

  She swallowed hard as she glanced at the doorway. Parker was making her nervous, causing instinct to roar to life in her.

  “I wanted to visit with you,” he said, reaching back and closing the door behind him. “Uninterrupted.”

  Chapter 30

  Nikki’s heart thundered in her chest as she dropped the cord to the vacuum. It thudded on the carpet quietly.

  “My sister really does not like you.” Parker undid the button on the left cuff of his shirt. “I mean, she really doesn’t like you.”

  “I . . . I kind of guessed that already,” she replied.

  “Did you? But I don’t think you understand what happens when my sister doesn’t like someone.” Parker rolled up the sleeve to his elbow. “She was telling me that you misunderstood a certain situation recently.”

  The only situation recently was the one where she was naked in Gabe’s bedroom, but she sure as hell didn’t misunderstand anything that she saw.

  “And she’s worried that you’re going to say something to her fiancé.” He undid the button on his other sleeve. He rolled that up, too. “But I told her that you wouldn’t dare do something like that, but she said you already spoke to Gabe.”

  Her heart lurched into her throat. “She was in his bedroom—”

  “Waiting to speak to him about her engagement to his brother.” Parker let his arms hang loose as he smiled. “To discuss a party to celebrate it. She wanted to get Gabe’s opinion on the type of champagne to order.”

  Nikki’s mouth dropped, and she couldn’t not respond. “And she needed to do this after she took a shower in his bathroom? Are you guys serious right now? Is this some kind of joke?”

  “She spilled a drink on her shirt and took a shower. Gabe wasn’t up there.” Parker moved around the coffee table. “But you were.”

  “Do you think Gabe isn’t going to say anything?” she demanded, sort of dumbfounded. “After this?”

  “He’s not going to say a word,” he replied confidently.

  She gaped at him. He was as insane as his sister.

  “Why were you in Gabe’s private quarters, Nikki?” he asked.

  “I work here. That’s why—”

  “Now, come on, Nikki, you weren’t in his bedroom because of work.” His lips pursed. “Well, unless you were planning to do some work on your back. You know, I’m sort of offended.”

  She gasped. “You’re offended?”

  “You treat me like you can’t stand me. Every time I come near you, you look at me like I’m seconds away from pouncing on you,” he said, watching her move around to the other side of the coffee table. He laughed. “You’re doing it right now.”

  “Because you’re kind of freaking me out, Parker.”

  “What have I ever done to y
ou to make you scared of me?” he asked.

  Her brows shot up. “Besides right now, when you came into this house knowing you’re not supposed to be here? How about that time in the pool house?”

  His jaw hardened. “Nothing happened that day in the pool house.”

  “Because Lucian walked in.” Balls of ice formed in her belly. “You wouldn’t leave, even though I was standing there in the towel, and you tried to pull it off me—”

  “And you had no problem flashing your tits and ass for Gabe every time he came around, so sue me for thinking you had no problem with me seeing them.”

  Nikki sucked in a sharp breath. “I wasn’t showing those parts of my body to anyone when I was seventeen, but even if I was, that’s my choice. Just like it’s my choice when it comes to who I will share them with now.”

  “Aw, don’t you sound like the cute little feminist.” He snorted. “The fact remains, I didn’t do shit to you. I’ve never done anything to you other than invite you to my penthouse.”

  “Yeah, thanks for that, but I’d rather pluck every hair on my body with a rusty pair of tweezers before I’d even remotely entertain that offer,” she snapped.

  A hard look crept into his eyes. “You’re a little bitch who needs to be put in her place.”

  Nikki neared the edge of the coffee table. “And what is my place?”

  “Not sure yet,” he replied.

  “You need to leave,” she said, keeping her voice level. “You need to leave now.”

  Parker laughed. “Not sure Devlin will be thrilled with how unwelcome you’re making his future brother-in-law feel.”

  Torn between being a little scared and being so thunderstruck by the fact that Parker and Sabrina thought there was still an engagement after Monday, she almost couldn’t formulate a coherent sentence.

  “Fine,” she decided, walking toward the door. “You don’t leave, I’ll go to the police and report you as trespassing.” Reaching the door, she opened it and stepped out into the hallway, aware that Parker was following her. She turned, not wanting him to be at her back. “I’m giving you ten seconds to—”