“Have you finished putting those bids in a presentation for my meeting with Jace and Ash?” Gabe asked from across the room.
Mia glanced up to see him staring at her, warmth and tenderness lighting his eyes. Yes, he’d definitely changed in his actions toward her. He’d become more…human. Someone she believed could love her in return.
“Just finishing up,” she said. “There are spots for the other two bids. As soon as I receive them, I’ll input the information.”
Gabe nodded approvingly. “We’ll make our selection this week. It’s possible that I’ll need to return to Paris closer to Christmas. Would you want to go?”
That was another thing that had changed with Gabe. Before, he’d never asked her what she wanted to do or if she wanted to travel with him somewhere. He told her where he expected her to be. She hadn’t had a choice in any of it.
Now? Now he never demanded. Though she could often discern what he wanted her decision to be, he never made it for her.
“I’d love to go to Paris at Christmas,” she said, excitement squeaking in her voice.
He smiled, relief welling in his eyes. “I’ll make our arrangements and I’ll include an extra day so you can see anything we missed the first time.”
If she’d felt ridiculously spoiled before, it was to the point of absurdity now. He was a complete dream. So very attentive to her needs. Responsive to anything he perceived she wanted or needed.
It was an experience she thoroughly enjoyed. She savored every gentle touch, every look of concern, every attention to exacting detail where she was concerned.
Gabe’s phone rang, and he answered. She realized quickly it was his mother. His entire demeanor changed when he spoke to her.
He’d likely be a while. He and his mother had been talking more and more lately as she navigated the tricky waters of her reconciliation with Gabe’s dad. She relied heavily on Gabe for emotional support.
She checked her watch. It was past lunchtime and Gabe had been busy all morning. She doubted he planned to take a lunch break at all and work on through until his afternoon meeting.
Making a decision, she rose and collected her purse. Gabe looked up, his eyebrow raising in question as she started toward the door.
Lunch, she mouthed. I’ll bring you back something.
He nodded and then slid the phone down his chin so his mouth was free.
“Wear a sweater, Mia. It’s cold out. There’s a chance of snow, so be careful on the sidewalk.”
She smiled, heartened by his concern. She went back to her desk, pulled on the warm sweater she kept there for just such occasions. Then she blew him a kiss that made his eyes gleam.
When she stepped outside the building, an excited thrill raced up her spine. She could positively smell snow in the air. There was a brisk chill and moisture with that gray overcast sky. Perfect holiday weather.
She practically danced her way down the block toward the deli where she and Gabe often had takeout. She loved this time of year. Loved the change in seasons. And she always looked forward to Christmas.
With Thanksgiving a mere week away, many shops were already decorating their windows with Christmas lights and displays.
She hugged her sweater tighter as a gust of wind blew over her. She ducked into the deli and placed her to-go order.
Five minutes later, she collected the plastic bags and pushed her way through the crowded interior to step back onto the sidewalk. A raindrop hit her nose, and she picked up her pace as light drizzle began to fall. She hadn’t thought to bring an umbrella. She’d only planned to be a few minutes.
Figures it would start raining now. It couldn’t have waited the five minutes it would take her to get back to her building?
She had her head down as she rounded the corner to the front entrance of Gabe’s office building when she ran smack into another person. She dropped one of the bags and she bent, apologizing as she picked the food back up. Hopefully it would all still be intact. As she rose, the person she’d run into was still standing there.
Nausea curled in her stomach when she got a good look at the man’s face. Charles. The man who’d assaulted her in Gabe’s Paris hotel suite. There was no way it could be a coincidence that she’d run into him outside the office building.
She took a wary step back and he grasped her arm, pushing her out of the way of pedestrians and against the stone of the building. She was still several feet away from the entrance. Her gaze automatically took in her surroundings as she pondered the best way to escape Charles’s grasp.
“Don’t touch me,” she bit out. “Gabe will kill you for this.”
Charles’s face twisted into a snarl. “Thanks to your overreaction, Gabe went off his hinges. He’s trying to cut me out of the deal entirely. He won’t do business with me, and that’s going to hurt my ability to do business with others. I need this deal, and you fucked it up for me.”
“I fucked it up for you?” she yelled. “You stupid fuck wad. You assaulted me! And I fucked it up for you? You’re a dick!”
“Shut the fuck up!” he hissed, pressing in closer, his grip tightening on her arms.
“Back off,” she warned. “Get the hell away from me.”
His grasp was tight and cruel, and she knew it would leave marks. She only wanted to get the hell away from this asshole and return to Gabe. Where it was safe. Where he’d never allow anything to happen to her.
Rain sluiced down her face, and she blinked to clear her vision. It was cold and only growing colder as wetness permeated her clothing and hair.
“You and I have something to discuss,” he snapped. “I want inside information on the bids. I know you have access to it. My only shot is to be able to come in substantially lower than my competitors so that HCM doesn’t have a choice but to go with me. I may lose money in this deal, but it sets me up nicely for the future. I need this deal to happen, Mia, and you’re going to get it for me.”
“You’re out of your mind! I’m not telling you jack. Gabe would kill me and so would my brother. I won’t betray either one of them, especially not for a dickhead like you. Now get out of my space or I’ll start screaming the block down.”
“I wouldn’t do that if I were you,” he said in a low voice.
He shoved his phone at her, the display screen jumping before she could bring it into focus. She gasped, horrified by what was on the screen. This wasn’t happening. It could not be happening!
“Oh my God,” she whispered.
Nausea was a vicious knot in her stomach. She was utterly sickened by what she saw. It was her. Tied and on her knees with Gabe’s cock shoved into her mouth. Her cheeks were bulging as she took his length.
Charles pushed a button and the next picture was of her bound to the coffee table, her eyes tightly shut, her mouth clamped just as tightly shut as Charles stood above her, his hand on her head, other hand grasping his cock as he attempted to shove it into her mouth. Which meant one of the others had taken the photos. What kind of sick bastard did this kind of thing?
It took every bit of strength she had not to gag and vomit there on the street.
“You sick bastard!” she hissed.
There was no need to ask him how he’d gotten the pictures. They’d been taken in the hotel room in Paris. The idea that someone had these photos, that they looked at them, horrified her.
“Now here’s the deal, Mia,” Charles said. His grasp on her arm tightened as if he knew just how badly she wanted to get away. “You’re going to get me the information I want or I go public with these photos. How do you think your brother will like seeing pictures of his baby sister all over the Internet? You’ll be famous but not in a way either of you will like.”
Cold settled into her bones. So deep that her entire body was a block of ice. She stared numbly back at Charles as devastation crashed over her.
The asshole would do it too. She saw the resolve and desperation in his eyes.
“You son of a bitch!” she said hoarsely. “You did that to me! And you’re going to threaten me with pictures of you assaulting me?”
“Think about it,” he said grimly. “I’ll expect your call before this weekend. If you fail to deliver, I’ll ensure everyone in the world sees these photos.”
He released her arm and strode away, disappearing into the sea of umbrellas and pedestrians hurrying to get out of the rain.
She stood there a long moment, still in shock over the illicit photos he’d produced. Rain pelted her face, soaking into her clothing, but she was numb to the cold. Numb to everything else but the fact that she was in an untenable position.
If she betrayed Gabe, she’d lose him forever. He’d cut her from his life without thought or regret. If she didn’t betray him, those photos would be released. Jace would see them. The world would see them. Not only would Jace’s friendship with Gabe end, but it could also very well mean the end of their business relationship. And Gabe’s reputation would once again suffer under accusations that he’d abused another woman. Once might be played off, but twice? Where there was smoke, there was fire in the public’s eye.
She gathered the soggy bags to her chest and stumbled toward the entrance to the office building. Panic made her clumsy. Her heart was beating painfully, so fast that she couldn’t process thought.
She rode up the elevator, dread increasing with every breath. What was she supposed to do?
Yes, she had access to the bids. It would be a simple matter to pass along the information to Charles. It would do her no good, though, because even if he came in substantially lower than his competitors, Gabe would never use him. And then, even though she’d done as Charles had demanded, he’d be angry and would likely retaliate by publishing those pictures anyway.
What was she supposed to do?
When she got to Gabe’s office, he was off the phone. As soon as she walked in his door, he was on his feet, his expression concerned.
“Mia, what the hell? You’re soaked! Did you not bring an umbrella?”
He hurried over to her, cursing when he took in her saturated clothing. He took the bags from her hands and discarded them without a look.
“Are you all right? What’s going on? You look like you’ve seen a ghost.”
“J-just c-cold,” she stammered out. “I got caught in the rain. It’s not a big deal, Gabe. Really.”
“You’re freezing,” he muttered. “Come on, I’ll take you home and get you into dry clothing. You’re going to make yourself ill.”
She shook her head, stepping back, her resistance so adamant that he looked taken aback.
“You have a meeting that you can’t miss,” she said. “There’s no need for you to go with me.”
“Fuck the meeting,” he said bluntly. “You’re more important.”
She shook her head again. “Have the driver bring me home. I’ll go take a hot shower and get into dry clothing. I promise. I can be back in an hour and a half.”
This time it was he who shook his head. “No. I don’t want you coming back in. Go on home and get warm. Wait for me there. I’ll be home as soon as my meeting is done.”
She nodded, cold seizing her more firmly in its grasp. Now when she was out of the rain and in the warmth of his office, she began to shiver uncontrollably. She had to keep it together or he’d know that something had gone terribly wrong.
She smiled brightly and gestured toward the bags. “The food is still good. You need to eat, Gabe. You haven’t eaten all day.”
He touched her cheek, feathering his hand over her face before leaning in to kiss her cold lips. “Don’t worry about me. Take your meal home and take it easy for the rest of the day. I’ll be home to take care of you in a little while.”
His words made her heart squeeze, but they weren’t enough to take away her terror or the enormity of the decision she faced. She needed time to think.
Already the beginnings of a headache plagued her. The dull throb at her temples coupled with the bone-deep cold was beginning to unravel her.
He went to his desk and retrieved his coat and then wrapped it around her, rubbing his hands up and down her arms.
“Come on,” he said grimly. “I’ll walk you down and get you into the car. Call me if you need anything at all, okay?”
Her smile was wan. Forced. “I’ll be fine, Gabe.”
She hated lying to him.
Chapter thirty-four
Gabe let himself into the apartment and frowned when he saw none of the lights were on. Had Mia misunderstood and gone to her apartment instead?
Since their return from Paris, she’d spent just about every night with him, except for one time when Jace had taken her to dinner and then dropped her back by her place. Just that one night without her had made him itchy and moody, and he’d gone to work in a black mood the next morning.
He stepped into the living room, and his tension immediately eased when he saw Mia curled up on the couch, sound asleep. His fireplace was on and she was covered from head to toe with blankets.