He grabbed my hand and pulled me into the apartment, slamming the door shut behind me. Once in the kitchen, he stopped at the freezer and filled a Ziploc bag with ice.
“Wait here.” He stormed off, returning with a white tee shirt. He wrapped the ice inside it and held the soft cotton against my face.
I winced.
“Sorry, but keep it there.” He led me to the sofa in the living room and settled in beside me. “Are you okay?” He brushed my wayward curls off my shoulder.
I didn’t want to enjoy his gentle ministrations as much as I did, and the words I had to say lodged in my throat before I managed to force them out.
“I’m leaving. You did a nice thing by letting me stay, and we got carried away… Let me just say thank you and leave it at that.” I placed the ice on the table.
He frowned and immediately held it back to my face. “Why did you let that bastard upstairs?” he asked, ignoring my statement.
Not that I was surprised. I decided to answer his questions first. “The doorman called. He said a man was downstairs with suitcases for me. I figured Lance would bring up my things, have his say, and go.”
Gabe’s eyes narrowed, raw anger lacing his features. “The doorman said he had luggage for you?”
I nodded.
“And he lied,” Gabe said, his expression dark.
I nodded again. “When I asked how Lance knew you wouldn’t be home, he mentioned something about money buying information.”
Gabe shook his head in frustration. “I should have been one step ahead of him. It won’t happen again,” he promised.
I knew that, because I wouldn’t be here. If Lance promised trouble, he meant it. Gabe didn’t need aggravation in his life brought on solely because of me. That was just another reason for me to leave. My self-respect and need for independence were two more. Seeing Lance again only reinforced why I’d left him in the first place. I’d let Gabe’s persuasive powers lure me into a sense of security that could only be another trap.
I grasped his wrist, pulling the ice away from my frozen skin. “It’s cold.”
He put the wrapped ice on the table. Bracing his hands on his knees, he appeared deep in thought.
I gave him the time he seemed to need, didn’t push or speak.
“I’m sorry,” he said at last.
“What? Why?” I asked.
“I apologized and you want to know why?”
I nodded.
“We’ve been over the whys. And you’re not going anywhere,” he said on a low rumble.
Yes, I was.
I needed to stand on my own two feet before I could succumb to any man ever again. Especially one who had such a potent effect on me and was as dominating as Gabe.
But I knew better than to think he would let me walk out without using the exact type of persuasion I couldn’t resist, I thought. Which meant I’d have to play out the rest of the night, claim a headache, and go to sleep early.
First thing in the morning, or as soon as I could manage, I was going back to my original plan.
I was poised at yet another threshold in my life. Leaving Gabe was so much harder than walking out on Lance had been, but if I wanted Gabe to respect and not own me, I had no other choice.
Chapter Ten
Isabelle: Standing Strong, Being Me
It wasn’t easy, and my heart hurt like hell, but when Gabe was called into work the next morning, I took the opportunity to escape. I left him a note, explaining the independence I needed in my life and why I had to leave him to find it.