Glasses of wine were lifted into a toast as I held mine up. After six years I felt at home and whole again. Although there was a dull ache in my heart that longed to have Nic with me. I'd tried so many times to tell him the truth over the last few weeks. I was going to enjoy my time with my family, then tell them my plan of telling Nic the truth about everything. The only way to keep us all safe is if I stayed apart from my family. For good.
The thought hurt my heart.
Pulling out my phone, I glanced down at it. I had called Nic when we landed and he texted me back about an hour later. Since I got to the restaurant I'd called once and sent him five text messages over the course of almost three hours.
Was that him I saw?
Impossible.
I pulled up his number and hit the call button. When he answered, I breathed a sigh of relief.
"Nic," I said with a smile. "I've been trying to reach you. Where are you?"
Oh gesh. Like I wouldn't know where he was.
He laughed. "Out with the guys."
His answer was short and there was a bite of anger in it. Not to mention it hurt to know he was out, but then again, wasn't I doing the same thing in a way?
"In Colorado Springs?"
He laughed. "Well, where the hell else would I be, Gabi?"
"I um, well . . . it's just. The craziest thing happened to me earlier, and I thought I saw you." He remained silent. "Nic . . . is everything okay?"
With a loud laugh, he ended it with a long groan. "Fuck, I don't know. Why don't you tell me, Gabi? You having fun?"
My mind was spinning. What had happened from the time I left to now? In one short day everything felt off.
"Have you been drinking?" I asked as I turned away from everyone. I could feel Antonio's eyes on me.
"Yes I have. You usually get shitfaced when you lose something that was important to you."
I swallowed hard. "What . . . what did you lose?"
The silence on the other end of the line had my hand coming up to my neck. It felt like I couldn't breathe. A strange feeling moved over me and I had the urge to rush back to Colorado Springs and tell Nic everything. Tell him everything I should have told him from the beginning.
"Nic? What did you lose?"
"I think you already know the answer. I need to go, Scarlett's waiting for me. Goodbye, Gabi."
A sharp intake of air filled the silence. My eyes widened in shock as I let his words rattle around in my head.
"W-what? Nic . . . wait. What is happening?"
When the line went dead, it felt like my whole world stopped.
Scarlett's waiting for me.
This wasn't happening. It couldn't be happening.
My phone dropped to the floor, and I wrapped my arms around my waist and started rocking as I called out his name.
Antonio was by my side pulling me to him. Asking me over and over what was happening. I couldn't think straight to even form words in my head.
He left me. He waited until I left and then he went to her.
Unless . . .
TWO DAYS LATER
"Gabi, please stop with this. The guy is in Colorado Springs. I already had an FBI agent check. I showed you the picture he took yesterday."
The picture.
It was of Nic and Cole sitting at a table with a few other guys at a restaurant. Antonio had found out the girl in the picture was a Scarlett Hansen. Nic's old and what I was guessing current, fuck buddy. Her and her father owned the place. It had to be the place he told me where they went and ate.
"What if that was him, Antonio, and he saw me run into your arms? He'd have had plenty of time to get back to the states."
"Or what if he is just like all the other asshole men out there and was using you for sex, Gabi. You slept with him, didn't you? Isn't that why you let your guard down?"
Anger raced through my veins. "I didn't let my guard down! I told you I didn't know they were going to take a picture of me and post it in the paper!"
He frowned. "You pulled out of the state competition, right?"
"Of course I did," I bit back.
"Still. Of all the people to date, a damn cop. What if he tried to pull you up or do a background check?"
I flopped onto the sofa and laughed. "Seriously? Paranoid much?"
His eyes lifted to mine. "It's my job to be paranoid."
Picking up my phone, I checked it again for any voicemails or texts.
Nothing.
I stood and started to pace. I refused to believe that Nic would use me. When he looked into my eyes and told me he loved me, I believed him.
Antonio's phone beeped. He opened up a message and frowned.
"What? What is it?"