Rush(115)

“Shhh, baby. This isn’t your fault. Goddamn it. It’s mine. I was stupid and careless and I didn’t protect you like I should have. None of this would have happened if I hadn’t been such a goddamn fool.”

“What will you do?” she asked in an aching voice.

Her face was blotchy and red, her eyes swollen from crying. She was pale and she looked ill. Anyone seeing her right now would think she’d been through the wringer.

He cupped her head against him, stroking her soft hair.

“I don’t want you to worry about that,” he murmured. “I will take care of the matter. You have my word on that.”

He slid his hand up her arm, over the dark bruises that bastard had put on her. Rage made him crazy. This was twice that Charles had frightened and intended to harm Mia. He was going to take the son of a bitch apart and ruin him beyond repair.

He kissed her hair and then carefully pulled her upright so that he could look into her eyes.

“Listen to me, okay? Freshen up in the bathroom here. Take as long as you need. I don’t want anyone to see you this way. It would raise a lot of questions and I don’t want anyone to see you so upset. As soon as you’re ready, I want you to go back to my apartment and stay there until I get home.”

Fear and concern flashed in her eyes.

“Where will you be?”

He put a finger to her lips, indulging in their velvety softness. He traced the bow of her mouth and then followed it with a brief kiss.

“I’m going to ensure that Charles Willis never threatens you again.”





chapter thirty-six



Gabe got out of the car on Lexington Avenue in front of the small office building that housed Charles Willis’s suite of offices, and he strode toward the entrance, his hands coiled into tight fists.

He’d bundled Mia into a car and sent her home after she’d ridded herself of all traces of upset, and after he’d asked her to describe the photos Charles had shown her in exacting detail.

Charles’s office was on the first floor, space he shared with another company because he wasn’t often in New York City. His worldwide construction company had many offices around the globe, but Gabe would never do business with the man again. If it weren’t for the fact that Charles’s company employed a lot of people—good people who depended on him to support their families—Gabe would utterly shut him down and run him out of business.

As it was, he’d never have anything personally or professionally to do with the man again.

Gabe strode past the startled receptionist and opened Charles’s door with a bang. Charles looked up, startled, from his desk and Gabe saw a hint of fear flash in the other man’s eyes before he rose to his feet and masked his features.

“Gabe,” he said in a cordial voice. “What can I do for you?”

Gabe slammed the door shut behind him and stared intently at Charles as he walked forward. He never lifted his gaze, and Charles was visibly uncomfortable with Gabe’s scrutiny.

“You fucked up this time, Charles,” Gabe said softly. “You touched what is mine. You put your hands on her. You hurt her. You frightened her. You threatened her.”

Charles battled his obvious panic and then arrogantly shrugged his shoulders. “She’s just another whore. What do you care?”

Gabe flew at him in rage, drawing back his fist. He punched the other man in the mouth, sending him reeling into the bookcase behind his desk. Charles’s hand flew to his mouth and when it came away, it was smeared with blood.

“I’ll have you arrested for assault!” Charles raged. “You can’t come in here and hit me!”

“You fucking piece of shit. You’re lucky I don’t kill you with my bare hands,” Gabe seethed out. “If you breathe in Mia’s direction again, I will ruin you. When I’m finished with you, you will have nothing. No credibility. No backing. No contracts. Nothing at all.”

Panic leached all the color from Charles’s face.

“I’ll go public with those photos!” he threatened, babbling out the words like an incoherent drunk.

Gabe went still, his nostrils flaring. “You do that, Charles. Make those photos public. I’ll have you charged with rape. It’s precisely what you tried to do to her, and those photos prove it. I don’t give a shit what it does to me or my reputation. But I won’t have Mia hurt or humiliated by you or anyone else. I’ll nail your ass to the wall and you’ll spend the next several years in prison being a fuck toy for your cell mate. If you don’t believe me, just try me.”

His voice was full of menace. And conviction. If Charles didn’t believe Gabe, he was a fool. Gabe had never been more serious in his life.