Everyone turned to look at me.
“She set us up!” Demetria yelled, and I had the urge to fly across the room and smack the shit out of her.
“Is it true, Nate? Were you stealing money from me?”
“Not just you, babe,” Gabe answered. “He was swindling money from producers and artists alike. Betting in underground fighting with his good friend Roger Wolcott. Too bad Roger died, causing Nate here to lose almost all of his money.”
“Is that why you want me to re-sign so badly with your label?” I asked Nate, but I didn’t need an answer. Of course that was why. He wanted to keep living off of me and my music. And he tried to use Gabe to blackmail me into doing it.
“Don’t ask me no fucking questions,” Nate yelled, spitting blood. “You set me up, bitch!”
I gasped in shock and horror as Gabriel landed a punch so vicious to Nate’s jaw that I was sure I heard bones cracking.
I stood there, caught between trying to tell Gabe to stop before he killed him and wanting to urge him to keep going.
“Get off of him,” Demetria screamed but was held back from intervening by Preston. I watched as Preston put some kind of move on Demetria that had her eyes closing and her body slumped.
“You don’t need to see this,” Joel said as he pulled me back into another room.
I was only scared for Gabe that he might get in trouble.
“That’s enough, boy,” Joel said as he left me and went back to where Gabe and the rest of the men were. “Time to call the authorities for what’s left of him.”
I was okay with whatever Gabriel had done to Nate, but I didn’t want to see it. Thankfully, minutes went by, and Gabe came in. His eyes were wild as he peered down at me.
“Is it over?” I asked.
His lips pinched. “For him it is.”
I lifted on my tiptoes and brought his face down for our lips to touch. Yeah, I had questions, but at that moment, all I wanted was that kiss.
I love you,” I said, breathless when I pulled away.
“I know,” he replied, pinning his forehead against mine. “I love you, too. You belong to me.”
“Every piece of me.”
“Let’s go the fuck home.”
* * *
That night,home turned out to be my condo in LA. Over the past six weeks the condo had come to feel like a prison cell, but that night, it was our sanctuary.
After he beat the hell out of Nate, Micah had called in a guy he knew at the FBI and divulged everything about Nate’s involvement in money laundering, illegal betting, and stealing money from his artists, including me.
That was after Micah had someone delete that video of Gabriel from Nate’s phone and wherever else he’d saved it. Demetria was involved with Nate’s schemes to a point and could face some jail time as well.
Even if she didn't, I already had my attorney preparing papers to sue her for millions for breaking our NDA. Never had I been so happy that I’d made her sign one when she first began working for me.
I canceled all of my scheduled interviews for the rest of the week. It may have been a disappointment to some fans and could tarnish my reputation a little, but my only concern that night was to get reacquainted with the man I loved.
“No,” I said, stopping Gabe from unbuttoning his shirt. “I want to do it.”
I missed him every second that we were separated, and I wanted to indulge in the feeling of undressing him.
“Cin, you’ve been gone from my bed for forty-four days,” he said low, his voice thick with need. “I’m not in the mood to be patient tonight.”
I giggled at the growl in his voice. “Please?” I asked before pressing a kiss to the center of his chest. Noticeable goosebumps rose on his skin, and my smile widened.
