“You and I both know I shouldn’t have fought Vic off like I did. And if I hadn’t, if I’d given you more time to talk to him, he might have realized that what he was doing was wrong.”
“No. You’re wrong.”
“It’s okay to admit it, Gabe. It’s okay to say the words out loud.” Heart racing, she offered him a sad, watery smile. “I’mthe reason we lost our baby.”
“The fuck you are!”
One second he was standing a few feet away, and the next, he was right there. His hands cupping her face in a gentle hold as a tear streaked down his rugged cheek.
“Victor Campbell stole our baby from us the second he put that gun to your head. That bastard did this to us, baby.Hedid it.”
His voice cracked on that last part, and despite her best efforts against it, twin tears fell from the corners of Ellena’s eyes.
“I know that, Gabriel. I just neededyouto see it, too.” She reached up, her thumb wiping his tear away. “Things happen, baby. I mean, look at what’s going on with me right now. Someone’s trying to kill me, and it has absolutely nothing to do with you.” Ellena stared into his eyes, willing him to see.
She knew the exact moment it happened. The second Gabe realized how mistaken he’d been, it was as if a wall came tumbling down. With it came more tears.
“Oh, God.” His hands slid from her face, and he stumbled back a few steps. “I fucked everything up. I…” His watery gaze rose back to hers. “Jesus, I fucked everything up.”
“You had really good intentions, but yeah. You fucked everything up.” Ellena gave him a little smile as she went to him. “Question now is, what are you going to do to fix it?
His dark brows scrunched together, the skin between them bunching with confusion. “What do you mean?”
“Well, you finally understand what I’ve known all along, so…I guess I’m wondering what happens now?”
“With what?”
God save me from hard-headed men.
“With us, Gabriel.” Ellena stopped when her socked toes touched the tip of his boots. “I’m asking, what’s going to happen with us.”
Still looking adorably taken off guard, he used one of his large hands to wipe his face dry. With a sniff, he said, “You filed for divorce, Elle. So that’s it, right?”
“You haven’t signed the papers, have you?”
“No.”
“Okay, so let’s look at our options. The way I see it, we have two.”
“Two?”
“Mmhmm.” She nodded. “Option one, you sign the papers, I give them to my lawyer, and we go our separate ways.”
His Adam’s apple bobbled up and down with an audible swallow. “And option two?”
“We tear them up and act like they never even existed.”
Ellena held her breath as she waited for him to respond. Her heart had never pounded so hard before in her life, and she was certain if he didn’t say something in the next two seconds, it would explode from her chest.
Thankfully he spoke up before that could happen.
“Compromise?”
Well it isn’t a screw you, so…
“Your offer?” she asked quietly, hating how shaky her voice sounded.
Gabe put his hands back to her face, sliding them against her flushed skin. “We burn the damn papers.”
