“Get the fuck out!” She pushed me, screaming, again and again, shoving me with her fists. “NOW!”
I tried to stop her, to take her in my arms until she calmed down, but she wouldn’t. Her screaming became hysterical, and I feared something bad might happen to her. I had to step out, my heart in pieces, unable to even be there for the woman I loved when she needed me the most. Who was going to take care of her now? She was all alone about to lose everything because of me.
I might have not been Fletcher’s spy, but someone must have been. And if I hadn’t been in her life, maybe he wouldn’t have tried so hard to hurt her, and she wouldn’t have told anyone the secret that was going to ruin her.
Why couldn’t I protect the people I loved? Priscilla, Emilia and now Gabi.
There must be something I could do to save her. To save us.
I’d no longer be the guy who fell head over heels, and then got his heart broken when the girl was snatched away from him by a motherfucker like Larvin or Fletcher. I wouldn’t be the guy who always stayed away when things got rough, running from the pain.
I couldn’t lose Gabi. This couldn’t be over. Not like this.
My phone vibrated in my pocket. It was Mattia. “Buongiorno.”
“Fabio, how fast can you come to Chicago?” Her voice was so grim I thought someone died.
“What happened?”
“It’s Emilia. We can’t find her anywhere.”
CHAPTER49
Gabrielle
When you hit rock bottom, thought you’d lost everything and pain came crashing over you like you were being cut to pieces like William Wallace inBraveheart, a sense of relief washed over you, and you wanted to scream, just like William, “FREEDOOOOM!”
At least, that was how I felt all the way to Fletcher’s office.
His winning smile received me as I walked in. He even leaned in for a peck on the cheek, marking me his with stomach turning conceit.
His office was twice as big as mine, and the rent for a corporate floor like Fletcher House in this building cost a fortune. His suit alone cost a Brighton’s employee salary.
Rich, handsome and asshole. I’d read and published so many books to know women melt their panties over being blackmailed by villains like him. But I wasn’t one of those women. I loved a different kind of book with a different kind of asshole.
“Welcome home, sweetheart,” he said.
“Home?”
“Of course. This is going to be your press, too, after the merger. And we’ll have a much nicer one all to ourselves to live in. You can decorate it however you like.”
“Thanks. When is the wedding?”
“The sooner the better. I can’t wait totopyou.”
“You’ve waited for whole three months to say that?”
“It was worth the wait.”
“I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait a little longer. All eternity longer.”
He cocked a brow. “Maybe you need to listen to my new favorite song again.”
“Listen, Fletcher. I’m not going to marry you. I don’t care if you tell the whole world or put me in jail. You and I are never happening,butI’ll give you Brighton in exchange for keeping my secret.”
He folded his arms across his chest and smirked, leaning back on his desk. “I’m not negotiating.”
“You’re always negotiating. You’re a businessman, and owning Brighton is a business deal you won’t turn down.”
