I move my hand under her soft hair, curving it against her neck. I can feel her pulse pounding against my palm. I hate that she’s upset. I hate those tears shining in her eyes even more.
“I have to, Babe. I don’t have a choice.”
“You do. We just tell Thomas that we truly love each other. He’ll understand.”
“He loves you, Gab. He will step aside, but if you don’t think for one minute that it wouldn’t gut him to see you with me every day, you’re fooling yourself.”
“Dom, you talk like he’ll never find someone else to love.”
“You’re not that easy to replace, Babe.”
“If I’m so special, why are you letting me go?” she says and more tears escape, sliding down her cheek.
I reach out to catch one of them, feeling as if my heart is breaking in two. This is not the way it was supposed to go. Thomas was supposed to move on once it was clear Gabby didn’t have feelings for him. He was supposed to find someone he could love, someone that would make him forget Gab and then finally, her and I could come out with our relationship.
I’ve waited for that, for three years. Three years I’ve been sneaking and seeing Gabby any spare moment I got, biding my time until I could claim her as my own. I waited as patiently as I could, pushing girls—both good and bad—Thomas’s way. Then everything changed two weeks ago.
Two weeks ago when Thomas walked into the garage at the clubhouse during Kayden’s wedding reception and found Gabby and I making out. That’s when everything became clear.
Crystal clear.
Thomas wasn’t going to get over Gabby. He loves her, probably as much as I do. I can’t claim Gabby like this. I can’t rip my brother apart. I have to step away. I have to give her up.
“I have to look out for him, Gab.”
“Bullshit.”
“Gab—”
“Don’t give me that, Dom. If you are breaking up with me, at least tell me the truth.”
“I am, damn it.”
“You’re breaking up with me because you’re constantly at the club now as a pledge. Hell, you live there. I’m not convenient anymore. You want your taste of club whores.”
“It’s not a damn fraternity, Gab. I’m not pledging. I’m working my ass off for the club as a prospect. I’ve got to prove myself to every fucking member of the crew. I’m not going to be handed the reins just because my old man is the President. They’re working me ten times fucking harder, giving me every shit job there is, because he is my old man.”
I’m so frustrated that she could even think this. I’ve tied myself into knots for years over her. If she thinks the club whores haven’t already been throwing themselves at me, she’s fooling herself. I haven’t touched them, haven’t touched anyone because Gabby is the only one I want.
“You can just—”
“And I don’t want a fucking club whore. I’ve never wanted anyone but you. You know that shit. Don’t you dare try and throw that shit in my face, Gabby.”
“I’m just supposed to believe you? The great Dominic West doesn’t lie, right?”
“Gabby—”
“What happened when you promised me that we’d face everything together, that it was you and me forever, Dom? Were you telling the truth then?”
“Damn it, Gabby.”
“Just forget it,” she says, the tears coming harder now. She pulls away from me and I let her go, my hand curling into a fist to prevent reaching out to grab her. “You just need to realize one thing, Dom.”
“Gabby, baby…” I start and then just stop because I don’t know what to say. I feel helpless.
Mostly because I am.
“You walk away from me now. If you insist on breaking up with me, when I walk out of those doors, you lose me.”
“Gabby—”
“You’re not just breaking up with me, Dom. You’re giving me away to another man.”
“Motherfucker, Gabby. I don’t want you even talking to another man—”
“Then, stop me.”
“Gabby…”
“Don’t do this,” she pleads.
“Damn it, Gabby. You have to understand,” I growl.
“Don’t do this, Dom!” she repeats. “Don’t give me away! Don’t break up with me.”
“I don’t have a choice, damn it. Don’t you understand?”
“You have a choice, Dom. You’re just making the wrong one,” she whispers, backing away from me.
“Gabby, please, baby, try and understand.”
“I love you Dom. I’m willing to tell my father, the one man in this world that I love as much as I love you, I’m willing to tell him to kiss my ass and that this is my life. I’m willing to do that for you.”
“It’s not the same, Gabby.”
“It’s exactly the same. Tell your brother that this is our lives we’re talking about and we love each other.”
I want to… God, I do. She makes it sound so simple… but, I saw Thomas’s face. I saw the pain. I heard him talking about her and I was there, after he found us together. I was there, trying to make him understand. I was there when for the first time in two years Thomas began stuttering with every breath.