As I turned and walked back to the front to leave, I heard Gabriel’s voice mumbling from the back of the room with Joe’s. They were working on the security, probably doing a routine check.
Before he could see me, I ducked out the door and jumped onto the bike. As I hurried off, I noticed a large commercial truck was about to turn in. On the side was the Emma’s Taste of Heaven logo. I hurried off, hoping Gabriel wouldn’t come out to greet the truck and see me.
I’d made up my mind: Gabriel was too busy with things for me to disturb him. Too distracted with making his money to have time for anyone, which was why he hadn’t before me. I was the product of a weak moment, a slip in his routine, and one he’d soon remedy.
I decided it was time to leave. I’d call my dad and see if he could come get me. I couldn’t spend another day in that house – or another night in it without Gabe.
I stopped at the port and parked the bike before hurrying in through the patio and down the hallway to the stairs.
With any luck, Gabriel would be tied up with the truck that had arrived and I could have all of my things ready to go before he even noticed. I hadn’t unpacked too much since changing rooms, but I’d scattered my toiletries and makeup all over the counter in the bathroom while getting ready.
As I hurried to collect the things, I thought about Gabriel. He would be angry, but he’d get over it. Maybe somewhere on the other side of everything, we’d be friends. It wasn’t like I hated him, and I hoped he would understand.
He didn’t need me in the same way I needed him. He’d be fine. He’d go on with his company and find a suitable replacement for me. He’d have no problem with that. I knew plenty who would give their right arm for my job.
Besides, the whole relationship was off balance anyway. He was a billionaire with houses all over the world, a vineyard, and could have any woman he wanted. What would he want me for? It wasn’t as if I could give him anything he didn’t already have. I brought nothing to the table, except an overprotective father and a bossy best friend.
Everything else was by his grace to keep me employed. I was prepared to lose it, too, the house and my car, if I had to, just to stop this torture. That’s what it was to know someone didn’t love you the way you loved them. Torture.
I sat on my bed and stared at my phone. Then after a deep breath and a big dose of courage, I called my father. “Dad, I think it’s time I come home.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Gabriel
Joe and I had gone over inch of the house’s security feeds and couldn’t find anything out of place, but just to be safe, I had one of my ITs go back to check each connection. He’d been at the house all day, and I was in my office waiting for the all-clear at any moment.
“Things have worked smoothly; perhaps whatever it was is fixed. That one loose connector could have been the issue.” Joe wasn’t in the habit of soothing me, so I guessed I must have looked pretty ragged. I still hadn’t had any sleep and the day had me wore thin.
“Let’s hope. It’s a sad day when the owner of a billion-dollar security company has glitches.” I hoped it didn’t become an epidemic and strike my mainframe system. I’d had the stations call in with reports all day to be sure.
Aside from my problems with the security, Luna was still not talking to me and had stayed upstairs most of the day. I’d seen her out riding a bike, and
I assumed that was to cure her boredom. I imagined her relaxing upstairs with one of her books or curled up in front of my big screen. I’d shown her how to work the remote so she wouldn’t deprogram anything while trying to find a channel.
Once all of this was settled, I would go upstairs for a nice hot shower and see if she wanted to join me. We needed to talk. And, ever since she’d admitted her love, my desire had been to get inside her so I could claim her properly and tell her how I felt, too. I couldn’t wait for us to start a normal life together without all the drama that unraveled in Las Vegas and the simple thought of her beneath me had me hard.
Thank God I was sitting at my desk.
My phone rang and brought me to my other issue for the day: Kyle Johnson. Boner killer.
“How’s it going, Mason?” I’d been waiting on him to call back for hours.
“It’s going. Detective Hatcher said not to toot your own horn too hard. He claims that the boys in blue down at the good old LVPD were already onto this lead, but you sidetracked them with your information about Harbor.” The laughter in his voice was generous considering we both knew what a load of shit that was.
“Yeah, that’s why they questioned the wrong man. Did you tell him nice try?” There was no way they’d had their eye on someone they didn’t know existed, and since the LAPD were the ones who’d had the tip off about the car, I knew better.
“Nah, what’s the use? There’s no cure for his kind of arrogance. You’ll be in the clear before you know it.” A horn honked in the background, and he spat out a curse word.
I cringed thinking he might cause an accident. “Listen, man, let me go before you kill yourself or someone else.” After another curse, he ended the call. As my screen went dark, I placed the phone on my desk and stared at Joe, who glared down to his own mobile device like he wanted to throw it across the room.
“Bad news?”
My voice brought his head up and he frowned. “It’s the ex. Madison’s been sick for three days. She finally thought I should know.”
It was easy to forget the man had a family of his own because he spent more time with me than anyone else. “If you need to go, I understand.”
“No, she needs her rest. I’ll go tomorrow when we get everything cleared up here.” He was a good man and a great father. I’d hate to think of the poor bastard that tried to date his daughter.