“Adrian, I…”
Gabrielle paused halfway through the doorway, her mouth falling open as she took in his bleeding hand.
“Adrian!”
She moved closer to him, taking his hand in hers, and inspecting the wound before leaving him to get the first aid kit he hadn’t even known he’d had in his office.
He watched her pick out the glass that was already closing in with the wound, his mind numb as he watched her tend to his wound.
One sister had hurt him while another looked after him. It was almost poetic. He wished that he could just hate Ava and be done with it. That he would just choose to not give her so much power over his thoughts and he would let go of her.
He wished that she would not affect him so much. So much that he couldn’t think straight. She shouldn’t have been so difficult to resist when they had been in bed together. She had cheated on him and broken his trust just like her sister.
He should not have wanted to capture Ava’s lips with his and make her his. He shouldn’t have wanted to ruin her for anyone else. He should have been repulsed by her not hanging on to his control by a thread.
“Goddess Adrian, what were you thinking?”
Gabrielle looked up at him after all the glass was removed and his wound had begun to heal.
He removed his hand from her grasp and pushed back his chair.
“Why are you here, Gabrielle?”
She looked at his hand and then back at him.
“I wanted to ask how Ava was doing.”
“She will be fine once it is over.”
His words were curt. He didn’t care much for this conversation.
“Oh. Can I see her?”
“No. I’ll inform your parents when she is fit enough to have visitors.”
Ava was so out of it that she probably wouldn’t even notice that they were in the same room with her.
“Alright.” Gabrielle moved to leave then hesitated.
“Adrian.” He looked at her, her short blond hair was tucked behind her ears and her face was slightly red as though she had been crying.
“Isn’t it funny how you always end up leaving me at the altar for my sister?”
The question was so unexpected that for a minute, all he did was stare at her blankly.
Right. He’d known the change in Gabrielle had been too good to be true. How could she have forgiven Ava if she still felt that Ava had stolen him from her?
“I don’t know what you want me to say to that, Gabrielle.”
She laughed softly, her voice almost a quiet sob.
“Nothing. You can’t tell me anything comforting. That would be too much to expect from you at this point, Adrian. When you broke my heart steadily for two years, all I did was take it. The craziest thing is you never apologised to me for any of it after mating with Ava.”
Gabrielle walked towards him as she spoke, her steps light and almost soundless.
“Ava told me about it, you know. The affair with that wolf you killed.”
His eyes darkened as his temper flared.
“She told me it was nothing serious. Ava could never bring herself to truly commit to you after everything, she is that loyal to her family, I guess. She just wanted to let go for a night and you went ahead to kill the poor wolf in a fit of jealousy.”
Gabrielle tsked looking infinitely amused yet Adrian could have sworn he saw a shadow of hurt flicker in her eyes.
“Turnabout is fair play. Then I wondered. You, who practically threw away our relationship because of one mistake that I made, refused to do anything when Ava did the same. Was it because I’m not your real mate? What happened to all the times you would say that didn’t matter between us?”
Adrian stood up from his chair and closed the distance between them. Gabrielle refused to back away, she just tipped her head back to stare at him.
“Did it amuse you, Gabrielle? To know that your sister was putting me through the same thing you did?” His temper flared so hot that he saw red. All the while that he had been struggling with his feelings for her, Ava had been laughing at him behind his back with Gabrielle of all people.
Maybe he deserved it for the way he had treated Gabrielle for the past two years. It no longer mattered that Gabrielle could possibly have been pretending all the while to get them to lower their guard. He felt tired. So tired of everything.
“You know what, I’m not going to discuss my issues with my mate with you. You should leave.”
“That’s what you always want me to do. Leave. To think a few hours ago you almost chose me to be your consort. Once Ava gets better, you will have to do it again. I wonder if you will be so repulsed by me when we have sex to give you the heir you need.”
Gabrielle stepped right into his personal space placing her hands on his chest and moving them up to his shoulders, her breath quickening.
“The craziest part is even though I know you will see it as an obligation, I won’t. I’ll wait for you every day, I’ll replay every interaction we have in my head while waiting for you. Because that’s how much I love you. I always have and I don’t think I know how to stop.”
She began to lean in.
“Gabrielle.”
She paused.
“It’s nothing we won’t do in a few days anyway.”
Then she kissed him.
He remained still not because he forced himself to but because he simply couldn’t summon a reaction to her.
Gabrielle pulled away, tears glittering in her eyes.
“So you could fuck all those women who don’t even matter to you but you can’t even kiss me. You are one heartless bastard, Adrian.”
She moved to leave but he pulled her back by her arm.
“If you wanted a kiss. All you had to do was ask.”
Adrian kissed her. He felt her sharp intake of breath, felt her fist his shirt needingly. He felt nothing as she opened her mouth to him eagerly.