Rush (Breathless #1)(109)

Halfway there she turned to see Gabe staring at her, that distant, vacant expression on his face, and it just pissed her off all the more.

She wiped at the tears trailing down her cheeks and then she lifted her chin, determined she wouldn’t shed another single tear over him. She’d thought he was worth it. Her pride. Everything. She was wrong.

“If you ever wake up and see the light and decide you want me back? You’re going to have to crawl.”

This time she turned and pulled free of Jace’s and Ash’s grasps. She walked away by her own choice and got into the elevator, not even looking back as the doors closed behind her.

She looked down, horrified that she was clad in only the robe Ash had wrapped her in.

“Don’t worry, Mia,” Jace said in a soothing voice. “I’ll have the car pull up to the very front. Ash and I will flank you and we’ll get out to the car quickly. I’ll take you to my place.”

She shook her head. “I want to go home. To my apartment.”

Ash and Jace exchanged quick, worried glances.

When the elevator opened, Jace stalked out, leaving Ash and Mia to follow at a slower pace. By the time they got to the exit, Jace was already back, and as promised, he and Ash hovered so closely around her that it was hard to see who she was or what she was wearing.

They surrounded her as she got into the car and then they quickly climbed in and shut the door behind them.

To Mia’s relief, Jace supplied her address for the driver to take them to her apartment.

“How long has this been going on?” Jace demanded.

“That’s none of your business,” Mia said stonily.

Jace’s expression grew stormy. “The hell it isn’t. That son of a bitch abused you and took advantage of you.”

“Oh for f**k’s sake. He did not. It was a completely consensual relationship, Jace. Get off your holier-than-thou pulpit for a minute. He didn’t do a damn thing that I didn’t want. He was very clear as to what I was agreeing to when we started this relationship. All that bullshit you spouted was crap. I’m an adult whether you want to believe that or not. An adult who knows exactly what she wants, and I wanted Gabe.”

“I can’t believe he did this. I can’t believe he’d want you to think this was normal. What about when you move on to someone else and start looking for the same kind of crap? What if you hook up with some loser who mistreats and abuses you?”

Mia rolled her eyes, irritation seizing her. “You’re both such flaming hypocrites.”

Ash blinked in surprise at being included in her insult.

“Do you want your women thinking it’s normal to be f**king the same two guys, or that you two always want to share the same woman? What about their expectations? What happens when they move on to another relationship? Are they supposed to think it’s okay for two men to want to f**k her at the same time?”

“Jesus Christ, Mia. Where the hell did you hear all of that?” Ash demanded.

She shrugged. “It’s pretty common knowledge around the office. And after the night we had dinner together and the brunette’s claws came out, it was pretty much confirmed.”

“We aren’t talking about me and Ash,” Jace growled. “We’re talking about you and Gabe. He’s fourteen years older than you, Mia. He has every woman he’s with sign a goddamn contract. Is that the kind of relationship you want? Don’t you think you deserve better?”

“Damn right I deserve better,” she said softly, hurt and betrayal crowding in so tight that it was suffocating. Each breath hurt. Every breath felt like she was dying. And she was on the inside. Never had she felt pain like this. It was shattering. She could feel herself breaking into tiny pieces.

She clutched the robe tighter around her body and her lips quivered as she stared at her brother and Ash.

“I deserve a man who will stand up and fight for me, a man who will always have my back. Gabe did none of those things. We were planning to tell you about our relationship when you got back this week. Ironic isn’t it? I wonder how different things would have been if we’d been able to tell you on our terms instead of you bursting into his apartment like that. I guess I’ll never know now.”

Ash looked chagrined, and he grimaced. Jace just looked pissed.

She laughed bitterly. “I guess I’ll be looking for other employment now. Too bad, because I really enjoyed my job.”

“You can work for me,” Jace said tightly. “It’s what you should have done from the beginning.”

She shook her head vehemently. “Oh hell no. I’m not setting foot into HCM. I’m not going to torture myself on a daily basis by having to see Gabe.”

“What will you do then?” Ash asked gently.

Her lips thinned and bitterness crawled into her chest. “I don’t know right now. I guess I have plenty of time to figure it out.”

Chapter thirty-nine

When Mia entered her apartment in just a robe with Ash and Jace both hovering protectively around her, Caroline hurried forward, a worried expression on her face.

“Mia? What happened? Are you all right?”

Mia hugged her friend and to her horror burst into tears, no longer able to maintain her composure.

Caroline held her fiercely and then lit into Ash and Jace, demanding to know what they’d done to her.