Rush (Breathless #1)(87)

Gabe doubled Charles over with a fist to his gut and then flattened him with another to Charles’s jaw.

Gabe loomed over him, murderous fury sizzling through his veins. “Get out. Get the f**k out of here and I better never see you again. I’ll f**king ruin you.”

He wanted nothing more than to beat the man to a pulp, but he had to see to Mia. Mia, whom he’d betrayed horribly. Mia, who had trusted him. Mia, whom he’d acted reprehensibly toward. All because he was a coward unable to face the truth of what she meant to him.

The other two men helped pick Charles up and they fled the suite, slamming the door behind them.

Gabe flew to Mia, dread weighing on him with suffocating force. Her lips and chin quivered and tears shone in her eyes. She looked scared and embarrassed. Shame shone bright in her tear-filled eyes and it gutted him.

And blood. God. There was blood where that bastard had hit her.

He knelt down to untie her hands, his fingers shaking as he fumbled with the knots. He pressed his mouth to her hair and her temple, kissing her over and over.

“I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. Oh God, Mia. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”

She was silent, and he wasn’t sure if it was because she was in shock over what had happened or if she was too pissed at him to speak. He couldn’t blame either reaction. This was all on him. He’d done this to her. He’d hurt her.

When she was free, he gathered her in his arms, pulling her off the table. He carried her into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed, still holding her tightly. She turned into his chest, burying her face against his neck. The shock of her hot tears on his skin ripped his heart right out of his chest.

God he was such a bastard. A complete and utter ass**le. He clutched her to him, desperation crawling up his spine and seizing him by the throat.

“I’m sorry, Mia. God, I’m so sorry.”

It was all he could say. Over and over. Panic hit him right in the gut. What if she walked away? He certainly couldn’t blame her. Hell, she should be running, not walking.

“Please, baby. Please don’t cry. I’m so sorry. It will never happen again. I shouldn’t have allowed it.”

He rocked her back and forth in his arms as she clung to him, her body still shaking. Whether it was fear, upset or anger, or a combination of the three he wasn’t sure. He deserved whatever she threw at him. He’d failed her utterly. He hadn’t protected her. He hadn’t taken care of her as he’d promised. All because he was trying to distance himself, trying to prove some stupid point to himself that he didn’t need her.

It was such a lie. He did need her. She was his obsession, his fix, a craving that went soul deep. Never had he felt such an overwhelming, fierce possessiveness as when another man put his hands on what Gabe considered his. But he hadn’t treated her like she was his. He’d treated her like she was a thing. A toy, not a woman he cared about.

He stroked his hands down her trembling back. She was shaking harder now and he was desperate to comfort her, to offer her what he hadn’t given her before.

She clutched at his shoulders and tried to pull away, but he held her fiercely, afraid to let any space between them. He had to touch her, had to feel her in his arms. He was afraid if he let her go, he’d never get her back.

“I want a shower,” she choked out. “Please, I need it. I just want to be clean. He…touched me.”

Desolation swept through Gabe like a winter storm, cold and stark. Of course she felt violated. Not only by Charles, but also by him. He’d given her the ultimate betrayal in allowing this to happen. He’d not only allowed it, he’d encouraged it. How the hell could he ever get past something like this? How could she?

“Let me go start it,” he said, wiping her hair from her face.

Her cheeks were damp with tears, and her eyes were wounded as she stared back at him. Blood still oozed from the corner of her mouth. Then she looked away, unable to meet his gaze, and his stomach dropped.

“Stay right here, baby. I’ll go start it and then you can take your shower.”

He backed away from the bed, his instincts screaming not to let her go even for the moment it took to start the water running. His chest felt empty and panic clawed at his throat. Never had he experienced such emotional devastation. It unhinged him. Made him crazy.

Not when Lisa had walked out on their marriage. Not when she’d smeared him in the media and spouted her lies. Nothing had even come close to this and the fear that had him in its vicious hold.

He hurried to the bathroom and turned on the shower, testing the water until it was the right temperature. He pulled out a bathrobe and a towel, his haste making him clumsy. He cursed when the towel fell off the counter, and he bent to pick it up, folding it back up and making sure it was within reach of the shower.

He went back into the bedroom to find Mia sitting on the edge of the bed, her legs drawn protectively to her chest. She hugged her knees to her chin, her face down, her hair spilling down her legs. She looked so damn vulnerable that Gabe wanted to die on the spot.

He’d done this to her. Not Charles. Not some other man. He had done it. There was no getting around that fact.

He touched her shoulder, allowing his fingers to twine in her silky hair. “Mia, baby, the shower is ready.” He hesitated before he said the rest, worried that she’d reject him, knowing he deserved it if she did. “Do you want me to help you?”