They didn’t. They still hurt, whether I believed them in my heart or not. “I should have left him much sooner. There wouldn’t be any truth to his words if I had. Instead, I lived off of him even after I sensed things were over. And they should have been over.”
“You trusted him.”
I nodded. “He said he wanted me taking care of his home, that we’d have a family one day. I believed him. I honestly didn’t realize how he’d isolated me from everyone or the lengths he’d gone to in order to ensure I had no one. I was a showpiece when he needed one, a glorified maid and all-around useless female when he didn’t.”
It hurt to admit those truths, but it was freeing in a way too. I glanced at Gabe. “Thank you,” I whispered.
“For what?”
“For letting me go when I needed to. So I could come back when I wanted to. Even if you did set me up to get me here.” I couldn’t contain a smile.
“You were never really gone. Not from here.” He touched his chest, above his heart. “I didn’t expect to do this now,” he said, more to himself than to me.
“I don’t understand.”
He cupped his hand around the back of my neck, and I sighed into him. I always felt so good when he took hold of me this way. “I love you, Iz.”
I blinked, truly stunned. I’d hoped he did. It was everything I’d wanted him to say. Those three little words that set my heart soaring. “I love you too,” I whispered.
The harsh lines of his face softened at my words. Those intense blue eyes warmed as he slid his hands from my neck. He now framed my face as he lowered his head and kissed me. Slowly, intently, and lovingly, this kiss wasn’t all-consuming and hot, it wasn’t about need or want. The sweet slide of his lips over mine said more than words. He told me I was special, the center of his world.
And he was mine.
He broke the kiss, and I watched, speechless, as he reached into his pocket and pulled out a jewelry box. A small, ring-sized jewelry box.
He popped the top open. “Marry me,” he said. He didn’t ask.
I trembled all over. And here I’d thought I love you was the greatest phrase I’d ever heard. Marry me? Cherry on top of an awesomely layered cake.
“Yes.” I held out my shaking hand. I’d barely noticed the actual ring before he placed it on my finger. Nothing mattered but the meaning behind it.
Of course, when I really looked at the stone, the emerald shape covered my entire finger and then some. I couldn’t begin to guess at the carat size, nor did I want to. “It’s gorgeous,” I managed to breathe out.
He shook his head. “You’re gorgeous. It’s just a diamond.”
The tears that fell now were the good kind. The kind that indicated happiness and trust, that held the promise of the future I’d always dreamed of.
“I love you,” I said, feeling the emotion with everything inside me.
“You do, huh?”
“Yeah.”
“Then f**k the party,” he muttered and lifted me into his arms, starting for the bedroom with a determined stride.
I clasped my hands around his neck, but his words hadn’t escaped my notice. “Party?” I repeated.
“Ahh, hell,” he muttered. “My entire family and our friends are waiting at Elite. We’re already late.”
My heart began a steady pounding. “You arranged a surprise party for me?”
He inclined his head. “I was going to propose there.”
I clasped his cheeks and kissed him again, sliding my tongue inside his hot, waiting mouth, but it didn’t last long. Gabe broke the kiss, looked at me, and groaned. “We have to get to the club.”
I brushed my hands through his hair, feeling the soft strands beneath my fingertips. “I know.” Unable to help myself, I nipped the side of his jaw, feeling playful and pleased. I’d conquered my insecurity and fear—okay, well, I still had some work to do on those things—but my reward for trying was fantastic.
Gabe’s fingertips bit into my waist. “You’re testing my restraint, kitten. But if we’re going to attend this thing, we have to go.”
I nodded. “One sec.” I dabbed at his lips with my fingers, wiping off traces of my lipstick. “All better. You can let me go now.”
He shook his head. “Never ever again.”
I smiled because Gabe never said what he didn’t mean.
Chapter Nineteen
Gabe: Invitation to Eden
Gabe loved this island. There was the privacy—they were alone on a stretch of endless white sand and clear blue water. There was the mystery—his entire family and many friends were here for the opening of Elite, and yet there was no one around to hear or see a thing. And there was the view—his wife in a red bikini, showing off her luscious curves.
So much had changed in a short time. Trust between them had blossomed. When he’d rescued her from the police station, he’d thought she was the one who’d needed to let down her walls. In the time since, she’d showed him trust ran two ways. Together they were creating a life, in more ways than one.
He had someone to come home to at night, who made sure he didn’t get lost in work, not that he could with her waiting at the end of the day. He had an equal partner in day-to-day living. He shared his highs and the lows—to his surprise, Isabelle was interested in his business frustrations. Before her, he’d mull them over all night and return to them again in the morning. These days, they talked, he let his day go, and then he took her to bed.
He wouldn’t have thought interior design was his thing, but he enjoyed the stories she had about annoying clients and stubborn people. Most of all, he was proud of her successes, this club opening on Eden being the biggest of all.
For so long, he’d closed himself off to the possibility of love and a future because one woman had instilled him with fear and the possibility that he couldn’t be enough or do enough. With Isabelle, there was always more he wanted to give. It always gave him pleasure to do things for her, to take care of her in small but important ways.
Like making sure her bastard ex was fired from his job for attempting to poach clients and embezzling funds. Gabe hadn’t known what Daltry was up to, but a snake like Lance had to be doing something to regain his former golden boy status on Wall Street. All Gabe had had to do was hire a private detective and wait for the evidence, then let the bastard bury himself. Now the SOB was too busy trying to stay out of jail to think about anyone but himself.