As Raúl pulled the Benz up to the curb, I marveled at the distinctive sapphire blue glass that encased the obelisk shape of the Crossfire. My head tilted back, my gaze sliding up the shimmering height to the point at the top, the light-drenched space that housed Cross Industries. Pedestrians surged around me, the sidewalk teeming with businessmen and -women heading to work with briefcases and totes in one hand and steaming cups of coffee in the other.
I felt Gideon before I saw him, my entire body humming with awareness as he stepped out of the Bentley, which had pulled up behind the Benz. The air around me charged with electricity, the crackling energy that always heralded the approach of a storm.
I was among the few who knew it was the restlessness of Gideon’s tormented soul that powered the tempest.
Turning to him, I smiled. It was no coincidence that we’d arrived at the same time. I knew that before I saw the confirmation in his eyes.
He wore a charcoal suit with a white shirt and silver twill tie. His dark hair brushed his jaw and collar in a sexy, rakish fall of inky strands. He still looked at me with the hot sexual ferocity that first scorched me, but there was tenderness in the brilliant blue now and an openness that meant more to me than anything else he could ever give me.
I stepped toward him as he approached. “Good morning, Dark and Dangerous.”
His lips curved wryly. Amusement warmed his gaze further. “Good morning, wife.”
I reached for his hand, felt settled when he met me halfway and gripped mine firmly. “I told my mother this morning … about us being married.”
One dark brow arched in surprise, and then his smile curved into one of triumphant pleasure. “Good.”
Laughing at his unabashed possessiveness, I gave him a soft shove to the shoulder. He moved lightning quick, catching me close and kissing the corner of my smiling mouth.
His joy was infectious. I felt it bursting inside me, lighting up all the places that had been so dark the past few days. “I’m going to call my dad at my first break. Let him know.”
He sobered. “Why now, and not before?”
He spoke softly, his voice pitched low for privacy. The office-bound crowd continued to flow by, paying very little attention to us. Still, I hesitated to answer, feeling too exposed.
Then … the truth came easier than it ever had. I’d been hiding so many things from the people I loved. Little things, big things. Trying to maintain the status quo, while also hoping for and needing change.
“I was afraid,” I told him.
He stepped closer, his gaze intense. “And now you’re not.”
“No.”
“You’ll tell me why tonight.”
I nodded. “I’ll tell you.”
His hand curved around my nape, the hold possessive and tender at once. His face was impassive, giving nothing away, but his eyes … those blue, blue eyes … they raged with emotion. “We’re going to make it, angel.”
Love slid warmly through me like the buzz of a fine wine. “Damn straight.”
It was strange walking through the doors of Waters Field & Leaman, mentally counting down the number of days I’d be able to claim I worked at the prestigious advertising agency. Megumi Kaba waved from behind her reception desk, tapping her headset to let me know she was on a call and couldn’t talk. I waved back and headed toward my own desk with a determined stride. I had a lot to get done, a new start to get rolling.
But first things first. I dropped my purse and bag into the bottom drawer, then settled in my chair and surfed to my usual florist’s website. I knew what I wanted. Two dozen white roses in a deep red crystal vase.
White for purity. For friendship. For eternal love. It was also the flag of surrender. I’d drawn battle lines by forcing a separation between Gideon and me, and in the end, I had won. But I didn’t want to war with my husband.
I didn’t even try to come up with a clever tie-in note for the flowers, like I’d done in the past. I just wrote from the heart.
You are miraculous, Mr. Cross.
I cherish you and love you so much.
Mrs. Cross
The website prompted me to finalize the order. I clicked submit and took a moment to imagine what Gideon would think of my gift. One day, I hoped to watch him receive flowers from me. Did he smile when his secretary, Scott, brought them in? Did he stop whatever meeting he was commanding to read my notes? Or did he wait until one of the rare lulls in his schedule for privacy?
My mouth curved as I considered the possibilities. I loved giving Gideon gifts.
And soon I’d have more time to pick them out.
“You’re quitting?”
Mark Garrity’s incredulous gaze lifted from my resignation letter and met mine.
My stomach knotted at the expression on my boss’s face. “Yes. I’m sorry I can’t give more notice.”
“Tomorrow is your last day?” He leaned back in his chair. His eyes were a warm chocolate shades lighter than his skin, and they registered both surprise and dismay. “Why, Eva?”
Sighing, I leaned forward, setting my elbows on my knees. Yet again, I went with the truth. “I know it’s unprofessional to cut out like this, but … I’ve got to rearrange my priorities and right now …. I just can’t give this my full attention, Mark. I’m sorry.”
“I …” He blew out his breath and ran a hand over his dark, tight curls. “Hell … What can I say?”
“That you’ll forgive me and won’t hold it against me?” I huffed out a humorless laugh. “It’s asking a lot, I know.”
He managed a wry smile. “I hate to lose you, Eva, you know that. I’m not sure I’ve ever really expressed how much you’ve contributed. You make me work better.”
“Thank you, Mark. I appreciate that.” God, this was harder than I thought it would be, even knowing it was the best and only decision I could make.
My gaze went beyond my handsome boss to the view behind him. As a junior account manager, he had a small office and his view was blocked by the building across the street, but it was still as quintessentially New York as Gideon Cross’s sprawling office on the top floor above us.
In a lot of ways, that division of floors mirrored the way I’d tried to define my relationship with Gideon. I knew who he was. Knew what he was: a man in a class by himself. I loved that about him and didn’t want him to change; I just wanted to climb to his level on my own merits. What I hadn’t considered was that by stubbornly refusing to accept that our marriage changed the plan, I was pulling him down to mine.
I wouldn’t be known for earning my way to the top of my field. For some people, I would always have married into success. And I was just going to have to live with it.
“So, where are you going from here?” Mark asked.
“Honestly … I’m still figuring that out. I just know I can’t stay.”
My marriage could only take so much pressure before it broke, and I had allowed it to slide to a dangerous edge, trying to find some distance. Trying to put myself first.
Gideon Cross was as deep and vast as the ocean, and I had feared drowning in him from the moment I first saw him. I couldn’t be afraid of that anymore. Not after realizing that what I feared more was losing him.
By trying to stay neutral, I’d been shoved from side to side. And as pissed off as I’d been about that, I hadn’t taken the time to comprehend that if I wanted control, I just had to take it.
“Because of the LanCorp account?” Mark asked.
“In part.” I smoothed my pinstriped pencil skirt, mentally brushing away the lingering resentment over Gideon’s hiring of Mark. The catalyst had been LanCorp coming to Waters Field & Leaman with a specific request for Mark—and therefore me—a maneuver Gideon viewed with suspicion. Geoffrey Cross’s Ponzi scheme had decimated the Landon family fortune, and while both Ryan Landon and Gideon had rebuilt what their fathers had lost, Landon still hungered for revenge. “But mostly for personal reasons.”
Straightening, he set his elbows on the desk
and leaned toward me. “It’s none of my business and I won’t pry, but you know Steven, Shawna, and I are all here for you, if you need us. We care about you.”
His earnestness made my eyes sting with tears. His fiancé, Steven Ellison, and Steven’s sister, Shawna, had become dear to me in the months I’d been in New York, part of the new network of friends I had built in my new life. No matter what, I didn’t want to lose them.
“I know.” I smiled through my sorrow. “If I need you, I’ll call, I promise. But it’s all going to work out for the best. For all of us.”
Mark relaxed and returned my smile. “Steven’s going to flip. Maybe I should make you tell him.”
Thinking of the burly, gregarious contractor chased any sadness away. Steven would give me a hard time for bailing out on his partner, but he’d do it with a good heart. “Aw, come on,” I teased back. “You wouldn’t do that to me, would you? This is hard enough as it is.”
“I’m not opposed to making it harder.”
I laughed. Yeah, I was going to miss Mark and my job. A lot.
When my first break came around, it was still early in Oceanside, California, so I texted my dad instead of calling.
Let me know when you’re up, k? Need to tell you something. And since I knew that being a cop as well as a father made Victor Reyes a worrier, I added, Nothing bad, just some news.
I’d barely set my phone down on the break room counter to get a cup of coffee when it started ringing. My dad’s handsome face lit up the screen, his photo showing off the gray eyes I had inherited from him.
I was suddenly struck with a case of nerves. When I reached for my phone, my hand was shaking. I loved both of my parents a lot, but I’d always thought that my dad felt things more deeply than my mother. And while my mother never hesitated to point out the ways I could fix my flaws, my dad didn’t seem to realize I had any. Disappointing him … hurting him … it was brutal to think of it.
“Hey, Dad. How are you?”
“That’s my question, sweetheart. I’m doing the same as usual. How ’bout you? What’s going on?”
I moved over to the nearest table and took a chair to help myself calm down. “I told you it wasn’t bad and you still sound worried. Did I wake you up?”
“It’s my job to worry,” he said, with warm amusement in his deep voice. “And I was gearing up for a run before I head in for the day, so no, you didn’t wake me. Tell me what your news is.”
“Uh …” Choked by tears, I swallowed hard. “Jesus, this is tougher than I thought it would be. I told Gideon it was Mom I was worried about, that you’d be okay with it, and here I am trying to—”
“Eva.”
I took a deep breath. “Gideon and I eloped.”
The line went eerily quiet.
“Dad?”
“When?” The scratch in his voice killed me.
“A couple weeks ago.”
“Before you came to see me?”
I cleared my throat. “Yes.”
Silence.
Ah, God. Totally brutal. Only weeks ago I’d told him about Nathan’s abuse and that nearly broke him. Now this …
“Dad—You’re freaking me out. We were on this island and it was beautiful, so beautiful. The resort we were staying at does weddings all the time, they make it easy … like Las Vegas. There’s a full-time officiant and someone who handles the licenses. It was just a perfect moment, you know. The perfect opportunity.” My voice cracked. “Dad … please say something.”
“I … I don’t know what to say.”
A hot tear slid down my face. Mom had chosen wealth over love, and Gideon was a prime example of the type of man my mother had picked instead of my dad. I knew that created a bias my father had to overcome, and now we had this hurdle.
“We’re still having a wedding,” I told him. “We want our friends and family with us when we say our vows ….”
“That’s what I was expecting, Eva.” He growled. “Damn it. I feel like Cross just stole something from me! I’m supposed to give you away, I was working up to that, and he just runs off and takes you? And you didn’t tell me? You were here, in my house, and you didn’t say anything to me? It hurts, Eva. It hurts.”
There was no way to stop the tears after that. They came in a hot flood, blurring my vision and closing my throat.
I jolted when the door to the break room opened and Will Granger walked in. “She’s probably in here,” my colleague said. “And there she—”
His voice trailed off when he saw my face, his eyes losing their smile behind his rectangular glasses.
A darkly clad arm shot in and brushed him aside.
Gideon. He filled the doorway, his eyes zeroing in on me and chilling to arctic. He was suddenly like an avenging angel, his fine suit making him look both capable and dangerous, his face hardened into a beautiful mask.
I blinked, my brain trying to process how and why he was there. Before it did, he was in front of me and my phone was in his hand, his gaze dropping to the screen before he lifted it to his ear.
“Victor.” My father’s name came out as a warning. “You seem to have upset Eva, so you’ll be talking to me now.”
Will backed out and shut the door.
Despite the cutting edge to Gideon’s words, the fingertips that brushed my cheek were infinitely gentle. His gaze was focused on me, the blue filled with icy fury that nearly made me shiver.
Holy fuck, was Gideon angry. And so was my dad. I could hear him shouting from where I sat.
I caught Gideon’s wrist, shaking my head, suddenly panicked that the two men I loved most would end up disliking—maybe even hating—each other.
“It’s okay,” I whispered. “I’m okay.”
His gaze narrowed and he mouthed, No, it’s not.
When he spoke to my father again, Gideon’s voice was firm and controlled—and all the more scary because of it. “You’ve got a right to be angry, and hurt, I’ll give you that. But I won’t have my wife twisted up over this …. No, obviously without children of my own, I can’t imagine.”
I strained to hear, hoping that reduction in volume meant my dad was calming down instead of getting more worked up.
Gideon stiffened suddenly, his hand dropping away from me. “No, I wouldn’t be happy about it if my sister eloped. That said, she’s not the one I’d take it out on ….”
I winced. My husband and my father had that in common: They were both incredibly protective of those they loved.
“I’m available anytime, Victor. I’ll even come to you, if that’s what you need. When I married your daughter, I accepted full responsibility for both her and her happiness. If there are consequences to be faced, I have no problem facing them.”
His gaze narrowed as he listened.
Then Gideon took the seat opposite me, set the phone on the table, and turned on the speaker.
My dad’s voice filled the air. “Eva?”
I took a deep, shaky breath and squeezed the hand Gideon held out to me. “Yeah, I’m here, Dad.”
“Sweetheart …” He took a deep breath, too. “Don’t be upset, okay? I’m just … I need to let this sink in. I wasn’t expecting this and … I’ve got to put it together in my head. Can we talk later tonight? When I get off my shift?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Good.” He paused.
“I love you, Daddy.” The sound of my tears came through my voice and Gideon slid his chair closer, his thighs bracketing mine. It was amazing how much strength I drew from him, what a relief it was to have him to lean on. It was different from having Cary’s support. My best friend was a sounding board, cheerleader, and ass kicker. Gideon was a shield.
And I had to be strong enough to admit when I needed one.
“I love you, too, baby,” my dad said, with an aching note of pain and grief that stabbed me in the heart. “I’ll call you later.”
“Okay. I—” What else could I say? I was at a loss for how to fix things. “Bye.”
&
nbsp; Gideon killed the call, then took my trembling hands in his. His eyes were locked on me, the ice melting into tenderness. “You will not be ashamed, Eva. Is that clear?”
I nodded. “I’m not.”
He cupped my face, his thumbs brushing away my tears. “I can’t bear to see you cry, angel.”
I forced back the lingering heartache, shoving it into a corner where I would deal with it later. “Why are you here? How did you know?”
“I came to thank you for the flowers,” he murmured.
“Oh. Do you like them?” I managed a smile. “I wanted to make you think of me.”
“All the time. Every minute.” He caught my hips and tugged me closer.
“You could’ve just sent a note.”
“Ah.” His ghost of a smile made my pulse skip. “But that wouldn’t cover this.”
Gideon pulled me into his lap and kissed me senseless.
We still heading home tonight? Cary texted as I waited for the elevator to take me back down to the lobby at noon. My mom was already waiting for me there and I was trying to pull my thoughts together. We had a lot of ground to cover.
God, I was hoping she could help me deal with it all.
That’s the plan, I replied to my beloved pain-in-the-ass-sometimes roommate, typing as I stepped into the car. I have an appt. after work, though, then dinner with Gideon. Might be late.
Dinner? U have to catch me up.
I smiled. Of course.
Trey called.
I exhaled in a rush, as if I’d been holding my breath. I guess in a way I had been.
I couldn’t blame Cary’s on-again, off-again boyfriend for taking a big step back when he’d learned that Cary’s booty-call girl was pregnant. Trey had already been struggling with Cary’s bisexuality, and now a baby meant there would always be a third person in their relationship.
There was no question that Cary should have committed to Trey sooner, instead of keeping his options open, but I understood the fear behind Cary’s actions. I knew all too well the thoughts that ran through your mind when you’d survived the things Cary and I had, yet still somehow found yourself faced with an amazing person who loved you.