Page 82 of Vengeful Lies

He hadn't lost her like he’d lost Gretel.

He still had a shot at convincing her he could be a good partner. One who would love and cherish her. Who would do anything to protect her. Who would make sure she never felt unworthy again.

It was a long shot but a shot nonetheless.

“What are you doing here?” she demanded as she continued walking toward the bed.

Her progress was so slow, and it looked like it was taking all the remaining strength she had left in her body just to walk across the six or so feet from the bathroom door to the bed.

When she wobbled precariously, he didn't think, just acted.

Cade was at her side before he even knew he’d moved, his arm around her waist, steadying her. Even though she felt so small in his hold, so very fragile, he soaked up the feel of her tiny body pressed against his.

There was every chance he could have stayed right where he was indefinitely, but Gabriella began to struggle in his hold, pushing away, so he reluctantly released his hold but remained close enough to catch her if she fell.

Shooting him an angry glare, she climbed onto the bed and pulled up the covers as though she needed a layer of protection.

It hurt to know that she felt like she needed to protect herself from him, but he couldn’t fault her for it. After all, he had been the one to hurt her even if he’d done it for what he believed to be both logical and noble reasons at the time.

Slowly, the glare slipped off her face and she dropped her gaze to her hands, which she tangled together on her lap. “I should thank you for allowing me to see Essie on her birthday yesterday. I appreciated it.” Drawing in a deep breath she lifted her face to meet his gaze. “Thank you.”

“Don’t thank me for that, Gabriella. Essie wanted to see you and I wanted you to see her, too.” When he went to reach for her, he realized halfway there that she didn't want his touch, so he let his hands hang for a second before dropping to hang limply at his sides. Then almost immediately, he lifted them again to rake them through his hair. “Look, Gabriella, we need to talk. I?—”

“No, Cade,” she interrupted. “I don’t want to talk now. I'm not ready.”

“I get that. I do. I just need you to know how sorry I am for hurting you.”

There was no anger left in her eyes as she met his gaze head on. More just sadness. A deep-rooted sadness he’d give anything to soothe away.

This mess might be one of his own creation, but that didn't make it any easier to deal with.

“I don’t know if an apology is enough, Cade,” she said softly. “I love Essie more than I love my own life. I thought you knew that. But you ripped her away from me when we needed each other the most. You th-threw me away like I was n-nothing,” her voice began to waver, and tears flooded her eyes.

“No, baby. You're not nothing. You're everything,” he growled. “Everything.”

“I don’t believe you, Cade,” she said dully. “I could understand you not having feelings for me because you still love your wife. But I never thought you would be cruel. Never thought you would hurt me.”

“I was trying to protect you. Trying to get you out of the danger my family is mired in so you didn't get hurt again.” His gaze landed on her chest. He knew beneath the oversized T-shirt she wore was the bite wound. One of those men had bitten her deeply enough that it would leave scars. A permanent reminder of her ordeal.

Of what he’d put her through.

“But I did get hurt again, Cade.Youhurt me.”

“Please, sweetheart, I'm sorry, I'm so sor?—”

“Just go, Cade. I can't do this with you right now. I just want you to go. It’s too hard seeing you.”

How could he make things better if she couldn’t even stand to be in the same room as him?

“Gabs? You okay?” Connor asked, appearing in the room with a box of Gabriella’s favorite donuts.

“I'm okay,” she answered, even though they all knew it was a lie.

“Cade?” Connor turned to him. There was empathy on his face, Connor more than any of them knew all about messing things up with the woman you loved.

But Connor had made things right, gotten his happy ever after. Looked like the chances of the same happening for him were slim to none.

“He was just leaving,” Gabriella answered for him.

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