Page 53 of Broken

“Did it hurt seeing her again?” she asks quietly, placing a sweet kiss against my chest.

“No.”

“King—”

“It didn’t. Some of her words …botheredme.”

“She’s a bitch, and I once was the queen bitch of bitches, so I feel fairly certain that I have the experience to give herthat label,” Gabby mumbles, squeezing me with her arms while kissing my chest once more.

“It stopped bothering me when you began taking up for me. Then Gabby, no joke, I was just grateful.”

“Grateful?” she asks, her forehead knitting adorably when she raises her hand to look up at me. “You think I’m crazy for how I feel about myself? Being grateful to her? That’s just insanity. You havenoreason whatsoever to feel grateful to that woman,” she huffs.

“That’s not exactly what I meant, but I also think you’re wrong,” I argue.

I feel her muscles tense up and I can feel her anger spread around us. I immediately begin sliding my hand up and down her back, trying to calm her down. I wonder if she realizes just how in tune we are with one another. I figure she doesn’t, but I’m going to bring it to her attention.

“We should change the subject,” she practically growls, letting me know she isreallynot happy. I’m kind of hoping she might be a little jealous, but I’m not going to bring that up. I have a feeling I won’t like the way she reacts if I do.

“I stopped letting her words bother me the minute you opened your sexy little mouth and defended me.”

“I—”

Pressing a finger against her lips and not letting her interrupt me, I continue. “And I figure I need to be grateful to her because if she hadn’t cut me loose, I would have never known.”

She stares at me. My finger moves from her lips to her chin, carefully caressing her there, drowning in her beautiful eyes that seem to change colors every single damn time I look at them. “Known what?” she finally asks.

“How it feels to really give my heart to a woman completely.”

Her eyes go big. I watch her eyebrows stretch, shock cover her face and it’s so quick that I would have missed it if I weren’tlooking, but I see the hunger and hope that flashes over her features.

“King …”

“You claimed me, Gabby.”

“I didn’t?—”

“Woman, we’re of the same world. You claimed me as your old man in every way that matters in that restaurant. I can’t allow you to go back, because baby, I’m all in here.”

“I don’t think?—”

I take her hand in mine, pressing them palm against palm. Our fingers stretch out before we lace them together. “I’m all in.”

“King,” she breathes.

“I don’t want to go anywhere else.”

“I—”

“I don’t want tobeanywhere else than where I am right now.”

“Honey,” she almost whimpers, and desire floods me. I like hearing her call me honey. Fuck, I just like her.

“When I look at you, Gabby, I see everything I want and need.”

“But I’m?—”

“You’re perfect.”

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