Page 137 of The Wrong Side of the Law

“No, you don’t!” I’m starting to cry again, in earnest this time. “You’ve missed the biggest piece of this whole thing!”

“What’s that, then?” Gabriel’s broad shoulders are set in a stiff line, as if he’s expecting me to throw something at him.

“Why do you think I’m leaving Point Lookout? Why do you think I’m selling my home, trying to make a clean break and start over somewhere else? Why do you think I’m crying right now for God’s sake?”

He turns back now, finally, after a long moment of thought.

“Because I hurt you. Because you don’t want to be around the reminders of…”

“You arrogant asshole! How can you be so completely dense!”

Gabriel’s mouth gapes open in confusion.

“Gabriel, if Ilovedyou, past tense, then this wouldn’t matter. If Ilovedyou, again, note the past tense, then I wouldn’t be trying to run away from you. Because it wouldn’t matter, and I wouldn’t hurt like this.”

His eyebrows come together, forehead crinkling as he parses what I said. I can see the exact moment when comprehension sets in.

“I am an idiot.”

“I’m not running away fromyou.” I stand up, walking toward him as I speak. “I’m running away fromme. From how much I want you. From how much I need you.”

Stopping in front of him, bare inches between us, I lay my hands flat on his chest and look up into his eyes.

“And from how much I still love you,” I whisper. “Present tense.”

The goosebumps are back, and butterflies have started a mosh pit in my belly. I’ve missed the feel of his broad chest under my hands.

“I have no right to ask you to stay,” he begins.

“No, you don’t,” I interrupt. “But I’ll let you get away with it. This time.”

“Would you?”

“Would I what?”

“Would you stay?” There’s hope in his eyes now. “Would you stay here? With me?”

“Why should I?” My hands slide up his chest, over his shoulders and around to the back of his neck.

“Because I love you.”

“Prove it,” I whisper, pulling his head down to kiss.

Long before our lips part, the frozen core of hurt and anger inside me has melted away leaving a warm, soft glow in its wake.

“I’ve missed you,” I sigh, resting my face against his shoulder. “I’ve missed this. I’ve missedus.”

“Yeah, me too.” His hands are at the small of my back, making gentle circles.

“Oh! I almost forgot!” Why did I think of the USB drive right now? I push away from Gabriel, grabbing him by the hand and pulling him toward the stairs. “I have something for you in my bedroom.”

“Something for me? In your bedroom? I like where this might be going.”

I stop halfway up the stairs and turn to glare at him.

“No, it’s a video. A surveillance video. Of Ferry, and he’s confessing to framing Frank. It’s on a USB stick which islocatedin my bedroom. I didn’t mean, y’know,that.”

Well, maybe. There is a bed there, and I have missed him, after all.

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