Page 25 of Mine to Love
“Come back here and you’ll have more than my mother to deal with and it won’t be pretty,” Miles said.
“Are you threatening me?” Charlie asked.
Miles shook his head. “Just telling you the facts. Now get off my property.”
Charlie muttered something under his breath, but Liberty couldn’t quite make it out. Whatever it was, she suspected it wasn’t good.
She stood by the office door and watched Charlie slowly drive away.
Fuck. What had she done? If she believed for one second that Charlie would go away quietly, she was a dumbass.
6
Miles’ mood had gone from bad to worse. While the afternoon at his brother’s house had gone well, and Gabriel had fun, seemingly unaware of the day’s events, he still acted off.
Even for him.
He had checked his phone a half dozen times and with each glance, he became agitated. After dinner, it had gotten so bad, Liberty decided it was time to go home.
This time, Miles couldn’t fault her for that.
Gabriel had one major outburst that had scared some of the children. Poor Gabriel had tried his own brand of self-soothing and removed himself from the situation, but the damage had been done and now the man felt like shit.
But kudos to Miles’ family for not making a big deal out of it.
And better yet, Liberty hadn’t treated Gabriel like a child.
Miles sat on Liberty’s front porch, nursing a short glass of bourbon. The front door rattled and she joined him with the bottle and a glass for herself.
“How’s Gabriel?” he asked.
“Playing a video game, but he wouldn’t give me his phone.” She tipped her head back and took a shot, before pouring another.
“Is his cell password protected?”
“Yep.” She leaned back, stretching out her legs.
“Maybe it’s time to get two new phones with new numbers. That way Charlie doesn’t have either,” he said.
“I’m inclined to agree with you, but remember, change doesn’t come easy for Gabriel. I can’t just yank his phone away willy-nilly. I need a reason. And it has to be a good one; otherwise, it will cause him stress and he’s already going backward.”
“A new phone is coming out next week. Tell him that you got a good deal and wanted the upgrade, but in order to do it, you had to get new numbers. And remind him how you’ve asked Charlie not to come around anymore.”
“You’ve got an answer for everything, don’t you?” She sighed. “My life isn’t that simple.”
“But it doesn’t have to be that complicated. You make it that way.”
“You think I treat him like a child and maybe I do when it comes to his emotions, but I’ve always respected his privacy.” She held up a finger. “To a certain degree. I mean, I monitor who he talks to on the internet with those damn games, because he doesn’t really understand the dangers fully. And when it comes to his phone, he doesn’t have too many numbers in it.”
“But he has Charlie’s and that’s who he’s texting with, even though you’ve asked him not to. And we both know that’s what upset him at Emmerson’s.”
“Gabriel’s in part why I stayed with that prick for so long.” She tugged her hair out of her ponytail and ran her fingers through the long blond strands. “Charlie wasn’t always this manipulative when it came to Gabriel. Granted, he did useGabriel to get to me, which looking back, I’m at a loss as to why. But sometimes I feel like you’ve been doing that.”
“I honestly resent that statement.” Miles cocked his head. “I’ve done no such thing.”
“Really? You spent an entire month getting to know Gabriel before asking me out or even trying to get in my pants.” She shook her head and let out a cold, dry laugh. “I hate it when people do that.”
“Don’t be crude about what happened between us. And I’m not Charlie,” Miles said softly. “I don’t have any clue what he did to you or why your marriage ended so badly. My mind fills with all sorts of crazy ideas. But trust me, my feelings for Gabriel have nothing to do with my attraction or how I feel about you. They are two completely separate things. And if you want to get into why I kept you at arm’s length when we first met, I’m happy to tell you.” He tapped his finger on her knee. “But if I do that, you have to tell me what happened with Charlie.”
