Page 8 of Mine to Love
Damn Miles and his fucking understanding ways. She really resented his calm demeanor. It was as if nothing ever rattled the man.
“Did I do something wrong?” Miles asked. “Because if I did, I’d like to know what that was. My intentions are not to hurt him or you.”
“That may be true, but you sure know how to get under my ex-husband’s skin.” She sighed.
He chuckled.
“It’s not funny. All it serves is to make my life harder.” She turned, catching his gaze. His damn sea-blue eyes sucked her right in.
If she were any other woman, she might fall for his charm.
“How so?” he asked, his hand still on her leg.
She should bat it away, but she didn’t. It felt too nice. Too comforting. And that was dangerous. “It’s not really any of your business, but I’m going to tell you anyway.”
“Okay,” he said softly. “I’m listening.”
“My divorce was kind of ugly. Charlie didn’t let me go easily. He comes from a rich and powerful family and I wanted out. I took a small settlement and once the divorce became final, I took Gabriel and moved up here. I thought that would be the end of it. But I should have known Charlie would be back. He doesn’t like to lose. Why he still wants me, I have no idea. But he does. Your presence is making it more of a challenge for him. More like a game. It’s compounded because of how Gabriel feels about you.”
“Are you telling me that Charlie believes there’s something going on with us?” Miles had the nerve to wink. And smile.
She poked him in the arm.
“Ouch. That hurt.”
“It was supposed to,” she mumbled. “You’re making light of this situation and I don’t appreciate it when I’m trying to be real.”
“I’m sorry.” He leaned back on his elbows, thankfully releasing her knee. “I’ll be honest, I don’t like your ex-husband and I certainly don’t like some of the things Gabriel has told me about him.”
She snapped up her head and shifted. “What? Gabriel has spoken to you about Charlie?”
“For the last two weeks, I’ve spent almost forty hours a week at the shop with Gabriel. We’ve chatted about a lot of things. Charlie is one of them.” Miles sat up taller. “For the record, I’m not the one who brought up the topic, Gabriel did. All I did was listen.”
“What did he say?” She couldn’t believe it. Gabriel struggled to discuss any emotions. Even with her. They always came out sideways. When he got really upset, he often resorted to hitting his head with his fists. A few times he even threw things. It was why she had to keep her house so calm and why she put up with so much shit from Charlie in their marriage the last few years. Charlie had used it to keep her, something she never did understand, when it was obvious he didn’t love her, not even one little bit.
He said he did, but the only thing that man loved more than himself was his money, power, and having his fill of other women.
That, she’d seen firsthand.
“I’d be breaking a confidence. His trust. And that’s not something I’m willing to do to him as his friend and his boss,” Miles said.
“Seriously?” She glared. “I’m his sister. His caretaker. The one person on this planet who loves him more than anything. I think I should know what he’s thinking.”
Miles reached out and tucked a piece of hair behind her ear. “I can see how much he means to you and what you do for him. I know you’re only trying to protect him. I get that. I do. Buttrust me when I say that Gabriel is more than conflicted when it comes to Charlie. Gabriel has eyes. And ears. But he can’t process and or distinguish between what Charlie does to you and how he treats Gabriel.” Miles arched a brow.
“What the fuck are you implying?” Liberty had always had a bit of a truck driver mouth, something that Charlie and his family had tried to beat out of her. Charlie hated it. He wanted a lady. A woman to fit into his country club ways and for over ten years, she tried.
But it was like she was one of Cinderella’s ugly stepsisters trying on the glass slipper. No matter how hard she tried, she just couldn’t wedge her foot in that shoe.
And now it felt so good to just say every cuss word in the book.
“How dare you accuse me of not understanding my own brother. I practically raised him myself,” she said.
Miles pressed his finger on her lips. “I didn’t accuse you of any such thing.”
“That’s not what that sounded like to me.” She pushed his hand away.
“Let me ask you this. Do you want Charlie in your life? In Gabriel’s?” He lowered his chin. “And be honest with me because this is about you, not me. I can handle that either way.”
