Covering her face, she began to sob into her hands. Years upon years of neglect swamping her. She’d never felt so utterly alone in life.
She knew these feelings should have been dealt with long ago, but she couldn’t stop them. Annalise had been ignoring her own pain for far too long. The moment she started to cry, there was no stopping it.
****
Gabe ignored the questioning looks from his friends. Archie and Vinny were already on their feet as he entered the house. Annalise had looked so damn miserable after he told her what they had planned.
He didn’t get it.
It wasn’t like he had asked her to belong to them, and if the idea repulsed her so much, she could have said no or told him to fuck off. She was probably disgusted with them.
“What’s going on?” Vinny asked.
“You! What the fuck did you do earlier?”
“I didn’t do anything. Annalise was happy, laughing at everything I said. You’re the one who sent her home crying. What the hell was that about?” Vinny asked.
Gabe’s hands clenched into fists. He wanted to hit something, and he knew going after his best friends wouldn’t be the ideal solution. They didn’t deserve his anger.
“Just tell us what happened,” Archie said. “Come on, we all said a woman would never get between us. You starting now?”
“She hasn’t gotten between us,” Vinny said. “But you know what, I want her between us, so I’m going to say it. I want her.” He pointed toward the stairs.
Gabe shook his head. “No.”
“No, I didn’t say I wanted her for myself,” Vinny said. “She thinks I was joking around with the foursome comment, I wasn’t. I want her, and there is no stopping me. Tell me right now, Gabe, that you don’t get rock hard thinking about her. That you don’t want to bend her over the nearest chair and fuck her so hard that she screams your name.”
Gabe ran a hand down his face, trying to calm his anger. It was impossible to do so while he thought of Annalise, bent over the sofa, her beautiful, curvy body on display as he spread the cheeks of her ass open and began to fuck her. She would take all of him.
This wasn’t good.
He wasn’t supposed to be giving in to these thoughts. Annalise was their employee.
“You’re fucking busted,” Vinny said. “You can act the cold bastard to me, but I see what you want.”
“Fuck off, Vinny.”
“Gabe, I see it too. You want her,” Archie said.
He looked toward the staircase, and as he did, they were all so incredibly silent. Gabe heard it. The soft sounds of sobbing. If they hadn’t stopped arguing, he wouldn’t have known.
Without a word to his friends, he moved toward the stairwell and began to walk up.
“Gabe, what the hell are you doing?” Archie asked.
“I’m going to go and make this right.”
He didn’t look back, but kept on walking, turning toward her door as he got to the top of the steps. The door was closed.
Putting his palm against the wood, he couldn’t think of the words he needed to make any of this right. She probably thought he was a dirty bastard.
He gritted his teeth, annoyed with himself for causing her any harm.
The sobs he heard hurt him, twisting a knife through his heart as he listened to them. Annalise should never have to cry. Certainly not because of him.
He twisted the door only to find it wouldn’t budge. She’d locked it.
“Annalise, open the door,” he said. “Please.”
“I can’t.”
“Baby, please,” he said.
There was silence. Then he heard some movement.
“What do you want?” she asked.
“I need to see you.”
There was a second of hesitation before he heard the lock unclick. Annalise opened the door, just slightly, and he took full advantage. He gripped the door, and she was no match for his strength as he pushed it open, but he made sure not to jerk or jar it in any way, to keep her safe and protected. She released a little gasp and stepped back.
He entered her bedroom and closed the door behind him.
She’d been crying, no doubt. Her lips were swollen, her eyes red-rimmed.
“You need to leave,” she said.
“I’m not leaving until you tell me why you’re crying.”
She sniffled. “It’s none of your business.”
“Is it because of what we talked about downstairs?”
“No, of course not.”
“Then tell me, because right now, I don’t know how to make this right and I feel like I’m the one responsible for making you cry. I can’t stand it. I feel worse than shit. You’re a good person.”
This made her laugh. “I’m not a good person.”
He frowned. “What?”
She shook her head. “Please, I’m sorry. I’ll move out tomorrow.”
“You don’t have to move out,” he said.
“None of this is because of you,” she said. “I get it, okay? I do. I’m not good enough to even be thought of for your foursome. I know it’s completely laughable. But I don’t want to be around when you find your perfect woman. It would be awkward.”