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She would not make Gabriella cry again. Not on his watch.
Mia stopped and twisted his way. “What?”
His eyes narrowed as his hand dropped from the cupboard. He folded his arms. His lips went into a tight line, and not an ounce of friendliness was displayed. It was the same look he developed whenever he dealt with his brother or a rival competitor trying to underhand him.
“I said, don’t.” His voice was low and harsh. “Don’t you dare go in there, say some words, and then leave like you aren’t causing anyone pain.”
She shrank back as if he had slapped her across the face out of nowhere. Her bottom lip wobbled as if she were about to cry.
Why?
He didn’t need another woman crying in front of him. But damn it, he wasn’t about to let her waltz in here and cause Gabriella more pain.
“I didn’t mean to hurt her last night. I needed some time to myself.”
“Yeah, and what about what Gabriella needs? Do you ever stop to ask yourself that? Do you ever wonder that you take advantage of her friendship a little too much?”
“I do not,” Mia objected, although her tone wasn’t as strong as she probably meant it to sound.
“Really? So asking a friend to go undercover at your boyfriend’s work to see if he’s cheating is a normal thing people do?”
Mia steeled her shoulders back in a rigid stance. “She didn’t mind.”
“Well, I did.” He hurled his words at her, hating how much she didn’t see the pain she caused to her friend who was willing to do anything for her, no matter what.
Yet, Mia callously turned her back on Gabriella last night without a thought or care.
“Dane?”
He whipped his head to his left, surprised to see Gabriella standing in the other doorway to the kitchen. How long had she been standing there?
By the frown marring her beautiful face and the way her brows drooped low, she wasn’t happy. Her hair was wet and still needed a good comb-through. Her skin looked a bit red around her shoulders as if she let the hot water beat down on her. Even a few droplets of water clung to her collarbone, indicating she missed a few spots—or maybe it was from her hair because it wasn’t fully toweled dry. But it didn’t matter how angry she looked and barely put together with no makeup; she was gorgeous.
But very angry.
Damn it. He had a feeling it was all directed toward him. As if sticking up for her was the wrong thing to do.
He wasn’t about to apologize. Not for one word. At times, it still grated on his nerves what Gabriella had done. That she had lied. Yes, he had forgiven her. And yes, he realized he never would’ve met her in the first place if she hadn’t done what she had. But when faced with Mia and her irrational behavior over something that shouldn’t have had her shoving Gabriella out of the door—well, it pissed him off. That she lied. That she thought him a lying, cheating dirtbag. All because Mia had asked her to do it.
Her friend should show her more respect than she was giving.
“You should leave.”
Gabriella’s whispered words took that knife that Mia had first inserted and twisted it further into his gut.
He was defending her, and she wantedhimto leave?
Well, this was his sign that he made the right decision not to ask her to join him at his parents for supper tomorrow.
Because when it came down to it, no matter what happened between her and Mia, Gabriella would always pick Mia over him.
He’d always be second best, and he hated being second best. That’s all he ever was growing up. Just once, he wanted to be first in someone’s life. Just once.
He nodded but didn’t say anything else. He had nothing else to say. What could he say? What could he possibly use to argue with? They had a bond that could not be broken by anything.
Apparently, not even love.
He strolled past Gabriella. She didn’t even look him in the eye.
