Page 30 of Ice-Cold Obsession
Am I stupid or what? If Gabriel figures out who my sister was, I’m screwed.
He glances at me, his eyes red-rimmed. “Then you know what it feels like when you miss them so much it hurts.”
“Yeah, I do,” I say softly.
He looks down at the bracelet again and touches it with his thumb. “It should’ve been me,” he whispers.
I go still. The words are so quiet I almost don’t catch them.
Where’s the arrogant bully who drove my sister to suicide? Gabriel is drowning in grief and blames himself for surviving. And for a second, I wonder if losing Lucas broke something in him and made him lash out at everyone around him.
But that’s no excuse. Whatever he went through, it doesn’t justify what he did to Carla. It doesn’t change the pain he caused her.
I push the thought away and focus on him and my plan, because I have him right where I need him.
He wipes his eyes with the back of his hand and gets to his feet. I rise too, brushing grass off my jeans.
“Thank you for finding the bracelet,” he says.
“It’s fine.”
He looks at me for a moment. “There’s a party this weekend. You should come.”
I raise an eyebrow at him. “Oh?”
“Yeah.” He pauses. “And can you keep what happened here between us?”
I study him, trying to read his expression. Is this the same manipulation trick he used on Carla? Of course she would’ve felt bad for someone whose brother just died and she would’ve wanted to be there for him. And then he turned on her. I need to be careful and not fall for his tricks.
“Sure,” I say. “I won’t tell anyone.”
He nods, his shoulders relaxing. “Thanks.”
“And I’ll come to the party.”
“Great.”
Maybe Gabriel’s not really looking for sweet girls. Or well, not permanently. Maybe I should stop pretending to be one.
Chapter 17
GABRIEL
I SPEND THE NEXT DAYSregretting the panic attack, the crying, and the way I completely fell apart in front of Scarlett like some weak, pathetic mess. I keep replaying it in my head, and every time, I want to punch something.
She probably thinks I’m a joke now. Some broken guy who can’t keep his shit together. I thought for sure she’d look at me differently after that, but she didn’t. She just held me, found the bracelet, and didn’t make a big deal out of it.
But now that she’s had time to think about it, I’m not sure.
Still, I look forward to seeing her at the party, which is annoying in itself because I shouldn’t care this much. But I also hate that she had to get involved in my shit. I wanted to do this for myself. I wanted to get closer to her because I liked her, not because I had to. And I had a fucking breakdown and now she probably feels sorry for me, and everything will be weird.
When the day of the party finally comes, I’m wound tight and on edge. The place is already crowded when I arrive, and I grab a water bottle from the kitchen and scan the crowd, looking for Scarlett.
She’s not here yet. Maybe she’s changed her mind.
Just as I think about it, she steps through the front door, and my mind goes blank.
She’s wearing a glittery black cocktail dress that hugs her every curve and stops mid-thigh. Her hair’s down, falling in loose waves over her shoulders, and her lips are bright red.