Authors: Sheena Morrish
All in all the night was a success though it was touch and go for Gabby and Nik’s relationship. Not that he appeared to notice that. The charity had made a ton of money that would be put to good use and everyone seemed to enjoy themselves. It was only in the car on the way home that Gabby and Nik descended in to an angry silence. Neither one wanted to break it and instead they both stayed tense and quiet. When they arrived home Gabby was the first one in the house and she ignored him as she made her way to the stairs with the intention of going to bed without having to see him again tonight. She’d had more than enough of Nik tonight.
Instead he caught up to her before she reached her room and spun her around to face him. He was obviously furious and Gabby gave an inward sigh. She didn’t feel up to a big fight right now.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he demanded and she let the sigh slip out as she finally looked at him.
“I’m tired Nik. I just want to go to bed. Can we take this up in the morning?” she asked and he frowned.
“We share a room in case you forgot,” he reminded her and she rolled her eyes.
“I just need some space,” she insisted but he wouldn’t just let her have some peace and quiet.
“We share a room,” he insisted and Gabby decided she’d had enough. She’d spent the whole evening being ignored in favour of his mistress and now he had the nerve to expect her to share a room with him? Well he’d finally pushed her too far. She’d looked the other way for far too long and she was sick of it.
“You can go to hell!” she shouted and he took a slow steady breath.
“I don’t know what is wrong with you tonight but you’re behaving like a child,” he informed her and she glared at him. If she was acting like a child then that was only because he had driven her to it.
“I’m behaving like a child? You’re the one that’s been behaving like an ass all night,” she snapped and he looked shocked by that.
“I wasn’t the one flirting with Luca,” he ground out and Gabby glared at him as she moved closer.
“No but you were the one who was flirting with your assistant!” she reminded him and he simply stood there for a moment stunned by the accusation.
“I was not flirting with Callie. We were simply discussing some business,” he said and Gabby gave a snort at that.
“Right of course. Makes sense I suppose. I know that when I go to a charity function I always spend the night discussing business and ignoring everyone else,” she said.
“I did not ignore you,” Nik denied but Gabby shook her head.
“That’s exactly what you did. So what if Luca wanted to talk to me and dance with me? He probably felt sorry for me because it was clear that I wasn’t the one you were concerned with,” she said and he ground his teeth together in frustration.
“You are being completely ridiculous,” he informed her and she shrugged.
“So what if I am. It’s no more ridiculous than you thinking there’s something going on between Luca and me. So I think it’s a good idea if we just have some space for tonight,” Gabby said and Nik immediately shook his head.
“Not going to happen,” he refused and Gabby bristled at that. He thought that he could tell her what to do? She didn’t need him to tell her anything because she was a grown woman who did whatever the hell she wanted.
“I’ll tell you what’s not going to happen. I am not going to that room with you and I am certainly not spending the night with you,” she informed him and Nik was tempted to ignore her and carry her to his bed anyway. He sensed thought that his usual charms wouldn’t be enough to diffuse his wife’s temper tonight. She was obviously spoiling for a fight and the way he was feeling right now he was willing to give her one.
“I am fed up of being the only one fighting for this relationship,” he told her and she stared at him in disbelief.
“Fighting for the relationship? You are the one who is single handedly ruining my whole life. We don’t have a relationship and we certainly don’t have a marriage,” she replied as her anger heated up inside her.
“You keep thinking that Gabriella. I can assure you we most definitely have a relationship and if you were willing to give us the same chance that you always give the people your charity helps then you might realise that we have something worth fighting for,” he said honestly but she didn’t want to listen. She hated him for bringing her clients in to their argument and hated that he could make her sound like the unreasonable one when he was the one sleeping with assistant.
“I did give us the same chance and do you know what I realised? We don’t work Nik. Our relationship was broken beyond repair a long time ago and trying to force us to be something that we’re not is just making it a whole lot worse.”
Nik didn’t like to hear his wife saying things like that. She had no idea what he had been through the past year while he tried to give her time and space to grieve. She thought that they didn’t have a marriage because he was the ass? He was doing everything he could to forge some kind of lasting bond between them. He had wanted Gabby from the moment he first saw her and now she was telling him that he wasn’t even in with a chance of winning her heart? He refused to believe that.
“Maybe it has to get worse before it can get better. I am not going to give up on us and one day you’ll thank me for it,” Nik told her and Gabby just wanted to scream. Instead she picked up the nearest object which happened to be an expensive ornamental art piece made entirely of glass and worth a fortune. With a growl of frustration she threw at his damn head.
Nik didn’t even have the decency to try and duck. Instead he merely raised an eyebrow as it missed him by an inch and shattered against the wall behind him. Gabby cursed her bad aim and wished she could wipe the smug smile off his arrogant but handsome face.
“Feel better for that?” he asked curiously and she crossed her arms and glared at him.
“I would have felt better if it had hit you,” she answered and one corner of his mouth kicked up in a smile at that.
“You’re welcome to try again,” he offered but suddenly the absurdness of the situation hit her and Gabby’s shoulders slumped in defeat. Nik was a strong, handsome billionaire who could have any woman he wanted. There was no chance that he was ever going to let her go and she was a fool to keep fighting his will when she knew that he would never understand why she needed to escape.
“I concede,” she said and he grinned like she’d known he would.
“So you promise to stay away from Luca!” he said and Gabby stared at him. When had she promised to do that?
“Why would I?” she asked and it was his turn to fold his arms and stare her down.
“Because I don’t like how close you two are and I don’t want you around him,” he said while Gabby couldn’t believe what she was hearing. Of all the two faced statements he could have made this had to be the worst.
“Then I suppose that if I ask the same thing about Callie that you’ll stay away from her,” she suggested and he looked appalled at the mere suggestion.
“Don’t be ridiculous. Callie is my assistant,” he reminded her and she shrugged.
“And Luca is my friend. You can always get another assistant,” she said but Nik refused to even listen.
“I am not going to fire my assistant simply because you’re feeling insecure about something that you don’t need to be insecure about,” he replied which got Gabby’s back up. She had nothing to worry about? Was he seriously telling her that she should ignore his affair because she needn’t worry her pretty little head about it?
“And I am not going to give up a friend simply because you’re feeling insecure about something that you don’t need to be insecure about,” she repeated back to him and the use of his own words being thrown back at him made his face darken with anger.
“You’re refusing to stay away from my cousin?” he demanded and she shrugged. It wasn’t like she saw Luca much anyway. Usually it was just at family gatherings or events but occasionally they would meet up for a chat.
“You’re refusing to stay away from Callie!” she reminded him and his whole body seemed to tense.
“That is completely different,” he snapped and she tilted her head to one side with a look of confusion.
“How so?” she asked curiously.
“Callie works for me. I can hardly just fire her because my wife has some irrational thought that there is more between us,” he said and Gabby stared at him in utter disbelief. There was nothing between them? Did he really expect her to buy that load of crap that he was selling?
“And Luca is my friend. I can hardly stop seeing him just because my husband has the irrational belief that he can dictate my life,” she growled.
The tension between them was electric. Both were glaring at each other and neither one wanted to admit defeat. The lines were starting to blur between who was right and who was wrong. There was only the need to be the winner and to fight for their side of the argument. The whole thing was becoming ridiculous and realising that this wasn’t going to end well for either of them Nik decided to take another course of action.
Reaching out he dragged her in to his arms and pinned her against the wall so that she could feel the whole steely length of him pressed against her soft body. Then he twisted that anger in to passion as he dipped his dark head and captured her parted lips with his own. He thought she was going to fight him even here in this passionate frenzy that always seemed to overtake them. Instead she let him dip his tongue in to her sweetness and she pulled him further against her as she wrapped her legs around his hips and urged him closer. She moaned deep in her throat as she ground herself against his hardness and he couldn’t help himself as he dragged her dress over her head and left her almost bare to his seeking gaze.
“More!” she gasped as he moved his head away to trail a path to her delectable breasts that were heavy with desire and simply aching for his touch. She flung her head back and her breath came out in harsh pants as he delivered an exquisite torment to her body.
He ripped her panties from her and his searching fingers found her sweet centre. She moaned low in her throat as he caressed and teased her with temptation.
“Please!” she begged and he was more than happy to oblige as he used his hands to bring her to an earth shattering climax that had her screaming his name before she collapsed against him.
It only took moments for Gabby to come back to herself and when she did she was embarrassed to realise that she was in the hallway completely naked having just climaxed and yet Nik hadn’t even removed a single item of clothing. She wasn’t sure what that said about her. What she did know was that she wanted to return the favour.
Nik slowly set her down on her feet and was stunned when instead of rejecting him as he’d assumed she would she reached her hand out and trailed light fingers down his body until she reached his zipper. Slowly she undid his trousers erotically teasing him as she did so. Her fingers brushed against him and his dick twitched at the contact.
She crouched down before him as she slid his trousers and underwear to his ankles before reaching out and stroking him with her fingers. He hissed through his teeth as he fought to regain control but he wasn’t having much success as she gave him a sultry look that somehow managed to convey pure innocence.
Then suddenly he sucked in a breath as she took him in to her hot little mouth and began to swirl her tongue around the base of him before raising her head to kiss the tip. Her mouth and tongue began an irresistible assault that was slowly driving him insane. He fought for his control and lost as she continued to use that delicious mouth to lick and suck until he couldn’t help himself and he cried out as he erupted.
When he was capable of movement he looked down and found Gabby sitting back on her heels as she wiped a bead of moisture from her lips before licking it from her finger as she gazed up at him with that satisfied smile on her face. He had the overwhelming need to be in his temptress wife and he hurriedly dispensed of his clothes before reaching out and lifting her in to his arms before carrying her back to his room.
What followed was an endless night of touching and pleasuring each other. It was the most amazingly hot night of sex that Gabby had ever experienced and she couldn’t tell whether it came from their anger towards each other or that absolute need that she felt for him every time he touched her. They had touched and tasted every inch of each other and still it wasn’t enough. She wasn’t sure that it would ever be enough.
Gabby awoke slowly and stretched languorously as aching muscles pulled and stretched. She smiled to herself as she lay there not wanting to lose this feeling of absolute tranquillity. She was exhausted but was definitely up for a repeat of last night. She’d had no idea that sex could be so amazing. All that time she’d wasted being a virgin when she could have been experiencing all this with Nik. She might hate him most of the time but he definitely knew what he was doing in bed and he knew just where to touch or lick to make her climax.
“Mm,” she sighed as she finally opened her eyes only to frown at the realisation that the bed was empty and she could hear his muted voice from the hallway.
Before she could decide whether to move or not the voice cut off and Nik came back in to the room. But he wasn’t smiling and he didn’t look like he was ready for a repeat performance of the night before. He was already fully dressed in a dark suit and tie.
“You’re awake,” he said in surprise and she offered him a bright smile.
“Yes I am,” she replied but he didn’t seem too eager to return to the bed. Instead he glanced at the watch on his wrist with a frown.
“Listen, something came up and I have to go on a business trip to try and sort it out,” he said and Gabby froze in place while her smile died.
“Something came up?” she asked and he sent her a quick smile.
“I’ll make it up to you,” he promised but that wasn’t what was bothering her.
“Sure,” she answered and he leaned over to kiss her but she turned her head at the last minute so he only caught her cheek. He leaned back with a sigh and brushed a strand of her hair behind her ear.
“Last night was amazing,” he said and she gave a faint smile.
“Yes it was,” she agreed.
“I should be back by Monday and we can definitely take up where we left off,” he said as he sent his heated gaze over her.
“Sure,” she agreed only waiting until he’d left and she heard the front door close before giving in to tears.
She remembered what Callie had said and she knew exactly where Nik was going. He was leaving her after a night of passionate lovemaking to go to his mistress. What exactly did she have that Gabby didn’t? Was last night just a joke to him? She had put everything she had into pleasing him last night and it still hadn’t been good enough for him. Did he prefer Callie because she was more experienced?
Realising that she was torturing herself with these questions Gabby fought to gather her composure. She’d had enough of being played the fool. She was better than this.
“Life goes on!” she told herself and then she pulled herself together and got herself ready to face the day.
An hour later Gabby was dressed in jeans and a top with her hair tied back in a ponytail and her face makeup free. She had packed everything that she intended to take with her and was planning her escape.
After last night Gabby had wanted desperately for Nik to be the loving husband that she dreamed of him being but she knew now that she was only fooling herself and she couldn’t wait any longer. If she didn’t leave now then she would only find herself falling further in love with Nik until she would be unable to leave him at all even knowing that he was cheating on her constantly.
She had spent the time while getting ready coming up with what she hoped was a fool proof plan. She just needed to find somewhere that nobody would think of looking for her and vanish before anyone noticed she was gone.
Easier said than done!
Gabby had decided that the best way to avoid the man she had tailing her was for him to believe that he was following her. She had booked two tickets on a flight to Mexico. One was in her name and one was under Fiona’s name. Her and Fiona were about the same height and she could easily disguise the girl as herself. She had arranged to pay Fiona for her help and she was glad that the money would be going towards providing a future for Fiona’s baby.
Gabby had arranged for Fiona to meet her at the house. While Gabby went out the front and pretended to take a phone call, Fiona snuck in the back door. Then Gabby went back in. She made sure that Fiona was dressed in her clothes but with a hat and sunglasses on so nobody would realise that it wasn’t her. Luckily Fiona still had a passport from the time she had gone on her only school trip abroad.
Soon the plan was in motion and Gabby crossed her fingers and prayed that it would work.
Everything seemed to go smoothly. Fiona called a taxi and then left with a bag of Gabby’s clothes as she headed to the airport. Gabby assumed that the tail was following Fiona. She waited half an hour and then slipped out the back and walked to the nearest bus stop before getting a bus to the train station where a ticket waited to take her to Paris.
It was a very complicated plan and she was glad that she’d taken out enough money over the last year to be able to afford it all. From Paris she travelled by bus around France. She changed buses occasionally until she ended up in a small town that would do as a place to stay for the night.
Gabby was exhausted after all her travelling and was glad to fall in to bed. She knew that Nik wouldn’t simply give up on tracking her down but hopefully she would succeed in eluding him. By now the tail would have realised that he had been fooled and that the woman he had been following all day wasn’t Gabby but hopefully they wouldn’t figure out where she really was.
The next morning Gabby awoke early and left the hotel. She knew that Nik would be searching for her and she didn’t want to stick around in case he found her so she got a man in the small town to give her a lift to the nearest train station.
The following week went pretty much the same way. She would travel to a different country and move around a bit before retiring for the night and continuing the same way the following day. Until finally at the end of the week she ended up in Greece and hired someone to take her out on their boat to a small island there that Gabby had decided a while ago would be the base of her new home.
The island was the perfect place to hide. It was secluded but close enough for her to escape if need be. She had everything she could possibly want on the island and especially the chance for a new start.
Nik was furious!
He had been called out of meetings the second his wife had arrived at the airport. As soon as they informed him that his wife had booked a ticket to Mexico Nik knew that something was wrong. Gabby wasn’t the type to swan off to an exotic location to lounge about for a few weeks and forget her life. She also wouldn’t leave him only to go to somewhere that he could easily track her down.
The men he’d hired immediately confronted the girl and discovered that she wasn’t his wife. They went back to the house but it was too late and Gabby had gone.
Nik knew his wife better than she thought he did and he knew just how her mind worked. He made sure that the agency he hired had people searching for her and they kept finding where she was staying but were always just too late.
Finally, a week after she’d disappeared, Gabby was found. She was on an island in Greece and it looked like she was planning on staying there. Nik was on the first flight out as soon as he heard.
He spent the whole flight pacing the cabin as he tried to dispel some of his energy. He was absolutely furious that after they’d connected and he’d finally felt like they were making progress in their marriage she had decided to run away. He had thought that she had finally decided to give their marriage a go but instead he’d been fooling himself and he couldn’t believe that he’d let her get beneath his skin like this. No other woman had ever held as much power over him as Gabby did and he was going to retrieve his wife and bring her back where she belonged!
Gabby stared out at the beautiful ocean before her and sighed. She had been here exactly twenty-four hours and yet for some reason she wasn’t happy. She’d been convinced that this was all it would take but it wasn’t making her any less miserable than she’d been with Nik.
The Island was amazingly beautiful with the endless exotic blue of the ocean surrounding it and the pure white sandy beaches. She had chosen the Island of Lustof because it was close enough to Athens to be convenient but far enough away to be secluded. It had only one restaurant and one bar on the Island as well as a couple of small shops. It was amazingly peaceful with only the sound of the waves crashing against the shore. Even the locals were incredible kind and genuine. They had all welcomed her with open arms and hadn’t hesitated to help her unpack and get settled in the small local lodge that she had rented.
Yet for some reason Gabby didn’t feel excited and happy to finally have her freedom. She’d thought this was what she’d wanted. It’s exactly what she had been fighting for. But suddenly she realised that she didn’t want to be thousands of miles away from home fighting to be free. All she wanted was her life and her house and god help her she even wanted Nik. She’d done nothing but think about him ever since she arrived on the Island. If she was being honest she’d done nothing but think about him ever since she left the house that morning. Somehow he’d managed to slip past her defences and in to her heart.
Standing on the lodge’s balcony she looked out at the perfect white sand and calming ocean as she thought about what she had given up.
“Stupid!” she cursed herself.
This was exactly what she hadn’t wanted to happen. Nik was a player and he always would be. Underneath the charming and sexy exterior beat the heart of a cheating bastard who would take advantage of everything she tried to give him. He wouldn’t appreciate her giving him her heart. He’d probably just stomp all over it in his haste to get back to Callie.
“Stupid, stupid, stupid!” she repeated as she beat her palm against her head in an effort to dispel the feelings and memories. Of course it didn’t work but that didn’t stop her from trying.
All she could think of ever since she’d arrived on the Island was how romantic the place was and how she could have been enjoying this sight with Nik instead of hiding like a coward.
Was it so bad to be in a marriage of convenience? She had a hell of a lot more going for her than most women her age. She had a beautiful house and enough money to last three lifetimes. She was healthy, had a job that was rewarding and she had a sexy husband who was amazing in bed. So why was she fighting so hard to get free from something that under any other circumstance she would have loved?
“I’m an idiot!” she said aloud.
“I agree,” said a voice behind her and Gabby spun round to find Nik stood there looking gorgeous and angry as hell.
“What are you doing here?” she asked softly aware of her heart leaping at the sight of him.
“I think the better question is what the hell are you doing on this godforsaken island in the middle of nowhere?” he demanded and she laughed at that.
“It’s hardly the middle of nowhere,” she said and he glowered at her.
“You left me!” he accused and she shrugged.
“Yet here you are,” she said with a smile and his eyes narrowed on her.
He didn’t know what it was but something had changed with Gabby. He’d expected her to be apologetic that she’d left him or furious that he’d found her. Instead she was practically laughing and joking with him. It made him feel disconcerted and he didn’t like it. All this time he’d always known where he stood with Gabby and had fought for every piece of affection he had received from her. He had been expecting a fight to convince her to return with him. What he hadn’t expected was this new relaxed version of his wife.
“What’s changed?” he asked suspiciously and she smiled at him as she moved closer to him.
“I have,” she said and she moved on to her toes as she leaned closer and captured his lips with her own. He didn’t hesitate to wrap his arms around her and pull her closer. He had never been able to resist Gabby and it didn’t matter how angry he was at the stunt she had pulled he still wanted her. He couldn’t get enough of her. Lifting her up Nik was unprepared for Gabby to wrap her long legs around his waist as she deepened the kiss. He wasn’t even aware of having moved until he slowly pulled away and realised he had backed Gabby up against the wooden balcony.
“You left me,” he accused again, though admittedly his accusation lost a lot of its heat considering that her kiss had left him breathless.
“I’m sorry,” she said softly as she ran a hand through his hair.
“What?” he asked certain that he must have misunderstood. Gabby had fought him on everything since the day they married so why would she suddenly be apologising now?
“I’m sorry I left,” she said and he was stunned by her admission.
“You’re sorry?” he asked in disbelief and she winced.
“I shouldn’t have left. I should have talked to you first and tried to explain why I had to leave,” she said softly.
“You had to leave?” he questioned and she gave a small smile.
“I couldn’t have stayed,” she replied.
Nik didn’t think he had ever been more confused in his life. He had thought that he and Gabby were finally making progress in their relationship and then she had left him. He had been prepared to deal with Gabby’s anger but she was acting completely out of character and it made him feel out of his depth.