The Fight for Forever Read online

  My head tilts sideways. “Yes. Of course. Why?”

  He reaches out to tug me closer by the belt of my robe. “Because I’m not taking any chances with you.”

  I press a quick kiss to his lips, dodging the white foam. “It’s fine. I promise.”

  He nods but doesn’t return to the bathroom.

  “Are you waiting for something?”

  He stands his ground, totally buck naked except for a towel. All six-foot-something of him. And he’s all mine.

  “I’ll leave you two alone after she comes in.”

  It occurs to me that Gabriel must be afraid that someone is using Monroe to gain entrance, and part of me wants to ask if he’s got a gun stuffed in the back of the towel wrapped around his waist. But I decide I don’t want an answer to that particular question.

  A knock comes on the door a few moments later, and Gabriel steps in front of me to open it.

  So this is what it’s like to live with a super-protective man. I’m not mad at it.

  My budding grin blooms when I see Monroe’s eyes go as wide as saucers and her lower lip falls to the floor.

  “What . . . Wait. What the fuck is happening right now?” Her gaze darts from me to Gabriel and then back to me. “Did I interrupt something? If so, I’m really fucking sorry, but I didn’t know where else to go.”

  “You alone?” Gabriel steps out of the way for her to enter and sticks his head out into the hallway.

  “Yeah. Of course.”

  He shuts the door and gives me a nod. “I’ll leave you two to it then. Good to see you, Monroe.”

  She stares slack-jawed at him as he struts his towel-clad ass in the direction of my bedroom and the master bath.

  I take a moment to appreciate the incredible physique of the man who just gave me more of the best orgasms of my life. His shoulders are broad and defined. His muscular back tapers into a V at his narrow waist. I didn’t know it was possible for my mouth to water at the sight of a well-built man, but that’s exactly what I’m doing right now.

  “Holy shit,” Monroe whispers as soon as he disappears from sight. She cuts her attention to my face. “You sure as hell snagged yourself one fine man.”

  I nod, one eye still trained on the doorway through which he disappeared. “I know. I’ve never lived with a guy before, so this is going to be a bit of an adjustment—but a really, really, really good one, I think.”

  “Wait. Hold up. You’re living together? When did that happen?”

  I hold up a finger. “Let’s put that on pause while you tell me what’s wrong.”

  Monroe shakes her head. “Mine can wait. When did he move in? Oh my God, who else knows? What is your dad going to say? Scar, this is huge. Like a massively big move.” She goes on to list everyone I know to see if I’ve told anyone. Obviously, that answer is no.

  Part of me wishes she’d taken my suggestion to talk about her issues instead of bringing up all the people who are no doubt going to freak out when they find out Gabriel is living here.

  While I’m thinking of a way to redirect the conversation, Monroe snaps her fingers in front of my face to get my attention. “Girl. Spill. Now.”

  I go to my mug rack and grab two. “You want some coffee?”

  “What I want is answers.”

  My annoyance is rising, but I don’t know why. Monroe’s acting like I can’t decide anything by myself without first consulting everyone else in my life, and it’s kind of pissing me off. I also don’t know how much to tell her about what happened at the club, so I go with the basics.

  “No one knows. We decided last night. We’re just testing it out, seeing how we like it.”

  Her golden-brown eyes seem to widen even further. “This is a big move. Like . . . huge in relationship terms. Are you sure you know what you’re doing?”

  “Absolutely. I like being around him. He makes me feel safe. He makes me happy,” I tell her. Even though the situation is supposed to be temporary, there’s another question running through my mind—what if I don’t want it to be temporary?

  Monroe bursts into tears, and in a split second, she goes from standing to crumpling into one of my kitchen chairs, sobbing with her head in her hands.

  “Monroe!” Her name comes out more like a yell, and footsteps and nails click against the floor as Gabriel and Roux come rushing into the kitchen.

  Gabriel’s got his razor in hand, but freezes when he sees the crying woman. “What happened? What’s wrong?”

  Roux sniffs along her side before returning to sit at Gabriel’s feet.

  “I think I’m ruining my marriage. It’s probably over. And it’s all my fault.”

  Gabriel’s blue gaze locks onto mine over Monroe’s head. I drop into the chair beside her and scoot closer, throwing an arm around her shoulders.

  “Honey, no. It’s not over. Your marriage isn’t ruined.”

  “You . . . don’t . . . know . . . that.” Monroe snuffles each word through sobs.

  I grab a handful of tissues. As Gabriel slowly backs out of the room, Monroe’s head pops up and she looks right at him with tear-filled eyes.

  “You’re a man. You know how this works. You tell me.”

  I have to give Gabriel credit. His expression looks more deer in the headlights rather than horrified.

  “What’s going on?” he asks, even though he has no clue what he’s getting into.

  Monroe takes the tissues and uses them to dab at her tears. Even when breaking down, she’s as elegant as it gets. “I went to his away game,” she says with a sniffle.

  “Harlow said you thought he was cheating. What happened?” I know that information is supposed to be locked in the double vault, but this is an emergency.

  Monroe’s lip quivers, and a few more tears spill out over her lashes. “I didn’t tell him I was going.”

  “Oh fuck,” Gabriel whispers, reading my mind exactly.

  “What happened?” I ask again.

  She swipes at her nose and takes a steadying breath. “I saw him at a bar with the team. Talking to a woman while he was getting a drink.”

  “Okay . . .”

  “And then when some of the guys left, he went with them, and so did she.”

  My heart clenches because I’m scared of where this is going. In her defense, it looks bad.

  Monroe keeps going. “She went up the elevator with them too, so I waited a few minutes . . .”

  I’m dying to know what happened next, but I don’t dare interrupt.

  “And then I pounded on the door to his room, and when he opened it, I shoved inside. I thought I was going to catch him red-handed with that slut in his bed. I searched the whole room, while he just stood there by the door.”

  Oh shit, I think, catching a glimpse of Gabriel from the corner of my eye. He shakes his head slowly as I picture Monroe ripping open closets and screaming as she searched for the woman.

  “But she wasn’t there,” Gabriel says quietly.

  Monroe jerks her head toward him. “How did you know?”

  His face goes soft. “Because he’s married to you. He doesn’t need a skank from the bar when he’s got you waiting at home for him.”

  Monroe bursts into another round of sobs. “Why didn’t I trust him? What is wrong with me?”

  “Oh, honey.” I squeeze her tighter against my side. “You were scared and—”

  “I ran out of the room and took a red-eye home. And when he got back a little while ago, Nate said he didn’t want to see me. He told me to leave, or he would.”

  My stomach twists into a knot. “Shit. I’m so sorry. God, Monroe.”

  “I deserve it. He’s going to divorce me. He told me we have nothing if we don’t trust each other.”

  I don’t know what to say to her, but thankfully, Gabriel drops into a crouch beside my friend.

  “How many times have you been cheated on?”

  Monroe lifts her head. “Too many.”

  “He know that?”

  She doesn’t resp
ond right away, but I have a feeling I know the answer.

  Monroe’s always dated and married athletes. Not a single relationship has ended well, and yet . . . she keeps trying. I can’t imagine she’d show Nate that crack in her armor, though, because she’d think it would make her less desirable for him to know that other men have been married to her and banged those bar skanks without a second thought.

  “No,” she whispers. “I was ashamed. I didn’t want him to know.”

  “Well, hell. You gotta tell him,” Gabriel says in a soft voice that makes me love him even more because he’s being so gentle with my friend when she’s fragile. “A man needs to know what kind of shit is going to set off his woman. I guarantee he’d be a fuck of a lot more understanding if he knew that you’ve been down this road before, and that it’s not really just him you don’t trust. It’s men in general.”

  Monroe’s tears slow. “You think he’d listen to me if I tried to tell him now? Because he was so mad. Some of the guys from the team came out of their rooms and saw it all. It was so bad, Scarlett.”

  She turns to me, her face splotchy from her tears. “So. Bad. God, it was like I was standing outside my body, just watching myself freak out. I was embarrassed for myself, but I didn’t know how to stop. I love him, and now I’m going to lose him.”

  I wish I could tell her she’s not going to lose him, but I don’t know Nate well enough to say that. Instead, I hug her tighter.

  Thankfully, Gabriel says exactly the right thing. “Ask him for five minutes. Tell him you need to explain something. He’ll listen. You might only get this one chance, so don’t waste it. Be real. Be honest. Tell him why you went crazy. Lay it out and explain.”

  She snuffles one more time. “You think he’ll forgive me?”

  Gabriel shrugs. “No clue, but it’s worth a shot. Talking about your shit goes a long way toward avoiding situations like this.”

  Monroe nods slowly, and Gabriel and I lock eyes over her head. I’m almost positive that he’s thinking about his past, and what he needs to tell me.

  Whatever it is, Gabe, we’ve got this.

  Besides, after last night and Moses, I’m getting caught up to speed pretty damn quickly already.

  Monroe straightens her shoulders, as if moving one muscle at a time until her spine is straight and her chin is lifted. “I can tell him. I can do this. He’ll listen to me. I can apologize. This can work.” Her words sound like a mantra.

  I squeeze her hand. “You’ve got this, babe. Do you need some time to pull yourself together before you go?”

  She shakes her head. “No, I need to do this before I lose my nerve. I’ll text you. Hopefully after the makeup sex,” she adds with a watery smile. “I really do love him. I’ve got to make this work.”

  “You will. Love you, girl.”

  She presses a kiss to my cheek. “Love you too. And we’re not done talking about you and him.” She jerks her chin at Legend. “Take care of my girl, okay?”

  “Yes, ma’am,” he replies with a hint of that Southern drawl that slips out every now and again.

  “Okay, now I’m going straight home before I wuss out.”

  Monroe dashes away as quickly as she arrived, leaving me, Gabriel, and Roux in the kitchen, staring at the door as it closes behind her.

  Ten

  Legend

  “She’s like a hurricane, isn’t she?” I say as Scarlett walks toward me and threads her fingers through mine.

  “Something like that. You give damn good advice, ace.”

  I smile at her nickname attempt. “I thought we were going with stud?”

  She smiles. “I’m still working on it. I’ll find the perfect one. Just wait. But, seriously, I couldn’t have given Monroe that advice. You told her exactly what she needed to hear.”

  “I’ve got a dick.” I shrug. “I know what I’d do if I were her man. But since she doesn’t have a dick, I shared some insight to help her see the bigger picture.”

  “Well, you nailed it. This might be the one thing that could actually save their marriage.” Scarlett’s head tips to the side and she beams up at me, looking sweet as pie in her robe.

  “I hope so. But if not, she’ll learn for the next time, hopefully.”

  “I don’t want to think of Monroe heartbroken and going through yet another divorce. So I’m going to be optimistic.”

  “You do that,” I tell her, leaning in to kiss her nose.

  When I pull back, Scarlett meets my gaze. “You know you can tell me anything, right? Nothing you say to me will change how I feel about you.”

  I study her face, framed by strands of blond hair floating down from her messy bun, and instantly, the thought that popped into my head when I was talking to Monroe Grafton comes back to the forefront.

  “I believe you, and I do need to tell you something. I would’ve last night, but I honestly fucking forgot with everything that happened.”

  “What?”

  “That Lucy chick from the fundraiser thing . . .”

  Scarlett’s expression tightens. “Oh God. What did she do? Did she hit on you? Because she already made it clear that she’s interested. And just so you know, I might not be well-versed in how to cut a bitch, but I would learn if she said anything nasty to you.”

  A grin stretches my face at the feistiness underlying Scarlett’s words.

  “I believe you, ladybug. But you don’t need to cut her. I lied to her to get her to stop bidding on your mom’s necklace.”

  Scarlett’s brows shoot toward her hairline. “Lied to her how? About what?”

  “I let her think that I’d fuck her.”

  My girl’s jaw drops. “What?”

  “She needed encouragement to leave the bidding alone, so I gave her some. But you gotta know, I would never fucking—”

  Scarlett’s entire face lights up as giggles spill from her lips. “Oh. My. God. This is epic. Holy crap. Lucy is going to lose her mind when she finds out you made a fool of her!” Scarlett doubles over and slaps the table. “And she won’t be able to tell anyone either! Because it’ll make her look too desperate. This is priceless.”

  When Scarlett meets my gaze again, tears turn her eyes glassy. I’m so damned glad they’re tears from laughter and not something else.

  “You are a genius!”

  A smile tugs at the corners of my mouth. “I’m really fucking glad you’re not mad.”

  “Mad? Are you kidding? I got my mom’s necklace because you played on Lucy’s biggest weakness—a man she’s not supposed to have.” Her humor fades for a moment. “Chadwick slept with her while he and I were together. I guarantee she thought you would too. What an arrogant see-you-next-Tuesday.”

  “Baby, you know you can say the word and not spell it, right?”

  Scarlett shakes her head. “Nah, she’s not worth it. And don’t worry about Lucy for another second. If she comes back, I’ll handle her.”

  “My ferocious ladybug,” I say as I pull her into my hips. “You’re amazing, you know that?”

  Scarlett shrugs. “I’m just me.”

  “You’re fucking perfect is what you are. But I need you to know that I won’t ever do something like that without talking to you if I can avoid it. And no matter what, I will do whatever it takes to make sure that nothing connected with me ever blows back on you. Moses will never fucking hurt you. I won’t allow it. Just like last night, I’ll stand as your shield. I will gladly take any bullets so that nothing ever touches you. I swear it on my life.”

  She reaches out and digs her fingers into the towel wrapped around my waist, and her expression is grave.

  “I don’t want you to take any bullets, Gabriel. Not for any reason. If there is any way you can get Moses to take money, you have to swear to me that you’ll take it from me. Please. I can always get more money. But even with all the money in the world, I’d never be able to find another you.”

  I move one hand to cup the back of her hair and press a kiss to her forehead.

>   “I promise that I won’t let my ego or my pride get in the way of asking for your help if I truly need it. I swear.”

  I left my girls curled up on Scarlett’s bed. Roux was snoring at the foot while Scarlett tapped away on the keys of her laptop.

  I didn’t want to go, but she kissed me and sent me on my way, but only after I got the log-in info to her security camera app for the building. I told her it was for Hal so he could see inside the stairwells and store, but I’ll be checking it all the fucking time too.

  Scarlett made me promise I’d drive instead of walk, and that I wouldn’t take any unnecessary risks. I agreed, because I’ve got a whole hell of a lot of reasons to live a long and happy life, and I’m not letting Moses take that from either of us.

  Hal’s out front, keeping an eye on the place. He sent a text to notify us that Monroe was coming up the sidewalk earlier, but I didn’t read it until after she left. After giving him strict instructions to notify me of anything he saw that caused concern—on the street or on the cameras—I head to the club to meet Q and go through our own security footage.

  Moses weighs heavy on my mind.

  Is he watching me right now? Could he really have popped me at any time?

  I already know the answer to that is yes. Moses didn’t get to the top of the Biloxi crew without being clever and ruthless.

  Underestimating him won’t happen again.

  I park in the alley and head inside the club, thinking about how we’re going to have to hire more security for Scarlett and Curated. Someone will have to take turns with Hal, because the old boxer won’t be able to stay awake around the clock for much longer. I need to figure out where the money’s going to come from, but that’s less of a concern. We don’t have a choice.

  I shoot Hal a text to ask if he has anyone he would trust with his life who could trade shifts with him.

  * * *

  Hal: Let me ask my brother. He’s between jobs. Only man I’d trust with my life.

  Legend: Thank you. I appreciate it more than you know.

  Hal: We both know I owe you big. Consider this a long overdue repayment, and if you try to slip me cash, I’ll consider it an insult.