Page 43 of Ruthless Touch
When he finishes speaking, he takes a deep breath and lets it out slowly. “So that’s your answer. I did it because something about you touched me like no one has ever done before.”
“Even that Gia woman you were in love with?” I ask, needing to know.
I wait, holding my breath as he takes another deep breath in and holds it in his lungs. Finally, he lets it out like the weight of the world comes along with it.
“Yes.”
“But you were in love with her,” I say, still not understanding.
Gideon doesn’t say anything for a long moment, his stare remaining on my face the entire time. He looks like he doesn’t know how to say what’s on his mind.
Then a hint of a smile lifts the corners of his mouth. “I’ve been in love with you since that night we met.”
I shake my head in disbelief. “How can that be? You slept next to me for weeks and never touched me. You barely spoke to me for the past month. That isn’t love.”
“Why? Why can’t it be love? Why couldn’t I feel that way? Just because it isn’t the way most people act? Well, I’m not most people.”
My mind whirls as I try to process what he’s saying. Does he truly mean it? Does he actually love me?
“Then why did you make that deal with me the second night I was here if you were going to protect me anyway?”
“Because that’s what I was supposed to do. I knew you’d never believe me if I told you how much I cared about you, so I played along. People around here think I’m like the rest of my family, so I act the part of a bad man. With you, though, I don’t want to be that. With you, I want to be who I truly am.”
The way he says that, like he isn’t sure how I’ll react but he wants to chance it anyway, touches my heart, so I reach out and cradle his face in my hands. The stubble from his new beard growth scratches my palms when he smiles at me.
“So you love me?” I ask, still unsure I believe him.
“I love you,” he answers quietly. “I know it doesn’t make sense with the way I’ve acted, but I’ve loved you more every day you’ve been here with me. I can’t imagine my life without you.”
Pressing my lips to his, I kiss them softly and sigh. “I want to believe you. I do. It’s just that nothing you’re saying makes any sense when I think about how you’ve acted for the past weeks.”
His dark eyes search my face like he needs to find something inside me to cling to in case I try to slip away. Pushing my hair off my shoulders, he smiles and says, “Then forget about all of that. Tonight, we start something new together.”
As much as I love what he’s saying, the truth of the matter is I’m still his prisoner here. If he loves me, that can’t continue.
“Gideon, you keep me here and won’t even let me go down to eat my meals without someone babysitting me. That’s not love.”
He winces at my description of what’s been the truth of my life for the past month. “That’s been protecting you, but you’re right. Love should mean you can trust someone. If you want to leave the penthouse while I’m at work, you can from now on.”
My heart soars at what he’s saying. I won’t be his prisoner anymore. I’ll actually be Gideon’s girlfriend, free to come and go as I like, at least during the day.
“And no Sasha watching over me?”
“Fine. No Sasha watching over you, but you can’t leave the hotel without a bodyguard. I can’t relent on that. You asked me for protection, so you’ll get it.”
I can live with that. I did ask him to protect me because I don’t think Franco is done with me yet, so if I leave the hotel, I’ll go with a bodyguard.
“Okay. That works for me.”
We fall silent as I think about all he’s told me tonight. He never asked if I love him, though. Is it that he doesn’t care, or it doesn’t matter to him?
Taking his hand in mine, I bring it to my lips to kiss his fingertips. “Are you wondering why I haven’t said I love you?”
To my surprise, he shakes his head. “No. I haven’t done anything to make you fall in love with me yet. I know that. I just have to hope in time you’ll come to love me.”
“It’s only that I don’t know how to feel, Gideon. You pay my ex-boyfriend to take me, you keep me locked up in this penthouse, and before today, I didn’t even know what we were to each other.”
“I understand. You’re not a prisoner here as of tonight. Whenever I’m at work, you can go anywhere in the hotel you want, and you can go anywhere up and down the coast, as long as you’re escorted by a bodyguard.”