Chapter 23

CHAPTER 23

Gabe

D ragging the back of my hand across my forehead, I grimace at the gritty dust and sweat that comes off. A shower can't come soon enough but I'm bound and determined to finish this last set of shelves.

Oddly, for a man who's used to sitting in bespoke suits behind a desk, I'm getting a lot of satisfaction from the backbreaking work of organizing our storage vault.

The idea didn't come to me out of the blue as I've been wanting to get in for years to root around in the ancestral documents and collectibles. I've always been so proud to be of Mardraggon lineage and there's a wealth of history in this room. But while I've always wanted to do this, it was clearly never a priority. I never seemed to have the time and what little free time I did have, I didn't want to be doing sweaty physical labor like this.

But it's exactly the type of activity that seems to bring me some measure of peace. Because when I'm concentrating on my work here—going through boxes, organizing, cataloging, moving them—I'm not thinking about Kat.

It's been three days since I dropped her off at her home with the intention of leaving her firmly behind. As of now, I'm sticking to it.

Doesn't mean I didn't waver though, especially that very next day when Kat showed up on my doorstep as I was getting ready to head to the office. She caught me off guard, moving into me to place a blistering kiss on my mouth.

One I'm ashamed to say I returned for way too long before I got ahold of myself and pushed her gently off. She tried to step into me again and damn her to hell, she whispered dirty words. I knew her game though… get me in bed and she could talk to me after she had me boneless from pleasure.

I knew if I let her get me into bed, my resolve to stay away from her would crumble, so I did the only thing I could.

I lied to her and I did it cruelly. "I'm not interested, Kat."

She narrowed her eyes, motioned to her body, slamming in a pair of short shorts and a tight T-shirt. "You're not interested in this."

Christ, it killed me and I almost couldn't pull it off, but I managed to keep my tone unaffected. "It was good while it lasted but it's run its course."

I braced for her to fight or at the very least slap me, but instead she looked at me with sad eyes. "Still the same asshole you were eight years ago."

She turned and walked off. I watched as she got into her Jeep and drove away. I wanted to scream at her that I wasn't that same asshole and that what I was doing was to both our benefit, but I stood mute as her taillights disappeared down the drive.

I'd like to say each day has gotten easier, but it hasn't. So I'll continue to work long hours at the office, leaving my father's legacy behind and building my own. I'll spend my nights working through the storage vault, not once regretting the empty space where the Shadow Reserve used to sit because I'd have given up this entire company to make sure Kat was safe. Then I'll go home too exhausted to think and fall into a dreamless sleep that has been my sanctuary for the last three nights.

"Excuse me, Mr. Mardraggon."

I turn to the vault's open door to see a security guard there. We employ several to walk the campus at night, which covers over four hundred forty acres.

I don't recognize this one but that's not unusual. I'm not typically here at night and rarely during the day, my work being conducted from the Frankfort offices. "What's up?" I ask, once again wiping a bead of sweat threatening to roll down my temple.

"There's a Mr. Ethan Blackburn here to see you."

I glance past the guard's shoulder and see Kat's brother standing there. He raises a hand tentatively. "Sorry to come unannounced."

Sighing, I wave him in and thank the guard, who slips away unobtrusively. "What can I do for you?"

"Well, you'd know if you bothered to answer my calls or texts," Ethan says as he walks over to a shelf of collectibles. He picks up an old paperweight, examines it and sets it back down gently. "Why are you avoiding me?"

"Because I'm not going to discuss your sister with you," I reply, moving back to another set of shelves where I'd emptied a box of documents to sift through. I thumb a few pages but I can't concentrate on them. However, if I ignore Ethan long enough, maybe he'll leave.

"I want to discuss Sylvie," Ethan says, and that gets my attention.

I glance at him as I point out, "I thought my email to you day before yesterday was clear. I'm going to have myself removed as co-trustee so you don't need to have my approval on anything."

"I'm talking about working out some type of visitation schedule with you," Ethan replies.

I turn to face him fully. I'm still skeptical, but I ask, "What type of visitation?"

"The kind where she visits with you. Spends time. I'm even comfortable with her doing an overnight or flying to France again."

I bark out a laugh and shake my head. "Nice try, but if you're using that as a ploy to get me and your sister back together, then forget it."

"No ploy. Kat doesn't need to chaperone. I trust you with my daughter."

And once again, he has my undivided attention, but I can't let the skepticism go. "You trust me? Are you addled or something?"

Ethan chuckles. "Yeah, yeah… I know. You're a Mardraggon and I'm a Blackburn, and our families have hated each other for eternity."

"Exactly," I say, stabbing a finger in the air at him. "So pardon me if I'm a little suspicious of this sudden change in attitude."

"Not sudden," Ethan corrects me. "It had been happening from the start because it's always been clear you love Sylvie. It only compounded when you turned your dad into the police, and hell… by the time you were giving up a two-million-dollar case of bourbon to save my sister and then stomping the ass of the guy who hit her, I was pretty much ready to welcome you into the family."

Shaking my head, I turn away to focus on the sheaf of papers before me. "You're full of shit."

"I'm not," Ethan says, but I keep my back to him. "I trust you and if you want time with Sylvie, you have it. And I know you don't want to hear it, but it bears saying… I think you're wrong to let my sister go."

I don't reply.

"You said you loved her. Told my entire family in our kitchen. Was that all bullshit?"

I swallow hard, wanting to lie to him but I can't. Keeping my attention on the task before me, I have to admit to him, "No, it wasn't bullshit."

"Then why the fuck aren't you over at the barn right now begging her forgiveness and getting on with the business of being happy?"

"Because I'm a Mardraggon and she's a Blackburn."

"Because you're too afraid to be a Mardraggon and love a Blackburn," Ethan sneers. "You're not your father, you know?"

"I know."

"You're not responsible for his debts or his actions."

"Got that too," I mutter.

"So you're just being stupid then." Ethan laughs and it's mirthless. "Maybe I shouldn't trust such a bonehead with Sylvie."

I turn on him, angry at the words he's saying but appreciating them all the same. "You know I really hurt your sister eight years ago."

"She told me all of it," Ethan says, and I don't miss the menace in his voice.

"I hurt her again just days ago."

"Your point?" Ethan drawls, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Don't you think it's just a little reasonable that I back away and let Kat have a shot with someone who's better than me? Someone who's guaranteed to give her what she deserves?"

Ethan shakes his head, a small smile playing at his lips. "Life doesn't come with guarantees. It's all about risk and reward. Yes, you might face more challenges. Yes, it's going to be hard with the family feud still simmering. But don't make decisions based on fear. You and Kat, you have something real. You owe it to yourself and her to see where it leads, without shadows from the past dictating your future."

Christ, I hate that what he's saying makes a future with her seem plausible. I hate it because I never thought a Mardraggon would have to rely on a Blackburn to make sense of life. That's twisted in a way I don't want to consider.

"What's your sister think about all this?" I ask. Because surely he's had this same talk with her. She's been stubbornly silent since she left my house three days ago when I spurned her advances.

Ethan tips his head back and laughs. As his eyes meet mine, he looks almost sorry. "Dude… she is pissed at you. I'm not sure you can win her back."

"What the fuck, Ethan?" I snarl. "Why did you just lay all that bullshit on me?"

"Not bullshit, my friend." Ethan claps me on the shoulder and squeezes. "And I do mean that. After everything, you are my friend. Now, Kat is a different story. It's going to require much groveling."

He turns and moves to the door. I stroke my jaw in contemplation, wondering just how much groveling it will take.

"Oh," Ethan says as an afterthought, his hand on the vault door. "Trey and Wade very much are not on board with this and that's up to you to work out. They still want to kick your ass for what you did to her in college."

"Of course they do," I mutter, but honestly… it would be a small price to pay.

Not to mention, I probably deserve it.

"Catch you around," Ethan says. "Maybe at a family dinner or something."

His laughter echoes inside the vault as he walks away and that's just not something I can see in the future.

Me sitting at the family dinner table in the Blackburns' home.

But I can see me begging Kat to give this a shot and that's where I need to start.