Rush

turned away, unable to bear the sight of Charles’s hands on Mia’s body. Her soft
     gasps filled the air. He stood tense, hands shoved into his pockets, across the room,
     not wanting to see or hear the results of his foolishness.
    He was a fool. And a complete bastard. A cowardly asshole.
    This wasn’t
right
. He couldn’t allow this to continue. All he’d proven to himself was that he’d never
     share Mia with another living soul, and he’d be damned if he allowed another man to
     touch what was his.
    This had to end. They had to leave.
    He was about to turn and order them all out when he froze, his blood turning to ice.
    “No!” Mia cried. “
Gabe!
”
    His name was a terrified cry for help.
    He whirled around to see Charles with his fly unzipped, his hand curled roughly in
     Mia’s hair as he tried to force himself into her mouth.
    Rage exploded, a volcanic force erupting. He charged forward and to his horror, Charles,
     enraged by Mia’s refusal, backhanded her across the face. Mia’s head snapped back,
     her eyes wide with shock. Blood immediately seeped from the corner of her mouth.
    Gabe went crazy.
    He threw Charles away from Mia. He hit the couch and Gabe went after him. The other
     two men scrambled up and away, one of them hastily refastening his fly.
    Gabe doubled Charles over with a fist to his gut and then flattened him with another
     to Charles’s jaw.
    Gabe loomed over him, murderous fury sizzling through his veins. “Get out. Get the
     fuck out of here and I better never see you again. I’ll fucking ruin you.”
    He wanted nothing more than to beat the man to a pulp, buthe had to see to Mia. Mia, whom he’d betrayed horribly. Mia, who had trusted him.
     Mia, whom he’d acted reprehensibly toward. All because he was a coward unable to face
     the truth of what she meant to him.
    The other two men helped pick Charles up and they fled the suite, slamming the door
     behind them.
    Gabe flew to Mia, dread weighing on him with suffocating force. Her lips and chin
     quivered and tears shone in her eyes. She looked scared and embarrassed. Shame shone
     bright in her tear-filled eyes and it gutted him.
    And blood. God. There was blood where that bastard had
hit
her.
    He knelt down to untie her hands, his fingers shaking as he fumbled with the knots.
     He pressed his mouth to her hair and her temple, kissing her over and over.
    “I’m so sorry, baby. I’m so sorry. Oh God, Mia. I didn’t mean for this to happen.”
    She was silent, and he wasn’t sure if it was because she was in shock over what had
     happened or if she was too pissed at him to speak. He couldn’t blame either reaction.
     This was all on him. He’d done this to her. He’d hurt her.
    When she was free, he gathered her in his arms, pulling her off the table. He carried
     her into the bedroom and crawled onto the bed, still holding her tightly. She turned
     into his chest, burying her face against his neck. The shock of her hot tears on his
     skin ripped his heart right out of his chest.
    God he was such a bastard. A complete and utter asshole. He clutched her to him, desperation
     crawling up his spine and seizing him by the throat.
    “I’m sorry, Mia. God, I’m so sorry.”
    It was all he could say. Over and over. Panic hit him right in the gut. What if she
     walked away? He certainly couldn’t blame her. Hell, she should be running, not walking.
    “Please, baby. Please don’t cry. I’m so sorry. It will never happen again. I shouldn’t
     have allowed it.”
    He rocked her back and forth in his arms as she clung to him, her body still shaking.
     Whether it was fear, upset or anger, or a combination of the three he wasn’t sure.
     He deserved whatever she threw at him. He’d failed her utterly. He hadn’t protected
     her. He hadn’t taken care of her as he’d promised. All because he was trying to distance
     himself, trying to prove some stupid point to himself that he didn’t need her.
    It was such a lie. He did need her. She was his obsession, his fix, a craving that
     went soul deep. Never had he felt such an overwhelming, fierce possessiveness as when
     another man put his hands on what Gabe considered his. But he hadn’t treated her like
     she was his. He’d treated her like she was a thing. A toy, not a woman he cared about.
    He stroked his hands down her trembling back. She was shaking harder now and he was
     desperate to comfort her, to offer her what he hadn’t given her before.
    She clutched