Page 81 of Lethal Salvation

“I asked her to stay.”

The man placed his arm around her, a tender look on his face. “Snow, watch your blood pressure.”

Gideon swept both his hands through his hair and began to pace along the window. The sight of London below, once something he loved, was now just a dull reminder of what he’d lost. Everywhere he looked was a reminder of her and what he’d lost.

“He’s too stupid to live.” Charlie let the man he guessed was her husband lead her to a chair before he took up a position at her back.

“What the hell was I supposed to do?”

The two men looked at each other and he thought he saw an inkling of sympathy but also a hefty dose of derision.

“Fight for her, douche dick.”

“How?”

“Sit down, your pacing is making me sick, and I don’t want to puke on your pristine carpet.”

Gideon sat on the chair closest to Snow, giving her his full attention as he waited for her to impart life-changing knowledge to him.

“Do you really love her? Like, lie down in front of a stampeding herd of elephants for her love?”

“Yes.”

“Would you do that for anyone else, or anything else?”

“No.” He mentally apologised to Damon, but it was the truth.

“Now do you get it?”

Gideon frowned. “No.”

“Jesus Christ, man. Don’t be so dumb. Sell this place or get a manager in and get your ass to Hereford. She needs you to choose her, over everything.” The man behind Charlie threw up his hands as if he was talking to someone dumber than shit.

“Because nobody else ever has.”

“Oh, maybe we spoke too soon, I think he’s finally getting it.”

Charlie patted her husband’s arm in excitement and he ignored her, the root of an idea forming.

As epiphanies went it was a long time coming. He should have seen this the day she’d walked in and asked him about their future. It was never a contest. He’d just been blinded by responsibility and the misconception that this was what he’d always wanted when it wasn’t.

“I need to make a call.”

He ignored the group who were now bickering amongst themselves about trackers and trust and picked up his phone. He had plans to make and the love of his life to win back.

Two long days later, he was stepping into a pub called The Crown, the low ceiling, wood and brass bar, and rich reds of the décor gave it a quintessential English feel. Every head in the packed bar turned to look at him, but he only had eyes for one person.

“Gideon?”

He drank in the sight of her like a man who’d been stranded in the desert for months. God, she was beautiful. Even with shadows under her eyes, she was the most stunning creature he’d ever laid eyes on.

“Hey.” He kept his hands in his pockets knowing he wouldn’t be able to resist the urge to reach for her if they weren’t.

“What are you doing here? Is Damon okay?”

That was so typical of the woman he loved to think of others before ever factoring in that someone would come for her and he, like the asshole he was, had strengthened her belief that she wasn’t enough. “Everyone is fine.”

Her nose wrinkled and she frowned, her head shaking slightly as if she was trying to clear her confusion. “Is something wrong?”