“Mrs. Cross just saw Anne Lucas in her apartment building,” he said to whoever answered.
“I think I did,” I corrected, frowning at his hard tone.
But he wasn’t listening to me. “Find out,” he ordered, before hanging up.
“Gideon. What’s going on?”
He led us to the couch and sat. I settled next to him, putting my purse down on the coffee table.
“I saw Anne the other day,” he explained, holding on to my hand. “Raúl confirmed that the woman who spoke to you at the fund-raiser was her. She admitted it, and I warned her to stay away from you, but she won’t. She wants to hurt me and she knows she can do that if she hurts you.”
“Okay.” I processed that.
“You need to tell Raúl the moment you see her anywhere. Even if you just think it’s her.”
“Hold on a minute, ace. You went to see her the other day and didn’t tell me?”
“I’m telling you now.”
“Why didn’t you tell me then?”
He exhaled roughly. “It was the day Chris came over.”
“Oh.”
“Yeah.”
I gnawed on my lower lip a minute. “How would she hurt me?”
“I don’t know. It’s enough for me that she wants to.”
“Like would she break my leg? My nose?”
“I doubt she’d resort to violence,” he said dryly. “It would be more fun for her to play mind games. Showing up where you are. Letting you catch glimpses of her.”
Which was more insidious. “So that you’ll go to her. That’s what she really wants,” I muttered. “She wants to see you.”
“I won’t be obliging her. I said what I needed to.”
Looking down at our joined hands, I played with his wedding band. “Anne, Corinne, Deanna … It’s a bit crazy, Gideon. I mean, I don’t think this is normal for most men. How many more women are going to lose their minds over you?”
He shot me a look that was patently not amused. “I don’t know what’s gotten into Corinne. None of what she’s done since she returned to New York is like her. I don’t know if it’s the medication she was on, the miscarriage, her divorce …”
“She’s getting divorced?”
“Don’t take that tone, Eva. It doesn’t make a damn bit of difference to me if she’s married or single. I’m married. That’s never going to change, and I’m not a man who cheats. I have more respect for you—and me—than to be that kind of husband.”
I leaned forward, offering my mouth, and he took it in a soft, sweet kiss. He had said exactly what I needed to hear.
Gideon pulled back, nuzzling his nose against mine. “As for the other two … You have to understand that Deanna was collateral damage. Fuck. My entire life has been a war zone and some people have gotten caught in the line of fire.”
I cupped his jaw, trying to stroke the tension away with soothing brushes of my thumb. I knew just what he meant.
He swallowed hard. “If I hadn’t used Deanna to send a message to Anne that the door was closed between us, she would’ve been just a one-night stand. Over and done with.”
“But she’s okay now?”
“I think so.” His fingertips brushed my cheek, the touch reflecting the one I’d given him. “Since I’m sharing, I’ll say that I don’t think she’d turn me down if I tried to hook up—which I won’t—but I don’t think she falls in the woman-scorned category any longer.”
“Yeah, I knew she’d hit the sheets with you again if she could. Not that I blame her. Do you have to be so damn good in bed? Isn’t it enough that you’re hot, and have an amazing body and a huge cock?”
He shook his head, clearly exasperated. “It’s not huge.”
“Whatever. You’re hung. And you know how to use it. And women don’t get awesome sex very often, so when we do, we can go a little nuts over it. I guess that answers my question about Anne, since she had you repeatedly.”