Freeing Her Read Online Free PDF

visage. “I’ll tell you exactly what it is
to me. It’s quite obvious Gabby doesn’t want a thing to do with
you. And besides, she’s mine now. So get the fuck out of here and
don’t come back. Or you’ll have me to contend with. And I can
assure you of one thing: I don’t play nice. Got that, Danny Boy ?”
    Danny stared hard at
Kolson. “We’ll just see about that. See you around, Gabs .”
    And Danny melted into the crowd.
    Kolson stood holding her until he felt her
trembling ease. He let her be the one to decide when she was ready
to release him. When she looked up, he gently asked, “May I offer
you a ride home?”
    She nodded. “H-how did you know he was my
cousin?”
    “ I overheard him. I was in
the car and saw your reaction, so I jumped out and ran to you. When
I got there, he was asking if you were happy to see him. It was
quite clear you weren’t.” He took her briefcase and escorted her to
the car parked directly across the street.
    As they drove, Kolson took in her
appearance. Ashen-faced and trembling, he thought perhaps the last
thing she needed was to be alone.
    “ Sam, take us to
Antonio’s.”
    “ Sure thing, Mr.
H.”
    Kolson turned to Gabby and said, “I hope you
don’t mind, but I thought you might need a little diversion and I
know a great little place. You know how the Upper East Side has all
these great neighborhood restaurants? Well I know the perfect one
where we can sit for a little while. Sound good?”
    “ Yes. Thank you.” Her
voice trembled as she answered.
    “ By the way, my real name
is Kolson Hart. You can drop the Skippy.” He grinned.
    His comment got a semblance of a smile out
of her. “It’s nice to meet you Kolson.”
    Sam dropped them off on East 83rd Street and
they walked into a bistro where the host greeted Kolson by his
first name. He showed them to a table in the back corner of the
restaurant. Most New York restaurants were crowded and closed in,
not allowing for intimate conversation, but this one was slightly
different. It was dimly lit and their table was set in the back so
it was much more private than the others.
    “ I hope this is okay.
Since I know the owner, he’s fairly accommodating and it’s early so
this table was open.”
    “ No, this is nice. Thank
you.”
    “ Are you any
better?”
    “ Yes, a little. I was just
... he just took me by surprise.”
    “ I could see
that.”
    The waiter came to their table and took
their drink order. Gabby asked for water with lemon and Kolson
ordered a glass of wine.
    “ Are you hungry?” Kolson
asked.
    “ I don’t think I could
eat.”
    The waiter returned with their drinks and
Kolson ordered an antipasti platter. Gabby smiled.
    “ At least I got a smile
out of you.”
    “ Only because that will
probably be huge.”
    “ Yeah, and they make a
really good one here. I’m starving.”
    They were silent.
    Kolson cleared his throat. “The fact that
your cousin scared the shit out of you wasn’t lost on me. You don’t
have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”
    Gabby nodded. If Kolson was hoping she’d
open up, he was going to be disappointed.
    “ So, a psychiatrist,
huh?”
    “ Yep. A
shrink.”
    The corners of his mouth turned up and her
attention was drawn to that sexy scar of his.
    “ How’d you get that
scar?”
    His expression turned stony and he said, “A
horse riding accident. Don’t take offense at this but you seem so
young to be a physician.”
    “ No offense taken. I was a
nerd.” She tugged on her collar. “No friends. You know the type. I
finished high school a year early and then I did the same with
college. That part was motivation for financial purposes.” She
grimaced. “I went to Princeton and then Columbia Med School.
Stacked up quite a bit of debt. And now I’m trying to get my
private practice up and running but it’s not been easy.”
    Kolson listened to her and knew how she
must’ve racked up some serious financial obligations. Princeton was
about forty