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close to painful, but the inherent threat was enough to stiffen her spine and harden her voice. “Let me go.”
     
    “Did you fuck him?” Those sorcerer’s eyes blazed angrily, even while his lips hovered just a hair’s breadth above her own.
     
    “What do you care?” she tossed back. “As long as I fuck you too?”
     
    The hand near her throat tightened warningly, though his grip remained painless. “Did you let that fucking waiter touch you? Put his hands on you? Put his cock in you?” His breath was coming in short pants. “Or was it someone else?”
     
    She shoved against him, but it was like trying to push a mountain—his muscles were like granite under her hands. “Let me go!” she demanded loudly, her voice rising despite her best efforts to keep it even.
     
    “Not until you tell me, damn it. Who was it?”
     
    “Gabe—”
     
    He shook her then, not hard enough to do any damage, just enough to get her attention. “Tell me.” He was wild, out-of-control, his possessive instincts dangerously aroused.
     
    She wanted to lie because it was easier. Wanted to tell the truth, though he would never believe her. But when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out. She shook her head, shrugged, looked down at the thick, cream-colored carpet beneath her feet.
     
    “Damn it, Lissy, just tell me.” The rage was gone and in its place was a sad acceptance she’d never seen from him before.
     
    Her resolve broke at the sadness in his voice and at the sound of her nickname on those beloved lips—he was the only man to ever care enough to give her a nickname. Unless “Oh yeah, baby, do it again” counted.
     
    “I was driving, Gabe. Just driving. Sorting some stuff out in my head.” She gestured to her sand-covered feet. “I ended up at that spot in Coronado we found a couple of months ago.”
     
    He let out a long, shaky breath, his dark skin paling considerably. But those watchful eyes continued to study her for a moment before closing as he sagged in relief. He bent his head, rested it in the curve between her neck and her shoulder, and she was shocked to realize he was trembling.
     
    “Gabe?” Her arms came up and wrapped around him before she could stop herself. “What’s wrong, sugar?” Her lips grazed his ear. “Why are you acting like this?”
     
    He shook his head, took a couple of deep, steadying breaths before stepping away from her. “I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have…” He gestured at the wall before shoving his hands in his pockets and turning away.
     
    “Shouldn’t have what?” she asked. Suddenly the tables were turned and it was she following him around the apartment.
     
    He whirled to face her, somehow even paler than before. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I—” His voice trailed off.
     
    “You didn’t.” Her voice was clear. “If you had, you wouldn’t still be standing here.”
     
    Those black-magic eyes studied her for a moment, looking for the woman behind the mask, searching for the soul she didn’t know she still had. And then he said, simply, “I love you, Annalise.”
     
    Chapter Four
    She stared at him wide-eyed, feeling like she’d just been run over by an eighteen-wheeler. “Gabe—”
     
    “I know.” He nodded at her skeptical look. “I really do. I didn’t mean to, I did everything I could to avoid it, but it’s true. Somehow, despite my worst intentions, I fell in love with you.”
     
    Annalise shook her head, backed away. She didn’t do love. Not now, not anymore. “I—”
     
    His smile was sad. “I know. I shouldn’t have said anything. I never meant to tell you.”
     
    “Gabe—” She was beginning to sound like a broken record, but she had no idea what to say. He’d completely blindsided her.
     
    He grabbed his keys off her coffee table before leaning down and brushing a kiss against her cheek. “Get some sleep. I’ll call you in a couple of days.”
     
    A couple of days? He was going to drop a bombshell like