Just as well she’d found another man.

Gabe reached for the bottle of Scotch sitting atop a coffee table and splashed more of the amber liquid into the crystal tumbler. How his pal could be confused as to why Gabe would rather be here, drinking with a friend, rather than talking to the woman currently making him insane, was beyond him.

Studying the Scotch like a man looking for answers in all the wrong places, Gabe was remembering the look on Debbie’s face as she’d walked out of his office. He could still clearly see the hurt, and it shocked him that he wasn’t enjoying this more.

Hey, mission accomplished. He’d set her up and knocked her down. So why the hell wasn’t he celebrating? Damn woman never should have come back into his life. He’d had it all a few short weeks ago. He’d been happy.

He took a long drink before saying, “To answer your question, the reason the blonde came to mind first is, she’s the one irritating me at the moment.”

“Uh-huh, and how’s she doing that?” Victor asked. “Complaining about being held prisoner, is she?”

Flashing the other man a dark look, Gabe demanded, “Whose side are you on, anyway?”

“Yours, boss.” Victor held up both hands in mock surrender.

“Damn straight. Somebody sure should be.” Gabe kicked his legs out in front of him, crossed his feet at the ankles and glowered into his glass of Scotch. Didn’t seem to matter how much he drank. He couldn’t wipe Debbie’s image out of his mind. And he wanted to, for God’s sake.

He didn’t owe her a blasted thing.

“Saw Grace heading into the casino a bit ago,” Victor said.

“Yeah?” Jesus, he was being a miserable bastard.

“Your blonde’s in there, too. Thought you should know the two of them looked like they were going to be comparing some notes.”

“Great.” With the two women talking, God only knew what would happen next. Lifting his gaze to his friend’s, Gabe asked, “Just how did my life go down the toilet so fast?”

“Man,” Victor mused, setting his own glass of Scotch onto the table, “what makes you think your life was so great before all this happened?”

Gabe squinted at him. “It was. Everything was fine before Deb showed up.”

Victor laughed shortly and shook his head. “You didn’t notice that whenever Grace arrived you got suddenly busy?”

“No.” He took another drink of Scotch, letting the liquor slide down his throat in a fiery trail.

“Well, I did.” Victor took a sip of his own drink, sighed and said, “Not that Grace went looking for you much, either. Seems to me, if you’re going to marry somebody-even if it’s a business arrangement-folks usually want to spend some time together.”

“What’s your point?”

“You know my point.”

Gabe blew out a long breath. Yeah, he knew what his friend was talking about. Hadn’t wanted to think about it, and still didn’t, come to that. But Victor was right. He and Grace had had an arrangement for a marriage that both of them were settling for-though neither of them was exactly anxious for it.

Probably hadn’t been a good idea in the first place, Gabe allowed silently. No point in getting married unless you were in love, and he sure as hell wasn’t in love-or planning to be.

“My point is, since the day that curvy little blonde showed up on Fantasies, you’ve been different.”

“Like hell.” A little tense maybe. A little pissed, and who could blame him? But he was still the same ol’ Gabe. Debbie hadn’t affected who he was at all. She was his past. That’s all she was.

“Say what you will, boss, but the blonde got to you like nobody else I’ve ever seen.”

He didn’t care about Debbie. And hadn’t for a very long time. “You don’t know what you’re talking about. I told you from the beginning that this was a game. To set her up. None of it meant anything.”

“Then why’re you still so pissed off when you should be happy?”

Just the question he’d been asking himself. And he still didn’t have an answer. Didn’t need one. “Doesn’t matter.”

Victor stood, looked down at his boss and said, “If you say so. But I’m wondering something.”

“If I’d known you were going to be such a talker tonight, I’d have gotten drunk in my own damn room,” Gabe muttered.

Victor only laughed. “No, you wouldn’t. You’re here trying to avoid the blonde, remember.”

True. He’d come to Victor’s suite looking for a friendly ear and a little peace and quiet.

“Damn women muck everything up,” Gabe said, and took another sip of Scotch. “Debbie. Grace.” He shook his head then let it fall against the back of the chair. “I had a great thing going here, Vic. Built my world just the way I wanted it to be. Worked damn hard for a lot of years to make this place what it is today.”

“Yeah. You told me once. When you and the blonde broke up, you set out to make a fortune.”

“And I did it,” Gabe said, lifting his glass in a toast to himself.

“You did. But you gotta wonder…”

“What?”

“Well, if the blonde hadn’t made you so damned mad all those years ago, would you be here now?”

Gabe grumbled a little, sat straighter and eyed his chief of security. “Why wouldn’t I be?”

Victor shook his head and shrugged. “Not saying you wouldn’t be. Only said that the blonde pissed you off enough to work your ass off to build this place. This life. Who knows where you’d be if she’d said yes ten years ago.”

Frowning, Gabe stared at his drink, then reached out and set it down onto the coffee table. Thoughts tumbled through his mind as he considered Victor’s words and tried to weigh them honestly.

“I’m going to head downstairs,” Victor said. “Do a sweep of the place. Check in with my guys. You stay as long as you like, boss, and I’ll see you later.”

“Yeah.” Gabe hardly noticed his friend leaving but when the other man was gone, Gabe wandered over to the French doors leading to a small balcony off the living room of the suite. He opened them, pushing them wide and was instantly slapped in the face by a fierce wind sweeping in off the ocean.

That sharp breeze seemed to scatter the fog in his mind and as he looked out at the kingdom he’d built, Gabe had to ask himself if Victor had been right. If Debbie hadn’t cut him loose ten years ago, would he have had the same drive and determination to succeed? If they’d been married when he’d asked her, how much different would their lives be now? Would he even be the man he was?

He liked to think so. Liked to believe that he would have accomplished all that he had with or without the motivation of the anger she’d churned in him so long ago.

But the simple truth was, he didn’t know.

Gabe had used his anger to fuel him. He’d channeled his hurt and fury into a single-minded goal. Succeeding. Making himself into the kind of man that Debbie would never have considered turning down.

So really, without Debbie…he very well might not be the king of his own little island.

“And ain’t that a kick in the ass?”

“He was engaged?”

Janine sounded so outraged on her behalf, Debbie wanted to reach through the phone line and give her friend a big hug. Instead she settled for grumbling. “Yes. To this super-elegant, absolutely gorgeous woman.”

Two hours after leaving Grace in the hotel casino, Debbie was back upstairs in Gabe’s suite, pacing the room frantically, as if she could actually walk away from here if she just put enough energy into each step. Calling Janine had been grabbing onto a life rope in a churning sea. But, hey, that’s what friends were for, right?

“That’s so evil, I can’t even come up with anything sufficiently cutting to say,” Janine admitted. “What was Gabe thinking? I mean, he’s all over you and neglects to mention the fiancée?”

“Technically, not a fiancée,” Debbie allowed, and why she was trying to make the situation sound better was beyond her. “An almost-fiancée who is now the fiancée of somebody else, anyway, so that’s over really and I don’t know why I’m still freaked about it but-”

“Breathe,” Janine ordered.

Debbie walked across the living-room floor and opened the French doors onto Gabe’s terrace. Instantly the ocean wind slapped her in the face and forced a breath into her lungs. “Right. Right, I’m a little over the top.”

“Yeah,” Janine agreed. “Just a smidge.”

“The worst part, though,” Debbie said, leaning on the balcony railing and closing her eyes to the wind, “is that the ex-fiancée was absolutely right about something.”

“Which is…”

“I’m in love with Gabe.” Oh, God. She’d actually said it. Out loud. And now that it was out there in the universe, there was no pulling it back again.

“Well, to coin a phrase, duh.”

“Huh?”

“Honey,” Janine said, her voice dropping into a soothing, sympathetic tone, “you’ve been in love with Gabe for like, ever. Pretending you weren’t didn’t actually change anything, you know?”

Janine was right, Debbie thought, and let her chin hit her chest. She’d always loved Gabe. Even when she’d broken it off with him, refused to marry him and hurt both of them desperately, she’d still loved him.

It was only her fears that had gotten in the way.

But wasn’t it too late to do anything about that now?

“Deb?” Janine prompted. “You still there?”

“Yeah,” she said softly, going back inside while leaving the terrace doors open to the night air. “I’m here. I’m just not sure where here is, exactly.”

Eleven

A few hours later Gabe was still considering everything Victor had said. All the thoughts that had been stirred up. And he wasn’t happy about it, either.

He’d like to think that he would have made a success of himself without the fury he’d felt at Debbie driving him. But the truth was, Gabe admitted ruefully, he’d never really know for sure.

He shoved one hand through his hair, swiped his card for his private elevator and when it arrived, got in. He had at least come to one conclusion tonight, despite trying to drown his thoughts in too much Scotch.

He was damned relieved Grace had called off their “arrangement.” How the hell could he marry one woman while dreaming about another? He wasn’t saying he was in love with Debbie, but damn if the woman wasn’t still in his blood.

When the elevator doors opened, he stepped into his suite, glanced around the dimly lit room and finally spotted Deb, curled up sleeping in a dark-red chair near the now cold fireplace. Her head was tucked into the wing of the chair, her eyes were closed and her long blond hair fell softly about her face.

Something inside him twisted and though he didn’t want to admit it, Gabe knew he had to let her go. For both their sakes. She needed to get back to her life and he needed her away from him. Better for both of them if they just forgot all about the last week or so.

He walked closer, his steps nearly soundless on the rug-strewn floor. He stared down at her and when his heart gave a twinge, he told himself it was nothing more than the echoes of memory. It was the past coming back to give him one more ache. One more kick. To remind him that he never should have started this little game.

Outside, the wind keened and the sheer white drapes hanging across the open French doors danced and writhed like ghosts somehow chained to the earth. The scent of rain came in on the wind and he moved to close the doors before the storm arrived.

When they were latched, he heard Debbie ask from behind him, “What’s going on?”

“Storm blowing in.” He turned, looked at her as she pushed herself to her feet and fought the instant, almost primal reaction he felt inside. She looked soft, and vaguely disheveled, like she’d just rolled out of bed and he wanted her in his bed. Now. Didn’t matter how often they came together. How much he touched her. He knew in that one blinding moment that he would always want her.

That’s why she had to go.

“Pack your stuff,” he said suddenly, shoving both hands into his pants’ pockets. “You’re leaving.”

“What?” Her eyes popped open wide as she stared at him.

“You. Leaving.”

“When?”

“Tonight. Tomorrow. Whenever.”

“Just like that?” She came around the edge of the chair and walked toward him, stopping just a few feet away.

A small distance, but it might as well have been miles.

“Now you’re complaining because you can go?” He forced a laugh that felt like it was strangling him. “A few hours ago, you were demanding to leave.”

“And you said I couldn’t because the jewel thief hadn’t been caught.”

“I lied.”

“What?”

He pulled a folded piece of paper from his pocket and silently handed it to her. Gabe watched while she unfolded it and quickly scanned it. When she lifted her head to glare at him, he met that cold stare with one of his own.