She nodded, following him out of the waiting room—and out of earshot of his grandparents. They might be a tight family, but there were some things even they didn’t know, and Gideon preferred to keep it that way when it came to his younger sister.
“What happened?” he demanded, softening the hard tone of his question by enfolding her hand in his.
“Sincethe announcement of Trevor’s engagement, I’ve tried my best to keep her protected from the news. Even going on her computer and phone and blocking those society sites. But I knew that was only prolonging the inevitable. And last night, she found out. I heard her sobbing all the way from downstairs, Gideon,” she whispered, the dark eyes she’d bequeathed to him liquid with tears. “I ran to her roomand found her curled up in a ball on the floor of her bedroom, crying uncontrollably. Unable to stop. I was afraid. So I called the ambulance.”
He ground his teeth together, an ache flaring along his jaw as he struggled to imprison the blistering stream of curses that would not only offend his mother but would be pointless.
Nothing he said could ease his sister’s anguish. And no amountof release could extinguish his hatred toward Trevor Neal, the bastard responsible for shattering the kind, loving, fragile woman who’d given him her heart. A heart Trevor had trampled, then tossed aside like trash.
It’d been a year ago, but to Olivia, Trevor’s betrayal might as well as have been yesterday. She’d kept her love affair with the CEO of RemingtonNeal, Inc. from Gideon, becausehe and Trevor had no love lost between them; they’d been rivals and enemies for years. Gideon had never hidden his hatred toward the other man.
Which explained why Trevor had targeted her in the first place.
He’d romanced Olivia, manipulated her into falling in love with him, making promises of a future together. Then, out of the blue, he’d cruelly dumped her. But that hadn’t been theworst of it. Olivia had been pregnant with his child. Trevor hadn’t cared. He’d even ordered her to get an abortion, which she’d refused. But in the end, it hadn’t mattered. She’d miscarried, and the loss had sunk her into a depression that had begun to lift only a couple months ago. Seeking to protect her from any further hurt, Gideon and his mother had kept the information about the engagement tothemselves.
But now this had happened.
“I’m sorry.” His mother interrupted his thoughts by cupping his cheek. “I know this has to be difficult for you, too. This whole engagement thing. How’re you doing?”
He covered her hand with his and then pressed a kiss to her palm before lowering it. Schooling his features, he submerged the jagged knife of pain and humiliation beneath a sheetof ice. “I’m fine, Mom. I’m not the one who needs your worry today.”
She didn’t immediately reply, studying him. “I’m a mother. I have enough concern to spread around evenly,” she said, and amusement whispered through him. “She was your fiancée, Gideon,” she pointed out, as if he didn’t know. “Cheating on you was hurtful enough, but this? And with him of all people?” She shook her head. “There’sno way you can possibly be ‘fine.’”
“Let it go, Mom,” he murmured, sliding his hands into the front pockets of his pants and slightly turning away from her incisive gaze. “I have.”
Lies.
He would never forget Madison Reus’s betrayal. Or forgive it. Not when the man she’d cheated with had been Trevor.
The other man had made it his mission to bring Gideon down a peg. And this lateststunt—pursuing Madison, fucking her and now marrying her—had been a direct hit. Anger at his enemy and his ex swelled within him. Both were selfish, narcissistic and uncaring of who they destroyed.
Especially Trevor.
Gideon had been unable to protect his sister from him the first time. And now she still suffered from his cruelty. It sickened Gideon that he’d failed her, despite the factthat he hadn’t known until it was too late. As her older brother, the man in the family, he should’ve been there. Should’ve asked questions. Should’ve...
Damn it. He ruthlessly scrubbed his hands down his face.
Never again. Trevor Neal wouldn’t get away unscathed this time.
He would pay. Pay for them all.
