“Supporting myself,” I replied before walking out, leaving them to follow.
Chapter 20
Gabriel~
I was pissed.
That was a given.
But, right now, I wasn’t sure what I was more pissed about; the fact that Justice was drunkenly rambling about comparing me to other men, or how she paid for her drinks even after I already laid down enough cash to cover their tab.
Beatrice had filled the car with her chatterbox ways all the way to her place, but once we dropped her off at her apartment, the drive to Justice’s had been endured with loud as fuck silence.
Now, we were back at Justice’s apartment, and the second she had unlocked the front door, she had headed to the bathroom and was in the shower inside three minutes of our arrival. I had used her shower time to change out of my suit into a blue tank top and white basketball shorts. I was sitting on the bed when she walked out, and I almost broke a molar when I saw that she was dressed in a pair of pajama pants and a sleep t-shirt.
Once upon a time, Justice changed in front of me if she was wearing any clothes, at all.
I honestly wondered how much more of this I could take.
I watched as she removed the towel from her hair, and she started towel drying her rainbowed strands.
Christ, I loved that about her.
She had grown up poor and lived in a trailer park. She sported used clothes, and she had to work for everything she had. But her circumstances never dimmed her shine. Instead of worrying that rainbow colored hair or bright lipstick might make her seem weird, she embraced her varying expressions of herself.
“Why did you add money to the tab that was clearly covered, Just?” The talking about other guys took a backseat to the money, simply because there was no way she’d be fucking someone else, no matter how much shit she talked.
Her hands stopped mid-dry, and she looked over at me. She was silent for a few seconds, as if she was choosing her wording, but then she said, “I can buy my own drinks, Gabriel.”
This girl was going to be hell on my dental plan. “I never implied that you couldn’t,” I replied. “But, as the man in this relationship, I pick up the tab, Justice.Always.”
She turned to face me full-on, hair drying all but forgotten. “I’ve been paying my own way since I was old enough to hold down a job, Gabriel. That shit doesn’t just suddenly come to an end because you’re blessed enough to be able to scatter hundreds around with no consequence.”
I stood up and walked towards her. I stopped once I was standing directly in front of her. I looked down into her pretty blue eyes. “I’ve got news for you, baby. That shit came to an end the second you said, ‘I do’. I pay for everything moving forward, and if I’m not around, then you use my credit cards until we add you to all my accounts. Bec-”
Justice’s eyes rounded and she took a step back from me; her face pure disbelief. “Are you out of your mind?” She didn’t give me a chance to assure her I was very sane. “I am not…you’re crazy if you think…No. Just no,” she said, adamantly shaking her head at me.
I put my hands on my hips. “No, what?”
“I’m not taking your money, Gabriel,” she scoffed. “There’s no way in hell I’m touching your money.”
I definitely need to make a dentist appointment. “It’s not my money, Justice,” I growled. “It’sourmoney.”
She looked at me as if I just sprouted two horns on my head. “It is most definitely notourmoney, Gabriel. It’s Buchanan money and I amnota Buchanan.”
I had her back flat up against the wall before she could take her next breath. “I’m fucking done playing games with you, Justice,” I snarled in her face. “Youarea Buchanan. You should have been a Buchanan years ago, but I was a jerk. I admit that. I admit that and I’m so fucking sorry for how I took you for granted all those years.” Her eyes started to shine with resentful tears, but I was way past letting her tears sway me. I was going to take motherfucking control just like Adam advised. “I plan on spending the rest of my days making it up to you, but from this second forward, youwillstop talking about divorce, other men, or how you’re not a Buchanan or entitled to my money. You are mywife,Justice. And as such, I will always take care of you financially, emotionally and sexually. Me, andonlyme!”
Justice squared her shoulders and met me head-on. “And if I don’t? Then what, Gabriel? How are you planning to control me, exactly?”
I need all women of the world to stop right now and pay attention to this moment in time.
Do noteverchallenge a man to prove he’s a man.
Nope.
Just don’t do it.
It will never end well for any parties involved.
