Falling For My Playboy Boss
Chapter 88

Collin's

POV

What did Cora say? Gabriel is here? I had a bone to pick with him and I came out of the kitchen to go up to Cora at the door.

"What are you doing here? Your people have caused enough trouble. You need to leave now because I won't have a problem going to jail again if I have to", I told him.

"Collin, calm down. It is fine. Gabriel is my friend and I care for him. He didn't do anything wrong. It was Camille and Andre who were in the wrong", Cora said as she put a hand on my arm and backed me up to just behind her and allowed Gabriel to enter. "Please have a seat at the island, Gabriel. I can grab you a cup of coffee if you would like some. We were just getting some ourselves". Cora tells him and leads him to the island and gets two coffee cups. I know I am putting out some angry energy towards Gabriel, I am furious at the actions of his people and how Cora was treated, and I am spoiling for an argument right now. I know that Gabriel can feel the anger radiating out of me, I am almost vibrating with it.

"I am sorry for intruding. I know you were set to leave today, and I wanted to catch you before your flight, Cora. I am sorry for acting the way I did. Marc told me what you said. I haven't been a good friend to you. I let my jealousy spoil our friendship, and I am sorry that my not speaking to you when you came to my office made you cry. I didn't mean to be hateful to you. I was just upset that you didn't have the same feelings for me that I had for you. That was not your fault, you did nothing wrong. I just thought that since Collin was engaged, I would let you know that I cared for you as well and would be proud to make you my fiancé and then my wife when you were comfortable with it. You were nothing but kind to me about it, and I let my embarrassment over it cause me to avoid you and be a jerk to you, and for that, I am truly sorry Cora", Gabriel said, and then got up to leave.

"You don't have to leave, Gabriel, we have time to visit. The hospital didn't want me to leave until the 24-hour mark anyway, and I didn't want to leave without clearing everything between us. I am sorry I upset you. I just try to be as honest and direct as I can be with people. Thank you for coming and telling me. I would have hated leaving that misunderstanding causing a problem between us, Gabriel. I know that you care a lot about me, because not very many men would overlook a woman who is pregnant with twins and offer to raise them as their own. You are a special man, and I just didn't want you to be so focused on me, that you missed an opportunity to be with a wonderful lady. You are an attractive and a good man, and I know that you will replace the love of your life" Cora told him, and I got jealous again and walked over to stand behind her and wrapped my arms around her, staking my claim that this woman was taken, and for Gabriel to keep looking for his own woman. The gall of him, telling my Cora that he loved her and would marry her. She is pregnant with MY children. She is not for him, and I already told him this when he called me the day we came back to New York before Maddie started her s**t. I saw Gabriel looking at me and I knew he wanted to say something, and I couldn't help myself. I kissed Cora on the side of her neck in a very familiar way. It didn't go over well.

"Stop it, Collin, Gabriel has real feelings for me, and you are acting like a damn teenager. If I was so important to you, you should have listened to your mother about cutting Maddie loose as she is not a good person, and now here we are. So, please stop it. I love you, everyone in this room is aware of my feelings for you. Now your feelings for me are nowhere near quite as obvious, so you can stop the possessive act right now. Gabriel and I spoke last Friday night, and what I told him hurt him. I didn't want to hurt him, and I will tell you something else. If it comes down to it and you end up marrying Maddie, do not be surprised at what will follow", Cora tells me, and then grabs her coffee and goes to sit next to Gabriel.

I am shocked, no woman has ever spoken to me like that before, and I really love Cora, so it has shaken me to my very core. I will not be marrying Maddie, ever. I will discuss it with Cora on the plane as she is obviously very upset right now. I was just staking my claim on her as Gabriel had re-drawn the line in the sand. He is truly willing to accept Cora, even with her pregnant with my children. I underestimated him, I really thought after he knew we were together, he would leave her alone. But I guess even the gossip columns here had me and Maddie in them, so he decided to try again. There was no way that he could have known what was going on for him not to realize that I had been forced into this situation. He didn't do it deliberately; he just saw an opportunity and took it. I am sure Cora being very pregnant was a huge shock to him, but he thought about it and decided that it was worth it to have Cora and to help her raise my children. I knew he was getting possessive of her when I saw them dancing and talking and then when they left the dance floor, his hand was very possessively placed on her lower back.

I will not be losing Cora to Gabriel either. I am the father of our twins, and I love her so much it hurts. I will not let my jealousy lose her over something petty. I know what I need to do.

"I am sorry Gabriel; I was jealous of your relationship with Cora, and I acted badly. I am sorry, we had a bad day yesterday and I guess I am still not calmed down from it. That is why I assumed that you were here actually, was to check on Cora and make sure that she was OK. The babies are fine, but the hospital said we had to wait 24 hours since the incident before we could leave, just in case", I said to Gabriel.

"What incident happened yesterday? I haven't heard of anything. Did it happen at work?" Gabriel asked me.

"No, it happened at the lunch meeting with that piece of s**t, Andre. He scheduled it at a hotel and then tried to proposition Cora into going upstairs with him. Camille was also there to try to distract Thomas so Andre could try to get her upstairs. He had a drink already ready for her and it could have been drugged. We got into a fistfight and we both got arrested, but I am going to have my lawyer get the coverage so I can see, because when I walked up to be on the other side of the wall to surprise her when she got done. Instead, I got surprised when I heard what he told her, and it was insulting and offensive to Cora". I told him angrily, as I was still upset about it.

"What the hell did he say? And why was Camille there to begin with? She was kicked out on the first day and replaced by Louis, who, from what I heard, is excelling from having learned from Cora", Gabriel asked me.

"I can answer that, Camille stopped me after I got through replying to Collin's text. I had tested Collin when he landed 20 minutes previously, and he was confirming the hotel's address with me. When I turned to go follow Cora, Camille was standing there and asking me out on a date, and when I shot her down. Then switched up to wanting to apologize about her behavior last Monday, trying to hold me up. Collin walked past me to go in, so I knew Cora would be OK. The next thing I knew, Collin was yelling for me to come. When I got to the door, I saw Andre looking guiltily at Cora and she was lying on the floor, and Collin looking like he was going to kill someone. Collin and Andre then started fighting and Camille ran off. I helped Cora off the floor and the manager had already called the police, who called for an ambulance for Cora as she had been hit in her shoulder by Andre when he went to punch Collin back, and that was how she ended up on the floor" Thomas finished telling Gabriel what happened yesterday, and I could tell by his face that two of his Employees were about to be looking for new jobs soon.

"What did Andre say to you, Cora?" Gabriel asked quietly.

"It is done, Gabriel, the babies were OK when I got checked out and so I am just going to let this go" Cora told him. That is the wrong answer. Andre could try to do this with another woman, so I am going to put my opinion in here too. "Cora, he might try this with another woman, so he needs to know the truth. Andre said that he had been told that you, Gabriel, had slept with Cora, and he wanted to sleep with her as well. That he had heard that she liked to sleep with colleagues and that Camille had told him that she was pregnant by her boss. He said since she was already pregnant, she couldn't get pregnant and then told her that she would have to "ride him for maximum penetration" as he had done that before. He never invited a client for this "lunch meeting" and it was all a setup to get her there so he could sleep with her. He even had Camille show up to be a distraction for Thomas, so he wouldn't realize what was happening as it was supposed to be a working lunch. I was so scared that he could have drugged her and r***d her, and that thought terrified me, so we fought, and we both got arrested for it. I am very thankful that Thomas was there again to go to the hospital with her. I couldn't go as I was taken to jail. Mom went to the hospital and dad went to jail to get me", I told him.

"Are you hurt, Cora? Where were you hurt?" Gabriel asked, and I could see the concern in him. He really does care a lot for Cora, and my anger lessened. He cannot help how he feels.

"I am OK, Gabriel. Andre accidentally hit me while attempting to hit Collin, and I could tell it wasn't on purpose. But I guess Collin is right, the way he spoke to me, it was like a done deal, on me sleeping with him. I just have bruises, and they will heal. The babies are OK. That was the main concern was the babies for me. I didn't realize how much Camille didn't like me, but I never saw her in the lobby, so I guess she hid until I went through to meet with Andre and the client", Cora told Gabriel.

"I am so sorry Cora, I don't know where the rumors started, but I am assuming it was Camille, as she had heard me ask you out for dinner on Friday night. So, she just assumed we had s*x after going out. I will take care of them both on Monday as they will both be let go. Our company values itself on having a strong moral compass. She is not doing her books correctly and I just found out why all her clients are single men. I am so sorry that you were hurt because of this Cora. I will be glad to pay for your medical bills incurred by this incident", Gabriel told her.

"Gabriel, you gave me a bonus on top of the bonus you paid me to train. I am planning on starting the babies' college fund with it, as it was a huge blessing to me. I can handle the medical bills, and it was not your fault at all. I am just glad that I could tell you goodbye before I left. I am still your friend Gabriel, I still care for you, and I hope that you still consider me a friend as well", Cora told him. I see her step up to him and hug him, and he is careful to be gentle as he doesn't know where her bruises are at. Gabriel nodded at me, and we shook hands before he turned and left. Cora was right, Gabriel is a good man, and I hope he replaces someone that he loves, as much as I love Cora.