“Black for the men and pink for the women.”

He raised his eyebrow as he cut into his steak. “I like it. Good idea. If you want to do it, then let’s do it.”

“Really?” I asked with surprise.

“Why not? I never really gave robe colors much thought, but if you think it’ll be a hit, then let’s do it.” He smiled.

We finished our dinner and Simon poured me another glass of wine. He stood in front of me and took the strings of my robe in his hands. “I thought I told you that I wanted you to walk around naked.”

“I’m cold.”

“Oh, baby, I can warm that body up real fast.” He grinned as he untied it and pushed it off my shoulders, leaning in and kissing me. He took my hand and looked at my arm.

Fuck! I forgot about my scar. Fear crept up inside me as he looked into my eyes. “What happened to your arm? Why didn’t I notice that before?”

“It was an accident I had a long time ago,” I replied nervously. I reached down and grabbed the robe from the floor and slipped it back on.

“What kind of accident?” he demanded to know. “And how have you been keeping it covered up?”

“I don’t want to talk about it,” I snapped as I turned away from him. “I have a special makeup that covers scars.”

“Don’t turn away from me, Gabrielle. Tell me what kind of accident it was.”

“Damn it, Simon. No.”

I was scared. What would he think of me?

“Do you remember me telling you that I don’t take no for an answer? Now, tell me.”

“Fine. You really want to fucking know?!” I screamed at him. “I used to cut.”

The look on his face turned from anger to complete horror.

“If you look closely at my arms, you can still see the marks. I needed to stop the emotional pain. My childhood, my life, Brendon. One day, Brendon and I got into a fight and he said some horrible things to me. Things I couldn’t stand to hear anymore. He stormed out of the penthouse and I took a razor blade and I slipped. I cut too deep.” I began to cry. “Now you know, so think whatever you want to think, but you’ve never walked in my shoes.”

I placed my hands on the chair that was in front of me and I felt Simon’s strong arms wrap around me.

“Oh, Gabrielle. I’m sorry. Please don’t cry, baby.” He kissed the back of my head before turning me around and holding me tight. “It’s okay.”

Picking me up and carrying me to the bedroom, he gently laid me down on the bed and climbed next to me, wrapping me up in his arms as if he was protecting me.