ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 105

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CHAPTER 105

GABRIELLE’S POV

1 sat on the couch, watching the doctor we called treat Rhys injury. Fiorella sat beside him, her arms folded across her chest.

The room was so silent you could hear a pin drop.

The doctor closed the kit and handed Rhys some drugs “It’s not deep, just a surface wound. If you change the bandage on time, keep it clean, and take your medication, it should heal in no time.”

Rhys grumbled an inaudible response, and the doctor gave him a nod, then picked up his belongings to walk out.

The door closed behind him softly but it did nothing to break the comfortable silence.

I took one look at Rhys and swallowed, feeling guilt nudge in my throat and anticipating Damon’s arrival.

Fiorella cleared her throat. “Does anyone want tea?”

I shook my head in a no.

Rhys didn’t respond.

The room fell into an uncomfortable silence again.

I took a deep breath. “I’m sorry for hurting you. I had no idea you were Damon’s brother.”

Fiorella nodded, immediately taking my side. “In her defense, you did sneak into my room through the window. How were you even able to climb so high?”

“Well, I wouldn’t need to use the window if you used that phone of yours,” he said to her, his voice tight.

She threw a pillow directly at his head but he caught it easily. “I told you to leave me alone, didn’t I? If you had just listened we wouldn’t be here. Gabby was only being protective.”

The door opened and Damon walked in.

I stood up, my heart pounding wildly.

I watched Damon’s eyes grow dark as they fell on Rhys. He stopped just inside the doorway and his gaze moved to the bandage wrapped around his head.

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He asked.

Rhys stood up but didn’t answer the question immediately. It seemed like they both had that habit in common.

I swallowed, cutting in as the silence felt so uncomfortable. “I hit him with a wine bottle.”

Damon’s eyes searched mine briefly before returning to his brother’s. “Get out.”

The words hung in the air.

Rhys let out a dry laugh. “Easy, big brother. You haven’t seen me in years and this is how you treat me? You’re hurting my feelings, man.”

Damon’s jaw clenched, his brows furrowing. “That’s none of my business. Aren’t you supposed to be dead, anyway?”

What?

Dead?

“Oh, come on. You always knew I was alive, you just avoided me,” Rhys responded, his voice light and teasing. He was definitely

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enjoying Damon’s reaction. “I decided to come back for you though. You are my only family left after all, dearest brother.”

“Half–brother,” Damon corrected, his tone a sharp contrast with his brother’s. “I told you to stay the fuck away, didn’t I? You’re no brother of mine.”

My heart clenched at his words even though it was none of my business. I couldn’t imagine how Rhys must have felt hearing that.

But surprisingly, he only laughed. “I see you’re still the fun to be around, brother.”

Damon turned to me. “Leave us. Both of you.”

Fiorella and I gave each other a look before walking up the stairs together.

I couldn’t hear their conversation properly but it seemed like they were arguing. And from how Damon’s fist had clenched just before he dismissed us, I wouldn’t be surprised if it turned physical.

“Why am I just finding out about Rhys?” I asked Fiorella in a hushed voice. “And why was he sneaking into your room?”

She rolled her eyes. “I have no idea why he snuck in. He’s such a pain in the ass. As for your first question, you’d just have to ask

Damon to know.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s not my story to tell,” she answered softly. “It’s not my place to say certain things, I’m sorry.”

My hands reached for hers and I squeezed it. “Don’t

worry. I understand.”

We stopped above the stairs, facing each other.

“Goodnight.”

“Goodnight,” she responded.

We turned in opposite directions and went to our rooms but I knew sleep had long disappeared from me.

I had a lot of questions to ask so I sat on the balcony, tightening my robe around me as I waited for Damon.

20

I woke up with a hiss, feeling a sharp stink on one of my feet. “Ow.”

I was on the bed now, my robe discarded on the floor. Damon was treating a cut on my foot that I didn’t even know I had.

His eyes met hine. “Sorry. Try to stay still, mia.”

Mia?

Just one endearing word from him and the pain had disappeared. I was already melting and-

“Ahh,” I hissed again as he applied antiseptic to my cut.

I must have stepped on glass when the wine bottle shattered. I didn’t feel it at the time as my body was in shock and I was still drunk out of my mind.

He paused, blowing cold air from his mouth on my wound. That made my toes curl, but the feeling was short–lived as he applied antiseptic one last time.

He blew on the cut again, easing the pain before closing the first aid kit. “It won’t get infected now.”

I swallowed, hesitantly speaking up. “Thank you. Your brother… is he-”

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“He’s gone,” Damon cut in, his voice so cold it sent a chill down my spine. “Don’t worry about him.”

I nodded, watching him return the first aid kit to the bathroom. He returned and took off his jacket, the silence between us heavy and charged.

I cleared my throat. “Is there something you want to tell me?”

He didn’t hesitate. “No.”

“No?” I asked, a brow lifting. “I just found out you had a brother all along. You shouldn’t be surprised that I’m curious,”

He turned to me, undoing his cuffs. “I understand you’re curious, but that doesn’t mean I owe you an explanation.”

My fist clenched on the bed.

He was back to his usual self again, the vague and mysterious man I had met at the bar that night.

I sat upright, resting my back on the headboard. “I want to know why he’s not in your life, Damon. For raonths I thought you had no family-”

“And I don’t,” he cut in, taking off his shirt. “I don’t have any family.”

“Oh, fuck that!” I snapped, getting off the bed and limping closer to him. “Damon, you’re shutting me out again. Why won’t you just let me in?”

His gaze dropped to my feet then moved back to my face, his eyes icy. “Go to bed, Gabrielle. That’s all I’m saying.”

Rage surged through me. “Well, I’m not taking that for an answer. If I’m going to keep finding out things isn’t it better I hear them from you first?”

He stared at me for a long minute, and when he spoke again, his voice was rough. “Bringing you here was my mistake. I’ll have the plane ready to take you home in the morning.”

My heart sank.

I couldn’t believe he was talking about sending me back as if my absence meant nothing to him.

“Damon-”

He cut in. “I thought bringing you here and keeping my eyes on you would be safer. But I was wrong.”

“No,” I said softly, moving closer to him. “I’m not going anywhere without you.”

I was trying to sound serious but limping wasn’t helping my case. He closed the distance between us and carried me in his arms.

He took me back to the bed and placed me gently on it. “Don’t strain your foot. You should get some sleep.”

Then tried to move away but I caught his hand.

“Damon, talk to me,” I pressed.

His turned around but expression didn’t change. “There are things you shouldn’t concern yourself with. And Rhys is one of them.”

“But why?”

“Because he destroys everything he touches,” he snapped, then caught himself, his voice softening. “You’ll go back home and you’ll wait for me.”

I shook my head. “You’d have to forcefully take me away because I won’t go.”

“Gabrielle-”

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“You don’t want me asking you questions? Fine, I won’t. But I’m having a great time here and I don’t want to go back, at least not yet and certainly not without you,” I said.

I reached out to touch him and he let me, taking in a deep breath as my hand touched his face.

“I don’t want to go back yet,” I said, moving closer to him and touching his temple with mine. “Please, Damon.”

His eyes dropped to my lips, then back to my eyes as he exhaled.

I didn’t wait for him to respond.

I leaned forward and kissed him, feeling his body tense up for a moment before he kissed me back.

I had noticed that the only times Damon ever spoke Italian with me were when he needed me most but didn’t know how to ask.

Maybe it was a coping mechanism that he didn’t even realize himself, but I did. His brother must have opened something he buried deep, something he didn’t want to remember.

And instead of just being there for him, I was asking questions to soothe my curiosity like a selfish and entitled brat.

So I didn’t mind being what made him forget everything else.

I didn’t mind being what he needed.

I pushed him down gently on the bed and straddled him, our lips still attached and our tongues fighting for dominance.

His hands pushed under my nightdress, caressing my thighs softly while my hands roamed his chest and defined abs.

I broke the kiss, staring down at him with everything I felt but couldn’t say. His cold look was gone, and his eyes had a hint of vulnerability in them as they stared back at me.

“Gabrielle-

I placed my index finger on his lips. “You don’t have to talk about him anymore. It’s just us we came here for, remember?”

The tension between us was thick, and my body was in desperate need of his.

I kissed his eyes and nose gently before whispering, “Just tell me what you need me to do. I want to be here with and for you.”

He pulled my hand away from his lip, his eyes still burning into mine, and placed it on his chest.

The next words he uttered caught me off guard and made my chest tighten.

“Touch me, Gabrielle. Make me feel.”

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