ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 110

CHAPTER 110

GABRIELLE’S POV

I took a step back involuntarily.

“Where are my manners?” He asked suddenly, walking back to the bar to pour a drink “I didn’t even ask if you wanted a drink. What’s your preference?”

It was obvious Rhys was just going to dance around the question and make threats at me occasionally.

I should have taken the hint and walked away, but I didn’t.

I couldn’t.

I’d already lied to Damon and taken the risk of coming all this way to see Rhys. I couldn’t just let it go now.

My stomach twisted uncomfortably. “Was Damon right to warn me? Are you really that bad or is it just a misunderstanding between you two?”

He exhaled. “I guess I’ll pour you red wine, then. That should be your preference. Red wine for Red Lips.”

Was he referring to me?

Red was usually my favourite lipstick color and I wore it every time, as long as it matched my outfit. But I wasn’t wearing red lipstick today so I could be wrong.

I had come here for clarity but all I got was more confusion instead. “Are you going to keep toying with me or are you going to tell me what I need to know?”

He returned with a glass of wine and dropped it on the desk. Then he gestured at it. “Drink up.”

I glanced at the wine and back at his face. “I’m not drinking anything you give me.”

He shrugged, a careless expression on his face. “If you say so. Damon and I didn’t start on good terms, though.”

I frowned. “What does that mean?”

“We officially met for the first time when I was… let me think,” he said, scratching his chin dramatically. “Ah, yes. Fourteen. And he was sixteen.”

I was already putting the pieces together in my head. “He said you were half–brothers so that means one of his parent cheated. His father, no doubt.”

His smile returned wider this time. “You’re right. Our father was a piece of shit. He had an affair with my mother and I was the result he didn’t want.”

Then his smile faded as fast as it appeared. “Damon’s mother was too pure for her own good to ever step out of her marriage. I had deep respect for her. May her soul rest in peace.”

He closed his eyes and whispered something in Italian.

I blinked, caught off guard by how fast and easy he switched between moods. I could tell he had a very interesting personality but unfortunately, I didn’t come here to be friends.

He opened his eyes and smiled at me. “I had to say a prayer for her.”

I wanted to say something but it seemed like my mouth had lost its connection to my brain.

Rhys picked up the glass of wine he had poured for me and drank it all in one go. “Hmm. Good wine. It’s a shame you don’t drink.”

1/3

CHAPTER 2NG

+25 Bonus

I almost laughed.

If only he knew I was a borderline alcoholic.

Yeah, I wasn’t getting drunk every day, but I was always one emotional distress away from a bottle or two ever since my failed

wedding.

Maybe I needed therapy.

Maybe I was using Damon to avoid my issues.

I pushed down the little voice in my head that brought that up. I was nowhere near ready to unpack that right now.

I shook my head slightly to clear my thoughts. “Okay, now I know something at least. But answer my question. Why did Damon warn me about you?”

“Oh, that?” He asked, shrugging casually. “I run cartels, love. And my brother doesn’t approve of my lifestyle.”

I felt the ground shake under me.

He just casually admitted to being a crime boss as if we were discussing the weather.

I finally understood why Damon didn’t want him around but something told me there was more to it.

I nodded slowly, the men in the living area and every driver who’d refused to come to this place suddenly making perfect sense.

I took the seat by my side without asking. “How did your first meeting with Damon go?”

“Terribly,” he said. “His mother wasn’t happy when the proof of her husband’s infidelity showed up at her door unannounced ” He sat in his chair and leaned back into his seat, closing his eyes as he spoke. “Naturally, Damon and Alessia didn’t like me at first and I don’t blame them. My existence made their mother depressed for years. And as a child who grew up with a depressed mother, I knew what that felt like.”

“But it wasn’t your fault,” I said, my chest tightening. “You didn’t create the situation, you were just a child.”

He let out a humorless huff. “So were they. If I had just stayed away like Mama warned me to maybe that could have been avoided. I didn’t need anyone to tell me I’d ruined something beautiful.”

My heart went out to him and Damon, and to their dead sister, Alessia, too. Their father seemed to be a very terrible person.

I knew everything he said only brushed the surface but my heart was already aching.

Maybe Damon was right.

Maybe I couldn’t handle his past.

He opened his eyes, sat up, and placed his elbows on the desk. “But that’s not the only reason why my brother and I don’t get along. I won’t tell you the others though. They’re personal.”

I nodded, my mood already damp. “So what happened next?”

Rhys took a deep breath before responding. “I don’t know much because I ran away from their home a few days later. But I know I was lucky to have escaped our father. Damon wasn’t though.”

I leaned forward. “What happened to him?”

His eyes darkened, a distant look in them. “I don’t know.”

“You’re lying,” I said, shifting forward on my chair. “I need to know so please tell me.”

His smirk returned. “Then talk to your husband, love. Only Damon could tell you what happened to him as the other people who

273

+25 Bonus

knew are all dead, Except Rocco. And not even he knows the full story.”

Rocco

I’d heard that name somewhere before but I couldn’t remember the context.

Rhys was still going on. “That fucking bastard can’t do anything right. He’s a retard so I doubt his smooth brain would remember anything worthwhile.”

1 stiffened at his words. “That’s not ” I stopped myself, exhaling slowly. “That’s not funny, Rhys.”

He waved a hand, unapologetic. “Wasn’t trying to be and didn’t say it was. I said he’s useless.”

His mouth curved, sharp and mean for a split second, before easing again. “Rocco talks too much, remembers too little, and does drugs like he’s trying to erase himself. If anyone’s got fragments, it’s him–but those fragments could be misleading.”

The room suddenly felt colder.

VERIFYCAPTCHA_LABELVerify