ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 120

CHAPTER 120

DAMON’S POV

TW: SEXUAL ASSAULT (mentioned).

The music, the laughter, and the people walking around–it all became noise as I pushed through the crowd, my eyes cutting through their masks.

My pace quickened.

I headed straight for the corridor leading to the private club but there was nothing.

No sign of her.

“Gabrielle,” I muttered under my breath, pulling my phone out to call her.

No answer too.

A cold and unfamiliar feeling crept into my chest.

It was panic.

I reached the hallway near the bathrooms–and I didn’t hesitate to enter the women’s room.

Luckily, there was no one in there.

Unfortunately, Gabrielle wasn’t there either.

I ran my hands through my hair as my panic grew. I thought I could only feel around her but this was the second time I was feeling this way without her presence.

“Where are you, Gabrielle?” I muttered under my breath, pulling out my phone to call security.

It might take some time but while I was searching for her they could check the security cameras.

She might not even be in the building anymore.

As I stepped out of the bathroom, I noticed a light on the wall from the hallway that led to the back balcony.

I stepped closer and that was when I saw it.

One of the balcony doors at the far end was slightly ajar, swaying faintly as if someone had pushed it shut with full force.

My jaw clenched.

I didn’t even think or hesitate.

I pulled out my gun and walked closer.

If I killed someone in front of Gabrielle she could leave me forever. I knew that because she almost left at the thought of me killing my family.

But it didn’t matter.

Her safety came first.

The night air hit my face the moment I pushed the door open.

The music from inside died behind me, replaced by the low hum of the city and the sound of my own pulse pounding in my ears.

I heard a muffled sob and my blood went ice–cold.

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I moved silently, the gun raised, and every sense in my body locked in. The sound came again–small, broken, and terrified- and it carved straight through my chest.

I rounded the corner and saw them.

Her back was pressed against the railing, and a large figure was crowding her space.

She was frozen, her eyes wide, and her lips trembling, a blade glinting near her throat as the bastard undid his belt buckle.

Something inside me snapped clean in two. I almost pulled the trigger immediately but she was too close to him and would get hurt if I did.

The man didn’t see me at first as he was too focused on her.

Big mistake.

My voice was calm. “Step away from her.”

He spun around immediately, dragging her with him to protect himself, the knife pressing harder into her skin.

Gabrielle’s eyes met mine, and the fear mixed with relief in them nearly undid me.

“Drop the weapon,” I said, holding my aim. “Now.”

The man laughed. “Or what? You’ll shoot? With her this close?”

He was right.

I couldn’t shoot with her that close to him. But what he didn’t know was that I just needed one slight movement from him to do

1. SO.

My finger tightened on the trigger. “Last warning.”

He shifted just slightly, but that was enough.

I fired immediately, the sound was deafening in the open air. Gabrielle screamed as the man collapsed, the knife clattering to the floor.

I moved before his body hit the ground, crossing the distance in seconds, and pulling her into my arms.

She was shaking violently, sobbing into my chest, and her fingers were clutching my jacket like I was the only thing keeping her upright.

“It’s okay,” I murmured, holding her tight, my free hand cradling the back of her head. “You’re safe now.”

Behind us, the man groaned.

He wasn’t dead yet because I made sure of that.

I wanted to make him suffer first for putting his hands on her, then let him die slowly and painfully.

Gabrielle pulled back just enough to look at me, her face streaked with tears, and her eyes glassy with shock. “We should call the cops.”

I moved my hand from my hair and wiped her tears away slowly, before holding her chin up.

“He’s going to be dead before they get here. I’ll have my men dispose of his body.”

Her brows furrowed.

That was when I noticed the realization of what had happened hit her.

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She pulled away, fear evident in her eyes as she took sight of my gun. “Dispose of his body? This isn’t the first time you’ve taken a life, is it?”

This was what I was afraid of.

“No.”

Her eyes widened.

I reached for her, but she took a step back and another, until she disappeared around the corner.

My chest tightened painfully.

She didn’t see me anymore, all she saw was a killer. And in a way, that was what I was.

My hand dropped and with a sigh, I turned back to the man on the floor. “She’s gone because of you. I will make you suffer for

it.”

He groaned in pain as he tried to crawl away.

I leaned down, turned him over and removed his mask. I didn’t recognize him and that almost annoyed me.

He was younger than I expected, his eyes glassy with pain and panic, blood staining his shirt as he struggled to breathe through clenched teeth.

“Look at me,” I said calmly.

He groaned instead, trying to turn his head away.

I grabbed his chin and forced his face up. “I said look at me.”

His eyes met mine and something in him shifted. I saw it instantly–the shift from predator to prey.

“Who sent you?” I asked.

He laughed weakly. “You think I’d tell-

I hit the barrel of my gun against his nose, satisfaction flooding me at the sound of the crack.

He screamed in pain and it made me smile genuinely. It sounded like music to my ears.

“You were going to rape her,” I said, my voice calm, almost bored, and nothing like what was going on inside me. “Weren’t you?”

His breathing turned ragged as he nodded, blood oozing out of his face. “Y…yes.”

I nodded slowly. “So I’ll ask again. Who sent you?”

“N–no one,” he stammered. “I just–she was alone. Easy to-”

I smacked him across the face again with my gun. “Do I look like someone you can fuck with?”

He groaned again, crying and almost choking on his own blood. I grabbed his shirt and raised him up to a sitting position so he could speak.

I leaned closer, my shadow swallowing him whole. “Say her name.”

He swallowed hard. “Gab… Gabrielle.”

Good.

“Where did you hear it?” I demanded. “Who told you to come after her?”

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His eyes darted around wildly. “I–I heard her name from a friend. He wouldn’t stop talking about her and he paid me to… do him a favor a few weeks ago.”

My jaw tightened. “Go on.”

“I was released from jail a week ago and I—I’ve been stalking and searching for h–her ever since,” he continued, stuttering over his words. “His name is Jared.”

My fist tightened around the gun.

Jared had already sent his friend after her before I visited him.

I had no one to blame but myself. If I had gone to see him a few weeks earlier like I had planned, this could have been avoided.

Everything always went to shit when I ignored my instincts.

I stood up slowly and stepped back. “Such a flimsy purpose to die for.”

He reached for me weakly. “Please, please, I didn’t-”

I cut him off with a cold look. “What were you in jail for?”

He blinked, surprised by my question. “Manslaughter.”

I could tell he was lying.

“I’ll send your picture to my men and have them check,” I said, pulling out my phone. “If you’re lying, I’ll have you burnt alive.”

His eyes widened. “No, wait. I drugged and raped an underage girl.”

I froze.

He did that and he wasn’t rotting away for life?

He opened his mouth to speak but my shoe collided with his jaw before any word could come out,

He fell to the ground again, groaning and crying. He won’t be able to speak anymore but it didn’t matter as he was going to die

soon anyway.

“You chose the wrong woman,” I said quietly. “And you should have been sentenced to death.”

I lifted the gun to finish him off when I heard movements behind me. I turned immediately, the gun raised and my index finger on the trigger.

I felt my heart drop when I saw Gabrielle standing there. “Gabrielle… how long have you been standing there?”

She didn’t answer immediately.

Her hands were clenched at her sides, her knuckles white, and her chest rising too fast like she’d been running–or holding her breath for too long.

Her mask was gone, tears streaking the skin beneath it, but her eyes were clear. “Long enough.”

I couldn’t tell if she was disappointed in me from her tone but it didn’t matter. I was going to kill him regardless of how she felt. Her gaze dropped to the gun in my hand, then to the man on the ground, and back to my face.

“You didn’t even think,” she whispered.

“I didn’t have to,” I said, lowering the gun. “I just chose you.”

Her eyes filled again, the tears spilling over. “That’s what scares me,” she admitted, her voice breaking. “That you didn’t

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hesitate.”

I swallowed, something sharp lodging in my chest. “If it were you or the world, Gabrielle, the world would lose every time.”

She flinched at the certainty in my tone.

Then she looked past me–really looked at the man curled on the ground, bleeding and crying, stripped of all power.

Her hand flew to her mouth.

I moved instantly, stepping in front of her and blocking her view. “Don’t,” I said. “Look at me.”

She did.

God help me, she did.

She stepped closer to my surprise and pressed her forehead against my chest. For a moment, she just stood there–crying and clinging, but alive and physically unharmed.

That was enough for me.

I couldn’t even imagine what she must have felt when she was all alone with him. I hated myself all over again for leaving her alone in the first place.

Then, barely audible, she said, “He was going to hurt me but you saved me.”

I didn’t know how to respond so I didn’t.

She raised her face to mine, her eyes soft but a quiet fire underneath. “When you kill him, I want you to make it hurt.”

And then, to my shock, she rose onto her toes and kissed me.

P

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