ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 158

I felt content just lying in his arms, listening to the rhythm of his heartbeat while his fingers traced slow patterns along my back.

We stayed like that for several minutes, the silence between us comfortable and warm.

“I know this might be the wrong time,” I said eventually, “But… your sister. What happened to her?”

Damon’s hand stilled against my back.

The change was subtle, but I felt it immediately.

His chest rose beneath my cheek in a slow breath before his fingers resumed their lazy movements.

“She died three years ago,” he finally said. “Four in a few months.”

I tilted my head slightly so I could see his face.

His expression had gone thoughtful, his eyes fixed somewhere above us as if he were looking at something far away.

“I stayed with Rocco for some years after our parents‘ death,” he continued. “And he assured me that Alessia was living with Beatrice.”

twisted. “He lied?”

wered. “He had no idea where she was. By the time I came back home, I found out child services took her to a

hose places for abandoned children,” his jaw tightened slightly. “That’s where she spent most of her teenage years.”

a ache spread through my chest.

His voice was calm, but there was something cold underneath it. “For years I believed she was safe. That she was being looked after by family.”

He paused briefly.

“No one could give me a straight answer. I found out on my own.”

I was horrified. “Oh my goodness.”

“And by then, she was gone.”

“Gone?” I whispered.

“She was kicked out of the home when she turned eighteen,” Damon said. “No one knew where she went.”

I stared at him, trying to imagine a young girl on her own like that. “What happened after that?”

For the first time since the conversation started, Damon looked down at me.

His eyes were darker now.

“I searched for her for almost a year,” he said. “Only to find her in an alley injecting drugs into her body.”

I straightened up immediately, straddling him now.

My lips parted but I couldn’t speak. I had no idea what to say as I was still in shock

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“I tried to get her to come with me but she refused,” he added. “And I don’t blame her. I forced her into a recovery program and I visited her there every weekend.”

My chest tightened painfully as I listened.

The image of a young girl alone in an alley with a needle in her arm, made my stomach twist.

“And she stayed?” I asked.

Damon nodded once.

“At first, she fought me every step of the way,” he said. “She hated being there. Hated me for forcing her into it.”

He had one hand under his head and the other absentmindedly rubbed on my thigh, his gaze distant.

“But she stayed. And after a while, she started getting better slowly.”

Hope stirred faintly in my chest. “So the program helped?”

“For a time,” he replied.

The way he said it made my heart sink again.

“What happened?” I asked.

Damon was quiet for a moment.

“She finished the program,” he said eventually. “Got clean and started working. I even got her to stay with me in the villa.”

I felt a small surge of relief.

“That sounds like things were getting better.”

“Yes,” he said. “But addiction doesn’t just disappear. Especially when I was working for the man who flooded the streets with the very thing she was trying to escape.”

My chest tightened. “You had no choice. You signed an agreement with Rocco to do his dirty work.”

Damon shook his head once. “That doesn’t change what it was. Or my guilt for not being there in the first place.”

His eyes had gone distant again.

“For years she stayed clean,” he continued. “She even started talking about getting her masters degree.”

A small, sad smile touched my lips.

“She used to sit on the balcony in the evenings and complain about how boring I had become.”

Damon’s jaw tightened.

“One night she left and didn’t come home.”

A cold knot formed in my stomach.

“I searched for her everywhere,” he continued. “By morning I found her in one of Rocco’s clubs. And she was already high.”

My heart sank.

“I tried to send her back to the recovery center. We fought about it for hours but eventually, she promised me it wouldn’t happen again. But I shouldn’t have trusted her.”

His voice remained calm, but I could hear the strain beneath it.

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“Then three years ago I got the call from the hospital,” he said, his eyes meeting mine again. “She had overdosed.”

My eyes stung suddenly.

The weight of his words crashed over me all at once.

Without thinking, I leaned down and wrapped my arms around him, pressing my face against his neck.

“Damon…” I whispered.

I didn’t know what to say.

Nothing felt big enough for that kind of loss.

So I just held him tighter.

“It’s fine, wife,” he said. “I don’t want to focus on the past anymore.”

I pulled away just enough to hold his gaze. “Still, I’m sorry you and your siblings had to go through all of that.”

He stared at me, his eyes soft. “I know you are. But, I want you to know that being with you after all that hell feels like heaven.”

My voice broke. “Oh, Damon.”

I kissed him, unable to feel anything but so much love for him. My tears fell on his face, but I didn’t care, and neither did he.

The next

was around my neck, pulling me closer as he deepened the kiss.

now that I knew everything.

ed than I was when he made love to me minutes ago.

is arms around me as we toured the rest of the house. He led me to his sister’s room and showed me more photos

She was beautiful with long dark hair.

From the photos of his mother that he showed me, I could tell her genes almost didn’t try.

She had dark eyes, but both of her children had blue eyes. The only resemblance she had to them was her dark hair.

There weren’t any photos of his father, not that I would have looked through them anyway.

I didn’t want to see the face of the monster.

By the time we were done with the tour, it was dark.

Damon led me back to the living area. “That’s the end of the tour, ma’am. Feel free to leave a tip and a good rating for your

guide.”

I looked up at him, trying to decide whether he was serious.

There was no sign of humor on his face.

“You’re charging me now?” I asked.

Damon shrugged lightly. “This was a very exclusive tour.”

“Exclusive?” I repeated.

“Yes,” he said with mock seriousness. “Private access to the Gravari residence. And a very satisfactory orgasm hallway into the

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tour.”

I folded my arms, pretending to think about it and not how my body responded, “Hm.”

He raised an eyebrow. “Well?”

I faced him, slipping my arms around his waist. “I think the tour guide is forgetting something.”

“And what would that be?”

“The fact that I’m Mrs. Gravari.”

His eyes softened slightly at that. “So?”

“So,” I said, tilting my head up at him, “that means I technically own half the place.”

A quiet huff of amusement left him. “Is that how it works?”

“Exactly like that.”

His hands settled on my hips as he looked down at me. “Then I suppose the tour was free.”

I smiled at him, trying so desperately not to laugh. “That’s good. Because my tour guide makes terrible jokes.”

He gave me a flat look. “That was my first attempt at intentional humor. An article said the more you make your wife laugh, the more she’ll love you.”

“Well,” I said sweetly, “keep practicing.”

Damon smiled–another rare sight–and it made my heart skip.

He didn’t need jokes to make me fall harder for him. All he needed to do was smile at me like that every day.

“You brought me here just to show me this?” I asked.

“Partly.”

“And the other part?”

His hands rested protectively over my stomach.

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