ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 17

GABRIELLE’S POV

Damon did not react immediately.

For a second, he just stood there, staring at me like he was making sure he heard me right.

Then his jaw tightened.

“Say that again,” he said calmly.

I held his gaze. “He said he would delete everything—the photos, files, and recordings only if I slept with him.”

The air in the room shifted.

Damon looked away from me for a brief second, dragging a hand down his face before letting out a slow breath.

When he looked back at me, something in his eyes had changed.

“Did he touch you?” he asked.

“No,” I answered quickly. “Of course, not.”

His shoulders eased just slightly, but the tension did not leave his body. “Do you want him to?”

I blinked, surprised that he was even asking me that.

“Never!”

“So why didn’t you tell me?” he asked. “I could tell something was wrong this morning.”

“Well, you didn’t come home last night so we couldn’t talk,” I retorted, folding my hands across my chest. “And I know you’re trying to keep your hands clean, so there was no point telling you.”

Damon’s eyes hardened at that.

“My hands will never be clean, Gabrielle,” he said, his voice low. “Not when it comes to you.”

My breath caught in my throat. “That isn’t what it seems like.”

“I mean it,” he insisted. “I regret letting Aiden keep breathing.”

My stomach flipped.

He stepped closer and wrapped one arm around my waist, pulling me against him.

“I should have ended this when I had the chance,” he muttered, more to himself than to me.

I curled my fingers against his shirt. “Damon—”

“No,” he cut in, his gaze locking onto mine. “He thinks he can bargain with you. Like you’re something he can touch, use, trade.”

His jaw clenched.

“Like I would ever allow that.”

A shiver ran down my spine at the intensity in his voice.

“He won’t touch you,” Damon continued, quieter now but no less dangerous. “He won’t even look at you again after I’m done.”

My heart pounded harder. “Damon, listen to me—he said there are backups. If anything happens to him—”

“I heard you,” he said sharply. “And I’ll fix it. I don’t care what it takes.”

I took a deep breath, trying to calm myself, but I couldn’t with him this close.

Damon’s grip tightened around my waist, pulling me closer until there was no space left between us.

“I was also hiding something from you.”

I narrowed my eyes at him. “What is it?”

A pause.

“I entered the ring last night,” he admitted. “That’s why I didn’t come home.”

Surprise flickered through me. “You fought?”

“Yes.”

“Why?”

“Because I wanted to,” he said, pressing his forehead against mine. “I missed it. The control. The moment you realize you can take it as far as you want and you don’t stop. The part of me I buried… it felt alive again.”

My pulse quickened.

“I liked it,” he continued, his voice dropping further. “More than I should have. More than I want to admit to myself.”

A slow, spreading ache settled between my thighs.

Damon’s hand reached lower, pulled my panties to the side, and tugged on the string sticking out of me.

I moaned softly as he pulled the balls out slowly. “Damon…”

“The moment we leave here,” he whispered, “I’m going to find him. And kill him for even thinking about touching you.”

Yes.

This was the Damon I wanted.

His words and the slow drag of the first ball made my knees weaken.

I felt every inch of their absence before they were even gone.

My breath stuttered as the second ball slipped free, leaving me achingly empty.

My body clenched desperately around nothing. “I want you,” I whispered, my eyes on his. “Right now.”

“Yeah?” he asked.

I nodded and parted my lips to respond.

Damon pushed the balls drenched with my wetness into my mouth. “Taste yourself, wife.”

We entered the hall and from the corner of my eye, I spotted a familiar face.

I tugged at Damon. “Isn’t that your friend? Zane Carter?”

Damon followed my eyes. “In the flesh. And with people he shouldn’t be with.”

I looked between them and raised a brow. “What do you mean?”

His jaw flexed. “That man beside him is one of the people I came here for. Seems like Zane switched sides.”

My mouth dropped.

I turned back to him. “That would explain why he didn’t want to see us. Fuck him.”

Damon didn’t look pleased.

“Who’s the lady beside him?” I asked, turning to the woman with blue-dyed hair beside Zane. “Is she his arranged wife?”

“That’s his submissive,” Damon answered. “He’s not married yet.”

I nodded slowly.

She had to be the same woman he was with at the masquerade—the one wearing latex from head to toe, with a leash around her neck.

Damon’s hand brushed against mine briefly, a silent check-in.

“I’ll be back,” he said. “Stay where my brother can see you. He’ll keep an eye on you.”

I nodded once.

He kissed me briefly on the lips, then walked away towards Zane—who was already stepping out through the side entrance with his submissive.

I watched him move through the room until he disappeared from my view.

Damon would deal with that.

I, on the other hand, needed to deal with something else.

I checked my purse and brought out my phone.

Aiden had texted me back minutes ago.

Even though Damon had asked me to stay put, I stepped out of the hall anyway and removed my phone from its lock.

I walked to the back of the building where it was quiet and dark.

Then I stood there, waiting.

Exactly two minutes later, I heard footsteps behind me.

“Mrs. Gravari.”

I turned, and Aiden stood there with a cap on, a shovel in one hand, and a backpack slung over his shoulder.

He took out a knife from his back pocket. “Let’s take a nice walk into the woods.”