ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 172

CHAPTER 172

DAMON’S POV

I stood by the window, watching the sky and replaying my wife’s voice in my head from the previous night.

“I’m so fucking scared.”

In the short hours from that time till dawn, I’d turned even more desperate to kill Rocco Bellini for taking

Gabrielle.

I knew he wouldn’t touch her as long as I brought myself in.

So that was what I intended to do.

I walked back into the room, frowning as the sounds of their voices drifted back into my ears.

“Quiet,” I said, standing in front of the room.

The room fell quiet and everyone turned to me.

“Valeria Montoya,” I started. “You represent the Mexico mafia in Rocco’s circle.”

A woman in her thirties, with a short bob and corporate clothes sat across from me.

“I am Don Valeria Montoya,” she corrected, her eyes narrowing at me. “You kidnapped me and brought me here against my will.”

I didn’t respond.

I turned to the man sitting beside her. “Viktor Sokolov, you dominate the Russian mafia.”

He didn’t look too pleased to be tied up in a chair. “I do. And my people will not be pleased with this.”

“I’m not pleased with the fact that I can’t have a normal, peaceful life either, but here we are,” I returned.

Rhys and Zane were standing by the door along with some of my men, guns in hand.

I turned to the next person. “Kenji Takahashi. Don of the Japanese syndicate.”

The man sitting there was older than the others, maybe in his late fifties.

Kenji Takahashi lifted his gaze to mine. “So you do your homework.”

“I make it my business to,” I replied.

His lips twitched faintly, almost like he approved.

I stepped back, letting my eyes sweep across the three of them.

The pillars of the empire Rocco sat on top of like a king on a throne made of bones.

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And right now, those pillars were tied to chairs in an abandoned warehouse outside Naples.

“You’ve made a catastrophic mistake,” Valeria said. “The moment our people realize we’re gone, they will burn this city to the ground looking for us.”

Viktor Sokolov let out a humorless chuckle beside her.

“She’s right,” he said. “My men will assume this is a declaration of war.”

“Shut the fuck up,” I said flatly. “Let’s not pretend any of you built your empires without help from old money families.”

They exchanged glances.

“And I happen to be the head of one of these families,” I continued.

That got their attention easily.

Kenji shifted uncomfortably in his chair. “What do you want? You obviously didn’t go through the trouble of kidnapping us for nothing.”

“How were you even able to pull that off?” Viktor asked.

I ignored his question. “I want to kill Rocco.”

A short pause followed.

Valeria was the first to react, letting out a laugh.

“You kidnapped the three main representatives of the circle,” she said, shaking her head slightly, “to tell us you want to kill the man who leads it.”

“We are obligated to kill you where you stand for saying that,” Kenji said.

My eyes met Rhys.

It was a teachable moment for him.

This was why it was a bad idea to kill Rocco without any backup plans for the three idiots sitting in front

of me.

My patience was beginning to wear thin fast.

“I know all your secrets,” I said finally. “I know every single thing that you don’t want even your own people to find out.”

Viktor laughed, as if I had said something funny. “This has to be a joke.”

I nodded at Zane.

He stepped forward and threw some papers on the table, then untied their hands and moved back to the door.

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I watched as the three of them scrambled to check the contents of the paper, dread evident on their

faces.

One by one, they suddenly turned pale.

I exhaled and straightened up. “Now that we have gotten that out of the way, let’s return to my previous

statement. I want to kill Rocco.”

Viktor flipped through the pages again, as if he was hoping something inside them would suddenly change.

Kenji didn’t look at the papers a second time. He had already set them down on the table.

“You’ve made copies,” he said.

“Of course.”

Valeria leaned back slightly in her chair, the earlier confidence in her expression gone.

“What exactly do you want from us?” she asked.

“I already told you.”

“That you want to kill Rocco,” Viktor said. “Yes, we heard that part.”

Kenji folded his hands on the table. “But wanting something and accomplishing it are two very different things.”

I met his gaze. “It’s very easy to accomplish my goal. My point is, the three of you are not going to be loyal to Rocco anymore.”

Valeria’s eyes narrowed again. “You’re asking for our help?”

“No,” I answered. “I’m telling you what’s going to happen.”

Viktor scoffed. “You think you can threaten us into betraying the man who runs the circle? To betray our

Don?”

“I think,” I said calmly, “that none of you want those documents leaving this room.”

None of them answered.

Because they knew what was in those files could destroy their precious criminal empires.

Valeria tapped the papers lightly against the table.

“You realize something,” she said slowly. “Rocco has this information too. He can release them if we betray him.”

“He’ll be too busy being dead,” I responded.

Kenji studied me. “Then you will have to take Rocco’s place. It’s tradition that whoever kills him takes his

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place.”

“Yes. I know that.”

“Do you realize that Rocco will come after you with everything he has?” Viktor added.

I turned to him. “I’m counting on it.”

Kenji smiled at me. “And what makes you think we won’t simply kill you the moment we walk out of here?”

That earned a genuine laugh from me.

A laugh that surprised even me.

I couldn’t remember the last time I had a good laugh without being around Gabrielle.

God, I missed her terribly.

That made the laughter die down abruptly.

“You think you’re leaving before I kill your Don so you could tip him off?” I asked. “I’m sorry. Did I give you fools the impression that you had a say in this?”

Shock flashed across their faces.

“Rocco is holding my wife and unborn child hostage,” I said, my fingers curling tightly around the edge of the table. “Every second he has her, I lose a little more of my patience and sanity.”

I reached for the gun on my hip and waved it as I spoke.

“You don’t want to test how little of both I have left.”

The room went still after that.

Valeria’s gaze flicked briefly to the gun in my hand before returning to my face. “So this is about family.”

“Yes.”

Her expression shifted slightly into understanding. “I respect that. I’m in.”

She was obviously the smartest among the bunch.

Kenji sighed and shredded the paper in his hand. “Fuck it. You have my support. We didn’t survive generations to end at mine.”

All eyes turned to Viktor.

His expression hardened. “I am a man of principle. I can’t just switch sides. Rocco has my loyalty.”

I expected that from him.

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He was a very rigid man from what I heard–but unfortunately for him, I didn’t have the patience

turned to Rhys. “Did we get his heir too?”

Rhys nodded, a knowing smile on his face. “Yes. He’s downstairs.”

Viktor jerked upright in his chair. “You have my-”

He didn’t get to finish his question.

I pointed the gun at him and pulled the trigger.

The bullet tore through his chest before anyone could blink.

He coughed up blood for some seconds, then slumped over the table and went still.

Blood spread across the furniture.

No one dare moved.

My fingers around the weapon tightened. “Does anyone else have any problem with my plan?”

Valeria and Kenji looked at each other, then shook their heads.

“I thought so,” I said. “My brother will bring some documents. You will sign them without question.”

I straightened and stepped away from the table.

“And after that,” I added. “We’re all taking a nice little trip to go get my wife back.”

They both nodded.

CHAPTER 173

GABRIELLE’S POV

Neither of us could sleep a wink all night.

By dawn, they gave us food and Brandi led us to a series of pirat

bathrooms to freshen D

After that, we stayed in the room all day until the sun was beginning to set

There were barely two hours left until the twenty–four hour deadline that Rocco had set

I tossed on the bed for hours, stood up, and began pacing the room.

Brandi’s words from earlier echoed in my head like a curse I couldn’t escape.

“Your soon–to–be Madame.”

My stomach twisted painfully.

Fiorella sat on the edge of the bed, her elbows on her knees and her hands clasped tightly together.

She hadn’t moved much, as if the weight of everything pressing down on us had finally settled into her

bones.

We barely even exchanged a word,

A knock suddenly echoed against the door.

Fiorella and I both froze.

The lock clicked, and the door slowly opened.

Brandi Swynford De Beaufort stepped into the room again, but this time, she wasn’t alone.

Two men followed behind her, carrying large black boxes.

Brandi smiled pleasantly when she saw us staring at her.

“Well,” she said, setting her wine glass on the small table. “Let’s see what we’re working with.”

My stomach dropped.

“What are you planning to do to us?” I asked.

She pulled the chair in front of the dresser out. “Give you a makeover. Is that such a scary thing?”

She dismissed the men and turned to Fiorella.

“You with the curls,” she said. “Sit.”

Fiorella did not move at first.

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She stared at Brandi for a few seconds, then slowly stood up from the bed.

“I’m not cooperating with this,” she said.

Brandi sighed and walked to the bed as if she had heard that sentence a hundred times before.

“Yes, you are,” she replied calmly. “Because the alternative will be much worse for you.”

Fiorella’s jaw tightened. “And what exactly is that supposed to mean?”

Brandi opened one of the boxes and began taking out different items, placing them neatly on the dresser

Makeup, hair tools, clothes, and even shoes.

She worked with the patience of someone preparing for an ordinary boring day at work.

“It means,” she said while arranging the items, “that if I have to do this the unpleasant way, you will not

like it.”

Neither of us spoke.

After a moment, Fiorella walked over and sat in the chair.

Brandi nodded in approval.

“Good girl,” she said.

She began working on Fiorella, fixing her hair, makeup, and clothes. She kept that on for some minutes then took a step back to admire her work.

“Perfect,” she said to Fiorella, lightly pushing her off the chair. “The guards outside will take you to see your son for the last time. Just in case the Gravari boys never show up.’

My stomach turned at that.

Brandi seemed very eager to remind us how little time we had left.

Fiorella froze in place for a moment, as if she was not sure she had heard correctly.

“You’re letting me see him?” she asked.

Brandi picked up a lipstick and closed the cap with a small click before setting it back inside the box.

“Yes,” she said. “Rocco promised you would see your son, and he is not completely without mercy. He is a good man.”

The way she said it made it sound less like kindness and more like a calculated gesture.

Fiorella’s eyes flicked toward me.

For the first time since we were kidnapped, there was something close to hope in them.

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“When?” she asked.

Brandi gestured toward the door. “Now.”

Fiorella hesitated, then ran out of the room, the door shutting behind her with a click.

Brandi turned to me and pulled the chair back out again.

“Your turn,” she said.

I didn’t move.

She studied me for a moment, her gaze drifting briefly to my stomach.

“You are making this harder than it needs to be,” she said. “Don’t make me use force on you.”

“I’m not doing this,” I replied.

Brandi gave a small shrug and began taking items out of the second box

“That was what the other one said too,” she said. “But people usually change their minds when they realize they have no real choices.”

She placed a black dress on the bed.

Then she held up a pair of high heels and examined them before setting them down as well.

“You should feel lucky,” she continued calmly. “Many of my girls arrived here in much worse condition. Rocco is being awfully nice to you.”

My hands curled into fists. “That doesn’t make my situation any better. You talk about this like it’s a normal job.”

“For me, it is.”

She stepped closer and stopped in front of me.

“And it would be the same for you soon,” she whispered, her expression hardening. “You’re not better than the rest. So you better start cooperating.”

She moved back to the chair and held it out.

“Sit,” she said.

I stayed where I was.

Brandi let out a quiet breath and walked toward the door to knock on it. “I was hoping we wouldn’t need help.”

The door opened immediately.

One of the guards stepped inside.

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He looked at me and then at her.

Brandi gestured toward me. “She’s being difficult. She won’t sit even though I’m asking nicely.”

The guard walked over and grabbed my arm.

“Sit,” he said.

I tried to pull away but his grip tightened and he pushed me down into the chair before I could stop him.

My heart was pounding now.

Brandi gave him a satisfied nod.

“Thank you,” she said.

The guard stepped back out of the room.

Brandi picked up a brush and began running it slowly through my hair.

“You see?” she said calmly. “That wasn’t so difficult. If you try being stubborn with me again, I’ll make him stay and watch you change.”

My breath caught in my throat.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror.

My face looked pale and exhausted.

Brandi started working on me, humming in a low tone.

A single thought pushed its way through the lump in my chest, and made the fear worse.

Damon had only an hour and few minutes left to show up.

If he didn’t come soon, there would be nothing left for him to save, and he’d be walking into his death for nothing.

In no time, Brandi was done with my hair and makeup and held up the black dress for me.

“This one will suit you,” she said, looking at me.

My stomach sank. “You are not putting that on me.”

“You will wear it,” she replied calmly, then looked toward the door. “And if you refuse, the men outside will assist you.”

My heart started racing again. “No. I’ll put it on.”

She smiled, holding out the dress to me.

“That’s what I thought,” she said. “Get dressed quickly, girl.”

I took the dress from her and began stripping out of my old one.

Brandi turned back to the boxes on the bed, and the next thing she brought out drove all the air out of my

lungs.

It was a syringe and a little bottle containing a clear liquid.

I raised a brow. “What the fuck is that?”

“A little something special,” she responded.

She injected the bottle with the syringe and started extracting the contents.

I swallowed. “Who’s that for?”

Brandi dropped the empty little bottle back into the box. “You have exactly one hour left. Rocco asked me to inject you with this before the guards bring you to him.”

“But Damon-”

She cackled. “You really think Rocco would let you go once he killed your husband? No one can save

you.”

My chest tightened.

“You’re lying,” I said.

Brandi flicked the syringe lightly with her finger, watching the tiny air bubbles rise to the top.

“I rarely bother with lies,” she replied. “They waste time.”

My fingers tightened around the fabric of the dress I was holding.

“What is it?” I asked.

She pushed the plunger slightly until a small drop formed at the tip of the needle.

“Something that will make you… easier to handle for Rocco,” she said. “He doesn’t like to stress.”

Cold spread through my stomach.

“No.”

Brandi glanced up at me.

“Yes.”

I shook my head, taking a step back.

“I’m pregnant,” I said. “You can’t give me something like that. It would harm my child.”

Her expression did not change. “I don’t care.”

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My heart was beating so hard it felt like it was shaking my entire body.

“Please,” I begged, my eyes tearing up. “Don’t do this. I’ll cooperate.”

Brandi took a slow step toward me.

“There’s no need to panic,” she said. “It will only make you a little relaxed and compliant. That’s all.”

I took another step back until my lower back hit the edge of the dresser. “No. Please…”

She stepped closer and pushed my head hard against the mirror behind me.

shattered, but I was still reeling from the hit to care about getting cut. Pain shot through my entire dy, making me dizzy and nauseous as well.

tried to shout but my voice came out weak. “Let me go.”

Brandi reached for my arm. “No.”

The cold touch of alcohol swiped across my skin, then the needle slid into my arm.

I gasped.

Brandi pushed the plunger down extremely slowly, taking her time to watch me cry as she emptied the syringe.

“And just in case this kills your baby,” she said, her voice low. “It would be a plus for my business.”

The words echoed in my head.

My baby dying–one of the worse things that could happen to me right now would only be a plus for her business?

I forgot how to breathe in that moment, fear, rage and a protective instinct over my child rushing through

1. me.

My hands fell on something cold behind me.

was a pair of scissors.

thout thinking, I grabbed it and drove the blades into the side of her neck.

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