ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 21

GABRIELLE’S POV

AN HOUR AGO

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

I turned around and began walking forward.

I could still hear faint music from the party behind us.

Aiden stayed close, the knife still in his hand.

I kept my expression calm even though my pulse was beating painfully hard against my ribs.

“Just do as I say. If I wanted to kill you immediately, I would have done it already,” he said.

“That’s comforting,” I replied flatly.

He laughed softly. “Most women would be screaming for help by now. They would have double-crossed me, or tried to.”

“Most women wouldn’t have followed you into the woods in the first place.”

“That’s true.” His voice carried amusement. “You must like me a lot. But it’s okay. You can pretend I’m forcing you.”

I almost laughed.

“Why would any woman like you?” I asked, still walking forward. “You stink. You’re not attractive enough for your attitude. You’re weak and pathetic.”

I turned slightly—he had paused a few steps behind me.

I dropped my bag on the ground, still holding my phone, and kept walking. “You’re broke, unhygienic, lousy—persistent but not in a hot way. Just a pest.”

Aiden grabbed my arm suddenly and spun me around to face him.

“One more word from you and I'll carve your pretty face,” he snapped. “You think this is funny?”

I looked down at the knife briefly. “Don't you?”

He took in a sharp breath. “Your husband took something from me. Where is it?”

“Your mother isn’t an ‘it’, Aiden,” I responded. “And she’s safe. Far safer than she was with you.”

Shock flashed across his face.

But it disappeared quickly.

“Your husband had no right to touch my life,” he said harshly. “He had no right to go near my family.”

“And you had every right to threaten ours?”

His jaw tightened.

He leaned in close to whisper, “I’ll enjoy paying him back in kind. And just so you know, I was never going to erase the evidence after I fuck you like the whore you are.”

I said nothing.

“I bet that would drive him out of his mind,” he added with a laugh. “It would be an enjoyable payback for my nose as well. He can keep that hag—she’s nothing but a burden anyway.”

His eyes moved slowly over my face, then down my body.

“I’ll keep you instead, or I’ll bury you tonight,” he said. “And don’t pretend otherwise—you chose to come here alone.”

“I’m not alone.”

Aiden smiled faintly. “You really believe your husband is coming?”

It was my turn to smile now.

I leaned in closer, reaching inside my dress. “Yes, he will. And he’ll kick your ass.”

That seemed to irritate him more.

He shoved me back aggressively and at the same time, I brought out Damon's gun that I had hidden in my garter belt.

I pointed it at him.

Aiden shifted back, definitely not expecting me to be armed. “Put that thing down, Mrs. Gravari.”

“Now that I think about it, your mother isn’t leverage,” I said, my smile still in place. “But at least, she brought you here. That’s enough for me.”

He tried to speak but I didn’t let him.

“You’re a fool for coming to a gun party with a knife,” I continued. “You’re an even bigger fool for underestimating me not knowing half of the shit I’ve been through to get here.”

Aiden stared at the gun for a second before meeting my eyes.

“Are you insane?"

“Maybe,” I answered. “But I’m not the one dragging a married woman into the woods. Put down the knife. And your phone.”

His expression shifted slightly, like he had finally realized he was no longer in control of the situation.

I wanted him to be anxious.

I wanted him to feel even a fraction of the fear he had planned for me.

He dropped the knife and his phone.

“Move forward,” I ordered, stepping out of the way. “Now.”

Aiden slowly raised his free hand in mock surrender while taking a step forward, walking past me.

I picked up his phone and kept the gun trained on his back.

I could see him looking for a way out.

“Are you going to shoot me?” he asked eventually.

“If I have to.”

Aiden’s voice dropped. “You don’t have the stomach for that.”

“You don’t know me.”

“No,” he said. “I know this is just a tough act.”

I kept the gun aimed. “Shut the fuck up.”

He didn't speak again.

We kept walking for some minutes and got to a clearing in the middle of the woods.

I stopped but he kept moving.

“Stop,” I said when he was far away from me.

He stopped and turned around to face me.

I held the gun up despite how heavy it was. “What did you bring the shovel for?”

He shrugged casually. “To dig yours or your husband’s grave after I’m done with you. I know getting involved with the Gravari’s means death. But I’m not the one dying tonight.”

That earned a smile from me.

“We didn’t survive my sister and the mafia to die at the hands of a clown,” I said, then gestured to the ground with the gun. “Start digging your grave.”

He frowned like he wasn’t expecting that.

I cocked the gun, the sound echoing in the night air. “I said, start digging your grave.”

His eyes stayed on the gun.

Then, slowly, he dropped his backpack.

I watched him force the shovel into the dirt reluctantly.

And when I did, he kept calling my name like he couldn’t hear me. The signal was very bad, and his environment was noisy.

I checked on Aiden to see if he was still digging.

“Damon please just come and get me,” I said, making my voice sound scared. “I’m in the woods with Aiden.”

“Gabrielle—“ his voice broke. “…are you?”

I knew he could find me easily, as all my jewelries had trackers in them.

I screamed as loud as I could, hoping that would send a message.

Then the signal went off completely and the call got disconnected.

Aiden raised a brow at me. “Is this real? You’re seriously acting like the victim here?”

“Who else is the victim?” I asked, rolling my eyes. “I’m the fragile, petite woman stuck in the woods with a man almost twice her size, and with biceps the size of her head.”

His expression turned dark.

I brought out his phone and laughed humorlessly. “What’s your passcode?”

Aiden didn’t want to tell me, I could see that from his expression, but when I lifted the gun again, he did.

“Good,” I said. “Continue digging.”

He did.

I unlocked his phone to check his messages, and true to his words, he had sent some files to a group chat with five members.

I deleted the message even though two people had seen it already.

Then I kept the phone in my garter belt where the gun had been.

Aiden stepped out of the grave, dusting his hands. “That’s deep enough to bury someone.”

I lifted my hand with the gun. “Now, we wait.”

He shook his head. “No. I would rather die by your hands than your husband’s.”

Then he suddenly rushed me.

I screamed and fired immediately, but instead of a bang, a loud click echoed through the woods.

Aiden grabbed my wrist before I could react and slammed me against the nearest tree hard enough to knock the air out of me.

The gun fell from my hand into the dirt.

“You little, stupid bitch,” he snarled. “The gun had been empty this whole time?”

I smiled in his face even though my body was trembling with adrenaline. “It worked, didn’t it? So who’s really the little, stupid bitch?”

He struck me hard across the face.

My head snapped to the side.

I bit down on my bottom lip to stop the sound from escaping me, not wanting to give him that satisfaction.

He picked up the gun, then ripped off my dress with his other hand.

His eyes ran down my half-naked body, the lingerie barely doing anything to cover me.

“First, I’m going to fuck some sense into you while I film it,” he said, his breath musty. “Then I’ll give you a good whooping.”

Disgust rose in me.

“Maybe then it would stick in your brain,” he added, leaning closer. “Plus, I can make you come harder than your husband—”

He was suddenly tugged away from me.

My knees buckled with relief when I saw Damon standing there.