ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 25

GABRIELLE’S POV

The sudden emptiness almost brought tears to my eyes.

The only sound filling the grave was my uneven breathing.

My body felt weak as I slowly pushed myself upright and tried to steady my breath.

Damon stood silently in the corner, buckling his pants.

The distance between us felt like something I couldn’t close.

I stared at his back before taking a step toward him on shaky legs.

Dirt clung to my knees and the lower part of my lingerie, but I barely noticed.

“Damon…”

He didn’t answer immediately.

He finished adjusting his belt before lifting his eyes to mine, the darkness in his expression making my chest tighten.

I swallowed hard and stopped in front of him. “Are you still mad at me?”

“Yes,” he answered bluntly.

My eyes burned instantly.

Damon noticed it and exhaled like he was already regretting the answer.

“I’m trying not to be,” he added, his voice rougher now. “But you reopened wounds I have spent years trying to forget.”

That broke me completely.

A shaky breath left my mouth before tears spilled down my face again.

Damon cursed under his breath and pulled me against his chest.

“I don’t like when you cry,” he muttered, one hand moving gently through my hair. “Gabrielle…”

I buried my face against his chest weakly. “I’m so sorry.”

His body went still for a second before his hand slid down my back.

“I know,” he said, then his hands stopped. “You’re freezing.”

Before I could respond, he bent down and lifted me into his arms.

He carried me out of the grave before grabbing his shirt from the tree and pulling it over my body.

The fabric swallowed me.

Then he wrapped his jacket around my shoulders too.

“Sit there,” he said, guiding me toward a nearby tree.

I nodded weakly.

The moment he set me down, exhaustion hit me everywhere.

Every part of my body felt heavy.

I pulled his jacket tighter around myself and watched him walk back toward the grave without another word.

His tenderness confused me, especially after he had just fucked me so aggressively that I couldn’t take any more.

The tense feeling between us lingered in the silence, and in the distance he kept placing between us whenever he turned away.

However, I decided to wait until he was calmer to discuss things.

❧

By the time we left the woods, the party had almost completely cleared up.

The music was gone.

Most of the lights had been turned off too, leaving only a few glowing near the entrance of the building.

Damon carried me in his arms the entire walk back without saying a word.

It bothered me but instead of confronting him, I rested against his chest, exhausted in every possible way.

Rhys and Fiorella were sitting on the front steps when we finally reached the building.

Both of them looked up immediately.

Rhys frowned. “Where the hell have you two been?”

Fiorella’s knowing gaze traveled down to the sand on my knees, then to the state of my hair.

Her brows lifted slowly. “Oh.”

Heat immediately rushed into my face.

I buried my face against Damon’s chest. “Please don’t.”

She stared at us for another second before grimacing. “In the woods?”

Rhys narrowed his eyes slightly, then his expression shifted into something both disgusted and impressed at the same time. “Gross. But sounds like fun."

Fiorella side-eyed him, then rolled her fingers in a circle by the sides of her head, insinuating that he was out of his mind.

I wanted the ground to open up and swallow me immediately.

Damon remained completely expressionless through all of it.

I could still feel the tension rolling off him.

Rhys stood up. “We have to talk, brother.”

Damon nodded once before setting me down gently on the step beside Fiorella.

“Stay here,” he told me.

Then he walked off with Rhys without another word.

I watched him leave, uneasiness settling in my chest again.

Fiorella turned toward me immediately. “Okay. What happened to your face?”

I blinked at her tiredly.

She gestured at my cheek. “Damon didn’t do that, right? Or is that a thing you’re into?”

I suddenly remembered the faint red mark on the side of my face.

“I’ll tell you tomorrow,” I said weakly. “I’m too exhausted to even explain it right now.”

Concern flickered across her face instantly. “Gabrielle—”

“I’m okay,” I interrupted softly. “I promise. Damon would never do this.”

She exhaled deeply, but seemed slightly unsettled. “I know. Just wanted to be sure.”

We stared at each other for a moment, and I felt like she was waiting for me to say something.

But I wasn’t sure.

I leaned my head against her shoulder tiredly. “Please. My brain is shutting down.”

Fiorella sighed and wrapped an arm around my back. “Fine. But tomorrow, you are telling me everything.”

I nodded and closed my eyes briefly.

A few minutes later, Damon and Rhys returned.

Rhys was staring at Fiorella. “We can’t go home with them tonight. We’re leaving.”

She blinked, hesitant to move. “Right now?”

“Yes.”

She narrowed her eyes suspiciously. “Why?”

Rhys took her hand and pulled her to her feet. “Because we have somewhere to be.”

“Rhys—”

“Don’t worry about it.”

Fiorella looked unconvinced but allowed him to pull her closer anyway.

I managed a tired smile. “Goodnight.”

Her gaze softened when she turned to me. “Text me tomorrow.”

“I will.”

Rhys gave Damon one long look before guiding her away.

Then it was just the two of us again.

He hesitated, looking away from me. “No.”

The word hurt.

My gaze remained on him, my mind already understanding what he meant without him needing to explain it.

He needed space from me.

That realization sat painfully in my chest.

“Oh,” I said softly.

Damon glanced at me. “I’m not trying to punish you.”

“I know.”

If he had been cruel or cold on purpose, I could have gotten angry too.

But he wasn’t.

He was trying, even now.

“I just need a little time to clear my head,” he murmured. “Go get some rest. I’ll check up on the girls.”

I nodded slowly even though disappointment still pressed against my ribs.

“Okay.”

Neither of us moved immediately.

The silence between us felt strange after everything that had happened in the woods.

After his mouth on my skin, his hands on my body, and his tongue on my core.

Now there was an entire wall between us.

Damon looked like he wanted to say something else, but he didn’t.

Instead, he lifted his hand and brushed his thumb lightly against my cheek.

The small gesture nearly broke me.

“Go inside, wife,” he murmured.

I swallowed the ache rising in my throat before unbuckling my seatbelt.

Then I stepped out of the car and walked toward the house alone.

I finally broke down when I reached the door, turning back to look at him through blurred vision.

He was still watching me.

I opened the door and stepped into the quiet house, locking the door behind me.

Then I slid down against it and cried until I couldn’t cry anymore.

And that took a long time.

I stood up and made my way up the stairs to our bedroom when I caught sight of a small pile of mail by the console table.

I went through them as I walked upstairs, welcoming the distraction wholeheartedly.

The mail was mostly boring stuff—cards from business partners and invitations to one event or another.

Until I reached the one that didn’t have anything written on the outside.

Just a plain, white envelope.

I entered the bedroom and dropped the rest of the mail on the table before opening it.

A note sat inside.

“Call this number when you get this.”

A phone number was underneath the text.

I rolled my eyes, thinking it was probably another one of Aiden’s notes, but a photo slipped out of the envelope when I moved to toss it aside.

My body went still at the people in the photo.

Lila, Aria, Susan, and even Mrs. Marlow—all of them with guns pointed at them.

A note was written underneath:

“Just a little incentive to make sure you call.”