ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 28

GABRIELLE’S POV

I returned to the living area and found Fiorella waiting for me.

Only a few armed guards remained near the entrances while staff cleared the barely touched tea and scattered papers from the table.

Fear still sat inside me as I slowly lowered myself onto the couch.

Fiorella sat beside me. “Do you want me to stay with you?”

I didn’t hesitate. “Yes.”

She reached for my hand and held it.

My gaze stayed fixed on the clock across the room, watching every second pass.

Tears burned my eyes again. “I keep thinking about Lila crying on the phone.”

Fiorella squeezed my hand slightly.

“They won’t harm them because they’re leverage,” she said softly. “They did that to scare you into doing what they want.”

A painful ache spread through my chest. “She’s just a child. She must be traumatized right now.”

“I know,” she responded. “That’s why you need to pull yourself together, for their sake.”

Pain twisted inside my chest.

“Be strong,” she said. “Children are more resilient than we give them credit for.”

I held on strongly to those words.

I needed to.

Fiorella squeezed my hand again. “Lila has two parents who love her. She has people around her who will protect her and help her heal from this.”

My breath caught in my throat.

“And Aria is still very young,” she continued gently. “She might not even remember this when she grows older.”

I nodded and leaned back against the couch, pressing my trembling hands together and resisting the urge to check in on Damon.

He only just left the house.

“Aren’t you worried about Rhys?” I asked. “They don’t want him to be Don so badly.”

Something flickered in her face before she shrugged. “He’ll be fine. I’m more concerned about the kids.”

A notification came on my phone before I could respond.

I picked it up to check.

It was a message from Zane.

The contents sent chills up my spine immediately.

“Call Damon!” I snapped, barely realizing I already had my phone in my hand due to shock. “Now!”

❧

DAMON’S POV

The car wasn’t moving fast enough.

I looked up from my watch. “How long until we get there?”

“Thirty minutes at most, sir,” the driver responded.

Rhys handed me a laptop. “This is the blueprint of the warehouse. That section marks the exits. We can surround them and force them into the main hall.”

That sounded like a solid plan.

Except we had no idea where inside the building they were keeping my children.

I had never had to worry about their safety because I made sure they were always protected.

But while I was busy with Aiden, these fuckers had gone behind my back and taken them.

Rage flared in me, but I forced it down to think clearly.

I couldn’t let my emotions cloud my mind at this crucial moment, even though I wanted nothing more than to wring their necks.

“Do you think whoever is behind this was at the party last night?” I asked.

Rhys considered it. “I have several suspects. Don Lorenzo is openly against me. He has Rocco’s dead cock in his throat.”

Don Lorenzo never liked me.

Our history went back to when we were boys in the fighting ring, before and even after my father’s death.

He hated that Rocco had favored me more.

“And then there’s Don Valeria,” Rhys continued. “She’s been digging into my past and was seen with Rocco’s second-in-command before he went off the grid.”

I remembered the hostility in her tone when we discussed Rhys ruling the underworld at the party.

I wouldn’t be surprised if she was involved in this.

My fists clenched.

If that was the case, then I should have killed her when I had the chance.

But that didn’t matter.

I still had files on her. I could use them.

The driver spoke up. “Fifteen minutes until we get there, boss.”

My phone rang immediately after.

It was my wife calling.

I considered not answering, assuming she only wanted to check on us, but I picked up at the last second.

Ignoring her would only make her panic more.

I picked up the phone. “Gabrielle.”

“It’s a trap,” she said hurriedly. “The girls aren’t at the warehouse. They made the call there because they expected us to track it.”

I straightened immediately and turned to the driver. “Stop the car.”

He slammed on the brakes.

The cars ahead and behind us stopped too.

Gabrielle kept speaking. “They wanted you focused on that warehouse while they moved the girls somewhere else.”

A curse left Rhys under his breath from the seat beside me.

“How do you know this?” I asked.

“Zane contacted me,” she said, then hesitated briefly, her voice dropping. “He’s working with them.”

My jaw ticked.

“They want the money,” she continued. “But they never planned to release the girls after. They planned to keep moving them, and putting you on a ghost chase while demanding more money.”

A message from one of the surveillance men appeared on the screen:

“Possible explosives near the east and west entrance.”

I sent a response back and opened the glove compartment, reaching for a gun.

Then another.

Rhys glanced at me. “You said you wanted minimal bloodshed.”

I checked the magazine calmly before loading it. “Not anymore. We’re killing all of them.”

His lips curved into that familiar, crazy grin. “Best words I’ve heard all day.”

We hid numerous loaded guns where I could, then stepped out of the car.

Cold air hit my face immediately.

The place was silent except for the distant sound of waves crashing behind the building.

One of the guards near the entrance noticed us first.

He straightened and lowered his cigarette. “Stop there.”

We kept walking.

The second guard raised his weapon slightly. “He said stop. Hands where we can see them.”

Rhys shrugged casually. “Can't. We’re carrying big bags of cash as you can see.”

The first guard approached us, his eyes moving between Rhys and me. “Which one of you is Damon Gravari?”

“I am,” I answered.

His gaze shifted toward Rhys immediately. “You go in with the cash alone.”

Rhys gave a mock sigh as he stepped into the building. “My brother can’t come? That hurts my feelings.”

The guard pressed his gun against his back. “Walk faster.”

They walked into the warehouse.

I waited a few seconds, then followed them into the building, ignoring the other guard as he called me back.

There was no way I’d let my brother inside alone when I knew they planned to kill him.

The guard held my arm and tried to pull me back. “Stop or I’ll shoot.”

I turned slightly and glared at him over my shoulder. “Move.”

He visibly swallowed, then let go of my arm and scurried off like a rat.

I reached the main room and my steps slowed.

Rhys was standing there, the bags still in his hand.

But that wasn’t what made me pause.

I had expected a handful of people to be behind this, but not the man standing in front of me.

Antonio.

He stopped talking the moment he saw me, his expression shifting briefly, like I wasn’t supposed to see him here.

Then the surprise faded into acceptance.

“If it isn’t Gravari,” he said, before turning to Rhys. “And the bastard half-brother.”