ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 51

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE

GABRIELLE’S POV

The dinner hall glittered like something out of a dream. There were old chandeliers, soft violin music, and people dressed in wealth so casually it looked like a second skin. But none of it touched me.

I was too aware of Damon.

Too aware of the way the world seemed to shift the moment he stepped into a room.

He placed a hand at the small of my back as we walked in, a simple gesture that somehow felt like I was his possession.

“It’s not a family event but I’m bound to run into some of my relatives,” he said, his voice pulling me out of my thoughts.

“Oh,” I responded simply.

“Damon!!” I heard a high–pitched voice behind us.

A teenage girl beelined straight toward us in heels she clearly couldn’t walk in. She threw her arms around him, her eyes sparkling as she stared up at him.

“You didn’t tell me you were coming tonight! I’ve been waiting!”

Damon pried her off gently. “Yes, Cat. I’m sorry I kept you waiting.” Then he turned to me. “This is my wife, Gabrielle.”

Cat’s eyes finally feel on me. She gave me a look from my head to my toes before holding my gaze.

“Nice to meet you,” I said as politely as I could.

Her smile fal a

“So what number are you? Wife number seven?”

“No,” Damon cut in before I could respond. “You won’t be rude to my wife. Now, apologize and go get your grandma.”

She smiled sheepishly at him before turning back to me. “I’m sorry, Gabrielle.”

Then she scurried off.

I blinked, still trying to understand what had happened. “Who was that?”

“My second cousin,” he said like he was bored. “She always had a crush on me.”

He stopped the server and took two glasses of champagne from the tray.

It finally clicked. “Is she the one I should be jealous of?”

Damon handed me the glass but didn’t let go immediately, his fingers brushing mine.

His brow furrowed. “Jealous? Of a child?”

I couldn’t tell if he was teasing me or not. His face was in its default settings, cold and unreadable.

“She’s not a child,” I muttered. “She’s… tall. Even taller than me.”

His brow rose. “Almost everyone is taller than you, Gabrielle.”

I gasped, feeling insulted. “I’m not short. Don’t you dare call me short.“.

He paused, staring at me over the rim of his glass as he took a sip. “I never called you short. And if I did?”

Before I could respond, an older woman with white hair swept into a perfect bun approached us. She looked elegant, sharp eyed, and regal in the dark emerald silk dress she was wearing

CHAPTER FIFTY ONE

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“Oh God,” Damon muttered under his breath. “Here we go.”

“Damon!” she beamed, grabbing both sides of his face and kissing him loudly on the cheek. “My favorite boy.”

I blinked.

Favorite boy?

Then her eyes landed on me and widened.

“Oh,” she whispered dramatically. “So this is the wife.”

I forced a polite smile. “Yes.”

She turned back to him. “Before anything else, where’s my hug?”

Damon sighed, obviously uncomfortable by her fussing over him. She pulled him into a suffocating hug and he stiffened. I could have sworn I saw him praying to get it over and done it as soon as possible.

When she pulled away, I could see the relief passing through his expression.

“Grand–Aunt Beatrice,” he said slowly. “This is Gabrielle. She’s my wife.”

She ignored him entirely and stepped right up to me, taking my hands warmly.

“Sweetheart,” she said, eyes sparkling with excitement and something dangerously close to conspiracy, “you poor thing.”

“Poor?” I echoed.

She nodded as if I’d confirmed a long–held theory. “You married my nephew. He might be my favorite boy but I wouldn’t advise anyone to marry him.”

Damon groaned. “Beatrice.”

She squeezed my hands tighter. “You must tell me everything. How he proposed, how many times he glared at you before he admitted he liked you, how often he broods in the dark like a dramatic vampire-”

“That’s enough,” Damon interrupted sharply.

Beatrice looked utterly delighted.

I tried–really tried—not to smile.

But the amusement bubbled up anyway. Damon saw it, and he narrowed his eyes at me.

“I’ll bring her back, okay?” his aunt Beatrice said suddenly, looping her arm through mine before Damon could object.

He barely had time to protest before she whisked me away, practically dragging me out of the hall and down to the powder room

The powder room was quiet and softly lit with gold sconces. Only one girl stood at the mirror, touching up her lipstick – until Beatrice shot her a pointed, queen–of–the–universe kind of look.

The girl blinked, snapped her compact shut, and scurried out without a word.

Beatrice waited until the door clicked shut.

Then she turned to me with a dramatic sigh and clasped my shoulders.

“Oh, thank heavens,” she breathed. “I needed you alone.”

My brows knit. “Why?”

Her smile fell fast. “Let’s cut to the chase. How much Damon he paying you?”