ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 55

CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE

GABRIELLE’S POV

The car sank into silence after his words.

I could still feel them in the air, heavy and terrifying.

“Damon…” I whispered. “Tell me you didn’t kill anyone.”

He didn’t even look at me.

He sighed, lifted his hand, and pressed the partition button so the driver couldn’t hear us.

The quiet thickened.

“Forget about all that now,” he said.

I stared at him. “I can’t forget about that. I need to know.”

His jaw shifted slightly. “You need to calm down.”

“That’s not an answer.”

“It wasn’t a question I care to answer right now.”

His tone was flat and cold.

The Damon from earlier–the one whose voice cracked when he couldn’t find me–was gone. This version of him felt like a wall I couldn’t see through.

He was back to the version I had when we first met.

My chest tightened. “You just told me it depends on my definition. Damon, you can’t expect me to drop it.”

“I expect you to stop pushing.”

His voice didn’t rise.

It didn’t need to.

“You scared me,” I said. “And I deserve to know why your grand–aunt said those things. Or at least who that stranger was.”

“You’ll know when I decide you should,” he said and looked out the window again.

Not at me.

A cold shiver ran through me. “So you’re hiding something.”

He gave a small, humorless smile. “Everyone is hiding something.”

“That’s not what I meant.”

“I know what you meant,” he said, still not looking at me. “And this is not the time for it.”

Anger pricked behind my ribs. “You can’t shut me out like this”

“I can,” he said quietly. “And I am.”

The words hit harder than I expected.

“Why?”

CHAPTER FETY FIVE

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“Because you can’t handle it,” he said, finally turning to me. “Your reaction was just what I expected. I’ll tell you when I know you’re ready.”

My fist clenched.

I wanted to lung at him and bite him so hard he screamed. But knowing him, he won’t even wince.

I sighed, releasing my clenched fist. “In that case, I’m leaving.”

His eyes were cold now. “Leaving where?”

“I’m leaving you,” I said as calmly as I could. “I can’t be with a killer even if it’s just a contract.”

The words came out as I wanted them to, but my hands were shaking in my lap.

He studied me for a moment like he was trying to decide what part of my sentence he found more irritating.

“No,” he said.

I blinked. “No?”

“You’re not leaving.”

My breath caught. “You don’t get to decide that.”

His gaze held mine without a single drop of hesitation. “I do.”

A rush of anger shot through me. “You think you own me?”

“Don’t I?” he asked. “It’s fine if I don’t.”

I swallowed hard. “Then let me go.”

His jaw tightened. “You’re not thinking straight.”

“I’m thinking perfectly fine,” I shot back. “You refuse to tell me the truth and you expect me to stay?”

“Yes.”

He said it like it was the simplest thing in the world.

“You’re unbelievable,” I whispered. “You can’t just shut down every time something gets uncomfortable. I deserve to know the truth.”

“I’m not shutting down,” he said.

“Yes, you are.”

“No,” he said again. “Shutting down is avoiding you. This is me choosing not to give you information that will make you panic.”

I stared at him. “So you don’t trust me.”

His eyes narrowed. “If I didn’t trust you, I wouldn’t have brought you into my family’s home.”

“That’s not trust, Damon. That’s me playing the wife role in our contract.”

His expression flickered for less than a second. “You think that’s all you are to me?”

The question caught me off, guard. My lips parted, but no words came.

He leaned back, exhaling slowly, like he was trying to hold himself together.

“So you’re not denying it,” I whispered, refusing to change the topic.

214

CHAPTER FIFTY FIVE

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His silence answered for him.

A cold ache settled into my stomach.

The car slowed as we approached the house. The lights outside cast shadows on his face and made him look even harder, even further away than before.

That was how it was with us.

One step forward and three steps back.

The car stopped, and he stepped out first. He turned around the car and opened my door for me but he didn’t give me his hand.

I stepped out slowly, already deciding to pack my bags and leave as soon as I got to my bedroom.

I walked up the steps toward the front door without waiting for him. There was no use talking or trying to get him to open up. He never will and I won’t spend the rest of our year together waiting.

As I pushed the door, his voice stopped me in my tracks.

“Gabrielle,” he called out.

I paused but I didn’t turn to face him. “Yes?”

“Don’t walk away from me.”

I didn’t listen this time.

I pushed the door open and walked in. Susan and George were already gone, Fiorella too, and the house was quiet and empty.

I walked up the stairs into my room and began packing my bags. No matter how much I wanted to stay, I couldn’t be with someone who could kill his own family.

The door opened after a few seconds and he walked in slowly. I didn’t have to turn to know it was him. His scent had filled the room like it always did.

“I told you not to walk away from me,” he said, his voice cold.

I opened my underwear drawer and picked them out. “I told you to tell me if your grand–aunt was lying. You didn’t, so here we

are.”

I heard his slow footsteps behind me like he was counting each one.

“Gabrielle,” he said again.

fignored him, tossing another handful of clothes into my suitcase.

“I’m speaking to you,” he added, his voice dropping lower.

“And I’m done speaking to you,” I shot back, not even looking at him. “I’m not staying here another minute with someone who

”

Before I could finish, the drawer slammed shut under his hand

I froze.

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