ACCIDENTALLY MARRIED TO THE BILLIONAIRE SINGLE DAD (Gabrielle and Damon) novel Chapter 65

Ala

CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE

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CHAPTER SIXTY FIVE

GABRIELLE’S POV

“Damon…,” I managed to say.

His eyes fell on Lila, who was still clutching her wrist. His entire body seemed to tense at once.

“What happened?” he asked.

“Gabby pushed me,” Lila cried, her voice breaking perfectly.

“I didn’t,” I said immediately, my heart still pounding. “She slipped. I was trying to catch her–”

Damon walked past me without another word, silencing me without even looking my way.

He crouched in front of Lila instead, his movements careful. “Let me see,” he said gently.

Lila sniffed and extended her wrist. It was already starting to swell, the skin around it red and angry.

My stomach dropped.

Damon’s jaw tightened.

“Does it hurt when you move it?” he asked.

She nodded, a fresh sob escaping her lips. “It hurts really bad.”

He glanced up at me then and the look in his eyes wasn’t anger. It was something worse.

Distance.

“I need you to step back,” he said quietly.

The words stung more than I expected. I did as he asked, my hands shaking at my sides.

“I swear I didn’t push her,” I said, my voice cracking despite myself. “She climbed onto the stool. She slipped and I reached for her-”

“She said you pushed her,” he replied evenly. “A child wouldn’t lie.”

“And I would?” I snapped, unable to bear the false accusations.

He lifted Lila carefully into his arms. She wrapped her good arm around his neck immediately, burying her face against his shoulder.

“I want my mummy,” she cried.

“I know,” Damon murmured. “But you need a doctor first.”

Lila whimpered again, tightening her hold on him.

Damon turned to me. “Call Anya and tell her to meet us at the hospital.”

My heart skipped. “I’m coming with you.”

“No. Do as I say for now, Gabrielle,” he said, almost irritated. “I’ll see you when I get back, okay?”

I clammed my mouth shut and watched him carry Lila out the door. My eyes met hers and she smiled–literally smiled at me.

The door shut behind them and I stood there long after the sound of Damon’s footsteps disappeared, my chest tight, and my fingers numb.

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CHAPTER CANTY (M

In that moment, I realized something terrifying.

Whether I was innocent or not… It wouldn’t be my word that mattered.

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The water was calm as it floated around me. Calm enough that I could hear my own thoughts, unfortunately.

I stayed there, soaking in the pool, and letting the water hold me up because I didn’t trust my legs to do it on their own.

Lila’s accident made my relationship with Damon even more complicated than it already was.

We didn’t even get the chance to talk about what he meant that night. Or who was dancing in front of him at the club in Fiorella’s story.

I heard footsteps approaching but I didn’t need to check to know it was him. His scent had already reached me before his footsteps.

I turned to see him standing by the edge of the pool, his hand in his pocket, and an expression I couldn’t read on his face as he watched me float with narrowed eyes.

My stomach twisted, heat and anger mixing. “I’m not in the mood for lectures. I didn’t push Lila down and if you don’t believe me that’s not my problem.”

He didn’t respond.

He just stood there, staring at me intently. After some minutes, the silence was starting to get to me but he seemed unaffected by it.

I swam to the edge of the pool and sat on one of the steps. “If you came here to accuse me or tell me how disappointed you are, you can save it.”

He finally moved.

Slowly.

He crouched at the edge of the pool, close enough that I could see the tension in his jaw.

Close enough that I could feel it.

“I didn’t come to lecture you,” he said.

“Then why are you here?” I shot back.

His eyes flicked over my face, then down to the water clinging to my shoulders. His expression tightened before he looked away.

“Never mind that.”

His words caught me off guard.

I laughed once, but it was humorless. “Of course. Back to the Damon I met.”

His jaw flexed. “My daughter was hurt.”

I didn’t have any response because he had a point.

Then his voice came again, lower and softer. “Lila’s the only good thing I ever did,” he said. “And the only person I can’t afford to be there for the wrong way.”

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