LOGINGABRIELLE’S POV A brief silence followed. I slowly set Aria down from my lap. Fiorella’s eyes were already on me, sharp and questioning. “I’ll be right back,” I said. Rhys glanced up from the pot. “Everything okay?” “Yes,” I answered without hesitation. “Just a small issue at the gate.” I didn’t wait for another question. I turned and walked out of the kitchen, my steps calm even as something cold settled in my chest. My instincts were already telling me that this was about a particular blonde man. The guard followed behind me as we stepped out of the house. “It’s about the man from yesterday,” he said. My body went still. “What about him?” I asked, keeping my voice calm as we walked down to the gate. “He’s back,” the guard replied. “We refused him entry as instructed, but he has parked in front of the gate and refuses to leave.” I was right. I knew Aiden wouldn’t give up. I knew Damon should have done something about him. “He’s been there for a while,” he added. “W
GABRIELLE’S POV Damon didn’t come back to bed that night. He didn’t tuck the girls in either. I woke up and glanced at the clock on the bedside table. 3:00 AM The sheet behind me was still cold, and I was beginning to get uncomfortable. We had always talked things out before going to bed. And the times we didn’t, we at least cuddled through the night and talked in the morning. Did I push him too far? I stood up and reached for my robe, wrapping it around my nightdress as I stepped out of the room. I checked in on the children first to see that they were both sound asleep. Then I stepped out of the house to search for him. He was exactly where I expected he’d be. Damon was sitting on a bench in the garden where we got married, a drink in his hand. I stood behind him for a second. He was struggling with his emotions and it hurt that I couldn’t do anything to help him. But I could make him come back to bed and get some rest at least. I walked closer to hi
GABRIELLE’S POV I thought my ears had failed me. “What do you mean, Damon?” I asked. He sighed and walked towards the window to look out of it. “I didn’t murder Phoebe but if this is a way to atone for my actions, then let him snoop around.” I blinked in surprise, and pushed the door shut behind us as I stared at his broad back. “That’s not atonement,” I said softly. “That’s you handing yourself over for something you didn’t do. You don’t deserve—” He didn’t turn around. “I’ll take the fall. You don’t get to decide what I deserve, Gabrielle.” “I don’t need to decide. I know what’s fair.” He let out a quiet breath. “Fair stopped applying a long time ago. If life were fair, I wouldn’t have even been born.” I closed my eyes for a second and exhaled. I had always wanted him to heal, but now, I was beginning to think he might have healed a little more than necessary. But I understood him. It was fifteen years of guilt finally let loose and weighing down on his consci
GABRIELLE’S POV My jaw dropped. I had spent enough time with Fiorella and Rhys to know they couldn’t stand each other and were constantly arguing. From what Fiorella told me, they had never been on good terms before because Rhys was annoying to her. That was all I knew about them. So a sudden marriage sounded like something straight out of a fever dream. Damon was beside me now, his hand resting on my waist and pulling me close. I looked up at him. He stared down at me. Then we both turned to Rhys and Fiorella. “Is this a joke?” I asked, raising a brow. “Because if it is, it’s not funny.” Fiorella smiled. “It’s not a joke, Gabrielle. It just happened.” Damon didn’t look convinced either. “Love just happened between you two?” “And you got married without telling me?” I asked, my brows furrowing. “I thought we were best friends, Fiorella.” She winced slightly. “I know. I’m sorry. It was… sudden.” “Sudden?” I repeated flatly. “Gabrielle,” she said, her v
GABRIELLE’S POV THREE YEARS LATER Life had been great. We finally moved and got married in the garden of our new home, and in the company of family and close friends. Except Beatrice. All of Damon’s ex-wives flew to Italy to attend the wedding—including Anya. Surprisingly, she was civil and I didn’t sense any hostility from her. Maybe a few months away was exactly what she needed. My wedding gown and Fiorella's maid of honor dress, were designed by me. Not even pregnancy could slow me down. I now owned a fashion brand, and it was more successful than I'd ever imagined. I wanted to be more than Mrs Gravari and a Vanderbilt heiress. I wanted my own legacy, to leave my mark in the world. And I did. Our cute daughter was born months later, and I requested to be placed on birth control immediately. But Damon opted for a reversible vasectomy instead, as my hormones were still all over the place. He joined the doctors in delivering the baby and from the experie
DAMON’S POVFLASHBACKThe morning I signed the last of the divorce papers, I felt nothing.Cassie wept across the table from me.Her mascara had tracked two perfect lines down her face and her lawyer kept sliding boxes of tissues toward her.Mine kept sliding documents toward me.I signed each one without hesitation.Cassie looked up at me between pages, her eyes red and swollen, and said, “Please. Damon. Please look at me.”I looked at her but I knew it wouldn’t help.There was nothing in my expression worth finding except hate—for myself.I hated myself for sitting there and looking into my now ex-wife’s eyes as she cried without even feeling the slightest bit of guilt.Anger blazed in her eyes. “You’re a cold-hearted monster, Damon. I hate you.”She wasn’t wrong.I was a heartless monster who strangled his own father with his bare hands. Maybe loosing the ability to feel was my punishment for that.I would hate me too.Her eyes instantly softened. “But I love you. I know we discuss
GABRIELLE’S POV. . . . . “Why?” he asked softly, his breath warm against my ear and neck. A shiver ran down my spine as his hands pushed my wet hair aside, his fingers grazing the sensitive skin at the nape of my neck. Heat coiled low in my stomach, spreading upward until it mingled with th
GABRIELLE’S POV My face flushed so much that I could feel the heat radiating through my pores. Damon’s fingers rubbed my nipples ever so lightly, as if soothing them from the hard pinch, his warm breath still fanning against my ear. My body kept betraying me, but my mind snapped to realit
GABRIELLE’S POV I pushed the door to Lila’s room open and I found her sitting on the bed with a small coloring book. She raised her head, saw me and sighed. “What do you want?” Her little sigh shouldn’t have hurt as much as it did, but it sliced straight through me anyway. I stepped insi
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.







