MasukGABRIELLE’S POV“Why do you have to leave?” I asked, blinking up at him. “I thought you were going to stay with me today.”He shook his head, staring at me without the warmth from earlier. “I have to be somewhere else, Gabrielle. It’s a matter of life and death.”I moved to sit upright but he reached out and held me down before I could. “Are you in trouble?” I asked, looking around before bringing my voice down to a whisper. “Is this about last night?”His jaw tightened, and for a second, I saw something flicker behind his eyes. “No,” he said finally. “Last night is handled.”The way he said it made my stomach twist.“Then what?” I pressed. “You said life and death.”He exhaled slowly, brushing his thumb across my cheek like he was memorizing my face. “There are things you don’t need to worry about.”“That’s not fair,” I whispered. “I’m your wife.”His gaze sharpened at that. “I know exactly what you are,” he said calmly. “Which is why I’m asking you to stay out of this.”A chill cre
DAMON’S POV I got a call a few hours ago that Gabrielle was in the hospital. The caller didn’t go into details about her condition but honestly, I didn’t need to hear anything else. She needed me. That was all I heard. So I walked out of a multimillion-dollar deal without a second thought. If they couldn’t understand that my family came first, then they were never worth doing business with. I hated hospitals. They reminded me too much of a past I was desperate to forget. They also reminded me how much my mother suffered, and how she was always admitted after she passed out from Father’s beating. All I could see when I looked at the building was blood. Yet, I stepped in for her without hesitation. Christ, something had to be wrong with me. Maybe I needed to get a bed while I was here, and have the doctors check me too. A nurse led me straight to her room. Gabrielle was lying on the bed, her eyes closed and her expression peaceful. My chest tightene
GABRIELLE’S POV By the time we got home, the sun was almost up. I must have fallen asleep in the car because the next thing I knew, I was waking up in a clean nightdress Damon had carefully slipped onto me after bathing me. It still didn’t feel like enough rest, so I decided I’d go back to sleep after breakfast. Damon had already left for work before I woke up. He didn’t even get a second of sleep and my heart tightened, feeling bad for him. He was a hard worker, I knew that—but sometimes I wished he’d just take a break. So much had happened last night that it felt longer than it actually was. I was no longer shaken from my attack but there was still something weighing heavily on my mind. I had to decide what to do about Emily. Jared was going to rot in jail for life. Death would be too easy on him for what he did to me. He had to suffer just like I did. But my sister… I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt her, and I also couldn’t leave her in the asyl
DAMON’S POV “No,” I heard Jared say as he banged at the door. “Let me out of here.” I groaned in annoyance inwardly. I had no idea why my wife wanted to keep the bastard alive when we could just get rid of him permanently already. Even though she was mine now, she had come too close to marrying him and I hated it with everything in me. I hated the thought of anyone coming that close to being her husband. Gabrielle was mine. Yes. Mine. And I understood everything better now. She ran away from shock earlier, not because she didn’t want me anymore. When she came and kissed me, it cracked open something raw inside me. It made me question everything I thought I knew about her. And when she came on my gun and cleaned it up later knowing the safety wasn’t on, I knew I’d give up my life for her without a thought in that moment. She was everything to me. And I intended to show her piece-of-shit ex just much she meant to me. “You’re lucky,” I said, pickin
GABRIELLE’S POV I’d never been one to have a high libido. Granted, I wasn’t having sex before now but I had touched myself and felt sexual arousal occasionally. But with Damon, I was insatiable. And I was even hungrier for him as I watched him beat my ex to a pulp with a baseball bat. “Please, Gabby,” Jared was begging. “Make him stop.” My mind went back to our time together. Jared had been the textbook definition of a good man. He was respectful and kind not just to me but to everyone. I truly believed that he had loved me at some point. That even though he was plotting against me, there was a second or two where he reconsidered hurting me. But sending his friend after me told me otherwise. Even after all the months that followed our breakup, he still had nothing but hate in his heart for me. Damon took a step back from him. “Get up, Jared. My wife wants a show and it’s no fun if you don’t fight back.” Jared screamed, holding his hands over his head a
GABRIELLE’S POV [Content Warning: This chapter contains violence, murder, and sexual content occurring in close proximity to a dead body. It is meant for storytelling purposes and not to be fetishized]. With his hand still wrapped around my neck, Damon pressed the gun against my core—just enough to make me crave more. I ground against it, desperate for friction. His eyes darkened as they held mine. “My perfect wife.” My heart swelled. I moved faster, whimpering, and clutching at him for balance. “Damon…” He shoved me back against the railing, my breath catching at the distant sound of cars below. “You keep surprising me, Gabrielle. How does this not scare you out of your mind?” I wondered the same thing. “You’d never pull the trigger on me,” I whispered, still grinding against the gun and refusing to break eye contact. “I trust you.” His mouth crashed into mine, stealing the air from my lungs. I kissed him back just as fiercely, feeling







