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GABRIELLE’S POVI stared at him, searching his gaze.Damon looked almost uncertain—as if he wasn’t sure how I would respond. His eyes held mine, patient and strangely vulnerable.I reached up and touched his cheek gently.“You don’t even have to ask me,” I said softly. “I am yours completely… body and soul.”He froze as if my words had stunned him.His gaze searched my face slowly, like he was trying to find even the smallest hint that I didn’t mean it.“You know everything about me,” he said.“I do.”“And you stayed.”My chest tightened. “Of course, I did. I promised I would.”Something fragile and almost disbelieving shifted in his expression then.Damon’s free hand slid down and found mine.He raised my hand over my head, pinning it there and intertwining our fingers together.“I will always choose you,” he said suddenly, the words rough like they had forced their way out of his chest. “Before anyone else.”I blinked. “Damon—”“Before anyone,” he repeated, his voice calmer now. “Ev
GABRIELLE’S POVDamon led me downstairs and into another room at the back of the house.The moment he pushed the door open, I immediately understood why he had been hesitant earlier.The room was filled with instruments.A drum set stood near the center of the room, polished but clearly old.Against one wall sat a piano, its lid closed, while several guitars rested carefully on stands nearby.A violin case lay on a small table in the corner, and sheet music was stacked neatly on a shelf.I stopped just inside the doorway, taking it all in.“You played all these?” I asked slowly.Damon rubbed the back of his neck in a rare gesture of awkwardness. “Yes.”My gaze drifted to the wall behind the drum set.A framed photograph hung there.It was a younger Damon—much younger—sitting proudly behind the drums and he had braces.Actual braces.For a second I just stared.Then my hand flew over my mouth as laughter escaped me.“Oh my God,” I said between breaths. “You had braces.”Damon groaned i
GABRIELLE’S POV ONE WEEK LATER “Oh, and I want either a destination wedding or a honeymoon somewhere secluded and private,” I went on for what had to be the tenth time that morning. Damon tilted his head slightly like he was considering it. “Yeah. You’ve said that… how many times now?” I groaned and fell back against the car seat. “I just want everything to go right. We never had a wedding.” For the past week, Damon had been recovering surprisingly fast. I had a feeling it was mostly because he hated hospitals and wanted to leave as soon as possible. He was discharged a few days ago, and we were staying at one of the houses on Rhys’s estate. Fiorella had stopped by that morning to check on him—and to tell us about her plans to open a restaurant here in Italy. I would miss her when we returned home, but she had always loved living here and there was nothing I could do to convince her otherwise. “But I want the wedding after I give birth so I can get drunk that day
DAMON’S POVGabrielle was asleep before Rhys walked into the room.I could tell from the slow, even rhythm of her breathing and the way her fingers had gone slack against my shirt.Exhaustion had finally claimed her.It didn’t surprise me.The nurse told me she hadn’t been resting well since my surgery.I looked down at her face resting against my chest, strands of her hair brushing my jaw.I had spent a long time in my head, facing memories I had locked away for years, but seeing her face again had dragged me out of that darkness.Somehow, this woman had become the one thing capable of pulling me back from places I had no intention of returning to.“You finally wake up, brother,” Rhys said, standing beside the bed. “And only a few minutes after I left. Are you ever going to stop avoiding me?”I stared at him, but the usual irritation didn't rise. All I could see was the fourteen-year-old boy I sacrificed myself for. My little brother. One of his eyebrows lifted. “Cuddling?” I hear
GABRIELLE’S POV The kiss was soft at first. A silent promise that I would love him no matter what. But when his free hand moved to the back of my head and pressed my lips harder against his, I lost control of my body. He held my head in place and kissed me until I was senseless. I melted in his arms, drowning in his warmth and craving more of him. Damon finally broke the kiss and pressed his forehead against mine. “You do damages to me, Gabrielle,” he whispered. “And yet you’re the only one who makes me feel sane.” He pulled back slightly and stared into my eyes. “What are you?” he asked. I stared back at him, my chest heaving, my lips parted, and my body aching for more. Then I leaned closer and whispered, “Anything you want me to be, husband.” Surprise flickered across his face before melting into something softer. “You’re an angel.” “I’m your angel,” I whispered with a small smile. “But by the time I tell you what I’ve been up to, you might not think s
GABRIELLE’S POV A lie. That was what every word he uttered had to be. Because there was no way he meant any of this. I stood up and walked over to the window, letting fresh air hit my face directly before I fainted. “Gabrielle,” he called out gently. “Please… say something.” I turned to him sharply. “What the fuck do you want me to say?” There was a vulnerability in his eyes I hadn’t seen before. “Anything,” he answered. My heart broke. I walked back to him and reached out to hold his face with both hands. “No. No. Tell me it’s not true.” He closed his eyes and inhaled slowly before opening them again. “That’s not all,” he said. “Just… sit down and listen to me. Can you do that for me?” My chest tightened painfully, but I nodded and sat beside his bed again. And then Damon told me everything. From the abuse he endured as a child, always taking the brunt of his father’s temper… To the whippings he received as a teenager, and the way he was forced to pin photos of his tear
GABRIELLE’S POV Damon didn’t come back home that night. I tried not to think too much of it, but every hour that passed made the house feel bigger… and colder. I’d have spent my time with Lila but she didn’t even want to speak to me anymore. I didn’t see myself as her stepmother. I neve
GABRIELLE’S POV I blinked, caught off guard by his words. “Punish me?” “For snooping,” he said, walking closer slowly. “You can always walk out and pretend you never saw this room.” My throat ran dry. “Damon… I…” He stopped in his tracks. “I told you I was too dark for you. You should lea
DAMON’S POV Three cold baths later and I still couldn’t get the image of her out of my head. She had no idea I was punishing myself as well. If I had stayed a second more, I’d have taken her on the bed, right there and then, without a second thought. She was the most perfect human ever to e
GABRIELLE’S POV No. No. “Heaven?” I asked, a frown tightening my entire face. “Did you kill my sister, Damon?” He didn’t respond. He poured maple syrup over the pancakes and acted like I hadn’t spoken. Like I hadn’t just asked him the one question that could break me in half. The hea







