LOGINGABRIELLE’S POV I opened my mouth to say something—anything—but the words were stuck in my throat. After a few seconds, I tried again. “Is she another one of your ex-wives?” A moment of silence passed between us. “No, we were together as teenagers,” he said, walking past me to sit on the couch. “We dated when I was only a boy but I loved her. As much as a boy could.” I sat beside him. “You were able to love?” “I could feel my emotions once upon a time,” he said, his eyes staring at the center rug intently. “But that was before my life went wrong.” I swallowed hard. “What happened?” Damon didn’t look at me. “Life happened. People betrayed me and I lost everything I cared about… including her,” he finally spoke. “She ended things with me when I was twenty-one because I couldn’t give her what she wanted…. what she already had once. My heart.” I wanted to reach out to touch him, but I kept my hands by my side. I didn’t know if he wanted comfort or if he’d push me
GABRIELLE’S POV I thought my ears were playing tricks on me. Men like him don’t marry girls like you. They use them to entertain themselves, then they move on to someone on their level. Emily’s words from the last time we met echoed in my head, loud and unwelcome. I had dismissed them then, furious that she would say something so cruel to bring me down. Now, standing there and staring at Selene, I felt the weight of those words settle in my chest. She was elegant, confident, and the kind of woman who looked like she belonged beside a man like Damon without needing to try. And suddenly, I was painfully aware of myself barefoot, smelling like Thai food, and still emotionally raw from a funeral I hadn’t recovered from. My fingers curled at my sides. “What are you doing here, Beatrice?” Damon asked, his voice cold. “When have you ever asked that?” Beatrice returned. “I used to come around long before you married this girl. Why do things have to change?” “Get to t
GABRIELLE’S POV The snow fell in a thin and relentless curtain, blanketing the cemetery in white. The coffin was already lowered halfway into the ground, and the ropes made a soft creaky sound as the men worked with stiff, gloved hands. Their breaths puffed out in pale clouds, their faces drawn and solemn, and their eyes fixed anywhere but the hole in the earth. No one spoke. The woman inside the coffin hadn’t been meant to die. She was just an orderly doing her job. And now she was dead because my sister murdered her. Damon shifted uncomfortably beside me. “We should leave now.” I shook my head. “No. This is the least we could do. I want to stay.” The priest murmured prayers that dissolved into the cold air, his words swallowed by the wind before they could offer comfort. A few of her colleagues and relatives stood apart, their black coats pulled tight, and their expressions hollow with shock rather than grief. Emily had been gone for less than forty-eight h
DAMON’S POV Gabrielle looked so beautiful on her knees with my cock in her mouth. No—scratch that. Ethereal was the word. She looked too good not to get ruined. God help me. I wanted to ruin her good and put her back together after but it was her first time. I had to be gentle with my delicate flower, no matter how crazy she drove me. The restraint burned worse than the desire. This wasn’t new to me, not in the slightest. But everything about her touch felt different. I wasn’t sure if I should be ecstatic or pissed. Maybe both. Because with her, I wasn’t in control the way I always was. And that terrified me in equal ways as it thrilled me. I watched the drool leak from the corner of her mouth as I thrust deeper. Her eyes widened, surprised by how far I was going, and I paused. But my patience was thinning by the second. Not because she was doing anything wrong. Because she was doing everything right. “You look so beautiful like this,” I said, tugging her he
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 reality. With all my self-control, I twisted in his hold, and he finally let me go. As I broke free, I finally reached for my towel. “That’s stalker behavior, Damon. It’s an invasion of my privacy, you creep. How dare you? How dare you watch me in my private moments?” Rage spread across my chest. He was watching me after ignoring me and leaving the city without telling me. He was never supposed to know how little I had going on for me. He was never supposed to find out that I spent my days thinking about our fight while he partied with other women. He was never supposed to find out that I touched myself thinking about him. He let me cover myself with the towel but I could still f
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 the rising tension in my chest. At first, I told myself it was anger but as his hands traced the curve of my face, I knew the truth: it was desire. I hated how my body betrayed me, leaning back before my pride had a chance to intervene. “Let go of me,” I said, though my voice trembled with the exact opposite of defiance. “Say it like you mean it,” he murmured, low and huskily. “And I’ll let you go, Gabrielle.” Goosebumps erupted across my skin, every nerve alive under his touch. “The last thing I need is you touching me right now,” I said, hating the way my voice shook. His hands were on my stomach now, caressing my skin slowly, and moving even lower to my waist. “Is that so?”







