Chapter 2

For the first time, Gabriel heard Victoria laugh.

"So you've finally come to your senses. Don't blame us. Our family can't turn its back on the people who saved our daughter.

"I've told you everything I have to say over the years. We'll arrange your departure in two weeks. After that, I expect you never to appear in Isabella's life again."

Gabriel hung up.

Stepping out of the elevator, he saw Isabella soothing Owen again. He turned toward the parking garage rather than watch them.

He was reaching for the front passenger door when Owen shoved past him, knocking him off balance.

Isabella's heart lurched. She rushed forward, cupping Gabriel's face. "Are you hurt? Let me take you to the hospital."

"I'm fine." Gabriel pushed her hands away, holding his aching forehead as he glared at Owen, who had already claimed the seat. "What is wrong with you?"

Owen ignored him. He looked at Isabella with pleading eyes. "Bella, I need to sit in front. My parents were sitting in the back when they died. I'm scared."

Isabella's reprimand died on her lips. She turned to Gabriel apologetically.

"Would you mind taking the back this once? I've put some bags there in case you get carsick."

Six years earlier, Gabriel had been violently ill in the back of her car. Isabella had cared for him and promised, heartbroken by his suffering, "From now on, the passenger seat is yours. Nobody else gets it."

Now somebody had.

"All right," Gabriel said.

During the drive, Owen leaned closer and closer to Isabella. He tidied her hair, brushed his fingers across her earlobe, then traced her collarbone with intimate familiarity.

Isabella frowned, tightening her grip on the steering wheel, but did nothing to stop him.

In the back seat, Gabriel stared ahead. The stale smell of leather turned his stomach. A hollow ache settled behind his ribs.

Isabella noticed his pallor in the rearview mirror. Concern flashed across her face. She pushed Owen aside with one hand and opened the console.

"Gabriel, here's your motion sickness medicine, patches, soothing balm, and those citrus candies you like. See if any of them help."

Owen's expression transformed.

He grabbed Isabella's face and yanked it toward him. "Bella! Stop looking at him! Are you trying to get me killed in another crash?"

The car veered toward the guardrail.

Isabella jerked the wheel, struggling to turn the driver's side toward the impact. At the last instant, Owen seized the steering wheel in a frenzy. The car skidded sideways and slammed into the barrier.

Gabriel's head struck the window. Warm blood ran down his forehead and blurred his vision.

He shook with pain. Through the haze, he saw Isabella running toward him.

"Gabriel! Hang on. I'm taking you to the hospital!"

Then Owen wrapped his arms around her waist and sobbed hysterically.

"Bella, my head hurts! Please don't leave. Mom and Dad already abandoned me. If you abandon me too, I'll die!"

Isabella stopped dead.

She looked from Gabriel, bleeding and barely conscious, to Owen, crying so hard he could scarcely breathe.

At last she clenched her jaw. "Gabriel, I'll call an ambulance for you."

She turned away.

Gabriel lost consciousness before he could answer.

When he woke, everything was white. Isabella sat beside his hospital bed. She grasped his hand, eyes full of concern.

"You're finally awake. I was so worried."

Gabriel remembered her walking away while he lay bleeding in the wreck.

He pulled his hand free. "So worried you left me there to wait for an ambulance?"

His normally accommodating tone startled her. Her expression cooled, and she swallowed her irritation.

"I may have gone with Owen, but I was watching the dashcam feed the entire time. Please don't be angry. You're the person I love most, Gabriel. Try to understand. Owen lost his parents because of me. I can't leave him alone."

She sounded exhausted, as though she had been asked to make an impossible sacrifice.

"Understand?" Gabriel gave a bitter laugh. "I've been understanding for five years. Have you ever thought about me?

"You wouldn't abandon him, so you left me bleeding in the car. If that ambulance had taken any longer, I could have died. How much more understanding do you want?"

"That wouldn't have happened," Isabella interrupted. "I was monitoring you. I would never have let it go that far."

Seeing his pale face, she softened.

"Owen really is unstable. He might hurt himself if I leave. Once he's better, we can finally have the peaceful life we've always wanted."

Gabriel couldn't remember how many times he'd heard that promise.

He closed his eyes against the pressure in his chest.

"Forget it. I don't..."