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All Chapters of One Night Stand With My Future Uncle In Law : Chapter 31 - Chapter 40

171 Chapters

THIRTY ONE

Gabriella's POVMy father turned his face back from the window after a long minute. He did not look at me. He looked at the ceiling."Close the door," he said.I closed the door.My mother was still standing beside his bed. Her hand was on his arm. She looked at me and then at him and then back at me. She did not say anything."Sit down," my father said.There was a chair against the wall. I pulled it close to the bed and sat. The monitor beeped in the quiet. The drip in his arm moved slowly."You left," he said."I left.""You packed two bags and walked out and did not call. Did not text. Nothing.""You told me not to come back."He was quiet."You told me you would cut me off," I said. "You told me you would not bail me out. You told me to figure it out on my own.""I was angry.""I know."Another pause. He still was not looking at me."Where are you staying?" he asked.I hesitated.My mother answered for me. "With her boss. Mr. Castillo."My father's eyes moved to me. "Mariano Cast

THIRTY TWO

Gabriella's POV "No, Dad. No." I stood up from my chair. "He came here to talk about a wedding date while you are in a hospital bed. He does not care about you. He does not care about Mom. He cares about the contract."Davis's face went red. "That is not true.""Then ask him how he is feeling," I said. "Right now. Ask him."Davis looked at my father. My father looked back at him."Mr. Hale," Davis said. "How are you feeling."My father said nothing for a moment. Then he said, "Like a man who has been asked that question too late."The room went still.Mariano was at the door. I did not know when he had come back in. He was leaning against the frame with his arms crossed. His expression was unreadable.Davis turned and saw him. "Uncle.""Davis.""I did not know you were here.""Clearly."Davis looked between Mariano and me. Something moved through his face. Suspicion. He was putting pieces together."My fiancée and my uncle," he said. "Staying in the same house. Visiting hospitals tog

THIRTY THREE

Gabriella's POVThe hospital elevator was slow. Mariano stood beside me with his hands in his pockets. We did not touch. We did not speak. The doors opened and we walked across the lobby and out into the night air.Vincent had the car waiting at the curb.Mariano opened the back door and I got in. He got in beside me. The door closed and the city moved past the windows and the partition between us and Vincent slid up.Mariano looked at me.I looked at him."You are shaking," he said."I know.""From the hospital or from something else."I thought about it. "Both."He reached over and took my hand. His fingers laced through mine. He did not say anything. He just held my hand and looked out the window.The car turned onto a quieter street. The lights got softer. The buildings got farther apart."Gabriella."I turned to him.His free hand came up and touched my face. His thumb moved over my cheekbone. Slow."You were brave in there," he said."I was not brave. I was just tired.""Same th

THIRTY FOUR

Gabriella's Pov He stayed there for a moment. His forehead dropped to my shoulder. His breathing was heavy against my back.Then he pulled out slowly and turned me over and pulled me against his chest.We lay there on the couch. The room was dark. His heart was beating against my cheek."Are you okay," he said."Yes.""Good."We stayed like that for a moment. The quiet was thick. The warmth of him was solid against me.Then the lights turned on.We both looked up.Valentina stood in the doorway to the living room. Her hand was still on the light switch. Her eyes were wide. Her mouth was open.She stared at us.I stared at her.Mariano did not move. He did not reach for clothes. He just looked at her."Valentina," he said."I—" She shook her head. "I am sorry. I did not know you had company. I came to pick up my bag. From the guest room. I left it here last week."Her voice was shaking."It is fine," Mariano said.She backed away from the doorway. "I will come back another time. I am

THIRTY FIVE

Gabriella's POV"Miss Hale, you have a visitor."I looked up from my screen. The receptionist was standing at the entrance to the executive floor. Behind her was Valentina.I stood up with a surprised smile. "Valentina."She smiled. It was a small one. Careful and cautious. Like she was not sure if she was allowed to be here.The receptionist looked at me. "She does not have an appointment but she said you knew her.""We met at a family gathering," Valentina said quickly. "At the Castillo house. Gabriella said I should find her if I was ever in the area."I had never said that. But I understood what she was doing. She was giving us a reason to talk."Come in," I said. "Mrs. Ava is at lunch so we have a few minutes."Valentina walked past the receptionist and came to my desk. She was wearing a simple blue dress and her hair was pulled back. She looked different from the garden. More nervous. Her hands were clasped in front of her and she kept glancing toward the elevator like she was e

THIRTY SIX

Gabriella's Pov "I want to understand something." She pulled the visitor chair close to my desk and sat down. She crossed her legs. She looked comfortable. Like she belonged here. Like I was the visitor. "You have been here for what. Two weeks? Three? And in that time, you have been promoted from intern to executive assistant. You have moved out of your parents' house. You have been photographed leaving a hospital with the CEO. And now you are having secret meetings with Castillo cousins in the middle of the workday.""They are not secret meetings.""Then what are they?""She came to check on me. That is all."Kristen laughed. "Valentina Reyes does not check on anyone. She is too scared of her own shadow. She hides in corners at family events. She does not make eye contact. She does not speak unless someone speaks to her first. And she walked into the executive floor of Castillo Holdings without an appointment to check on you?""She was kind to me at the family gathering.""Ah." Kris

THIRTY SEVEN

Gabriella's POVMy phone rang at seven thirty in the evening. I was still at my desk because the cycle four report had a section that did not make sense and Mariano had gone downstairs to deal with something in the security office. The executive floor was quiet. Mrs. Ava had left an hour ago. The lights were dim.I looked at the screen. Mom."Hello.""Gabriella, it is your mother." Her voice was warm but there was something underneath it. The same something that had been there since the hospital. Like she was handling me carefully. Like I was something that might break."Hi Mom.""I am calling because your father wants you to come home."I sat back in my chair. "He wants me to come home.""Yes. He said to tell you that the guest room is ready and that you should not be staying at your boss's house anymore because it looks bad for the family.""The family.""His words. Not mine."I rubbed my eyes. "Mom, I cannot just come home like nothing happened. He told me to leave. He told me he w

THIRTY EIGHT

Gabriella POV "Andrew was wrong." Lucia smiled. It was a slow, deliberate expression that did not reach her eyes. She leaned back against the cushions of the couch, her posture completely relaxed, yet she looked ready to strike at any moment. Her presence felt entirely predatory, like a snake watching its prey from a high branch. "Andrew said you would say that. He also said you would let me stay anyway because you owe him." Mariano's jaw tightened. The muscle in his cheek twitched, a clear sign of his rising anger. "I do not owe Andrew anything." "You owe him for Barcelona. That is what he said. And I am collecting." Lucia turned her head slowly toward me. Her gaze was intense and heavy. Her eyes moved over my cheap flat shoes, up the fabric of my plain trousers, across my simple blouse, and finally settled on my face and hair. I felt small under that inspection. I felt immediately inadequate and entirely out of place in this luxury living room. "Who is this?" she asked.

THIRTY NINE

Gabriella POV "No." "If she is here to watch me—" "Then let her watch." He walked back across the room to me. He stopped close enough that I could feel the heat radiating from his body. It was a comforting contrast to the cold feeling Lucia had left behind. "You are not doing anything wrong, Gabriella. You are staying in my house because you needed a place to go to be safe. That is the simple truth. If she wants to report that to Andrew, fine." "And if she reports more than that? If she invents things?" "Then Andrew and I will have a conversation." His voice was very calm now. But there was a cold quality underneath the calmness that made me realize how serious he was. "A very serious conversation." I nodded, but the anxiety in my stomach did not go away. "You should go to bed," he said softly. "It has been a very long day." "It has." He reached out and touched my face. It was a quick, gentle movement. His fingers brushed against my cheek for just one second. Then he dropped

FORTY

Gabriella's POVI did not sleep well.The house was too quiet after the footsteps stopped outside my door. Every creak of the floorboards made me sit up in bed and strain my ears toward the hallway. I kept expecting to hear Lucia's voice or her sharp laugh or the sound of her heels clicking against the hardwood floor. But nothing came. Just silence. Heavy and pressing.When morning finally came, I got up earlier than I needed to. I showered and dressed in the bathroom with the door locked, which was something I had never done before in this house. I came out and packed my bag with the things I would need for work. I did not know if I would see Mariano before I left. I did not know if I wanted to.I opened my bedroom door and stepped into the hallway.Lucia was leaning against the wall directly across from my door.She was already dressed. A cream silk blouse and tight black trousers. Her hair was perfectly curled. Her makeup was flawless. She looked like she had been standing there fo

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