Page 64 of Vengeful Lies

“No! I want Gabby. Gabby has to do them. She promised she wouldn't leave me.”

“She didn't want to leave you.” This was hell. How had he thought he could do this? Sending Gabriella away had about killed him, but watching his daughter’s reaction to learning she was gone was crushing the final pieces left of his heart.

“Then why did she leave?”

“Because I told her she had to. It was for the best.”

“It’s not best. Gabby is best, I want her to come home,” Essie wailed, tears tumbling down her round little cheeks.

When he reached out to pick her up and hold her, she shimmied backward out of his reach, and the gravity of what he’d done sunk in.

Gabriella was alone and hated him.

His daughter was there but hated him.

And he hated himself more than the two of them combined.

“It’s going to be okay, Essie,” he assured her. Somehow, he had to make things okay. “I'm here. And you have all your uncles, and Willow, and Susanna, and Becca. You have lots of people who love you and are here for you. Lots of people who will make sure you have the best birthday in the world.”

“I want Gabby,” the little girl howled. “Gabby plays with me, reads to me, cooks with me, and tucks me in. I don’t want my birthday without Gabby. I want to stay four forever.”

With that, Essie climbed off her chair and ran back up the stairs. A moment later he heard her bedroom door being slammed.

Normally he wouldn't allow tantrums like that, and certainly not the slamming of doors, but how could he begrudge his daughter’s reactions when he’d ripped her away from the person who was always there for her?

Cade had never doubted how much his daughter loved him. He had to travel for work sometimes and might be away for a few days, a few weeks, or a few months. Even when he was home, he often had to work long hours. But he always knew that Essie was in safe hands with Gabriella, and in the time he spent with his daughter he was one hundred percent with her. They played any games she wanted, nothing was off the table, he’d dress up like a fairy, do makeup parties, anything his little girl’s heart desired.

This was the first time he felt he had made a decision that didn't have his child’s best interest at heart. He’d panicked about Gabriella’s safety because he could sense the toll her ordeal had taken on her even if she was doing her best to pretend that she was handling everything just fine.

So, he’d tried to push her out of the danger zone.

Instead, he’d done something that might have tainted his relationship with his daughter beyond repair. He’d broken Essie’s trust in him.

What was best for her was always his first consideration, but this time he hadn't stopped to fully consider the ramifications of ripping Gabriella out of Essie’s life at a time when both of his girls were so emotionally vulnerable. He hadn't realized just how deeply the two needed to be together to start their journey of healing because all he’d been able to see was that Gabriella was in danger, and he couldn’t risk losing another woman he loved.

There was no doubt in his mind that he loved Gabriella and knew he’d pushed her away with the best intentions.

But that didn't undo the damage it caused.

It didn't change the fact that Gabriella was alone in a hotel room, and Essie was alone in her bedroom, when if he hadn't interfered, the two could be together. Instead, he’d ruined everything, lost Gabriella’s love, lost his daughter’s trust, none of which he was certain he could regain.

What had he done?

September 10th

2:37 P.M.

Staring at the ceiling of her room, Gabriella wondered how her life had come to this.

To many people looking in from the outside, it would seem like she had taken a terrible childhood and turned it into something amazing. She’d overcome having an absent dad and an addict mom, survived foster care, and built a name forherself, designing something that made the world a little bit safer and made her a millionaire.

She was young, smart, and rich, she should have the world at her fingertips.

Yet, she was lying alone in a hotel room, staring at the ceiling, unable to come up with enough motivation to do anything other than stay on the bed where she’d been most of the last eighteen hours or so.

Sleep was still off the table no matter how exhausted she was, so after she’d checked in and cried herself out, she’d looked up private security firms and picked one. It would be so much easier to go with Prey, she knew they were the best of the best, but they were Cade’s, and she wasn't part of his life anymore, so she didn't want to have to call them and ask to hire them.

So, she’d gone with her gut, picked another company, and hired round-the-clock security. The two men who had shown up within the hour of her paying the bill seemed nice enough, and she felt a little better knowing they were standing outside her hotel suite, but she didn't feel safe.

---