Page 21 of Culmination
Cool air hits my cheek as he pulls his hand away. “I didn’t…” he says, trailing off, confusion etched on his features.
The confirmation chills my blood, the implication far too terrifying to contemplate. My hand comes up and circles around a steely wrist, the heat of his taut skin emanating against my own.
“Adrian. He knows. Somehow, he knows. He saw.”
His eyebrows draw together. “Who? Matthews?”
Fear courses through me, panic rushing in. “No, your father! Oh my God.”
It’s so much worse than I thought.
“Excuse me?” He cocks his head to the side, his brow forming a deeper crease. “My father? What does he have to do with you seeing a doctor?”
My eyes frantically search his as my heart beats erratically. I will myself to calm down, knowing that my excitement, increased blood pressure and stress could hurt the baby. I take a moment to close my eyes and do breathing exercises until my heart calms. When I open my eyes, Adrian’s watching me intently.
“Gabriella, speak with me, please. I do not understand what you mean. What about my father?”
“Adrian, listen to me. Shortly after I returned to my hotel room, my childhood doctor arrived.Ihadn’t called her. She said Mr. Morningstar requested she make a house call. I assumed she meant you until…” I trail off, feeling sick to my stomach.
“Until what?”
My eyes race to meet his. “Until she said he was concerned for the well-being of his grandchild. He thinks the baby is yours.”
Adrian promptly stands and grabs my hand. With a swiftness that is hard to keep up with, he hurries to a non-descript side door, and we slip out into the dusky evening. He steers me towards a car, releasing my hand as he rounds it and open the driver’s-side door.
I hesitate on the passenger’s side of his car. It’s only thing meeting him in a public place. But after the last time we were in a car together, I’m not sure I’m making the wisest decision by blindly following him. And by Adrian’s expression, he obviously realizes I’m waging an internal battle.
He swallows hard, his eyes boring into mine. Green swirls blaze darker than I’ve ever seen before.
“Gabriella, do you trust me?” he asks, his voice thick and husky.
I blink, shocked he could even ask me such a question. “No, Adrian,” I answer quietly. “I don’t.”
His eyes close for the briefest of moments. When they reopen, he appears defeated. “I understand.” He lets out a breath, runs a hand through hair that is longer than I’ve ever seen on him, and looks back at me. “I deserve that. But if you’re done with me, if this is it for us, you have to know the truth. I need to tell you everything.”
Goose bumps prick my skin at his words, and tears clog my throat. This is really it. We’re over, and after this, I may never see him again.
He must sense my hesitation, because he continues quickly, a hint of desperation in his voice. “Please, Gabriella,” he breathes on a plea. “Will you come with me? Let me explain all of this before you walk out of my life forever? If you’re not to be mine, please grant me this last request.”
I know I shouldn’t. But maybe part of me is that too-stupid-to-live girl, because even though cacophonous warning bells resound in my mind, I slide into the passenger’s side and close my door without saying a word.
When Adrian joins me, he takes my hand and squeezes it. For a brief moment, he brings our joined hands to his lips, but just before he kisses my skin, he stops himself, instead placing them on his thigh.
I should pull away. I don’t.
“You won’t regret this, Gabriella. I promise.”
I want to believe him. I really do, but my past with Adrian is full of regret, and I hope I haven’t just made the most catastrophic decision of my life.
My thumbs impatiently tap the wheel as I navigate through Chicago traffic. Each moment I’m closer to Brie is still another moment she’s with him.
Maybe I’m being careless. Reckless. Going into this situation blind. But the truth is: I don’t fucking care. I failed to keep a promise I made to Brie’s father. It’s because of me that she’s in this mess, when I told Andrew Latham I’d protect his daughter until my dying day. Little did I know her being with me posed a greater danger to her than before. If I hadn’t touched her. If I’d just gotten her away from Adrian, she wouldn’t be pregnant. She wouldn’t be a pawn in Theo’s game. She’d be safe. But how the hell can I regret loving her? Or our child?
I might have helped throw her into the lion’s den, but I will keep my vow. I will keep her safe. This is my chance to right that wrong. Fierce determination to succeed swells inside me, over every fiber of my being.
I will protect her this time. At all costs. Failure, when it comes to her, is not an option. It’s not even on the fucking table.
I run a hand over my jaw, reflecting on how this all went so damn wrong.
