Page 306 of My Unexpected Mate

I sighed and turned around. “Because I didn’t treat women very nicely until I met you. I just used them for sex, and I swore I would never love another woman. Now that I have you, I realize how big of a jerk I was. If some guy treated you like I treated those women, I would kill him.”

She stood up and walked over to me. She wrapped her arms around my torso and leaned her head on my chest. I wrapped my arms around her and buried my nose in her hair.

“It is okay, Gabe,” she said quietly. “We all make mistakes. The important thing to do is to learn from them. I don’t see you differently. You are still the best brother a girl could ask for.”

My heart clenched and I felt tears forming in my eyes. Goddess, I didn’t deserve her. I kissed the top of her head and held her tighter. I didn’t want to let go of her.

“I would like some pancakes, please,” she chuckled after a few minutes.

I let go of her and smiled. “Coming right up, love.”

She smiled and sat back down at the table.

I finished making the pancakes and sat at the table. We continued asking each other random questions as we ate.

I was smiling like an idiot the entire time. This was definitely the best birthday I have ever had.

Aria’s POV

I was laying on the couch with my head in Gabriel’s lap. He was playing with my hair while watching another movie.

It was already 5 pm. Our friends will come by at 7 pm.

I had to get up and start getting ready, but I was so comfortable I didn’t want to get up. I loved it when Gabriel or Nick played with my hair. It calmed me down and put me right to sleep.

“Can I ask you something?” Gabriel said quietly, pulling me back from my daze.

“Sure,” I smiled up at him.

“What was Grace like?” he asked, looking down at me with an unreadable expression on his face.

I sighed and sat up. He took my hand in his and waited for me to answer.

“Well, she wasn’t the best at the beginning, but she got better later,” I said, looking down at our interlaced fingers.

“What did she do to you?” he asked, his voice trembling slightly.

I looked up at him and placed my hand on his cheek. He leaned into my touch, not taking his eyes off of me.

“She would hit me,” I said quietly. “I wasn’t allowed to eat. She would feed me just enough so I wouldn’t die. She would say a lot of hurtful things. She would only let me use cold water when I showered.”

Tears fell out of his eyes, and I used my thumbs to wipe them off. His fists were clenched tightly.

“It’s okay, Gabe,” I smiled. “That is behind me. She got better when I was around 10 years old. She even loved me toward the end.”

He pulled me into a tight hug. “I am so sorry. She should have taken me.”

My heart clenched painfully. I was so glad that she didn’t take him. I would go through all of that again if it meant that he would be safe.

I pushed back so I could look at him. “I am glad she didn’t take you. I could never let you go through something like that. I would do it all again just to keep you safe. You have nothing to be sorry about, Gabriel. It wasn’t your fault. I am glad you gotta grow up with our grandma. I am glad she raised you to be the man that you are. If she hadn’t, you wouldn’t have come into my life and saved me like you did.”

By the time I finished, Gabriel was sobbing. I wiped his tears with my thumbs and pulled him into a hug. I kissed the top of his head and started playing with his hair.

He buried his nose in my neck and held me tight. His sobs quieted down after a few moments. I continued playing with his hair as I held him.

“I love you, Aria,” he said after a while. “I can’t even begin to explain to you how much I love you. I will never leave you again. I will never let anything, or anyone hurt you.”

“I know,” I smiled. “I love you too, and I will never leave you again.”

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