CHAPTER 2
1606 Words
The hallway stretched ahead of me like a tunnel I had no strength to walk through. My breath trembled as I stared at Gabriel, the man who shouldn’t even be in this house… the man who shouldn’t be looking at me like that.
His eyes were dark. Not angry—worse.
Certain.
“Lucia,” he said quietly, “I need you to stay here.”
My heartbeat skidded. “Why? I need to see—”
“No.” He stepped closer, blocking the hallway with his body. “You don’t. You’re still trembling. And if you walk in there right now, you’re going to break.”
My throat knotted. “You don’t know what I can or can’t handle.”
“I know exactly what you can handle,” he murmured. “And I know what will destroy you.”
Something sharp and painful twisted in my chest. Because deep down… I believed him.
He moved slightly, as if contemplating whether to touch my arm. In the end, he didn’t. Gabriel was many things—bold, intense, unholy flame—but he was never careless.
His restraint burned more than any touch.
“Let me through,” I whispered.
“If you see what I just saw,” he said softly, “you won’t come back from it.”
A tremor shot down my spine.
A part of me wanted to turn around. Hide. Pretend I hadn’t heard the words She’s in his arms. Pretend the ache in my heart was just paranoia. Pretend my marriage wasn’t slowly slipping between my fingers.
But I couldn’t pretend anything anymore.
I stepped forward.
And Gabriel stepped aside.
He didn’t touch me, but his presence followed like a shadow — heavy, protective, dangerous.
The closer I got to Leonardo’s study, the harder my pulse hammered. The door was open by an inch, an invitation or a warning—I couldn’t tell.
Light spilled through the gap, illuminating the floor.
And then I heard it.
A laugh.
Jane’s.
Soft. Intimate. A sound I hadn’t heard from her in weeks. She used to laugh like that with me. Not anymore.
My breath caught.
Gabriel’s hand brushed the small of my back — barely. A ghost of contact. But even that tiny touch made my body jolt. He steadied me when my knees threatened to give out.
He exhaled sharply, like holding back was physically painful.
“Don’t go in there alone,” he murmured.
But it was too late.
I pushed the door open.
The world tilted.
There they were.
Leonardo sat on the leather couch, his tie loosened, hair slightly mussed like someone had run their fingers through it. Jane was curled against him, her cheek pressed to his chest, his arm around her shoulders in a way he hadn’t held me in months.
His head dipped toward her, their faces too close, far too intimate.
I felt something inside me shatter.
They both jolted when they saw me.
Jane straightened immediately, guilt flashing so quickly it almost looked imagined. Almost.
Leonardo’s expression twisted—confusion, shock, irritation, something else I couldn’t name.
“Lucia?” he breathed. “What are you doing up? You should be resting.”
Resting.
As if that explained everything.
As if I had walked in on nothing.
Jane shifted away, smoothing her dress, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear like a nervous schoolgirl caught misbehaving. “Lucia, hey… we were just talking. You scared us.”
Talking.
My gaze dropped to the empty wine glasses on the table. Two. Not three.
“Goodnight conversation?” I whispered. “Or something else?”
Leonardo stood. “Don’t do that. Don’t assume the worst. Jane came to check on me, that’s all.”
Check on him.
Not me.
Not the wife he claimed to love.
Him.
My nails dug into my palms. “You didn’t answer your phone.”
“I was busy.” His tone sharpened, defensive. “And you shouldn’t be walking around this late, not in your condition.”
My condition.
The reminder sliced through me. I already knew he saw me as fragile. But tonight, he said it like I was inconvenient.
Jane stepped forward, reaching for me. “Lucia, please. Let’s not fight. This is… it’s not what you think.”
Gabriel moved behind me, his presence so quietly powerful that the room’s air changed. I felt him before he spoke.
“That’s exactly what it looks like,” he said, voice low and lethal.
Leonardo’s eyes snapped to his brother. “You again? Since when do you think you can walk into this house and start picking fights?”
“Since you started neglecting your wife,” Gabriel replied calmly.
A muscle ticked in Leo’s jaw. “And you think that’s your business?”
Gabriel tilted his head slightly. “When a married man lets another man take better care of his wife than he does? Yes, it becomes my business.”
My breath hitched.
Leonardo’s glare darkened. “You always did like inserting yourself into what doesn’t concern you.”
Gabriel’s eyes flicked to me. Softening. Warming.
“This concerns me.”
The air snapped like static.
Leonardo stepped closer, chest to chest with Gabriel. “Say it. Say what you’re trying to imply.”
Gabriel didn’t blink. “I think you know.”
Jane moved between them, voice shaking. “Stop. Both of you.”
But no one listened.
Leonardo looked at me now, voice tightening. “Lucia, why did you come here? Did he—” he jerked his chin toward Gabriel— “did he drag you?”
Gabriel’s jaw clenched. “She’s not something to drag.”
“Stay out of it.”
“Make me.”
Their rivalry was terrifying—because underneath all the anger was something deeper, older, heavier. A history I still didn’t understand.
I swallowed. “I just wanted to talk to you, Leonardo.”
My husband’s anger broke for a moment, replaced by exhaustion. “Lucia… not tonight. Please. I’m tired. Jane and I were just—”
He stopped when he saw my face.
Then he sighed. “This is exactly why I told Jane to stay. Because you’ve been spiraling ever since…”
Ever since we lost the baby.
My heart clenched so hard it hurt.
“I’m not spiraling,” I whispered.
“Then why are you crying?”
I hadn’t realized I was.
He reached for me—
—and I stepped back.
Leonardo froze.
Gabriel’s breath hitched.
A storm of emotions crossed Leonardo’s face: hurt, confusion, then something like dread. “Lucia…?”
I wiped my cheeks quickly. “I’m fine.”
Gabriel murmured, “She isn’t.”
Leonardo shot him a withering look. “I wasn’t talking to you.”
Jane placed a hand on Leonardo’s arm, her voice trembling. “Maybe she misunderstood. Maybe she needs time. Maybe we should all calm down.”
The hypocrisy stung so hard I tasted metal. Jane—the woman who used to hold my hand through heartbreaks—was now soothing my husband.
I looked at her. Really looked.
And for the first time, I saw something I had refused to see:
Guilt.
Fear.
And something dangerously close to longing.
Between them.
A thick silence fell.
Finally, Leonardo exhaled. “Lucia… we’ll talk tomorrow. You need rest.”
Rest.
Again.
As if that was the only thing I was allowed to have in this marriage anymore.
I nodded stiffly, unable to speak.
Gabriel moved instantly to my side. Not touching—never touching—but close enough that the heat of him steadied me.
Leonardo’s eyes flashed at that. Something territorial. Something possessive.
Something too late.
I turned away first.
I walked out of the room.
Gabriel followed.
Leonardo didn’t call after me.
He didn’t come.
Jane whispered something to him—soft, comforting, intimate.
And he stayed.
---
The hallway was cold, but my cheeks burned.
Gabriel didn’t speak until we reached the end of the corridor, near the stairs.
“You shouldn’t have seen that,” he said quietly.
“I needed to,” I whispered.
He studied me for a long moment. “You’re shaking.”
“I’m fine.”
“You’re lying.”
I let out a small, bitter laugh. “Wouldn’t be the first time tonight.”
His expression softened. He stepped closer. Close enough that I could feel the heat radiating off him like he was burning from the inside out.
“Lucia,” he murmured. “You’re allowed to break.”
My breath caught. “No. I’m not.”
He nodded slowly. “Because you’re afraid no one will catch you.”
A tear slipped down my face.
He brushed it away.
It wasn’t a caress. It wasn’t seductive.
It was gentle. Careful. Reverent.
Like I was something precious.
My heart cracked.
“Gabriel…” I whispered.
His eyes lifted to mine.
Hungry.
Tender.
Dangerous.
My lips parted—
—and a sudden crash echoed down the hallway.
We both turned.
Leonardo stood there.
His face pale.
His chest rising too fast.
His hand gripping the wall.
His eyes were not on me.
They were on Gabriel’s hand on my cheek.
A moment stretched. Stretched. Stretched—
And then Leonardo’s voice broke, raw and trembling:
“Lucia… I think Jane is pregnant.”
The world stopped.
Gabriel’s hand fell away.
My knees nearly gave out.
And Leonardo…
He didn’t reach for me.
He didn’t explain.
He didn’t deny.
He just repeated, quieter:
“Jane is pregnant… and I don’t know if it’s mine.”
- Writer
