My Husband's Brother Wants Me

CHAPTER 3

The hallway seemed colder than ever, the words Leonardo had just said echoing in my mind like a hammer striking against glass. Jane is pregnant… and I don’t know if it’s mine.

I felt my knees threaten to buckle. The room spun, not from dizziness, but from a swirl of betrayal, anger, grief, and something darker—shame. My chest ached in ways that went beyond physical pain, twisting like it had been tied in knots and left to suffocate.

Gabriel’s presence behind me was solid, almost painfully grounding. He didn’t touch me, not yet, but I could feel the heat radiating from him, a warning and a promise all at once.

“You…” I began, my voice trembling. “You… you let this happen?”

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. His eyes, usually a storm of controlled fire, darkened even further. “No,” he said quietly, but every muscle in his body screamed restraint. “You have to understand—this isn’t just on him. He made choices. So did Jane. But it isn’t your fault.”

I shook my head. “It’s my fault because I… I thought… I thought I was making things better.”

Gabriel’s hand brushed a lock of hair from my face—again, not a touch, but a ghost of contact that made my pulse spike and my chest tighten. “Lucia… you don’t understand how much restraint I had to use to not strangle him the moment I walked in here.”

I closed my eyes, letting the warmth of him drift over me, a fragile shield against the cold betrayal. “Why… why now? Why did you come here?”

“Because someone needs to tell you the truth,” he murmured, his voice dropping to a low growl. “And someone needs to make sure you’re still standing.”

I swallowed hard, feeling a bitter laugh catch in my throat. Standing? I barely felt like I had a spine anymore. Standing seemed impossible when the man who was supposed to love me, supposed to be my partner through everything, was now holding someone else’s child.

“You…” I whispered, barely audible. “You shouldn’t have been here.”

Gabriel stepped closer, his shoulders broad, his presence almost suffocating in its intensity. “I should have been here a long time ago,” he said softly, but each word was edged with steel. “Watching you suffer in silence, letting him—” His jaw tightened. “—letting him do this to you.”

I couldn’t speak. I could barely breathe. And yet, my mind screamed a thousand thoughts at once: Do I confront him? Do I leave? Do I scream? Do I run? Or do I… fall apart in front of Gabriel?

And that last thought was the one that made my chest feel like it was going to burst.

Gabriel’s eyes softened slightly, but the intensity never left them. “Lucia… I’ve seen the way you hold yourself together for everyone else, but tonight, you’re allowed to crumble. You deserve that.”

I wanted to crumble. I wanted to collapse into his arms, let the heat of him soak into my skin, let the ache of betrayal and grief and longing dissolve for just a second. But I couldn’t. I had no right.

“No,” I whispered fiercely. “I can’t. I won’t. I… I have to fix this.”

Gabriel’s eyes narrowed slightly. “Fix this?” he asked, voice low, almost incredulous. “Lucia… there is nothing you can fix. Not this. Not him. Not Jane. You’re not supposed to fix their sins. You’re supposed to survive them.”

I let out a shaky breath. “Survive?”

“Yes,” he said simply, stepping closer until I could feel his warmth against my back again. “Survive… and decide. Decide what you want. Decide what you’re willing to let go of. Decide what you won’t.”

I felt tears prick at my eyes. I swallowed hard. “I…”

A sudden crash interrupted me—the sound of glass breaking somewhere below us. My heart leapt, panic flaring. Gabriel’s body stiffened, alert, almost predatory in its protectiveness.

“Stay here,” he ordered softly, his voice sharp now. “Do not move. Do not make a sound.”

Before I could protest, he had vanished down the stairs with a fluid grace that left me stunned. I stood there, frozen, my chest heaving, the silence now broken by the faint sound of Leonardo shouting.

I should leave. I should run. I should—

“Lucia!” Gabriel’s voice boomed from below, fierce and commanding. My stomach twisted.

I couldn’t make sense of what was happening, not entirely, but I knew one thing: the man who had been nothing but dangerous desire and forbidden tension had become my shield—and my only anchor in the chaos that my life had become.

I crept toward the railing, peering down. The sight made my heart stop.

Leonardo was on the floor of the living room, hands gripping the arms of the sofa, and Jane… she was pressed against him, her eyes wide, lips trembling, hands clutching at his chest. And in that moment, I knew without question: this wasn’t a conversation. This wasn’t a simple confrontation. It was a storm waiting to break, and I was standing on the edge.

Gabriel stepped forward from the shadow of the stairs, his presence like a dark tide washing over the room. “Stay out of my way,” he said, his voice low, dangerous. “I will handle this.”

Leonardo’s gaze flicked upward, his eyes meeting mine for the briefest moment. Confusion. Guilt. Something like fear. And then, he turned back to Jane.

I felt a surge of anger, sharper than any grief I’d felt so far. My hands curled into fists, and I bit back a scream. My body shook—not from fear, but from the searing, electric heat of betrayal and humiliation.

Gabriel moved like a shadow, fluid and silent, until he was beside Leonardo, his presence magnetic and terrifying. The room seemed to shrink around the two men, the tension so thick I could feel it pressing against my skin.

“Step away from her,” Gabriel said quietly, each word dripping with ice.

Leonardo laughed—bitter, hollow, and frightening in its emptiness. “Or what?”

Gabriel’s hand lifted slowly—not in violence, but in a subtle gesture that radiated control, dominance, and authority. “Or you’ll find out just how far I’ll go to protect what’s mine.”

The words landed like a hammer strike. I felt my breath catch. Mine? The possessiveness in his tone, the intensity, the heat—it made my pulse spike and my heart betray me in ways I wasn’t ready to acknowledge.

Jane flinched, stepping back slightly. “Gabriel… please—”

“I said stay out of this,” Gabriel snapped, his eyes locking on Leonardo’s like a predator zeroing in on its prey.

I took a step forward, almost against my own judgment, almost against my fear. “Gabriel…” I whispered.

He glanced at me briefly, the fire in his eyes softening for a fraction of a second, but the steel didn’t leave his tone. “Lucia… stay behind me.”

I hesitated, torn between fear, desire, and the helpless, aching need to see what would happen next. My pulse thundered, my chest tightened, and I felt the old ache—the one I’d tried to bury—resurface.

Leonardo’s head dropped, and for a moment, I thought he might beg, apologize, or even fight back. But he didn’t. He simply looked… lost.

Then Jane gasped. Her hand flew to her stomach, her eyes wide with shock.

“Jane…” Leonardo’s voice cracked. “What… what did you just—”

Before he could finish, Gabriel moved with impossible speed, stepping between Leonardo and Jane. His presence was a wall, a force, a warning.

“Do not touch her again,” he said, voice low and lethal. “Do not make this house a battlefield for your selfishness. She is not yours to manipulate. She is hers to protect.”

My knees nearly gave out. I swallowed, trying to draw in a full breath, but my chest was tight with fear, longing, and something else—something dangerously close to relief that he was here, that he was mine, in this moment.

Leonardo’s face twisted in anger and frustration, but his words died before they left his lips.

I felt a hand brush against mine—a ghost of warmth—and looked up to find Gabriel’s gaze on me. Not the protective, controlling gaze. Something softer, almost pleading. “Stay with me,” he said quietly.

I wanted to. More than I’d wanted anything in months. My body ached to step forward, to collapse against him, to let him hold me while the world burned around us. But I couldn’t. I couldn’t let him see how weak I truly was.

And yet… I stayed.

Because tonight, for the first time, I realized I was not the only one burning.

Gabriel’s jaw tightened. “I won’t let him hurt you again.”

I wanted to believe him. I wanted to feel safe, desired, wanted. I wanted him.

But even as that thought crossed my mind, a new wave of fear crashed over me:

What if I’m wrong? What if I’ve already lost everything?

And then… the sound of Leonardo laughing, dark and low, carrying a hint of triumph, cut through the tension.

I turned toward him, only to see Jane’s face pale.

“She’s… she’s showing,” Jane whispered, her voice trembling.

My heart stopped. The pregnancy—the thing I’d tried to ignore, to deny, to push aside—was now undeniably visible.

Leonardo’s eyes darted to me, then to Gabriel, then back to me. “Lucia… you need to see this,” he said.

I froze, trapped between two men, between betrayal and desire, between my fragile heart and the dangerous, magnetic pull of Gabriel.

And in that moment, I realized: nothing would ever be the same again.