**AUTHORS POV**
“In the car. Now. Please.” Sydney drawled in a low, punishing tone that made Gabriel’s throat bereft of moisture.
*It’s your chance, Gabriel. Give her what she’s asking for. You know you want to. Gabriel, do it.*
Gabriel’s hands folded into fists as multiple sweet, tormenting thoughts ravaged his mind.
*Show her how much you burn for her. If she decides to run away tomorrow… Capture her and lock her up just like you did to your wife.*
Gabriel jerked out of her hold suddenly. He leaned into the driver’s seat and panted softly.
No, no, the past wouldn’t repeat itself. She was too much for him to risk losing.
Sydney looked ahead, refusing to look at him. Afraid too. Was there something wrong with her that threw men off? He looked like he was going to catch some deadly virus if he didn’t move away from her.
Gabriel looked at her; his dark eyes softened. He knew what was going on in her head. She was too transparent; it made him nauseous.
“I know what you are thinking, Sydney. Stop it.” Gabriel breathed.
“There’s something wrong with me, isn’t there?” Her breathtaking eyes met his. “It’s like there’s some sort of venom on me that scares men away. That’s why Gavin left me, isn’t it?”
It annoyed him how she so easily doubted herself. Was it her father or husband that made her have such low self-esteem? He may not be able to fix that, but he could try.
Gabriel grumbled, staring at her intently. “Maybe there is something wrong with you.”
Sydney looked startled; she thought he’d state thousands of reasons why that wasn’t true, and she was ready to give him a million more reasons why it was.
Gabriel sighed exasperatedly, ran a hand through his hair, and aired, “Yes, why are you shocked? There’s something wrong with you. You have zero idea how incredibly gifted you are. You are messed up in your head because you can’t see how much potential you have.”
Sydney swallowed and stared attentively at him with hooded eyes.
“Don’t let what your father or husband did to you weigh you down, Sydney. You are beautiful and goddamn hot. And I’m not going to sleep with you… especially not in this car.”
Sydney simpered, staring queasily at the double image of him.
She said in a little voice, “You think I’m beautiful?”
Was that all she derived from his heartfelt speech? Gabriel furrowed his brows at her, and then he realized he was sitting next to a drunk woman. Right.
Sydney’s simper widened when he took his face from hers. “You do have a crush on me, Gabriel, don’t you?”
Gabriel replied cursorily, “No, I don’t.”
Sydney sat up and pointed at him with glitz sparkling in her eyes. “Oh, yes you do. You have a big crush on me. You think I’m hot. Gavin used to say that when we dated; he’d say I’d look sexier as a college girl.”
Sydney laughed loudly. A wave of pain passed through her head, and she paused shortly before laughing even louder, much to Gabriel’s displeasure.
She stopped laughing and poked his shoulder. “Do you know the most ironic part?”
Gabriel nodded in denial, his eyes not peeling from hers. She sucked her lips childishly and took him by surprise, bringing her lips to his ear.
“When I eventually did go to college, he… he mocked me; his love for me dampened. Can you believe that!” Sydney laughed unsettlingly again.
Her laughter slowly turned into a bitter one as she sat back in her chair and stared out the window.
Figuring she needed some time to think, Gabriel put the car back on the road. He was frowning as he drove. The thought of her being so affected by her husband unnerved him.
What to do. What to bloody do. He doesn’t deserve a space in her thoughts; he’d ruin her mentally before she could even realize it. He isn’t good for her.
Gabriel’s fist clenched and unclenched. How can I make him pay for what he had done to her without ripping him out of existence? Gabriel’s heart constricted; he felt like punching the steering wheel.
His dark eyes glanced over at Sydney, who had fallen asleep. How did she fall so deeply for that egomaniacal bastard?
Gabriel had no choice; hurting Gavin physically would only bloom Sydney’s love for him. He’d seen it before. He had one pawn to use: Avery.
____________________
Sydney walked to the front door with an unpleasant smile on her face, and Gabriel walked behind her in silence.
When she reached the front door, she turned to him. He wore a small smile as he looked at her; she looked even more beautiful with her hair wet.
“You should go home and change into some dry clothes before you catch the sniffles,” Sydney said as she crossed her arms over her wet chest.
Gabriel smiled and said, “Okay, ma’am.”
Sydney nodded and took off a wet strand of hair from her face. “I had a great night. I hope Blake took Sofia home safely.”
Gabriel hoped too.
“I’ll leave now… I’ll see you tomorrow or any day you’d want to hang out,” he said firmly, but his body felt restless. He didn’t want to leave just yet. Not without making a mark.
Sydney shook her head as she fiddled with her hands. “Okay, thank you… Um, for not… screwing me.” She chuckled.
Gabriel grinned and took a few steps forward, placing a light, territorial kiss on her cheek. He took a step back and looked at her now red face.
There, the mark. He hoped Gavin would see it too.
“Goodnight, Miss Morgan,” Gabriel said cheekily as his eyes drifted upwards; they settled on a balcony where a short, masculine figure was watching them with interest.
It looked like a kid.
Sydney bade farewell to Gabriel in a raspy voice and watched as he walked to the car and drove into the endless darkness. She cupped her cheek and smiled like a little child given candy.
Recovering from her trance, Sydney banged on the door. “Open up, someone, I need to pee. God, my head and my cheek hurt so bad.”
When no one responded, she hit the door more energetically until Gavin opened it.
Her eyes roamed up Gavin’s bare chest before it met his eyes, and then a mischievous smirk played on her lips.
“I thought you’d lock me out,” she giggled and walked past him. Her eyes scanned the empty living room, and she raised a brow in confusion. No concubine? Didn’t she always cling to him like flies to a corpse?
Sydney turned to Gavin, who was closing the door. His shoulder was raised slightly. He was tense. Good.
“I thought you’d be screwing your concubine on the couch,” Sydney goaded.
Gavin looked at her with a straight, uncaring face. “You came a little late.”
His eyes moved to the red coloration on her cheek. Did he cause that?
His nose picked up the stench of alcohol, and his expression turned bitter. “Did you drink?”
Sydney shrugged. “You drink too, so why shouldn’t I?”
Gavin flared inwardly; his eyes roamed around the room, trying his best not to say something he’d regret.
“You know alcohol isn’t good for your health. What the hell is wrong with you?” he hissed.
“My health? Since when did you care about my health? I mean, you left me to die in the hospital-”
“Don’t bring that up. You know why I did it, and I don’t want to remind you why.” He hadn’t yet gotten over it. He didn’t think he ever could. How could he? That was his blood; Xavier was his child. It was so unfortunate Xavier developed in the womb of a careless woman.
Sydney stared at him and laughed. Very loud enough that it echoed through the walls of Gavin’s ear, causing his blood to boil and boil and boil. It took every bit of his patience not to snap.
“That’s such an excuse, isn’t it? I’m so sure you were busy f**king Avery.”
Gavin’s eye twitched as he stared at her. Was there something wrong with her somewhere in her head? He’d never known anyone so annoying and yet so alluring.
“Okay, maybe I was careless, but I was fine. Xavier was fine; me not going for prenatal didn’t affect him until that morning. Didn’t you think of that? Gavin, she-”
“Another way to put the blame on Gavin. Couldn’t you be less shameless, Sydney?” Avery said, walking into the living room.
A foxy smirk caressed Avery’s lips as she walked to Gavin and wrapped her arm around his waist. “Well, that doesn’t matter now. God has put Xavier in me. I’ll take care of him more than you ever did.”
As if one woman wasn’t enough.
Gavin exasperatedly peeled Avery’s arm off his waist and ordered her to go upstairs.
Avery looked at him defiantly. “I’m not going upstairs, Gavin.”
Sydney scoffed and sneered at him. “Oh no, Gavin, spend as much time as you want with her. I’ll leave. You aren’t the only one who’s found a new love interest.”
If Gavin’s eyes weren’t dark enough, they grew darker at her statement. So, she admits to having an affair. And she doesn’t even look bothered.
Sydney smiled at the look on Gavin’s face. “Are you jealous, my husband? Don’t worry, I didn’t go as far as to have sex with him; he had respect for me, something you never possessed. He only kissed me, nothing explicit.”
Avery jumped in briskly; her heart was racing with excitement. What a fucked-up couple. “Why don’t you just accept the divorce and go to hell with your lumberjack lover?”
Sydney’s eyes didn’t peel off Gavin’s when she said, “You won’t get what you want so easily.”
She turned for the stairs, hitting Avery’s shoulder as she walked. As she walked up the stairs, her steps slowed, seeing Ethan staring at her.
The shame she hadn’t felt before came pouring down on her. In a rusty tone, she asked rhetorically, “You are awake?”
“You are in love with another man?” Ethan asked savagely.
“I’m not in love with him-”
“He kissed you!”
“On the cheek; it doesn’t mean anything.”
“So, you aren’t going to try to make daddy love you again?”
Sydney’s eyes gained moisture. She blamed the alcohol. She felt like a kid being scolded by a teacher. Maybe Ethan was the only one who had common sense in their home.
Ethan stared at her coldly and said unswervingly.”If you decide to accept the divorce, I’d rather stay in the orphanage than stay with a man who isn’t my father.”
With that said, Ethan turned around and stomped up the stairs.
Gavin had heard them, he stared at Sydney as she held the staircase railing for support.
He felt a pull. Go and talk to your wife. That sentence kept up resonating in his head but there were too many walls barricading them now.
He didn’t have the bravery to break them down.