Authors: Sheena Morrish
“I thought we already talked about last night,” she reminded him and he winced at that reminder.
“That was me apologising for being an ass and making a mess of everything,” he corrected and she raised one brow in his direction.
“And this isn’t you being an ass?” she queried which made his mouth tighten in to a thin line.
“I think we need to discuss last night and what it means for our future,” he suggested and she rolled her eyes at that. So, this was his game. He was going to use sex as a way to make her stay his wife and not divorce him.
“I don’t see that it has to mean anything for our future,” she informed him and Nik gritted his teeth together. For some reason Gabby always knew the best way to wind him up.
“Gabriella, you gave me your virginity,” he reminded her and she gave a light shrug.
“I thought it was time that I rid myself of that little label and you happened to be convenient,” she told him which made him clench his hands in to fists.
“Convenient?” he repeated in a cold voice that warned against taking this conversation any further but Gabby ignored the warning.
“It was just supposed to be a one off,” she told him calmly and his expression darkened even further.
“A one off?” he repeated.
“Yeah, you know, kind of a goodbye thing,” she said which made him even angrier. After everything she still thought that he was going to let her go?
“Like a farewell fuck?” he asked and she winced at his language.
“Do you have to be so crude about it?” she said and he gave a short laugh at that. She was the one suggesting that he was simply a one night stand in one breath then accusing him of being the crude one in the next.
“Honey, I don’t care what the hell you thought last night was because I promise you that was not the end of something. It was only the beginning,” he told her and it was Gabby’s turn for anger to spread through her veins.
“You can’t just decide that,” she snapped and he leaned closer to her so that his breath fanned her cheek.
“You may not have realised this, sweetheart, but last night we didn’t use any protection which means that we could be beginning something a whole lot different,” he suggested and Gabby froze as his words sank in. He couldn’t be serious surely. It took more than a couple of times for a baby to be created didn’t it? She didn’t even want this marriage never mind about a baby that would tie her to him forever. Surely fate couldn’t be so cruel as to trap her in a marriage that she wanted out of. Closing her eyes against Nik’s harsh gaze she took a moment to steady her breathing before opening them again with renewed determination.
“I have to go,” she told him and he watched her for a few moments before stepping back.
“We will be finishing this conversation later,” he assured her and she gave a quick nod before making her escape. It was several minutes before Nik moved. He couldn’t believe the changes in his wife’s personality. One moment she was the most passionate and loving woman he’d ever met and the next moment she was the ice queen. He wanted to get their marriage off to a better start and so far she was fighting him every chance she got. He’d seen her face when faced with the prospect of motherhood and he wasn’t sure whether he hoped she was pregnant or that she wasn’t. He couldn’t wait to have a life with her and raise a family with her but he also wanted to respect her wishes. He didn’t want to push her in to something that she wasn’t ready for and he certainly didn’t want her to one day regret the children they would have together. She would be a wonderful mother when the time came but he didn’t want her to hate their child simply because it was created in this battle zone. He just had to be patient and try to convince her that their marriage was worth saving before she gave up on them altogether.
Gabby was having similar thoughts in her room as she finished getting ready. Only her thoughts were more about ending the marriage than beginning it. She was certain that she couldn’t be pregnant but she wasn’t sure how she felt about the possibility. She didn’t want to be tied down to Nik forever simply because she had conceived his child but then again she could already see the gorgeous child they would create. She wanted children at some point and she knew that she would be a great mother when given the chance but she didn’t want to be stuck in this farce of a marriage for the rest of her life. She wanted to be married to a man who loved her and who would love her and any children they had for the rest of their lives. That meant that she had to figure out a way to end her current marriage and if Nik refused to give her a divorce then she would have to figure out a way to leave him and go somewhere that he couldn’t follow her.
Nik knew what he had to do. He had to woo his wife and convince her to give them a chance.
Gabby knew what she had to do. She had to plan her escape and get out before Nik could hurt her anymore.
Gabby took a deep breath as she crept through the house to the front door but Nik seemed to be respecting her wishes for space and she released her breath as she made her escape. She didn’t know what it was about Nik that made her feel so conflicted. One minute she hated him and she hated their marriage and all she wanted was to have her own life but the next minute she wanted him more than she wanted her next breath and all she wanted was for him to love her.
“I’m an idiot,” she muttered to herself as she opened the car and climbed behind the wheel. Moments later she was clearing the driveway and heading in to traffic and though she was trying to concentrate on driving her mind kept wandering to her husband.
Why couldn’t she stop thinking about him? She had been all ready to divorce him and leave him so why couldn’t she help herself from thinking about him constantly? Years ago she had dreamed of being married to Nik and had foolishly thought that if she were married to him then she would be happy and in love. In her dreams he had wanted nothing more than to make her happy and they had been completely wrapped up in each other. Their marriage had been perfect and everything that she could ever have wanted. But back then Nik hadn’t even noticed that she existed. If her parents hadn’t have forced this marriage then he probably wouldn’t have ever noticed that she existed and he certainly wouldn’t have been fighting this hard for a woman he didn’t really want. She knew that he was only doing it because it would look bad for the great Niccolo Kostos if he couldn’t hold on to his wife. So why did she suddenly find herself wishing that things were different? Why did she suddenly wish that he would fall in love with her rather than wanting to hate him so that it was easier for her to leave? It made no sense and was infuriating her. She didn’t want to be one of those women who fell for a guy just because they had great sex together. Maybe the sex was more than great, but the point remained the same. She wanted to be the same independent woman that she had always been. So why was she now wishing that Nik would fall in love with her?
Gabby cursed as she found herself stuck in traffic. It would be today when she couldn’t afford to be late. She was just cursing her bad luck and trying to steer her thoughts in a different direction when her phone rang. She thought about letting it simply go to voicemail but in the end she pressed to answer.
“Gabby?” Nik’s voice echoed through the car’s speakers and she sighed.
“What do you want Nik?” she asked. She had only just left him so surely he couldn’t want to start an argument again so soon.
“I just wanted to remind you that my father is coming for dinner tonight,” he said and she cursed under her breath.
“I completely forgot,” she admitted and Nik gave a husky child.
“You’ve had a lot on your mind,” he acknowledged and Gabby continued to curse under her breath.
“Actually Nik, I don’t think I’ll be able to make dinner. Can we make it another time?” she asked with feigned disappointment and it was Nik’s turn to sigh.
“Gabby, my father couldn’t make it to our anniversary party and wants to celebrate with us. Surely you wouldn’t deny him that,” Nik chastised and Gabby winced. He wasn’t wrong and she felt guilty for wanting to avoid a simple meal with her father-in-law.
“Fine,” she allowed and could practically see him smirking at the fact that he had won this argument.
“He’ll be there at six,” he said before hanging up and Gabby ground her teeth together.
It wasn’t that she didn’t want to have dinner with Nik’s father but Pablo could be pushy. He was a lovely man and she loved him dearly but he wanted something from her that she wasn’t prepared to give. Pablo had married his wife young and they’d had a passionate love. Pablo had been devastated when his wife had passed away and he had never loved another woman. He had been out occasionally with women but had never formed another relationship. He told Gabby once that he had loved his wife so much that nobody could ever get close to his heart as his wife had taken it with her when she passed. Gabby had thought that a beautiful sentiment at the time, until he had made it known that he wanted his son to experience that same deep passionate love that lasted a lifetime. Pablo was the only person apart from Gabby and Nik who knew the truth behind their marriage but their reasons had only made him more determined that Gabby should be Nik’s one true love.
It had been a shock for Gabby when straight after her parent’s death she had been expected to marry Nik or lose her entire inheritance. She knew that Nik had only agreed to marry her because he inherited her father’s business and clients which he could then merge with his own. So why were the Kostos men so insistent that this marriage should become something it wasn’t?
She was dreading the meal with Nik and Pablo. Spending any time in Nik’s company lately was a recipe for disaster. He either made her feel things she had no business feeling or they got in an argument over the fact that she wanted a divorce. Add in his meddling father and it was leading to a complete nightmare. Pablo’s intentions were pure but his meddling was annoying. He always made sure to drop hints about babies and telling them what a cute couple they were before asking about the future. It drove her crazy because Nik never stuck up for her which meant that she was forced to answer these insane questions without accidentally insulting or upsetting her father-in-law.
There had been an accident on the roads and it took Gabby an extra hour before she arrived at Ramona Grove. She had trained for years as a psychologist and had her own office that was open three days a week to clients but the rest of the week she dedicated her time to Ramona Grove. Nobody knew that she worked here and especially not Nik who wouldn’t approve of her giving her time to charity.
Ramona Grove was a special house dedicated to the care of the homeless and people who needed support. They only took in the most extreme cases and Gabby was proud to be a part of their organisation. She had seen first-hand how having no-one to turn to could mean the difference between life and death. She wanted to prevent other people from making the same mistakes as her sister who had killed herself when she was only young. It gave Gabby a sense of worth to be giving her time and energy to something so close to her heart. If it meant that she could change the course of even one person’s life then she knew all her efforts would be worth it. She also knew that Nik would never approve of it and so she had managed to keep it a secret. It wasn’t like she was ashamed of what she was doing but Nik had a funny way of being slightly overprotective and she knew that he would never approve of Ramona Grove and not just because it was situated in a bad part of town. He would certainly not be pleased to discover that many of the people she worked with daily had at one time or another been in trouble with the law. And he would definitely not be pleased to learn that many of the older people she cared for had problems with alcohol or drugs. Good thing then that Nik had no idea what she spent her days doing and she intended to keep it that way.
Gabby gathered herself together and then got out of the car and went inside. She had been given her own office to use when she was there and it gave her and the client a safe space to discuss whatever was on their mind and she gave them her insight to help them carry on with their lives. The expectation was that with the help of the team of specialists who ran Ramona Grove these troubled individuals would be able to build themselves a happy and productive life.
Unfortunately sometimes this was harder than others. For Gabby the hardest client was sixteen year old Fiona who had been abused when she was a child and had taken the route of self-destruction in order to cope. She had been an addict to drugs and alcohol and had been homeless when she had decided that she needed to sort herself out. Ramona Grove had accepted her in to its programme and she had been determined to turn her life around. Fiona had been doing really well with changing her life around until she had discovered that a one night stand had resulted in pregnancy. She was finding it hard to take in the news and was a complete mess. She was barely able to look after herself and was faced with the prospect of bringing up a child alone. She had no idea who the father could be and was spiralling out of control. Her discussion with Gabby seemed to calm her down somewhat but she was still visibly shaken by the thought of having a child.
Fiona’s life story was often hard for Gabby to hear. After being raised by wonderful parents and having an amazing childhood it was hard to hear of parents who treated their child like she was worthless. Fiona had never known the love of a parent and had been beaten for saying anything out of turn. Unlike other children who were allowed to play and get dirty she had to always behave. She suffered several broken bones growing up before her father was arrested and disappeared from her life when she was eight years old. Her father may have been the one more likely to hit her but her mother had been neglectful. She had left Fiona to her own devices while she went out and met new men then bought them back home. One of her mother’s boyfriends took a shine to Fiona and one night he forced himself on her. He took every opportunity he could to abuse her and Fiona had nobody to turn to. She had no real friends and she barely went to school. She had coped by stealing her mother’s alcohol to blot out the pain. Her mother was often so drunk that she didn’t remember the previous day never mind the fact that half her booze was missing. Fiona even stole money from her mother’s purse when she got chance but those moments were few and far between. She used to take money from the wallets of the men her mother bought home until she tried it with her mum’s boyfriend and he caught her. She wouldn’t have minded being shouted at or beaten for it but instead he willingly handed her the cash and then proceeded to rape her as though that was his due. Finally Fiona had plucked up the courage to tell her mother what was going on when she was fourteen and her mother responded by calling her a liar and throwing her out on the streets to fend for herself. She had the cash that she had been saving over the years but had no idea how to use it to start a life for herself. Instead she stayed at homeless shelters or random men’s houses and got drunk and took drugs to blot out what a disaster her life was. It was one day when she woke up with no idea where she was, who she was with or what she had done. That wasn’t an unusual occurrence but when the guy in bed beside her gave her some cash and kicked her out she had flashbacks to her mother’s boyfriend and realised how low she had stooped. Going through the guy’s house to the door she had seen pictures of his family and had noticed his wedding ring. It had made her face up to reality and realise what she was doing. Ramona Grove was supposed to be her chance for a normal life but now she wasn’t sure that she was strong enough to do it.
Gabby ached for Fiona. It bought her sister’s death back to her and made her wish that she could have been there for her. It was terrible when a sixteen year old wished that they were dead rather than seeing that they had a world of opportunities before them.
Her sister hadn’t even had the excuse of a bad childhood like Fiona. She had been a year older than Gabby and had been given everything she ever wanted. The problem wasn’t their parents but rather the crowd she chose to hang around with. Her friends had been all about drinking and partying and bagging the fittest bloke. It had been her boyfriend that had led her to an untimely death. He had convinced her that he loved her and she had believed every word he said. Their parents had hated him and knew that he was only with her sister, Claire, for her money. But Claire wouldn’t believe them and they had massive rows over him. But no matter what their parents did to try and keep them apart Claire simply rebelled more. Their parents thought that eventually she would realise that she had more to live for than simply a guy. Instead Claire had moved out to be with him. Their parents had cut her off hoping that she would come home but instead she had gotten pregnant and her boyfriend left her when he found out. He might have been willing to use her for her money but he didn’t want a baby that would cramp his style. Claire had been completely devastated by this and had been too scared to tell their parents. She could have come home and their parents would have supported her and helped her through everything but instead Claire had gone out with friends and tried to forget her problems. All it had taken was one too many drinks mixed with too many drugs and Claire had died in the bathroom of a club.
It had left a scar on Gabby that had never healed. She had decided that she wanted to spend her life helping people like Claire and showing them that there was a way out of their problems. It had also made her wary of men and their false promises. She wanted love but she wanted a man that would stand by her through everything and who wouldn’t simply run away at the slightest problem.
The slight comparisons between Fiona and her sister hit home and made this all the more harder for Gabby who didn’t want to see another person end up like Claire. She hoped that just by talking they could change the outcome but at the end of the day Fiona was her own person and unless she believed that her life was worth saving there was nothing anyone could do. But Gabby hoped that she had managed to convince Fiona that this baby didn’t have to be the end of her life but could be the one thing that helped her change it around. If she had to change for the sake of someone else then maybe it would help convince her that she did have something to live for.
The rest of the day carried on like this and Gabby was exhausted by the end of it. She’d had a man who had spent two years in prison and was finding it hard to adjust to the outside world. He had lost his family while he was in prison and was trying to get to know his teenage son and daughter but wasn’t having much success. It was making him feel depressed and pushing him back to his old life of crime.