But there it was – her signature. Shaky and smudged with moisture, but clearly legible at the bottom of the page.
Immediately, Sebastian's gut twisted in something so akin to hatred that he momentarily lost the ability to think straight. “What did you say to her?”
“P-pardon?” The duchess returned, the look on her son’s face cowing her somewhat.
“
What did you say to her to make her sign this piece of bullocks!
?” Sebastian roared, making all those watching flinch at the sick rage in his tone.
“I merely told her what she needed to hear. That you wanted nothing more to do with her nonsense and that she has fulfilled the duty she’s been brought here to carry out.”
Sebastian eyed the Duchess in complete disbelief. Throughout his life, he had been under her thumb. She had denied him the comfort of a mother’s love while trying to turn her into some robotic drone of high society perfection. Though he had always endured her efforts with reluctance, he now realized that he wanted her out of his life.
Utterly and completely. He didn’t give a damn if she was his own blood. She’d stooped to levels he hadn’t even imagined – and all to fulfill her empty social ambitions. Raising the document before her, he stared into her wide blue eyes. “We’re finished, mother.”
With no small amount of satisfaction, he ripped the document up into the smallest pieces he could before scattering them on the tile floor.
The duchess gasped in horror. “No! Sebastian, what have you done?”
“Amir.” Sebastian snapped sharply. Within seconds, his head of security was at the Duchess’ side, taking her arm in a firm grip. As he did so, Sebastian stepped forward, extracting his child from her clenching grip with the utmost care. “Take her from here.” He ordered curtly. “I don’t care where, as long as it’s not within the city.”
“Sebastian, you can’t
do
this!” Amelia shrieked in outrage as Amir began to lead her away. “I’ll disinherit you! You’ll be scratched from the family records! You’ll be disgraced! Banned from London’s inner circles for the rest of your life!”
“Consider it my privilege.” Sebastian replied grimly, watching Amir tug the protesting woman into the elevator. When it shut, he exhaled slowly, his eyes sliding closed. Never again. He wouldn’t fall into another of his mother’s traps as long as he lived.
When the baby in his arms gurgled loudly, his attention was drawn to the tiny bundle and his heart immediately softened. He cradled its impossibly soft form against him as he flipped the blanket back to check the sex. An instant smile spread across his features.
His instincts had been right.
She had ten perfect fingers and ten perfect toes. The little girl’s wailing died as she was clutched protectively against her father’s chest, her hands reaching errantly upwards.
“She’s darling.” Tristan was at his side in moments, gushing over the baby girl. “Absolutely breathtaking!”
“Cute.” Phillip mused as he considered the squirming little thing. “Definitely cute.”
All at once, Sebastian realized that someone was painfully absent from their present company. His stomach clenched in sudden trepidation. “Where is Gabrielle? Which room? Do either of you know?”
“Lord Hunter.” He immediately whirled to find Doctor Bletchley standing at the entrance of a room off to his right, the man’s expression frighteningly grave. “Please hurry. We’re losing her.”
Losing
her?
Without a second thought, Sebastian rushed after the man, clutching his daughter’s tiny, downy head to his chest. The vision that met his eyes inside the hospital room made his head spin. There was blood everywhere. Rubber gloves were covered with it as a bevy of nurses and assistants raced around the room.
On the stark, tiny bed, lay Gabrielle, her face lax, body terrifyingly still. Numerous IVs dotted her arms and several machine’s beeped alarmingly. “There were complications with the delivery and we had to perform a caesarian,” the doctor informed him solemnly, “we’ve managed to stop the bleeding but it might not be enough.”
In the doorway, Tristan’s eyes widened in helpless panic as Phillip clutched him tightly. Sebastian swallowed thickly, taking the few steps forward that brought him to her bedside. This was his doing. He never should have left her when she needed him. Carefully, he sat at the edge of her bed as nurses struggled to save her life. “Gabrielle,” he murmured quietly, clutching their fussing daughter to his breast. “You’ve never gone quietly into anything in your life. And now, you’re not going to leave her without a fight.” Leaning down, he placed the baby girl’s squirming form against her mother’s chest.
The child immediately quieted, snuggling against Gabby’s neck as if she knew she belonged there. “Don’t you dare go.” Sebastian insisted softly. “Not like this”
For what seemed like an eternity, Doctor Bletchley and the nurses worked tirelessly. Not one of them uttered a single complaint about his presence as they labored and Sebastian was thankful for it. The heavens and earth couldn’t have torn him from her side.
Slowly, her breathing grew deeper. The howling machines faded into silence as her pulse evened and her heart rate returned to normal. It took close to two hours, but, finally, the young woman was resting comfortably.
“She’s sleeping.” Sebastian looked to see Doctor Bletchley addressing him from across the room as he finally pulled off his clothes. “She’s been administered a sedative to help with the shock. It won’t wear off for another twelve hours, but she should be awake sometime early tomorrow.” The dark-skinned man frowned deeply. “The duchess forced her way in. Gabrielle had only just delivered when she took the baby from her. Those bloody papers…there was nothing I could do, Hunter. Nothing at all.”
Rage flared again in Sebastian, brief and deep-seated. He would never forgive his mother for the damage she had caused today. If he never saw the woman again, it would be too soon. “Lord Hunter, I need to take your daughter for a general check-up and feeding. When Gabrielle wakes, she’ll be welcome to breastfeed, but until then, we should be sure to keep the baby well-fed.”
“Of- of course.” It was easier said than done to hand his daughter over when he’d come so close to losing her entirely. Once Bletchley had left, he was alone in the room with Gabrielle. Sebastian pulled a chair over to her bedside, running his hands through his hair. Once the young woman had been pronounced out of danger, Tristan and Phillip had reluctantly left the hospital – with stern instructions for him to call them the instant she awoke.
He would, of course, but how was he to know what state Gabby would be in? She’d gone through labor terrified and alone, only to have her newborn child ripped from her breast. There was no apology he could make that would suffice.
He could only hope that she could forgive him.
If she didn’t, he couldn’t say he blamed her.
Sighing, Sebastian took her hand, stroking its smooth back gently. “I’m so sorry, my darling.
So sorry.”
**
Everything was out of focus.
As Gabrielle slowly returned to the world of the living, her vision swam dizzyingly. What the hell had happened to her? The last thing she remembered was the intense pain of breathtaking contractions…Dr. Bletchley announcing she needed a c-section…
And the Duchess.
The Duchess had taken her daughter from her.
Tears immediately blurred her vision as a soft sob escaped her. She had lost her little girl. Lost her forever. Staring up at the ceiling, she took a shuddering breath. What was she supposed to do know? How the hell was she supposed to go on?
All at once, a soft, low sound of distress reached her ears.
Gabrielle froze, hardly daring believe her ears. Slowly, she looked over to her left to see a pair of massive shoulders silhouetted against the window.
Sebastian was in her room – and he was clearly bent over small, fussing figure that squirmed in his arms. Gabrielle’s breath caught as she was taken in a deluge of emotions. Her heart seized with an unalterable, stolid love for the man who had ripped her heart out. She’d never seen anything more beautiful than the sight of his soft expression as he gazed down at their daughter in his arms.
“You…
bastard
.” The words escaped her on a weak croak and Sebastian immediately turned, his cerulean eyes wide. Gabriel took him in from head to toe – so ridiculously fucking handsome that it hurt. “You goddamned bastard.” She swallowed thickly, her emotions running the gauntlet of pain and pleasure. “You took her from me.”
“Gabrielle.” He was immediately at her side, taking the seat next to her bed as he reached for a glass of water to raise to her lips. She took a few reluctant sips to wet her dry throat, before speaking again.
“How
could
you? I loved you. I fucking
loved
you and you let
her
get into your head again?”
“Gabrielle, please.” Every word that fell from her lips seemed to strike Sebastian like a physical blow as he shut his eyes tightly again. Against his chest, their daughter hiccupped in discomfort, as if sensing the tension between them. “I had nothing to do with this.”
“You wrote that document.” She accused, swallowing a sob of dejection. “You wanted a paternity test. Five years. Five
years
, Sebastian.”
“Gabby, I didn’t write a single word of that drivel, I swear it. It was my mother’s doing.” Gabby watched his mouth turn downward in disgust and anger. “She hired thugs to prevent me from leaving Raithwithe while she manipulated things in her favor. I’d never even seen the damned thing before I arrived at the hospital.”
“But you have now.” She managed thickly, still disbelieving, gazing from him to the baby in his arms.
“There is no document, Gabby. I destroyed it. It’s null and void.”
Gabrielle eyed him in disbelief, hardly daring to believe her ears. When she’d signed the cursed thing she’d felt as if her life had ended. Now she was supposed to believe that everything was perfectly fine again?
The baby coughed, beginning to cry. With every fiber of her being Gabrielle wanted to take her daughter into her arms and comfort her.
But she was afraid.
She didn’t know if she could stand to have her taken away again.
Sebastian jostled the child gently against his shoulder, fixing her with his careful blue gaze. “She’s hungry, Gabby.”
Gabrielle took a shuddering breath. Slowly, she reached for the child. Sebastian handled the girl with the utmost care, adoration evident in his gaze. When the warm weight of her child filled her arms, a soft sob escaped Gabby. Gingerly, she raised her free arm to tug down the sheets and lower the neck of her hospital gown before cupping her daughter’s miniscule head to her breast.
Her daughter latched on immediately, instinctively beginning to suckle. Gabrielle cradled her tenderly, supporting her as she’d read to do.
“Gabrielle.” He tore her gaze from the baby’s contented face to gaze at the man beside her, beyond words. “Don’t return to New York. Stay here with Evangeline and I. We need you.” He took a deep breath. “
I
need you.”
“What’s her name?” Gabrielle inquired breathlessly, her voice thick with emotion.
Sebastian’s mouth curved upward ever so slightly. “Evangeline Gabriella. For your mother…and you, of course.”
Slowly, Gabby shook her head in disbelief. For her mother…it was too much, and all at once. Much too much. “Sebastian, I can’t go back.” She croaked, even as her heart filled with an undeniable desire to have him hold her. “Not if
she’s
involved. That woman is evil. She’s heartless. She’s-”
“No longer any threat to us.” He interjected gently, reaching forward to stroke Evangeline’s downy little head. He raised his gaze to meet hers steadily. “Or rather, I’m no further threat to her. I’ve been disinherited. Given up my titles. ‘Disgraced’ in the eyes of everyone who’s anyone in Britain.” He chuckled with no small amount of amusement. “Do you know, I don’t think I’ve ever been happier to lose social status?”
Before she could protest, the man was sliding into bed beside her, his body warm against hers. Gabrielle knew she must look a mess. Her hair was lank and unkempt and she had just woken from what had to be a good twelve hours sleep. Sebastian, however, was looking at her as if she were the finest piece of art he’d ever beheld. He cupped her face, gently. “You’re beautiful, do you know that?”
Gabby hiccupped, unable to answer.
Having finished at one breast, Evangeline released its tip and promptly began to bawl for the other, drawing her immediate attention. As she maneuvered the baby into place, Sebastian’s lips trailed over her temple and cheek as he murmured lowly. “Stay, Gabrielle. Not because of the titles or politics. Because I love you…and Evangeline needs her mother.”
Gabby lifted her head to meet his gaze a moment before his mouth found hers and she exhaled a shuddering breath against his lips, slowly regaining her composure. Sebastian was offering her everything she’d ever wanted.
A family. A home…but still, there was one final thing that gave her pause.
“My paintings.” Her gray eyes radiated pain as she addressed the man at her side. “You trashed them. Why?”