Page 133 of Dark Billionaire Stalker
"With my child."
"Yes, Gabriel, with your child—"
He moves so fast I don't have time to react. One second, he's standing frozen across the room; the next, he's on his knees in front of me, his hands gripping my hips, his face pressed against my stomach.
"Gabriel—"
"Be quiet." His voice is ragged, muffled against my shirt. "Just... give me a moment."
I stand there, stunned, as Gabriel Ambrose—killer, monster, the most controlled man I've ever known—falls apart at my feet.
His shoulders are shaking. It takes me a long moment to realize he's crying.
"Gabriel." I thread my fingers through his hair, my own eyes burning. "Gabriel, talk to me."
"I didn't know." The words come out broken, fragmented. "I suspected—James said you went to a pharmacy, bought a test—but I didn't know for certain, and I thought... I thought if it was true, you would have told me, and when you didn't, I assumed..."
"You assumed I'd already made a decision without you."
He looks up at me, and the raw devastation on his face steals my breath. This is not the man who calmly confessed to seventeen murders. This is not the monster who kills without remorse. This is someone else entirely—someone wounded, terrified, desperate.
"I thought you would leave," he says. "I thought you would find out what I did to your father, and you would take my child, and you would disappear the way your mother disappeared, and I would never—" His voice breaks. "I would never find you. I would spend the rest of my life searching, and you would be gone, and I would have nothing."
"I'm here." I sink down to my knees, bringing us face to face. "I'm right here. I'm not leaving."
"You're pregnant." He says it again, like he's trying to make himself believe it. His hand moves to my stomach, pressing flat against the fabric of my shirt. "There's a child in there.Ourchild."
"Yes."
"A baby." Something shifts in his expression—wonder creeping in alongside the shock. "Half you, half me. A new life."
"Are you..." I hesitate, suddenly uncertain. "Are you happy?"
He laughs—a broken, wet sound that's more sob than mirth. "Happy. Am Ihappy." He shakes his head, pulling me into his arms, crushing me against his chest. "I don't have words for what I am. I've never wanted anything the way I want this. I didn't even know I was capable of wanting something this much."
I cling to him, tears streaming down my face. "I was so scared to tell you. I didn't know how you'd react, and then everything with Zach happened, and I thought—"
"You thought I might not want it."
"I thought you might see it as a complication. A liability. Something to be managed."
He pulls back, gripping my shoulders, his eyes fierce. "Listen to me. This child is not a complication. This child is everything.Youare everything." His jaw tightens. "I told you once that I would burn the world for you. That wasn't hyperbole. There is nothing I wouldn't do to protect you—both of you. Nothing I wouldn't sacrifice, nothing I wouldn't destroy."
"Gabriel—"
"I know I'm broken. I know I'm dangerous. I know there's darkness in me that will never fully lift." He presses his forehead to mine, his breath warm against my lips. "But I swear to you, on whatever soul I have left, that I will spend the rest of my life trying to deserve this. Trying to be worthy of you and our child."
"I don't need you to be worthy," I whisper. "I just need you to be honest. No more secrets. No more lies. No more manipulating me for my own good."
"No more secrets," he agrees. "No more lies."
"And you have to let me make my own choices. Even when you disagree with them. Even when they scare you."
"I'll try." He pauses. "That's the best I can offer. I'll try."
It's not a perfect promise. It's not the guarantee of happily-ever-after that fairy tales offer. But it's real, and it's honest, and coming from Gabriel, it might as well be a blood oath.
"Okay," I say.
