Page 131 of The Bonus

“No.”

“Yes you were. Remember you admitted it to me once, you said that you purposely paraded other women around in front of her so that she hated you.”

“I did not.”

“Because you knew that if she liked you the same way that you liked her, that you stood no chance of resisting her.”

I drag my hand down my face in disgust.

“Tell me about Ariana,” she asks.

I shrug sadly. “Ariana is a good person.”

She listens.

“She loves me.”

“If Ariana hadn’t proposed to you, would you have ever proposed to her?”

I clench my jaw, hating my answer. “Probably not.”

“Didn’t think so.” She continues. “If Gracie was Italian and you and her dated back then, would you have proposed to her?”

“Yes, but I don’t want to hurt Ariana. She is the nicest person I know; she doesn’t deserve this.”

“You can’t marry someone because they are nice, Gabriel. You can’t marry someone to not hurt them. Marrying her while you have feelings for someone else is more painful. How can you possibly think that this marriage is going to work?”

“I get married in three weeks,” I whisper angrily. “It is too late to . . .”

“Call it off?” She cuts me off.

“Yes.”

I stay silent as I think.

“Tell me this, Gabriel…if you marry Ariana, can you honestly tell me that you will never think of your children and Gracie again? Are you going to regret this for the rest of your life?”

The thought of never seeing Lucia and Dominic again hurts my heart and her silhouette blurs.

We sit for a moment as we ponder over everything.

“If you are calling off this wedding, you need to do it today. Do not put Ariana through being stood up in the week of the wedding. She deserves better than that.”

“I’m not calling off the wedding,” I snap. I tip my head back and drain my glass. “I’m a man of my word. I’m marrying Ariana just like I said I would.”

“Fine,” she snaps.

“Fine,” I fire back.

“I’m not coming to your wedding.”

“Why not?”

“Because I can’t watch you make the biggest mistake of your life.”

Grace

“Oh my god, she’s so adorable.” I smile at the stage. Lucia twirls in her little bear costume.

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