Page 135 of The Bonus

I walk into my penthouse just on 11 p.m.

I’ve had the worst day in history and it’s about to get ten times worse.

I find Ariana sitting on the couch, she looks up at me and smiles. “You must be tired, you work too hard.”

I nod and sit down beside her. “We need to talk.”

“What about?”

“I can’t marry you.”

17

Gabriel

“What?” She sits up straight. “What do you mean?”

“Just what I said.” I concentrate on keeping my voice calm, the last thing I want is for this to turn into a fight. “Ariana.” I take her hand in mine. “You’re a beautiful woman. Intelligent and sweet and every man’s dream wife.”

“But not yours?”

“No. You are.” I pause as I try to articulate my thoughts clearly. “This week I’ve found out some information that has changed the trajectory of my life.”

“What’s wrong?” she stammers. “Are you sick?” She takes my face in her hands and I pull them down into mine.

“No. It’s nothing like that.” I swallow the lump in my throat, I really don’t know if I can hurt her like this. “Sweetheart.” I push the hair back from her face as she stares at me. “I found out this week that I have six-year-old twins from a relationship that I had years ago.”

“What?” Her face falls.

“I lied to you last weekend and I went to meet them in Maine.”

Her eyes fill with tears. “Who, where…who is the mother?”

Here we go.

“Her name is Grace Porter.”

She frowns. “Do I know her?”

“No. She was my PA for seven years.”

She flies off the couch. “What?” she screams. “You got your fucking PA pregnant?” She begins to pace. “You got your PA pregnant, am I hearing this right?”

“Yes.”

“How could you?”

“It’s not something I’m proud of, believe me.”

“And you knew nothing of this?”

“No.”

“How much money does she want? What is she threatening?” she spits.

“It’s nothing like that.”

“It’s everything like that, Gabriel. You think it’s a coincidence that she has come looking for you three weeks before you get married.” She throws a cushion at my head; she’s flying off the handle and completely losing her temper.

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