Page 76 of Secret Betrayals
I feel the shame slither in, and this time, I don’t stop it. I let it crawl up my spine and sink its claws into me. I deserve it. Then something in Gabriella shifts. She lets me see her––reallysee her for the first time since she came back. And what I see in her eyes shreds me.
Hurt.
Betrayal.
Pain.
The ache of unanswered calls. Of unread messages. Of sleeping alone while I was out fucking someone else. Of trying to hold it all together without me, without her kids’ father. It’s all there.
And then… It’s gone.
The ice queen is back.
But I saw it, and I’ll never unsee it. And the feeling hits me in the gut. I feel like a piece of shit, the worst kind of bastard. The kind that knows he broke something sacred and can’t glue the pieces back. Oh, how the tides turn. I sit with it. Let the weight of it settle. No more excuses. No more bullshit. I’m not some punk kid anymore. I knew better. And I still broke her. I look around. My brothers all look wrecked. Silent rage in their eyes.
We all let Heather in. Believed her. Built with her, and Luna…fuck.My daughter. How do I even explain this to her? I take a slow breath, trying to find my footing. Then I glance at Gabriella again. She’s staring off into nothing. Not me. Not the floor. Not the walls. I want her to see me.
Please, just look at me.
See that I’m sorry. That I’d give anything to take it all back. She doesn’t. She can’t. I destroyed something once-in-a-lifetime for something that was a dime a dozen, and now? I have to live with that. I turn to Hound. No more wallowing. No more self-pity. Time to clean up the mess.
“What’ve you found, brother?”
Hound leans forward, jaw locked.
“We searched your house. The compound. Your floor. Axel checked her purse and car at the hospital. Found a used burner. A few unopened ones are stuffed in shoeboxes. She kept the used ones too.” He says, disbelief lacing his voice as he shakes his head.
I blink, processing. “She keptusedburners?”
“Yeah. Like she didn’t think we’d look. Or she just didn’t give a fuck.” His jaw ticks. “Those phones are full of messages to Demon. Calls. Photos. Location data. It goes backyears, Talon. Way before you two met.”
The weight of it slams down like a cinder block to the chest.
She was playing the long game. And I let her.
All around me, my brothers wear the same look—fury, betrayal, regret.
I slam my hand on the table. “Fuck!”
My brain flashes back to the day Luna was born. My mother, crying, warned me. Told me Heather was wrapped in shadows. That she’d be the death of me, I didn’t listen. Ifucking didn’t listen.And now? I’m paying the price. With everything that matters, everything I love, and everything Iwas supposed to protect.
“I got all the correspondence, which was a lot, Prez. She shared information about drops, transports, locations, and routes. She shared damn near everything. Shit, she shouldn't have—shefucking had.” His tone is bitter, tight with disbelief.
Wait, what?
My whole body jerks like I’ve been sucker punched. “WAIT! How in the fuck did she get that information?”
I’m already rising to my feet, the chair groaning beneath me as I shove it back.
“I for damn sure didn’t give it to her. I may have been a fuckup for letting her into my life, my bed, and this club—but I would never,nevergive her club business. Pops taught me better than that.”
I look at him when I say it. His face is unreadable. Blank. But he’s watching me, and that fucks with me more than I want to admit. Because all this shit—all the betrayal, all the damage—it circles back to me. And that weight? It’s heavy as hell.
I fucked up. No denying that. I trusted a woman I never should’ve. Let her get too close. Let hermatter.But not like that. She was never allowed behind the curtain. Never had the keys to the kingdom. She was my ol’ lady, yeah. But she didn’t get that unfiltered, ride-or-die kind of trust my mother has with my father.
And the truth is… I nevercouldgive her that.
Something deep down always held me back. Like my gut knew the score long before my head caught up. Even when my dick was too stupid to see the danger, my instincts never let her all the way in.
