Page 24 of Secret Betrayals
“Before everything happened, he used to tell me you were a good match for me. He had a lot of respect for your father, Brick… and your mother, Val...” Gabriella shifts in her seat and clears her throat. My eyes narrow when she adds, “Vera.”
She says my mother’s name like it tastes bad. I don’t miss it.
The fuck was that?
Then my brother opens his mouth, and even I flinch at what he says.
“So Daddy sent you here to keep you safe, and your big idea of protection was getting with his godson? Get knocked up, spy a little, and—”
“No.” Her voice cuts through the room like a blade—sharp, clear, and deadly calm. She’s pissed, and rightfully so. The implication wasn’t subtle.
But Nitro’s not wrong for asking. His job is to protect this club. He’s used to digging through bullshit, even if he has to do it with a sledgehammer.
“My father already knew Brick,” she says, eyes locked on Nitro now. “Your father and mine were friends long before I came into the picture, beforeyoucame into the picture. That friendship served two purposes. First, to keep an eye on a powerful outlaw crew he could do business with. Second, to eventually forge a more permanent working relationship. He and your father were negotiating small deals for years. My father was waiting for the right moment—to see if your club grew, if Brick could handle what he wanted to do with the club. And when that time came, he believed you were the kind of man I’d be safe with, Talon. He believed you were different than what you turned out to be.”
Her voice is ice again. No emotion. Just facts with a kill shot embedded in the truth.
The Ice Queen has returned.
“Wait… what about your mom?” Axel cuts in, clearly trying to make sense of the bigger picture. “Your parents knew ours. You and Talon were together for what? Two years? You telling me no one recognized you? How the fuck is that possible? Even with a name change, our parents would still know yours.”
He runs a hand over his face and scowls, eyes shifting between me and her.
“This whole thing is fucked.”
He’s not wrong. It is. But right now? All I care about is my kids. Everything else can wait.
Gabriella ignores his questions and keeps going.
“One night, I was talking to Sam. My father overheard me tell him I was pregnant. He lost it. Wanted to kill you for knocking up his seventeen-year-old daughter and not marrying her first.” She huffs a humorless laugh. “I told him it would be bad for business for him to get involved. Eventually, he calmed down and accepted it… in his own way.”
Her face softens. There’s a flicker of fondness when she talks about him—then a shadow crosses over her, and her eyes close.
Loss. I feel it from across the room.
“The night before I came here for the last time, the club and my family finalized the expansion deal. Everything was riding high. You’d just struck gold with my father. I came here that day to tell you everything—about the pregnancy, about who I was. I was twelve weeks along. Showing a little, which made sense. I was carrying multiples.”
She tries to smile, but it doesn’t reach her eyes.
“I had a feeling something was off that day. That gut-deep warning that you can’t shake. And when I made it to your room, I found you.” Her voice drops to a whisper. “Fucking a bottle blonde. The same one you made your ol’ lady… the one you had a kid with.”
Everything in me locks up.
“I knew then what I’d tried to ignore. The rumors were true. I was a game. And you were done playing. After two years of pretending, you were finished. You didn’t even have the decencyto stop when you knew I was standing there. You wanted me to see. Because the game with the untouchable girl was over, you didn’t have to pretend anymore.”
She leans forward slightly, voice sharp and cold.
“You broke me, Brian Talon Masterson.”
Her mask falters again. Her emotions are right beneath the surface, cracking her armor piece by piece, but she keeps talking.
“I went home and told my father everything. He and my brother were livid. They wanted to call the deal off, burn the whole thing to the ground. I begged them not to. I told them to let it go. My father still wanted you to take responsibility. So, I tried. I called. I texted. And got nothing and nowhere. So I moved on.”
Her gaze hardens.
“He wanted to go to your father. Tell him what you did. I begged him not to. Told him if you weren’t man enough to face me, you sure as hell didn’t deserve to be in our kids’ lives. I meant it. I still do.”
She shrugs, emotionless again.
