A Blind Fall

chapter eighteen

"Where will you stay?" He asked, panicking and guilty.

There wasn't an answer as she continued to thrust her clothes in the suitcase. There wasn't a trace of anger on her features but the stoicism was even worse. This wasn't how things were supposed to go. It was clear he hadn't thought ahead and he hadn't considered her reaction in all these.

One thing was clear though, if she left, his plan would go south. First off, he didn't want her away from him because he genuinely cared and heavens, he loved being around her. Plus he was able to take care of her. Secondly, she was paramount in his plan to regain his son. With her around, Sylvester would always be lurking about and he needed him to allude his son's location.

Of course he was using her, he knew that. But he was desperate and the thought of prolonging his son's estrangement to him left him at the very brink of madness. He hated that his offspring was somewhere oblivious to his father's existence or being nurtured by some other man.

For that, and the fact that this stubborn woman was so broke to survive alone in a foreign country, he couldn't let her leave. Given, she was furious and she had all the reasons to be but he was too selfish to consider that. As she stuffed more clothes into her bag, he walked over to the built-in closet and slammed the double doors shut.

When she finally spun around, they stood face to face. She sighed impatiently. "Out of my way, Leon."

He didn't budge. "I'm sorry for being a complete cad this morning but I can't let you leave, Gabby."

Wordless, she tried to move past him but he grabbed her upper arms. "Alright, I'll leave this hotel and move to another if that's what you want. But don't leave."

She snorted. "And why shouldn't I? Because you're my benefactor? I am not a charity case, Leon. I don't know what gave you the notion but it's false and I'm leaving!"

Now he understood why she was fuming. He hadn't meant to blurt out to that Marcello scumbag about sponsoring Gabrielle in any way but he'd been edgy since meeting the man. He hadn't felt threatened by a man in ages and that's exactly how that Frenchman made him feel.

Sighing in defeat, he sucked his teeth. "I'm sorry, Gabrielle. Of course that was not nice of_"

"Nice!" She huffed. "Please, Leon, I'm not doing this with you. Move."

He blinked fast before crossing his arms over his chest. "No."

They stared at each other momentarily and when her shoulders finally sagged in compliance, he sighed in relief. It was short-lived with her next words.

"You spent every waking second of your life trying to rid yourself of me." A ghost of a smile crept to her lips. "The meagre attention you ever paid me was when Rose forced you to it. When you guys helped me refurbish my apartment back then, when you offered to carry my bag all day in uni, when you took me on a date in that lavish hotel and even bought me flowers, it was all Rose's doing and I knew."

"Gabrielle,"

She shook her head. "I don't mind, really. For a young girl, I was up for anything as long as I continued to believe you cared." Her eyes were glistening and not with tears. It was an emotion that shook his bones when he identified it. "So when you finally showed interest, I thought there was some motivation behind it. I don't know what it is but it's helped me realize that I don't really need you."

There it was. She'd said it. There wasn't telling when or how but she'd stop caring for him like before and it was all his fault. He'd been busy sleeping around and finding reasons to stay ignorant of her feelings for him and now she'd moved on. Probably, preferring that Marcello over him. He couldn't help wonder what his offer had been since he'd excused them upon Marcello's insistence but it surely must have influenced her.