Moonlight Seduction

by Jennifer L. Armentrout

  Sabrina Harrington walked out of Gabe’s shower, wearing nothing but a towel around her slender body.

  Nikki’s mouth dropped open. “What in the hell?”

  The woman jolted, her eyes widening. She paled so quickly that for a moment Nikki thought she might actually pass out. “What are you doing in Gabe’s room?” Sabrina recovered, snapping out the question.

  Was she serious? Asking her that question. “What are you doing in his shower?”

  Her lips twisted in a smirk as she clutched at where the towel was folded above her breasts. “Why do you think I’m using his shower?”

  Nikki laughed—straight up laughed. She couldn’t help it, because she knew what Sabrina was insinuating with that comment. “You are so full of shit—like so much shit that you have no space left for a brain.”

  She drew back, her mouth dropping open. “Excuse me?”

  “There is no way in hell Gabe knows you’re up here in his shower, you utter freak. If he came in here and found you, he would kick your ass out.” Nikki laughed again, mostly out of shock. She couldn’t believe this. Taking a shower in Gabe’s bathroom was beyond freaking creepy. Like she was pretty sure she’d seen stalkers do this on that one TV channel that focused on crime stories. “Holy crap.”

  “What do you know?” Sabrina shot back, her free hand curling into a fist.

  “I know he can’t stand you. Everyone knows that, so don’t even stand there and try to act like he even knows you’re up here.” Nikki held her ground. “And how convenient that you’re in here when Dev left for Houston. Were you up here hoping to surprise Gabe? Jesus. What is wrong with you? Seriously.”

  “And what are you doing up here, you bitch? Cleaning his room and rifling through his stuff?”

  Nikki’s brows lifted as she started to turn away. She needed to find Gabe stat. This thing with Sabrina had crossed all kinds of lines. “I actually have a reason to be up here. Unlike you, you creepy, sad woman.”

  “Oh, I know why you’re up here. I know all about you and Gabe. He’s fucking you, right? Isn’t he, Nicolette.” Sabrina waited until Nikki faced her. “Not that I blame you, but I hope, for your sake, you realize that’s all he’s doing. Just fucking you.” She looked her over with a rather impressive sneer. “After all, that’s what your type is good for.”

  “My type? Whatever. I don’t even want to know why you think—”

  “Why I think you guys are fucking? Because I heard you two together just last week. You were in one of the extra bedrooms,” Sabrina said. “You sound like a whore when you call out his name.”

  Shock splashed through her. There had been someone in the hallway that day. She’d chalked up the door opening to the weird house, but it had been Sabrina. Anger quickly replaced the shock. She’d been watching them? Listening to them?

  “At least he’s fucking me,” she fired back, too damn furious to stop herself. “I bet that just gets to you, doesn’t it? You’ve wanted him for how long and all you get to do is shower in his bathroom like a stalker?”

  Sabrina let out a choked-sounding screech. One that sort of unnerved Nikki. It was far past time she got out of this room and found Gabe. Something truly was not right about this woman.

  “You know he’s in love with another woman, right?” Sabrina said.

  “You’re talking about Emma? I know all about her.”

  “I’m talking about the mother of his child,” Sabrina said.

  Everything inside of Nikki stopped as an icy chill swept down her spine. She thought she hadn’t heard her right. The mother of his child? “Gabe doesn’t have a kid.”

  A wide smile broke out across Sabrina’s face. “Oh, yes, he does. His name is William and he lives in Baton Rouge with his grandparents.”

  Nikki’s entire body jerked. Baton Rouge. Gabe was looking for a place there—no, no way. Sabrina had to be lying, because after all the things Gabe and she talked about, after everything they’d shared, there was no way he’d never mention that he had a child.

  “Didn’t know that, did you?” Sabrina sounded smug. “That’s because he’s only fucking you, Nikki. He’s not sharing his life with you.”

  The venom-laced words were a barb that struck home. She shook her head and backed up, still clutching the necklace in her hand. “You’re insane.”

  “I’m not insane. I’m just right.”

  “If you think Gabe is going to be okay with this—”

  Sabrina shot forward then, gripping Nikki’s arm. “If you know what’s good for you, you’ll keep your mouth shut about this.”

  She glanced down at where Sabrina held onto her arm. “You are truly out of your mind if you think I’m not going to say something to Gabe—to Devlin. Your fiancé needs to know—”

  “You open your mouth about this and I will make sure you never speak again.” Sabrina’s pale eyes flashed cold. “Do not underestimate me, Nikki. The de Vincents aren’t the only ones who know how to make people disappear.”

  Disbelief washed over Nikki. “Are you seriously threatening me?”

  “You say you know everything about Emma?” Sabrina smiled. “Bet you don’t know that the brothers killed her attacker, did you? Lucian and Gabe. His name was Chris. They beat him to death.”

  Nikki’s chest turned cold. Not because she was hearing something like that. She’d grown up in the de Vincent home. She knew what they were capable of. What terrified her was that Sabrina might know something that dangerous.

  “Let go of me,” Nikki said, holding Sabrina’s gaze.

  “Are you going to keep your mouth shut about this?”

  Something occurred to her as she stared at Sabrina. She thought about the day she’d fallen down the outdoor steps. Sabrina had been there. Nikki had even thought about the possibility of it having been Sabrina, but she dismissed it, because Sabrina would’ve had to be seriously insane to do that. She also thought about the day Gabe’s passenger window had been broken out while she sat in the seat. Could Sabrina have been involved in that?

  Now it didn’t seem so crazy. Sabrina could’ve seen her carrying the flowers, locked the second-floor doors from that hallway, and then waited for her outside. Could she have been following Gabe—following Nikki and saw where she lived? Nikki had thought it might’ve been Ross that night she’d spilled champagne on Sabrina, but what if it was Sabrina?

  All because she speculated something was going to happen between Nikki and Gabe. Jesus.

  “Was it you?” Nikki asked, her unease growing. “Did you push me down the stairs that day I was carrying the flowers?”

  Sabrina gave her an icy smile. “If I had done that, I could’ve killed you. I’m not a bad person.”

  Her response did nothing to make Nikki feel better. She yanked her arm free. “Stay away from me.” She backed out of the bedroom and then turned, hurrying for the inside door.

  Sabrina followed her into the living area. “You’re going to wish you never stepped foot in Gabe’s room.”

  Nikki already did.

  Chapter 28

  Gabe walked through the downstairs, the strawberry smoothie in the crook of his arm as he reached into his back pocket for his phone. He’d been all over the damn main floor, looking for Nic. Where in the world was she? He was getting back to the house a little later than normal, but she was usually in the kitchen around this time.

  He was just about to call her when the doors to the back staircase swung open and the person he was seeking came rushing out, looking like she’d seen a ghost.

  “Are you okay?” he asked, walking over to her.

  “Yeah. I think so. I’m actually looking for you.” She glanced over her shoulder. “I need to talk to you.”

  Unease grew inside him. “What’s going on?”

  She shook her head as she grabbed his arm and pulled him into a nearby room—the one his mother used to watch movies with them in. She closed the door behind them and leaned against it.

  The unease gave way to concern. “Oka
y. You’re really starting to worry me.” He palmed her cheek, guiding her gaze to his. “Talk to me, sweetheart. What’s happening?”

  “I’m sorry. It’s just that the craziest thing happened.” She slipped away from the door, walking over to the couch.

  When she turned, that’s when he saw something dangling from her left hand. “What’s in your hand?”

  Nic blinked and then glanced down. “Oh. Oh my God, I didn’t even realize I was still holding this.” Color burst along her cheeks as her fingers opened.

  Gabe went to her, setting the smoothie on the coffee table. “Is that . . . ?” It was. She was holding the necklace she’d given him all those years ago. It had been on his dresser. “You were in my bedroom?”

  “I went upstairs, looking for you. The porch doors opened when I knocked. I thought you were in there, so I went inside.” She stared at the necklace and then lifted her gaze to his. “I heard the shower running in your bathroom.”

  His brows lifted. The shower had been running in his room? “Yeah, that wasn’t me.”

  “I know.” She started to sit down on the couch but stopped. “I found Sabrina in your room. She was in your bathroom taking a shower.”

  There was no way he heard her right. He stared at her. “What in the fuck?”

  “That was pretty much my reaction when she stepped out of the bathroom wearing just a towel,” Nic replied.

  “Is she still up there right now?”

  “I don’t know. I just left.”

  He hadn’t even seen her car parked outside. Anger burned through him like acid. Turning, he started for the door. He was going to drag that woman’s ass out of the house. He was so fucking done with this shit—

  “Wait.” Nic stepped around the coffee table. “She knows about us.”

  Gabe turned to her. So fucking angry, he almost didn’t process what she said. “What do you mean?”

  “She heard us last week, when we were in one of the extra rooms.” Nic swallowed.

  Hell.

  That wasn’t the greatest piece of news, but since Dev already speculated the truth and Gabe hadn’t done much to deny it, Sabrina knowing about him and Nic only bothered him because of how it could affect Nic. That woman was batshit crazy enough to mess with Nic out of some kind of twisted jealousy.

  “I think she’s been, I don’t know, stalking us in this house.” Nic shuddered. “It’s creepy.”

  “Creepy” wasn’t even the right word for it.

  “She tried to insinuate that you knew she was there, but I knew better. There’s something wrong with that woman, Gabe.” Nic lifted her chin, meeting his gaze. “I don’t know why you haven’t said anything to Devlin, but something needs to be said, like yesterday. She even threatened me so I would keep my mouth shut about her being in there. She’s out of her mind.”

  No truer words had ever been spoken. Part of him couldn’t even believe Sabrina had escalated to this point. What had she been doing up there? Waiting for him to come home? Did she actually think she had a snowball’s chance in hell of seducing him?

  “I think . . . I know this sounds crazy, but I think she pushed me that day I fell on the steps,” Nic said, shaking her head. “I asked her and what she said in response really wasn’t a denial, Gabe.”

  A chill swept down his spine. “What did she say?”

  “That if she had done it, it could’ve killed me and that she wasn’t a bad person,” Nic told him. “Not exactly the most reassuring response. I think—God, I think she pushed me, Gabe.”

  Shit.

  “And you know that day your window was broken out? I know this sounds crazy, but what if she was involved in that? I mean, it was exactly where I was sitting.”

  Gabe fought the urge to pick up something and throw it. Nic could’ve broken something or worse that day she fell. It was a damn miracle that she hadn’t been more seriously injured. The same with the car.

  And would it have been because of him? Nothing had started up again between Nic and him at that time, but there’d been that dinner that Nic had spilled the champagne on Sabrina. He’d spent that entire dinner staring at Nic.

  Sabrina would’ve noticed.

  “I’m sorry that you had to deal with this,” he gritted out. “I’m going to make damn sure you—”

  “That’s not the only thing she said.” Nic dragged her empty hand through her hair as she looked away. “She said—she said you had a child.”

  Every muscle in Gabe’s body locked up. There was no way. Sabrina couldn’t know about William. Dev would’ve never told her that. Unless that woman was legit stalking him—

  Holy shit, she had to be.

  For Sabrina to know about William, she had to be honest-to-God stalking him. Sickened and furious, Gabe was actually struck speechless. He’d kept his mouth shut about Sabrina this whole time because her infatuation or whatever the fuck with him had been harmless. Something that he already knew that Dev had to be aware of, because everyone in the damn world knew it, but this—this was too much, too far.

  “It’s not true, right?” Nic asked, inching closer to him, the rope of that necklace still dangling from between her fingers. “You don’t have a child.”

  There was a brief moment where he considered lying and that horrified him straight to the core. He wasn’t trying to hide William’s existence. He wouldn’t do that, but he knew the moment he told Nic, everything would change between them. Not because he didn’t think she’d be interested in a man who had a child.

  But because this was how she was finding out.

  That desperate feeling from Saturday night surged back to life as he stared into her beautiful brown eyes. He saw it. Her absolute refusal to believe that Sabrina had been telling the truth.

  Gabe couldn’t look at her. “I have a son.”

  No.

  No way.

  Nikki was too shocked to think anything other than that for several moments, because there was no way Gabe had a child and hadn’t mentioned him once to her.

  “That’s not funny, Gabe.” Her hand tightened around the necklace.

  He still wasn’t looking at her. “It’s not a joke, Nic.”

  Her mouth opened, but she didn’t have words at the moment. She took a step back, bumping into the coffee table. “You . . . you have a kid—a son? Emma and you?”

  His shoulders rose with a deep breath. “Yes. His name is William. He’s five years old.”

  Five years old? That meant—things clicked into place. “When you guys met up? She got pregnant. That’s why you’ve been going to Baton Rouge—why you’re looking at getting a place there.”

  “That would be correct,” he replied, his tone so cold and detached that Nikki jolted.

  “You . . . you told Sabrina about this—about your son?” Her voice pitched in a way that was humiliating to her.

  His head swung in her direction as he finally looked at her. “I never told Sabrina shit. The only people who know are my brothers and maybe your parents. They probably overheard something, but no way in hell did I tell that woman. Neither would Dev.”

  Nikki wasn’t sure what she believed anymore. “Then how did she know when I . . . ?”

  “The woman has been stalking me.” A strangled-sounding laugh escaped him. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. Dear God, she actually has to be doing that.”

  That did make sense. Nikki had seen the crazy firsthand, but that didn’t explain why he wouldn’t have told her. “You never told me about him.”

  A muscle flexed along Gabe’s jaw as he looked away again.

  “How . . . how could he have never come up in conversation? You talked to me about Emma—about what was done to her and what happened to her. You could’ve told me then.” Her heart was pounding so fast she thought she might be sick. “I mean, that’s a big deal. Having a kid is a huge deal.”

  “Yeah, it is.” His features were carved out of stone.

  “Then why haven’t you told me? I mean, we’ve talked a lo
t. We’ve shared a lot—”

  “We’ve hung out. We’ve had sex. We’re passing time. That’s what we’ve done,” Gabe snapped. “Why would I’ve told you about him? I won’t even be living here full-time soon.”

  He hadn’t just said all of that.

  Oh God, he really hadn’t just said that to her.

  Nikki stumbled back a step from what felt like an actual slap in the face. Her throat threatened to seal closed as she stared into the face of a man who had become a virtual stranger to her.

  Sabrina had been right.

  He’s only fucking you. He’s not sharing his life with you.

  Nikki’s chest cracked wide open. The truth of those words was right in front of her face. They probably always had been, but she’d been too damn naive to see them.

  “Shit.” Gabe dragged his hand through his hand. “I—”

  “There has only been one other time in my life that I’ve felt this stupid, this naive, and that was four years ago when I woke up and you called me Emma.”

  His eyes widened slightly.

  “You don’t remember that? You called me Emma.” Her lower lip trembled as the edges of the medallion pressed into her palm. “That’s when I knew that you were still in love with her.”

  “No.” His voice was rough. “I don’t remember that.”

  “Of course not.” She laughed, and it sounded bitter and frail. “You’d think that would’ve been the thing that would’ve stuck with me. That would’ve stopped me from falling in love with you again.”

  Gabe paled. Blood drained from his face as he stared back at her.

  “But how could I fall in love with you when I’ve been in love with you since I was sixteen and you pulled me out of the pool,” she said, dragging in a deep breath, but it got stuck in her throat. “That’s why I came to find you today. I needed to tell you because I thought—” She cut herself off, because she was such an idiot. “It doesn’t matter now. I don’t know what you’ve felt for me. If you’ve felt anything at all, but you sure as hell don’t feel the way I do.” Her voice cracked, right along with her heart. “I made a fool out of myself four years ago. And now you’ve made a fool out of me. There’s not going to be a third opportunity.”