Falling For My Ex's Dad (Clarissa and Gabriel)

Gabriel's POV

"Which part?" I growled. "Dating my son? Or crawling into my bed, moaning my name like it meant something?"

"No one sent me."

"Still lying," I hissed, gripping her arms-maybe too hard, but I didn't care. Not now. I needed the truth. I needed it like air. "You don't just fall into bed with two men from the same bloodline by accident. So who the hell sent you?"

She writhed in my hold. "I'm telling the truth! Gabriel, you're hurting me. Please..."

"Not until you tell me the truth," I bit out. "This is mercy compared to what I'll do if you keep lying."

My fingers sank deeper into her skin. I shut down whatever was left of my conscience. I was done being reasonable. The truth was coming out—no matter the cost.

"I know you planned this," I growled. "Every move. Every kiss. You made me fall while you played your sick little game. So tell me who sent you?"

"I'm begging you," she sobbed, struggling against me. "Let me go, and I'll tell you everything."

I stilled.

Her eyes met mine-wide, wet, and filled with something that stopped me cold. For a split second-just one cruel, goddamn moment I saw her. The woman I once imagined forever with.

Clairessa. My Clairessa.

Fuck.

I let go of her arms, backing off just enough to pull the rage from my face-but not the threat from my voice. "Start talking."

Her eyes widened in fear, lips parting like the words were stuck in her throat.

I didn't soften.

This had to be a performance. Another manipulation. Play the victim. Draw me in. Not this time.

The threat returned to my voice. "Now."

"No one sent me," she said, her voice trembling. "I swear, I don't know where you got that from."

"Then why the hell did you come after me?" I demanded. "Why seduce me?"

"If you're so desperate to point fingers," she muttered, rubbing the red marks on her arm, "maybe start with your son."

My eyes narrowed. "Don't you dare drag Adrian into this."

She looked me dead in the eye. "It started because your precious son broke my heart. I caught him cheating-with Nicole. And I ended up finding out she worked at your company-he even helped her get the job. I was angry. Humiliated."

"And what the hell does that have to do with me?"

"I wanted revenge," she admitted, her voice cracking. "I wanted Adrian to feel the pain I carried. I was so consumed by it... I didn't realize how twisted it had become until it was too late."

The air left my lungs. My chest tightened painfully.

I stepped back, as if her confession physically burned me. She hugged herself, trembling, her back pressed against the wall like it might shield her from what was coming next.

A part of me—some desperate, pathetic part-had hoped she'd give me a better answer. Something redeemable. Something that didn't make me feel like I'd just been a pawn in her little game of vengeance.

But no.

It was all a carefully crafted plan.

And I was a goddamn distraction. A tool she used to get her pound of flesh from my son.

My voice came out hoarse. "So that night at the club... when you spilled your drink on my shirt and followed me into the hallway-that was all part of the plan?"

She shook her head quickly, panic in her eyes. "No. That part wasn't. I'd gone there to drink and sleep with someone anyone. But then I saw you... and something pulled me in. I didn't know who you were. Not then. I spilled the drink because needed a reason to talk to you. I just wanted to feel something. Anything. To stop hurting."

"Lies," I spat.

"It's the truth!" she insisted. "I didn't find out who you were until my first day working at Storm Innovations-when you walked into the boardroom and introduced yourself. That's when it hit me... what I'd done."

I turned away, pacing like a man on the brink of losing it, dragging a hand through

my hair.

I wanted to believe her. God, I did. But every word from her mouth felt like poison —and the worst part? I couldn't even trust myself around her.

"Hmph." I scoffed bitterly. "Let's say I believe you. It still doesn't erase the fact that

for months, you lied. You played me while pretending this-us-meant something."

"It did," she said softly. "I never

meant for it to go this far. I thought it would be one night. But I couldn't stop thinking about you afterwards. I couldn't fake what I felt when I was with you. I fell for you, Gabriel."

"Don't," I barked, spinning around to face her. "Don't stand there and talk about feelings after everything you just confessed."

"I know I lied. I know I hurt you. But Gabriel, the truth is I fell in love with you. And no matter how much I tried to fight it, no matter how hard I tried to stick to the plan... I—"

"You what?" I cut her off, my voice breaking with anger. "Kept playing me? Kept using me? Made me comfort you about a breakup-and the whole time it was my son you were talking about?"

I stared at her like I didn't even recognize the woman in front of me anymore.

"How the hell did you think this was going to end?"

She looked down, tears slipping down her face. "That's the thing, Gabriel. I didn't think. I just... followed my feelings. I threw caution to the wind and-"

"Don't fucking blame any of this on feelings," I snarled. "Because right now? I doubt you even have a heart."

My mind spiraled through the past month-flashes of confusion suddenly making

sense.

The times she wouldn't take my calls. Her distance. The nervous energy. Her resistance to making our relationship public. Her insistence on not meeting Adrian.

And it all clicked.noveldrama

"That morning," I said, my voice low, "when we were having breakfast and your phone wouldn't stop ringing. That was Adrian calling, wasn't it? Trying to fix things with you."

She didn't answer. Just gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.

"Of course it was." I scoffed. "You lied to my face over and over again, without so

much as a hint of guilt. You're a cold-blooded schemer."

"I'm not," she breathed. "I promise you... every time I had to lie to you, it tore me apart. You have no idea what the guilt did to me."

"No, you didn't feel guilty," I shot back, a cruel smirk gracing my lips. "It all makes sense. You got me to let my guard down. Open up. Tell you things I've never told another soul. And the whole time, I meant nothing more to you than a pawn. A goddamn rebound to hurt Adrian. A

move on your twisted little

chessboard."

I took a slow step back, my voice dropping cold.

"Well... checkmate. You won."

I turned away from her again. I couldn't look at her anymore. Not without wanting

to destroy something.