Chapter Twenty #2
Drawn by a magnetic, unsettling curiosity, Gabriela stepped off the gravel and moved silently across the manicured lawn, following Kinsley’s trajectory toward the sprawling back patio.
As Gabriela approached the edge of the tall, sculpted hedges that bordered the terrace, she heard the sound of laughter. She peered through the leaves, her blue eyes scanning the scene.
She saw Marcy first.
Seeing her former best friend sitting beneath the tree shook something loose in the deep, locked vaults of Gabriela’s damaged brain.
A fleeting, shadowy image of Marcy staring at her through soundproof glass flashed behind Gabriela’s eyes, accompanied by a phantom echo of sharp, lethal words.
Gabriela winced, pressing a hand to her temple, pushing the uncomfortable shadow away.
But before she could make sense of the fragmented memory, her gaze drifted to the rest of the patio.
Gabriela’s heart simply stopped.
Cruz Tate was standing behind a chaise lounge. And Kinsley Bennet was sitting on it.
That alone was an anomaly, but it was the dynamic between them that sent a violent, sickening shockwave through Gabriela’s system.
Cruz was looking at Kinsley with an expression Gabriela had never seen on the titan's face. He looked exasperated, yes, but beneath it was a fierce, all-consuming, earth-shattering tenderness. As Gabriela watched, Cruz leaned down, his large hand gently cupping Kinsley’s cheek, and kissed her.
It was an intimate, familiar, deeply possessive gesture.
Gabriela’s mouth fell open, her pulse beginning to race.
She tore her eyes away, looking frantically toward the tree.
Kade Lancaster was sitting beside Marcy.
Kade, the ruthless heir who was supposed to worship Gabriela.
He was looking at Marcy with unvarnished devotion.
He reached out, his fingers gently tracing Marcy’s jawline, lost in the serene depth of her eyes.
A severe, violent cognitive dissonance ripped through Gabriela’s mind.
This was wrong. Everything about this was fundamentally, impossibly wrong.
Wasn't she supposed to be engaged to Cruz?
Or was it Kade? The details in her fractured mind blurred, but one truth remained: She was the center of their universe.
She was the golden girl. Kinsley and Marcy were just the background characters, the pathetic charity cases permitted to exist in her shadow.
Why were the billionaires looking at the orphans as if they hung the moon and the stars?
The polished, serene facade that the Swiss doctors had so carefully constructed instantly shattered. A terrifying, boiling rage erupted from the darkest corners of her psyche. The venom, dormant for a year, flooded her veins, hot and blinding.
She didn't think. She didn't calculate. She simply reacted.
Gabriela burst through the manicured hedges, marching onto the stone patio with her hands curled into white-knuckled fists, her eyes locked on Kinsley.
She was going to physically drag the parasite out of that chair.
She was going to pull Kinsley away from Cruz and demand that the universe right itself.
"Kinsley!" Gabriela shrieked, her voice a hysterical, ragged scream that tore through the peaceful afternoon air like a siren.
The reaction on the patio was instantaneous.
It did not unfold like a normal family dealing with a sudden intrusion.
It unfolded like a military unit reacting to an active, lethal threat.
The trauma of a year ago—the blood on the cobblestones, the agonizing hiss of the ventilator, the terror of nearly losing the heart of their family—was hardwired into the nervous system of every single Lancaster and Tate.
Before Gabriela had taken three steps onto the stone, before she could even process the sudden movement, the billionaires moved.
Cruz Tate did not hesitate for a microsecond.
He grabbed Kinsley by the waist, yanking her violently out of the chaise lounge and pulling her flush against his chest. He turned his body, completely shielding her smaller frame with his own broad back, wrapping his arms around her in an impenetrable, crushing hold.
He buried her face in his neck, ensuring that whatever threat was approaching, it would have to go through him first.
Simultaneously, Kade Lancaster surged to his feet. He didn't run toward Gabriela; he moved in perfect synchronization with Marcy.
Marcy was already moving, her serene demeanor instantly transforming into the fierce, lethal protectiveness of a lioness. She stepped directly in front of where Cruz was holding Kinsley. Kade stepped immediately in front of Marcy, his muscled frame acting as a towering human shield for both women.
"Security!" Leon Lancaster bellowed, his voice echoing off the stone walls of the manor as he sprinted forward, positioning himself on Kade’s flank.
Connor Tate was already shouting into his encrypted phone, calling for the perimeter guards, his eyes locked on Gabriela with unadulterated terror and rage.
Gabriela slammed to a halt, completely shell-shocked.
She stood in the middle of the sun-drenched patio, her chest heaving, her perfectly styled hair catching the coastal breeze. She looked at the defensive formation before her.
She was unable to understand anything.