Chapter 40
Like an unconscious instinct, Leonica's gaze found Gabriel's dark eyes, flinching ever so
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slightly when he was already staring back at her.
The look he was giving her was hard to interpret, but she knew, just from the intensity of his gaze, that the thoughts running through his mind were not good.
She had after all, known him for more than seven years, and his looks and actions were like
second nature to her.
Yet the more she tried reading his expression, the harder it was to understand.
He didn't look angry, but neither did he look the least but pleased to see her here, but considering their previous encounter over the week, she really couldn't blame him.
Standing in between the two staring ex partners, accompanied by the whispers going around, Angelina felt, no, she knew that the spotlight was being stolen away from her, by Leonica.
It was almost like an open mockery to her and her efforts.
Angelina, as a woman with pride, could not accept this.
Clinging to Gabriel's arm with a weakened expression on her face, she called out to him.
"Gabe,"
Tearing his gaze away from Leonica, Gabriel looked down at her.
"What is it?"
"I'm feeling a little tired." She answered, clinging tighter to his arm and smirking when Leonica watched her actions.
"Let's head inside and sit down for a while." She requested, eyes falling back to his face.
Gabriel did not respond.
"Please Gabe, I'm feeling kinda dizzy. Can't we just head inside and sit for a while?"
"If you knew your health wasn't good enough to handle this, then you should have stayed home." Came Gabriel's shocking response. Angelina was totally thrown off guard by his reply.
"But I wanted to come," She continued. "I was so looking forward to spending time with babe,"
She was really laying it thick.
Gabriel sighed and pulled away from her grip. "Not now, Angelina."
"But-"
"I said, not now."
Angelina shut her mouth.
you,
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Seeing her like this, and realizing that he had indeed been a bit harsh on her, Gabriel sighed and without warning picked her up in a bridal carry. Feeling the ground suddenly disappear from beneath her, Angelina yelped out in surprise and instinctively wrapped her hands around Gabriel's neck.
"I'll take you to rest some place quiet." He told her, turning around and walking away from the scene.
As they walked away, Leonica couldn't help but stare, mind recalling what Angelina had told her at the amusement park.
She was pregnant with Gabriel's child. Back then, whether she cared or not, her mind had automatically called her words a bluff, but seeing the way Gabriel delicately carried her to rest after she simply complained of feeling weak, had Leonica's doubts slowly vanishing. 'If she is truly carrying his child, does that mean he's actually going to marry her?"
That thought roamed her mind for the briefest second, causing a bitter taste to overrun her taste buds before Arvan snapped her back to reality.
"Leonica, are you okay?" He asked, hand returning back to her back as soon as he dismissed the press they had been speaking with. When she didn't reply immediately, he asked another question. "Did...did my words perhaps make you uncomfortable?"
"No, not at all." She waved his worries of, dismissing whatever unnecessary thought that was forming in his head. "It just," She hesitated, later settling for a simple head shake, indicating that she wasn't going to say anymore.
Arvan did not push further. Instead, he changed the topic quickly, ensuring her comfortability first. "Ah, if that's so, shall we head in then."
Leonica smiled up at him. "Yes, let's."
Wrapping her hand around his upper arm once more, they both approached the entrance of the event. The first thing they both did after stepping inside was to greet the celebrant herself.
Stellar however, from all the stories she had heard, wasn't all to happy to see-Léonica and the white-ette could tell.
So while Arvan and Stellar had a quick talk, she excuses herself to get some fresh air on the balcony.
The air away from overly dressed aristocrats and expensive wine, felt great in many ways. Leonica leaned her elbows on the balcony railing and dragged in a deep breath through both her lips and nose, eyes coming shut at the action, before she briefly exhaled. However, with all the air gone out, her eyes still remained shut, simply basking in the
moonlight's glow while listening to the faint sound of chattering, music, clinking glass and footsteps approaching, behind her.
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Footsteps!
Her eyes immediately snapped open and at an almost alarming rate, she spun around, only to find herself standing in front of a familiar face.
"Christian!" She breathed, clutching the railing underneath her palm. "Don't scare me like that."
"Wasn't my intention," The male said and gave a tiny bow that somehow reminded Leonica of the partner she had come with. "I was just walking past when I saw you. Thought I'd...well," He hesitated. "Apologize."
Watching the male take a spot beside her, she arched her brows. "Apologize? What for?"
"For the thing with your medical record, I mean." He answered. "I didn't mean to invade your privacy, it's just that," He rubbed the back of his neck. "After seeing you visit the gynecology that day, I couldn't help but get curious and accidentally ran my mouth to Gabriel." "Oh."
"It's stupid, I know, and I'm sorry."
Leonica sighed, pressing her lips into a thin line in the process. No matter how much she wanted to stay angry at Christian, she couldn't bring herself to.
But that also didn't mean she wanted to get any closer to him. She appreciated his apology and all, but at the end of the day, he was one of Gabriel's closest friends.
Waving her hand dismissively at his words, she pushed herself off the railing. "It's okay, I forgive you."
"Really?"
"Yes, there's no need staying angry at you, now is there?" Gathering her dress, she was about to return to her partner's side, when Christian spoke.
"Ah, before I forget, be careful."
Looking over her shoulder, she shot a puzzled look in his direction. "What?"
"Gabriel, he seems to think that kid- Ashely, correct?- belongs to him. Even though I refused doing a back run of the kid's medical record, he seems to think he's his son.
Hearing his words, Leonica's expression darkened.
"He's got his head all messed up with that idea. I'd watch out if I were you-"
"Gabriel told you to do what?"
Turning his head away from the moonlit sky and towards the approaching female, Christian
was met with a pair of furious purple eyes, narrowed and aimed right at him.
Oh shit, he spoke too much.
"Answer me!" She demanded, stomping her feet in front of him, the heels she wore, making the action seem more intimidating. "What was he thinking, asking you to run a back record of a child's medical record? MY child's medical record?" "Listen, I wasn't-"
Throwing her head back and chuckling, Leonica cut off his explanation. "Hoho, I think this shit had gone on for far too long. Gabriel's useless curiosity, stops tonight."
Spinning around on her heels, she began storming off, ignoring the calls of her name.
She needed to have a little talk with a certain someone.
And the talk was going to be anything but friendly.
Walking through the doors and back into the crowded area of the party, Leonica's eyes swept across the crowd, trying to search for a particular pair.
As she stood still, scanning the crowd, a waiter approached her, tray of wine carried skillfully.
"Wine, Madam?" He offered.
Leonica was about to deny, when she thought against it. She wasn't going to deny the fact that she was thirsty and her throat was dry from walking out and yelling, and she was definitely in need of some alcohol to calm her nerves, so, reaching out, she took a glass. "Thank you.
"Of course, enjoy your night." The waiter said, about to walk away when Leonica stopped him.
"Per chance, have you happened to see Mr. Bryce,"
"Of course, I saw him going up those stairs," The waiter pointed towards a flight of stairs and Leonica nodded after following his finger, eyes sighting the stairs.
"Alright, thank you."
"My pleasure." The waiter bowed and departed. Alone again, the white-ette, sipped down the rest of the drink in her hand and placed the glass back on the tray of a passing waiter before approaching the stairs.
With her heels clicking against the hard floor and her dress trailing behind her, Leonica followed the hallway, searching for the person she had come here to see.This text is property of Nô/velD/rama.Org.
She walked passed rooms, trying to find her target.
"Just where the hell is he?" She mumbled, feeling her anger towards him rising all the more.
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First he tries to run a record check in HER kid and now, he makes her walk all this way, looking
for him in heels.
God so help him when she sights his ass.
Leonica's thoughts were abruptly brought to an end when, she walked pass one room and suddenly felt a hand grab her by the waist, pulling her into the room before she could react. Did It Hurt?
Seven minutes before,
Hand stuffed in his pocket and body leaned against the nearest wall, Gabriel watched the interaction ensuing in the balcony with dark hooded lids.
All around him, the aura seemed deadly, combined with the look of obviously jealousy that swept across his face each time Christian spoke to Leonica.
As if one man wasn't enough for her, she was going after another, of course.
"Gabe,"
Angelina's voice called him back to reality and he looked down, watching as the woman he had come with, offered him a glass of wine, glass of water in her other hand. "Are you alright?"
Taking the offered drink, Gabriel nodded his head. "Yes, why wouldn't I be?"
Angelina shrugged her shoulders, sipping the water from the glass in her hand and waiting for Gabriel to take a sip from his..
He didn't, not Immediately. Instead, he stared down at the liquid in the glass, watching as the light from the lamps hanging overhead reflected against the wine's surface.
A few moments later, he raised the glass to his lips and tilted it, allowing the bitter yet sweet flavor of the liquid to fill his taste buds.
"So," Angelina started, breaking the silence that had fallen between them. "Remember what I told you? I promised to make sure you had a good night," She smiled and used her free hand to trail up his chest. Gabriel's hands had already moved, ready to remove her fingers as if on instinct, when at
familiar voice to both their ears spoke.
"Gabriel, Angelina, I'm so glad to see you both here." Stellar sundered over, pulling the female brunette into a hug the next seconds.
"Stellar, happy birthday." Angelina wished as soon as they pulled apart.
Placing her hand against her chest, the celebrant smiled. "Thank you. The girls are waiting for you over there."
"Alright, I'll be right there."
Seeing her off, Angelina turned her attention back to Gabriel who had gone back to sipping his drink.
"I'll be back soon, okay? Wait for me here." She told him and without giving him time to answer, she turned around and disappeared through the crowd, heading towards her group of friends.
Watching her go, Gabriel's eyes turned back to the balcony, instantly landing on Christian and Leonica who were now standing closer than ever, face to face.
Eyes narrowing dangerously, Gabriel gritted his teeth.
The wine in the glass sloshed around as his hand was skin raised and chugged down in favor of quenching whatever anger was arising in him.
That however was a bad decision on his path as no less than a minute later, his vision suddenly blurred. The blurry vision was accompanied by a wave of headache of sudden heat that had Gabriel shaking his head in hopes of shaking whatever had come over him away. His actions however, was futile and seemed to worsen the effect. Deciding against standing still in where he was, Gabriel turned around and barely managed to find his way to the stairs, picking the nearest room he could find to rest in,
Inside the room, he sat down on the nearest couch and rested his head, hoping that his blurred vision and dizzy spell would pass as soon as the wine left his system.
A few minutes later, his headache had gone and his vision had somewhat cleared, however, the same couldn't be said for the strange sensation in his body, his hands were shaking, his forehead was sweating, his mouth had gone dry and his mind all mingled. Gabriel wasn't sure what was going on, but he did not like the feeling.
However, no matter how much his mind tried convincing him to stand and leave the room, his body didn't comply.
No matter how many times he tried pushing himself up, his body wouldn't move, and it didn't take a genius to tell him that he had been drugged.
Someone had spiked his drink.
Cursing under his breath, Gabriel managed to rise to his feet this time around, stumbling for the door. He had just pulled the door open when he had a familiar voice and the sound of
footsteps coming his way.
"Where the hell is he?"