Ricardo drops Gabby on the bed before he steps away and starts to pull the blanket to cover her, without a word he walks out of the room while she waist for him to return and he does with a bottle of water and a plate full of cake which she has no idea where he got from.
"I did not see you having these at the party" he comments as he passes her the plate.
"Where did you even get these?" she asks as she grabs the plate.
"It was in the fridge" he smiles as he pushes the hair behind her ear and caresses her cheek.
"I was occupied that's why I could not enjoy these" she grins shoving a mouthful of cake.
"You seemed worried and tensed" he points out and she nods her head.
"And I know I am the reason for it" he adds and again she nods her head.
"Have some" she offers a spoon and he eat it.
"Do you want anything else?" he asks opening the water bottle for her.
"I don't even know what I want" she sighs as she puts the plate away before drinking through the bottle.
"Well, we can start with the topic on why you were crying" he states as he takes the bottle away from her hand and she sighs.
Gabby bends to push her shoes off feet before she looks around the room.
"Are you brothers staying as well?" she questions.
"No, they left"
"But you stayed" she frowns.
"Do you want to change your clothes?" he asks as he gets up from the bed and makes his way towards the closet.
"You were going to stay no matter what" she comments as she steps off the bed.
"I could not have gone back home without clearing things between us" he clarifies as he pulls some clothes out of the closet.
"How long have you planned to stay?" she asks as she checks out the closet.
"I have few meetings in the area"
"Oh, I will go change" she points as she makes her way towards the bathroom.
"Are you taking a shower?" he asks, and she raises a brow at him.
"Just asking, in case you need to towel there are some..."
"I know where they put the towels Rare, this is my house" she smiles, and he chuckles.
"Nerves"
"You have been nervous a lot tonight" she comments as she closes the bathroom door and Ricardo takes a deep breath.
*******
"You can use the bathroom" Gabby states as she walks out toweling her hair.
"I won't take long" he smiles as he hurries in.
Gabby puts her dress away before she grabs her shoes and puts it beside the table, she turns to stare at the bed before a long sigh is out of her mouth.
She steps on the bed and gets in the cover lying on the bed and the sound of water fills the room, she closes her eyes to take a deep breath as a shudder leaves her body.
The day had started in a good way before taking her on a roller coaster ride from a wedding to the kiss to an argument and now here she was.
"You sure you don't want anything else?" Ricardo's voice makes her eyes snap open and she watches him dry his hair.
"I am good"
"Are you going to sleep with that towel on the head?" he asks as he throws his towel on the chair and makes his way towards her.
"Oh" she chuckles getting up as if realizing it now.
"Don't go to bed with wet hair" he states as he unfolds the towel from her head before helping her dry her hair.
"I can..." she stops as he wipes the water droplets off her face before carefully drying her hair with the towel.
"It has been a while that you stayed the night with me" he starts as he thoroughly dries her hair.
"It has been a while that we are together" she counters and without looking back he throws the towel away before pushing her wet hair out of her face.
"I missed you, I missed us" he confesses touching her jaw before he lets her go and gets on the bed.
*******
Both stay silent in their own sides of the bed staring at the ceiling not knowing what to say or where to start. Gabby shifts a bit on the bed patting on the cover before she pulls it up a bit.
"Are you cold?" Ricardo asks as he glances her way.
"No, are you?" she asks turning to face him.
"This must be the only awkward time we have had when we were sleeping beside each other" he chuckles.
"I don't want any awkwardness between us" she confesses as she lies sidewise.
"Your hair is still wet" he comments as he puts his hand on her hair and keeps it there.
"It will dry out" she replies moving closer to him before they lie on their side mere inches apart.
"You did not answer why you were crying" he starts.
"It was nothing"
"You don't cry easily also I did hear some shouting. Did someone shout at you?" he asks caressing her hair.
"Throne wants to move out of the house after marriage and dad is against it because of Lily's pregnancy and they had few arguments"
"What did they say to you?" he asks with a frown.
"It's nothing"
"Precious, I am not repeating myself again" he warns, and she closes her eyes before she holds the hand he had on her head and kisses his palm.
"Throne was being an asshole and blaming me for being the reason why he cannot marry my sister"
"And?" he asks.
"Damon promised to kick his ass for me"
"And Precious" his tone makes her groan.
"He thinks no one will marry me" she admits staring at his face.
Ricardo sighs as he lets go of Gabby's hand before he wraps his arms around her waist to pull her in his arms.
"He does not know a jack shit. I am surprised your father did not shoot him for what he did with Lily" he sighs rubbing her back.
"You think it's wrong what happened between them?" she asks as she moves her head up to stare at him.
"It was not right either, I mean yeah we men like to put a claim, but he was living in your house and what happened between them I am not judging but it's kind of like a betrayal to your father's trust"
"You are being judgmental" she pokes on his nose.
"Perhaps but he could have handled his relationship with Lily a bit better"
"You are unhappy" she smiles.
"Hey, I have watched Lily grow up okay. I mean being your friend means I get to know your family and she has been like a sister to me...
She is not as loud as you, but people do see her, there is something nice about her quietness" he explains, and she grins before kissing on his jawline.
"You never saw me as your sister?" she teases him.
"Incest is something I may do if it's with you" he replies making her gasps.
"Gross" she laughs.
"You asked"
"What about my other sisters, did any one of them make you want incest?" she grins, and he pinches her nose.
"You are the only one that makes me want to break every rule in the book so shut it with these questions" he warns.
"Hmm, I wonder if you prefer Cole more than me" she squeals as he pinches her side.
"Stop with your gay fantasy because you are not getting it from us" he chuckles before pulling her in his arms.
*******
"What happened to Mel?" she asks as she runs her finger above his shirt.
"You don't have to worry about her" he sighs kissing the side of her head.
"You do believe at what I said right? She..."
"No harm will come to your family from her" he promises.
"Who would have thought she liked girls I mean I did catch you two going down" she points out and he does not miss the jab she threw at him.
"It was a onetime thing"
"Getting a blow on the couch?" she asks smiling at him.
"From her, that was the first time we did anything sexual other than kissing"
"You two have been together for a while" she mumbles.
"I knew, I knew she liked girls and when I heard about Katie's incident, I did not have to search for any clues Precious" he confesses, and she pulls away from him to sit on the bed in shock.
"Excuse me?" she asks staring at him in disbelief.
"I can explain"
"Oh, will love to hear it" she states with sarcasm.
*******
"Don't" Throne warns Damon who follows him to the room where Tulip and Lily were waiting on them.
"What happened?" Tulip asks worried as she watches her brother pace back and forth.
"Disagreements, arguments and someone being an asshole" Damon sighs as he walks towards his wife and drops a kiss on her forehead.
"Is everything alright?" Lily voices a bit scared of the expression in Throne face.
"I will not let him take her away from me" Throne snaps and Lily yelps scared.
"No one if taking her away you idiot and stop scaring the girls" he sighs as he pulls his sister in his arms.
"Don't be the devil's advocate" Throne growls at his friend.
"If you just sit down and be quiet and listen to what I have to say maybe you will see how much good of an advocate I really am"
"So, you agree with him" Throne points towards the door.
"You will too if you listen to me"
"You can go fuck yourself, how about that"
"Sit the fuck down Throne before I make you" Damon narrows his eyes at his friend.
"I will not take orders from you"
"You are not just scaring the girls, but you look like you want to shift" he points as he gets up from the seat.
"I cannot shift"
"But you are acting like you want to"
"I just feel suffocated"
"You are over thinking. So, close your eyes and take deep breath, I know you can do this. The wolf within you has gone forever, it's no longer there...
And you have a woman who loves you and a baby on the way and you are also going to be an uncle so calm yourself...
Everything will be perfect no one is taking Lily away from you, I won't let them, okay?" he asks as he grabs Throne shoulders and the man nods his head trying to calm himself.
"That's better" Damon breaths in.
"Do you want to go for a walk?" Damon asks as Throne breathing starts to get normal.
"I am good, I want to stay in with Lily" he gulps before Damon lets him go.
*******
"It's okay, Daddy can be scary, but he loves you" Lily whispers as she takes Throne in her arms and rubs his back.
"I just don't want them to take you away from me, you are all I have" he sniffs.
"I am scared" Tulip whispers as she wraps her arms around Damon who holds her to his side.
"No one needs to feel scared, Uncle Gabe will not tear them apart, if he can let go of the fact that you have been with Lily while staying right under his nose...
That means you have won half the battle and as for not moving out of the house...
Well he does have some valid reasons. Hear me out first" Damon chuckles in defense as Throne glares at his friend.
"You are such a girl" Damon smiles before he sits on the carpeted floor with his wife.
"He is worried about Lily's pregnancy because if you moved out who will look after her because you cannot be with her 24/7 even if you want to...
And have you even seen the condition of you house my friend? We both know it will take months of renovate and clear it all also, even if done the moving of furniture and shifting things it takes time...
And Lily does not need that right now, she does not need the extra worry of how your house will be your home and until the baby is out Gabriel wants her to be as relaxed and under good caring...
He is not opposed of the idea of you moving out, but he does not like the fact you want to while Lily is in this condition"
"Well he could have elaborated it more nicely" Throne grumbles.
"He would have if you had let him talk and both of you did not start to shout at each other" Damon sighs.
"So, we can move out after the baby?" Throne asks.
"You have stayed in that house for years and you know him, so I don't understand why you want to move out?" Damon questions.
"Because I have lost his trust and respect for me, I feel it. I was just so selfish when it came to Lily and all I wanted was to have her all the time and I know it hurt him...
He does not say it in words, but I can feel, and I don't want to stay in the house and rub it in his face" he explains.
"What happened, happened we cannot change it back, but you need to go and make things right. So, stop with the attitude and grab the man's hand of help...
As Lily said, he loves you, he loves all of you and he has nothing but good intentions regarding you three adding the baby...
So, talk with him and sort this out" Damon smiles as he let go of his wife and gets up just as Throne does to hug him.
"Thanks, thanks for being there for me, always"
"No worries, I got your back"
"I did mess up and was out of line tonight" Throne sighs in guilt.
"It's going to be alright and as for out of line, just one thing" he smiles before punching Throne on his stomach and he goes down gasping.
"Never talk in that tone with any of my sisters ever again" he warns as all humor is lost from him.
"Do we need to know?" Tulip asks as she stares at her brother in worry.
"We good babe, let go to our room" Damon smiles while Lily goes to Throne's aid.
"Which sister is he talking about?" she asks but Throne keeps quiet.
*******
"Just lie down, please" Ricardo requests as he touches her hand, but she pulls away.
"Nuh-uh" she shakes her head no.
"I knew she likes girls because I caught her making out with one and maybe that is why she kissed be back then in high school to prove me wrong or something...
The bottom line is I did not know it will turn out to be this, I needed her..." he stops as he sees a dark look cross over Gabby's face.
"Maybe I phrased that in a wrong way" he adds.
"Of course, you needed her it's okay go on"
"You are the only girl I ever cared for"
"Yet you kissed her, of course" she scoffs making him sigh as he gets up and sit with his back to the headboard.
"Her family and mine, we have a history. They have someone I cannot turn my back on"
"What are you talking about?" she asks with a frown.
"I...I have never told about this to anyone, but I have a sister" he whispers as his finger touches her knees.
"A sister?" she asks in surprise.
"Yeah, she was kidnapped right after her birth"
"Oh my God" Gabby gasps as she moves closer to him.
"We did not know that until it was too late, and we found where she has been but to bring her back it's kind of twisted and not an easy task...
So, I needed Melissa's help to get closer to my sister whereabouts"
"How do you know she is your sister if she was taken when she was too young?" she asks.
"She does resemble as us but more beautiful" he smiles fondly.
"Have you met her?" she asks.
"No, but I have seen her from far away. It's quite difficult to get in touch with her or even be near her"
"Why?" she frowns.
"She is one of the slaves" he whispers, and her eyes widens in shock.
"I am so sorry" she whispers as she cups his face.
"It's okay, you did not know" he smiles as he kisses both her palms.
"Does Melissa know that you have a sister?" she asks, and he shakes his head no.
"For years I have been trying to settle a deal with Lucero but every time I feel like I got in I cannot break in...
And Melissa is the only card I have left to get in"
"And I ruined it for you" she sighs.
*******
"No, no, no, don't, don't think that way" he shakes his head as he holds her face in his hands this time.
"You are the only one that has kept me going so don't, don't ever think you have ruined anything. You don't even know how perfect you are...
When everything goes wrong and I feel like I cannot do it, you, you make me believe I can. Just being with you gives me so much strength, you just don't know how much you mean to me...
Your thoughts, your words, your actions and the way you are I have never met anyone like you, you move something inside me Precious, you make me want to do better things...
And, I want to be more, much, much more than just your best friend, I have always wanted but a part of me was not confident...
I did not want to lose you as a friend if I let you know about my feelings but when you started to show interest in me, I still cannot believe I kissed...
It's so surreal. I don't have anything to offer you, you just have everything, money, power everything and all I can offer you is myself...
And, that scares me because you can keep going without me, but I don't think I can live a moment without you. These past few months have been a torture to my soul, not being able to see, touch or even hear your voice and everything I did was going against me and I could not walk to you and explain...
Every time you call me and ask me to do something for you, I feel honored that you need me, and it makes me so proud when I find the reason for your smile is me...
I am insane about you, I am obsessed, you are a phase I don't ever want to get over of, and love is too small too fragile of a word to define what I feel about you...
And my life is too short to prove how much you affect me and for the past twelve years of my life you have taught me so much that with every day I thank that guy you beat up in my match, because of him you ended up in that locker room and I got something so beautiful and strong in my arms and forever is a very short time to be with you" he explains pulling her closer to him as he drops a peck on her lips.
"Rare" Gabby breaths feeling emotional hearing his words.
"I love you Gabriella Maria Price, thank you for cheering for me, thank you for always needing me, thank you, thank you for being born" he confesses, and Gabby cannot hold back the sob that escapes from her mouth as she hugs him tightly.
"I love you too, I love you so much that it hurts and no matter what I will always and forever just love you as my man and only mine" she cries sobbing in his arms.
Pheww....
If that did not make me a bit teary!