Chapter 5

Heidi' s body went rigid. A flash of panic crossed her face.

"Get her out of here! Now!" she hissed at her men. "Take her to the service room next door. Don't make a sound."

They dragged me, limp and silent, into a small, dark storage room, shoving me behind a stack of boxes just as Gavin walked into the main dining area.

"Heidi? What are you doing here?" Gavin' s voice was strained, surprised. He was clearly flustered. I could see him through the crack in the door, his eyes darting around the room, obviously looking for me.

"I could ask you the same thing," Heidi said, her voice dripping with faux innocence. She stood up and walked toward him. "I tracked your GPS. Who were you waiting for, Gavin? Some other woman?"

"Of course not!" he said, too quickly. "I was waiting for you, my love. I wanted to surprise you." He pulled her into his arms, his movements stiff and unnatural. "There's only you. There will only ever be you."

The lie was so bald-faced, so effortless, it made my stomach heave. I pressed a hand to my mouth, trying to stifle the sound of my own ragged breathing.

"Is that so?" Heidi purred, not entirely convinced. She pulled back slightly, a pout on her face. "Then why did you spend so much time with that Ainsley girl? You were so good to her. Better than you are to me sometimes."

Gavin' s face hardened. "Don't talk about her." He guided Heidi to the table, his voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "She was a mistake. A charity case. My mentor's daughter. I felt obligated to take care of her after he died. But she got the wrong idea. She became obsessed, delusional. She thought we were in love."

Every word was a twisting knife. He was painting me as a pathetic, clingy fool.

"I finally had enough," he continued, his voice cold. "I gave her a pile of money and sent her abroad. Told her to never come back. She's out of our lives for good, Heidi. I promise."

"But what if she does come back?" Heidi asked, her voice laced with a fake, delicate fear.

"She won't," Gavin said, his tone absolute. "And if she does, I'll deal with it. Now, forget about her. We're getting married. You're going to be Mrs. Hawkins. That's all that matters."

Heidi' s face lit up. She leaned in and kissed him, a long, triumphant kiss. "Oh, Gavin."

I watched from the darkness, my body screaming in pain, my heart shattering into a million tiny pieces. He was not only betraying me, he was desecrating the memory of my father, twisting his act of kindness into an obligation he had to endure.

The memory of my first kiss with Gavin flashed in my mind. It had been gentle, hesitant. He' d been so patient, so respectful. He' d told me he would wait forever for me. He promised he would always cherish me. He said my love was the only pure thing in his corrupt world.

Now he was in the next room, with another woman, calling my love a delusion.

Their kissing became more heated. His hands started to roam her body, his movements greedy and rough. It was nothing like the gentle way he used to touch me.

He pushed her back against the table, his breathing growing heavy.

Suddenly, he stopped. "Not here."

Heidi let out a breathy laugh. "Why not?" she purred, her hands reaching for the buckle of his belt. "I can help you... right here."

Gavin' s eyes lit up with a raw, animalistic hunger I had never seen before.

A moment later, the sounds started. Muffled moans, the rustle of clothing. Sounds that made my blood run cold and my stomach clench with a fresh wave of nausea.

I was trapped, forced to listen to the man I loved, the man who was the father of my unborn child, be with another woman just a few feet away. The humiliation was a physical thing, a crushing weight on my chest.

He was not only destroying my heart, he was destroying every good memory I had of him. He was taking our past, our intimacy, and turning it into something cheap and sordid.

The pain in my abdomen flared, sharp and terrifying. I bit down hard on my lip to keep from crying out, the coppery taste of blood filling my mouth.

In my agony, my hand slipped, knocking over a small metal bucket. It clattered to the floor with a deafening bang.

The sounds from the next room stopped abruptly.

"What was that?" Gavin' s voice was sharp, suspicious.

My heart stopped.