"I installed the security cameras in the hallway myself so I could watch you come home safe," he confesses. The words tumble out now, a dam breaking. "I had a GPS tracker on your car for two years. I had a keylogger on your laptop. I knew every website you visited. I knew every client you emailed."
He reaches into his pocket and pulls out his phone. He taps the screen and turns it toward me.
It’s a map. But not just a map. It’s a history.
Lines of red trace my movements through the city going back years. Every grocery run. Every client meeting. Every date I went on with Ryder.
"I watched you," he says, his voice rough. "I watched you waste your time on him. I watched you cry in your car. I watched you struggle to pay your bills, and it took every ounce of control I had not to intervene sooner."
He sets the phone down.
"I stalked you. For years. Before you ever knew I was looking. Because you were meant to be mine."
Stillness stretches between us.
I look at the man I married. The father of my children.
Horror should be the reaction. A normal person would look at that map and see a predator.
But normal isn't a word that applies to me anymore. Hasn’t for a long time.
I’m the woman who married the monster knowing exactly what he was.
Even if that marriage wasn’t fully by choice at the time. I still would’ve done it if he would have asked.
"That explains why the rent never went up," I muse. "And why the maintenance guy always fixed my stuff the same day."
Gabriel blinks. Confusion mars his features at my lack of reaction. I'm not trying to run or yelling at him.
"That's what you took from that?"
"Gabriel," I say, reaching out to take his hand. His palm is calloused from the weights he lifts and it’s warm. "I know who you are. I’ve always known."
He blows out a breath. “I won’t ever be able to stop this when it comes to you.”
I smile at him. “You think I don’t know that?” I look at the map on the phone again. "You know what's really fucked up?" I murmur. "I’m not surprised. Part of me always felt it. You.Close by, watching. I used to look over my shoulder and feel like someone was there. It wasn't scary. It felt... safe."
Our eyes meet.
"I could run. I could pack up the twins and leave."
Gabriel’s jaw tightens. His hand grips mine so hard it hurts.
"But I think we were always going to end up here," I say softly. "I chose you. The real you. Including the parts that should likely be medicated."
The tension drains out of him. He lets out a breath he seems to have been holding for years before he huffs out a laugh.
"I don't deserve you," he says hoarsely.
"Nope," I agree. "But you've got me anyway. And the twins. And this one." I pat my stomach. "So you’re stuck."
He moves then, pulling me into his arms. He buries his face in my neck, inhaling deeply.
"I love you," he breathes against my skin. "I’ve completely given up trying to fight the madness."
"I know." My fingers run through his hair that has slightly more gray in it now than our first Christmas together. "I love you right back."
We stay like that for a long time.
