“Viola thought it would be nice for the two of you to have a moment to speak. She felt it would be a gracious show of kindness on our part since it’ll be the one and final chance you will have.
Gabriella finally raised her head, and I saw the look of fear in her eyes as she stiffened even more. Without another word, he stepped out, closing and locking the door behind him. Silence filled the room, and I took the seat across from her. All I coulddo was sit there and wait for her to say something. After a few moments, her shoulders sagged, and a look of defeat came over her face.
“Why?” I asked. I hadn’t even known what I was going to say until I opened my mouth. I wanted to know why. Why everything? Why all of it?
She shook her head sadly. “I already told you everything in the letters.”
That pissed me off. Like what was in those letters could explain the motivation behind what she’d done all those years. “Why did you stick around? Playing my doctor and making me think you were someone else? That’s what I mean. I don’t understand how you could go years being my doctor and keep that secret.” I hadn’t truly understood how upset I was until I started talking. Once the words started coming, the emotions unfurled, spinning webs of anger and sadness in my chest.
Gabriella looked heartbroken. “I’d made plans to resign. Every time I’d see your name pop up on scheduled visits, I’d tell myself it was the last time. I knew I needed to get away from you.” It seemed like she was in physical pain just thinking about it. “But each time I’d see you walk in…” She shook her head. “I couldn’t let go. It was always just enough to get me through. Seeing you alive and well. Happy. Hearing…” She swallowed hard. “Hearing you laugh? I couldn’t do it. I know it was selfish, but I can’t apologize for wanting to be near you.”
The raw emotion gave me pause. The way everything had gone down, the secret letters, the hidden envelopes, the lies, and faked death? All that had only been by necessity. Things that she’d had to do. My face softened.
Uncrossing my arms, I leaned across the table toward her. “Maybe… can we just talk a little? I don’t know. Get to know each other a little?”
A hesitant smile spread across her lips that finally broke into a bright white smile. She nodded. “I’d like that. I’d like that a lot.”
We talked for what felt like hours. I told her everything about my life through high school and college, choosing a major, moving, and buying the bar after graduation. I told her about Abi, my parents, Nico, and everyone who was in my life.
She told me about her life after leaving the pediatrician's practice. Her time on the run. She told me about her favorite books and movies. It seemed like she’d led a very solitary life. It was sad to hear that she had no close friends and had apparently never found anyone to share her life with after my father died.
I asked her about it, and she gave me a sad little shrug. “Once you’ve loved someone as deeply as I loved David… you find it hard to ever see that love in someone else. If for some reason you lost Nico, do you think you could ever love again?”
I thought about it for a moment and realized she was right. At best, I could try to find someone I was compatible with and force the feelings—trick myself into thinking it was the same, but that seemed both sad and dishonest. It wouldn’t be fair to myself, and it definitely wouldn’t be fair to the person I ended up with. I finally shook my head. “No, I guess not.”
“See? It’s difficult, but after a while, you learn to get used to being alone.”
“What about Kenneth?” I said, remembering the way he’d talked about her. He’d betrayed me, yes, but I still felt that deep down, he was a better person than the one he’d shown.
My mother shook her head once. “I hadn’t seen him in years. I didn’t trust him anymore. I disappeared from him as well. As much as he helped me and worked to keep me safe and hidden…” she trailed off and shook her head absently. “He always looked at me like he wanted something more. There was always this hunger in his eyes. You're a woman, and you knowwhat I’m talking about. That look some men get when they’re thinking about the things they want to do to you in the dark?”
I nodded. Unfortunately, I did. There were always a few of those guys hanging around the bar, pushing women to give them their number, cajoling them for a dance, never taking no for an answer even though everybody and their brother could read the signs and feel the vibe. It was an unfortunate reality. It was sad that ten or fifteen percent of men could be like that and help ruin the reputation of the other ninety percent of their sex.
“Don’t get me wrong,” Gabriella went on. “I don’t think he would have acted on that. Not in a million years, but it always made me nervous. He was also so obsessed with shifters. He told me once that he’d give anything to become one—to finally inherit this ancient birthright. I worried he might do something crazy to achieve those goals.”
I told her about what happened at his cabin in Europe, including his death. The look on her face was a strange combination of sadness, acceptance, and irritation. She tapped her nails on the table and sighed unhappily. “I’m not surprised. It’s exactly what I feared.”
“He was in love with you. Even before David died.”
“Again, not surprised. As I said, I always had a feeling. It’s been over ten years since I had any dealings with him. I hope he’s at least resting in peace now.”
“Yeah,” I mumbled, not knowing what else to say.
Gabriella looked me dead in the eyes, her voice suddenly hard and serious. “Maddy, I know why we’re here.”
“I figured you did. Not hard to put the pieces together.”
“No matter what happens, Maddy. Do not do it. Don’t give them what they want.”
The door behind me burst open. I jumped in my seat and yelped in surprise. The guard stomped over and grabbed Gabriella by the arm, his free hand grabbing a handful of hairand yanking her from her seat. “I think that’s about enough talking.” He grunted as he pulled her toward the door.
She twisted and fought against him, finally looking back at me. “I didn’t do all those things just for you to sacrifice yourself.”
“Shut the fuck up,” the guard hissed. He yanked harder on her hair, dragging her toward the door.
Frozen, I watched the struggle as he pulled her, inch by inch, toward the door. He had her halfway out when my mother called out one final message to me. “I’d die happy as long as you live, Maddy. I love you! Wake up. You have to wake up!”
The door slammed behind them, and I was left in silence. Her last words echoed in my mind. Several minutes later, a new guard came and escorted me back to my cell. I walked in a daze. Were they killing her? Was Viola murdering her while I sat on my cot? And what did she mean by her final message? Wake up? I was awake. I already knew what the royals wanted. I’d figured out the whole conspiracy and knew what the final plan was. What did she mean? I sat there for hours, thinking about all we’d talked about and trying not to imagine what was happening to her.
