Her Premarital Ex (The Alexanders Book 3) (10 page)
Read Her Premarital Ex (The Alexanders Book 3) Online
Authors: Tina Martin
Tags: #suspense, #reflection, #true love, #unrequited love, #jealousy, #stalker, #fiction romance
“Desiree.”
Why was Desiree seeking him out? She had some nerve after what she
did to him – cheating on him with his best friend, then spreading
rumors that he’d had something to do with Dennis’
death.
“Don’t know why she’s
asking about me, but I’m glad I wasn’t here. I hate losing my
temper.”
“She asked how you
were...seemed disappointed when I told her you’d gotten
married.”
“Disappointed?”
“Yeah. She was faking like
she was happy for you, but I could tell she was upset.”
“Yeah...well, I don’t have
five words to say to her, so I hope she goes back up North and live
happily ever after.”
why’d you guys break up, anyway?”
“She was cheating on me
with my best friend and I found out about it.”
“Ouch.”
“She tried to justify the
reason she did it by telling people that I was controlling, but
yet, when we were together, she freely traveled back and forth to
Chicago for weeks at a time...but I’m controlling.”
“That’s so
typical...trying to pin the blame on you for her
actions.”
what, though...”
“What’s that?”
“I’m glad she did what she
did. I’m so happy she cheated on me.”
what?”
Tyson grinned. “Let me
explain it to you, man. You know how people say things happen for a
reason.”
Patrick
nodded.
“Well, if Desiree hadn’t
cheated on me, I would probably be married to her and miserable.
Instead, we broke up, I concentrated on my restaurants, then, to
get away from all the ATL drama she kicked up, I relocated to North
Carolina where my aunt introduced me to the woman I was supposed to
be with from the start. My soulmate.”
“Gabrielle.”
“Yep. Gabrielle. She’s all
the woman I’ll ever need for the rest of my life and
beyond.”
“Crazy how things work
themselves out.”
“Yes it is.”
“Meant to tell you the
reception was beautiful, man,” Patrick said. “Ain’t nothing like
black love and Gabrielle is a sweetheart.”
“Yes she is. That’s why I
love her. She’s certainly made me a better man. She’s the type of
woman that makes me
want
to be a better man.”
“I hear that. That’s what
I’m looking for.”
“Keep looking, brother.
She’s out there, and when you find her, trust me, you’ll
know.”
“Yeah...that’s what
everyone tells me.”
“This
day flew by really, really
fast,” Lalita said, finishing a cup of green tea.
a table in The Blue Room again, chatting after they’d enjoyed
dinner.
“Sure did,” Padma said.
“Did you ladies enjoy yourselves?”
“Yep,” Gabrielle answered.
“Very informational. I got enough notes to write a
book.”
grinned.
“The food service industry
seems very complex,” Gabrielle continued. “Requires a lot of hard
work and dedication.”
“Yes ma’am it does as I’m
sure your husband can attest to,” Padma said.
works very hard to keep his restaurants profitable.”
“Yes, he does.”
“So are we going
sightseeing since this is our last night here?” Lalita
asked.
“Not me,” Gabrielle said.
“I’m pooped. I need some sleep...think I’ll call my hubby and relax
for a bit.”
“All right,” Padma said.
“Lalita and I will walk around for a while, then.”
“Okay. Have fun guys,”
Gabrielle said, getting up from the table.
out, too.
Gabrielle browsed around
the first floor of the hotel before deciding to go up to her room.
She made her way back to the pool, noticing a few people swimming
tonight. She walked towards the water, sat down, took off her
sandals and after pulling her dress up a little so as not to get it
wet, she immersed her feet in the water.
Ah, how
relaxing
.
thought of Tyson. She would call him as soon as she was in her
room. She was ready to be home with him, to be cuddled with him in
bed and hear his voice; his sweet whispers while they held each
other. A chill shimmied up her spine thinking about it, and an
anticipatory smile came to her face.
She looked towards the
door and saw Dilvan approaching with a tray of wine and two
glasses.
Ugh. Not
again
. The smile quickly disappeared from
her face and she looked away from him, staring at her feet in the
water instead.
“Thought I’d find you in
here,” he said.
word. She was too busy trying to ignore him because something about
his presence didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel right yesterday and
it didn’t feel right today.
“Dilvan, what do you
want?”
“Just thought that since
we made some progress yesterday, we should celebrate.”
We made some progress
because I shook your hand?
“No thank you,”
Gabrielle replied.
“Oh, come on,” he said,
handing her a glass. “Here....just a few sips.”
reluctantly took the glass from his grasp. She took a sip and
asked, “What kind of wine is this?”
“Red Moscato. It’s sweet,
like you. You like it?”
“Yeah. Pretty good,” she
replied, ignoring his compliment and enjoying the wine
instead.
“Good,” he said, glad to
hear her say she liked it because that meant she hadn’t noticed
he’d altered it a bit. If she drank only half of the wine in her
glass, it would be enough to render her unconscious for hours.
Dilvan couldn’t believe he’d stoop so low but it was the only way
to get close to her, as close as he wanted to be.
“Where’s my Mother and
Lalita?” he asked as if he hadn’t known. He’d watched them at
dinner and saw Lalita head out the front entrance of the restaurant
with his mother.
“Um,” Gabrielle said
blinking twice. All of a sudden her vision was blurry.
“Um...uh...they...um...they went sightseeing.” She sloshed the wine
around in her glass and took another sip.
“You didn’t want to go
with them?”
“No,” she said, placing
her hand on her forehead, trying to steady herself because she felt
dizzy all of a sudden. “I’m going to call...to call...um...call
Tyson and go to bed. I feel so sleepy all of a sudden.”
stand, but was so dizzy, she couldn’t catch her balance. And why
was the room spinning?
“Gabrielle, are you okay?”
Dilvan asked.
“Yeah. I’m...I’m fine,”
she slurred, then rested her head on his shoulder.
“Let’s get you to your
room, sweetie,” he said, standing. Leaving the wine bottles and
glasses by the pool, he helped Gabrielle to her feet, holding her
up by using his right arm as a brace around her, and holding her
small handbag in his left hand.
the eleventh floor, removed her keycard from her purse and unlocked
the door while trying to hold her up at the same time. Having seen
the green entry light flash, he turned the knob, pushed the door
open and carried her to one of the queen beds, laying her
unconscious body there. Then he went back to the door, secured the
latch just in case Lalita came back earlier than he expected her
to.
He walked over to the bed
and got a closer look, staring at Gabrielle as if he was admiring a
fine piece of art. He released a deep sigh, then leaned over her,
coming face-to-face with her, stealing a kiss from her lips. He
broke away from her lips to study her features again – her dainty
nose, high cheekbones, her chocolate skin that he now appreciated,
and the gorgeous head of hair that he drowned his fingers
in.
“You’re so beautiful,
Gabrielle,” he said as if she could hear him speak; as if she was
alert instead of unconscious.
eye. What was he doing? He told his mother that he was making
changes? How could drugging Gabrielle be a change for the
better?
He sniffled and tried to
get his emotions in check. With his face pressed against hers, he
kissed her again, still telling her how much he loved her. “I know
I messed up,” he whispered in her ear. “All I want is a second
chance to make things right, to prove my love to you,
baby.”
Obsessed. That was the
only way to describe his behavior, but he didn’t care at the
moment. The truth of the matter was, Dilvan hadn’t been able to
accept the fact that Gabrielle had moved on, married his cousin and
was living a happy life. He was still in love with her and the fact
that she belonged to someone else angered him. But tonight, right
at this moment, she was his possession, and he would make the most
out of every second.
Lalita
had just gotten off the elevator, headed to the room to
prepare for bed. Sightseeing had been an adventure for her,
especially since this was her first time visiting Chicago. Now, she
only wanted to call Prasad, check on the kids, take a shower and
sleep.
corner, she saw Dilvan carefully pulling the door closed to her
room, then walking the opposite direction down the hallway. He
hadn’t seen her approaching the room, and she was glad he hadn’t,
but her heart pounded with each step she took to the room. She was
thoroughly confused. What on earth was he doing leaving their room?
Was he secretly seeing Gabrielle? Had Gabrielle been cheating on
Tyson with Dilvan? Would Gabrielle do something like that to
Dilvan?
With a trembling,
unsteady hand, she opened the door in a hurry, ready to confront
Gabrielle and get some answers. When she stepped further into the
room, she noticed Gabrielle wasn’t lying on the bed she’d slept on
yesterday. Instead, she was lying on her bed instead.
“Hey, Gabrielle, why are
you on my bed and why on earth did Dilvan Alexander just leave this
room?” Lalita asked with a hand on her hip, ready to confront
her.
responded.
Lalita walked over to her
instead, shook her and said, “Gabrielle, what’s going
on?”
Gabrielle still didn’t
wake up. She didn’t make a sound or anything related to
such.
Lalita snapped.
“Gabrielle!” She shook her, trying to wake her up.
Still
nothing.
Now she was starting to
worry. She could see that Gabrielle was breathing but she was
completely unconscious. Then it dawned on her…
Lalita’s lips
trembled.
“Gabrielle, wake up!” She
shook her more, but Gabrielle still didn’t open her
eyes.
bathroom, wet a towel with cold water and dabbed it on Gabrielle’s
face. She’d heard the stories about what Dilvan had done to
Gabrielle in the past, but drugging her was a new low. Is that what
happened here? She wanted to think otherwise, that this was just
some misunderstanding, but when things are laid out this plainly,
she couldn’t ignore the fact that the obvious had
happened.
Her eyes brimmed with
tears. “Dilvan, what have you done? What have you done? What have
you done?” she mumbled, lying next to Gabrielle, not sure if she
should call Padma, the police or Tyson. For now, she decided to
hold Gabrielle in her arms, continue dabbing her with the towel and
stay by her side wishing she hadn’t gone sightseeing with Padma.
She should’ve stayed here. If she had, none of this would’ve ever
happened.
Chapter 18
Lalita
woke up to the sound of the shower. Gabrielle was up. Her
suitcase was on the bed. She’d already been packing.
Was she okay? Could she
recall anything from last night?
Lalita
had so many questions for her.
shower, dried off, dressed and stepped out of the bathroom to an
opened mouth, disturbed Lalita.
Gabrielle giggled.
“What’s wrong with you, girl?”
Lalita frowned.
“Gabrielle, are you okay?” she asked, concerned.
Gabrielle smiled. “Yeah.
I’m fine...felt a little dizzy in the shower but other than that
I’m good. Hey, why were you sleeping in my bed last
night?”
Lalita frowned again. “Why
was I sleeping in
your
bed? You were in my bed when I came back from sightseeing. Do
you remember anything from last night?”
“Um...yeah. I went to the
pool for a few, saw Dilvan down there. He offered me some wine and
then I went to bed.”
