I don’t have time to explain to Gabe that Celia is behaving suicidal; my only thought is to get to her. If my brother has indeed put her through God knows what terror, and I’m sure he must have because I know what David was capable of, then I have to go to her. I have to stop her before she does something drastic. I would never be able to forgive myself if something happened to her and I did not prevent it.

Aaliya

“HE WENT TO HER, DIDN’T he?” Fear claws through me like a wild animal in pain when Gabriel returns alone without Damien.

I hold my face in my hands. “This is why I want to tell him. This is why he needs to know about me.” I lift my head and my gaze narrows at Gabe sitting beside me. “I’m done listening to you. If I had told him already who I am, he would never have gone to her. This is all on you!”

Gabe bangs his fist on the table, rattling the glasses. “You wouldn’t have been able to stop him from going to her, no matter what you told him. You see, he has forgotten you, but he knows her. Several years ago, he was in love with her. So, while he may not have the same emotion for her now, whatever he feels for her is more than what he feels for you at this time.”

His cruel words hit me straight in the chest. A tear slips down my cheek and I brush it away. But once the flood starts it doesn’t stop and the tears keep falling.

Gabriel draws his chair closer to mine. He hands me a glass of water that I accept. “I’m sorry Aaliya. I’m as helpless as you are.”

“You and I both know what she wants from him and tonight, she may finally succeed in getting it. How am I supposed to go on Gabe, knowing my husband maybe in bed with another woman? What if he’s still in love with her?”

He sighs and points to the glass of water. I gulp it down and compose myself as best as I can. Gabe settles the bill and we leave.

We exchange no words on the car ride back to my place.

“I need to tell him everything, Gabriel,” I say when the car stops in front of my apartment. “It can’t continue like this. I can show him pictures of us, of Rian. Even if he doesn’t remember, he has to believe.”

Gabriel puffs out a sharp breath and holds out his phone to me. “This was the last message he sent me before his accident,” he says. He clicks on his phone and I hear Gabriel’s voice, followed by a beep. And then Damien’s voice comes across on the speaker.