The breath seemed to have solidified in her throat. “Found out?”
“About you.”
She blinked, hoping she sounded suitably surprised, but inside she was shaking. “Me?”
“Yes. And it was something very, very interesting.”
Dear Lord, could Keiran know?
“Really?” she said, leaning back in her chair. She wouldn’t…couldn’t…let him see how fast her heart was thumping in her chest.
“I took one of your friends out to dinner.”
Oh God.
She arched a brow. “One of my friends?”
“Simone.”
As casually as she could, she managed to shrug. “Simone isn’t really a friend of mine. I worked with her, that’s all.”
“Well, give the woman a bit of attention and she was happy to tell me all about you.”
All?
Ignoring him, Gabrielle sat straighter in her chair and looked down at her paperwork, poised to write. Anything but let him see how afraid she was. “There’s nothing to tell.”
“Come on, Gabrielle,” he scoffed. “You sit there looking all innocent, but underneath you have a dirty little secret.”
Her head snapped up. “I don’t know what you mean.”
“You were in a car accident.”
He knew.
Dear God, he knew.
“Tell me something I don’t know,” she scoffed back.
“You were pregnant.” He paused for effect. “You lost the baby.”
She swallowed hard. “I still don’t know what you’re talking about, Keiran,” she said, but her voice wobbled and gave her away.
Keiran’s eyes lit with a sick sort of triumph. “I wonder if that new husband of yours would be interested in all this? He thinks he’s got a saint for a wife.”
She squared her shoulders. “I never claimed to be a saint, Keiran.”
“So you don’t think he’d be interested in knowing you had an affair and carried another man’s child?”
Her head reeled back. So he didn’t know it was Damien’s child. She wasn’t sure right now if that was a good or a bad thing. And what did it matter, anyway? He was determined to destroy her.
“I see that got your attention,” he drawled.
Needing to do something, she got to her feet and walked over to the window. “What do you want?” she said, keeping her back to him, looking out through the glass but seeing nothing.
“So you’re admitting you were pregnant?”
She stiffened but didn’t turn around. “I can’t very well deny it, can I?”
“No, you can’t.”
All at once she’d had enough. This was her cousin doing this to her, for heaven’s sake. How dare he threaten her in this way!
She spun around and glared at him. “Blackmail really is an ugly word, Keiran. It suits you.”
“Sticks and stones,” he mocked. Then his face turned deadly serious. “I tell you what I want. I’ll give you one week. One week until your father gets home and is on the mend properly, then I want you to pack up and leave. For good this time.”
She felt the blood drain from her face. “Wh-what?”
“You’ll tell Damien you made a mistake, and you’ll tell your folks you really couldn’t put their past behind you. And you’ll sign over twenty percent of your shares to me and tell everyone you think I’m the best man for the job. Then you get the hell out of our lives for good. I intend to take over again and I will. By the time Russell is better, this company will be well and truly under my control.”
Despair cut the air from her lungs. “You’re crazy.”
“Yes, but I’ll be rich and crazy.”
“You have money now.”
“Not like dear ol’ Uncle Russell,” he derided. “See, I want it all. Every single cent. Every bit of power.” He puffed up his chest. “People will respect me from now on.”
She realized that was the one thing no one had ever given him. Respect. But then, respect had to be earned. And this man didn’t ever have a chance of that happening.
She tried to remain calm. Call his bluff. “I wonder what your parents will say if I tell them what you’re doing?”
His eyes flared with anger. “Don’t even try it, Gabrielle,” he warned through gritted teeth.
“Why not? I could go see them and tell them everything. I’m sure they’d be very interested.” Her father’s brother, Evan, and his wife, Karen, had always supported their son in all his endeavors, yet Gabrielle had sensed a deep disappointment in them. She didn’t think what she had to say would surprise them at all.
Keiran’s anger disappeared, replaced by a coldness that chilled her to the bone. “Oh, but then I’d have to tell yours all about you and your sordid past, wouldn’t I? How do you think your father will take the news that his precious daughter isn’t as precious as he thinks? Do you think it’ll upset him? Perhaps even bring on another stroke?” His lips twisted at her gasp. “You have a lot more to lose than I do, coz.”
She expelled a defeated breath. He was right. No matter what, Keiran would bounce back even if it meant sacrificing his relationship with his parents.
She and her parents, on the other hand…
“Please leave,” she said, walking to the door and opening it.
Insolently he stood up and walked toward her. “One week, Gabrielle,” he whispered when he reached her. Then he saw Cheryl at her desk in the other office, and he smiled at Gabrielle as he picked up her hand and kissed the back of it. “And then it’s bye-bye,” he murmured.
Gabrielle winced with pain, not just in her heart but physical pain. He was squeezing the inside of her wrist with his other hand, hurting her. She tried to tug away but he held on a moment more, digging his fingers in while looking at her with eyes that blazed a shocking hatred.
“Don’t forget what’s at stake here,” he reminded her.
She angled her chin at him, determined not to let him see her cower. “I won’t forget,” she said pointedly. She’d never forget, nor forgive him, for this.
His smirk acknowledged her comment, and finally he dropped her hand and said nothing more. She had to stop herself from rubbing her tenderized skin. She wouldn’t give him that satisfaction.