The Millionaire's Arranged Marriage (13 page)

CHAPTER 25

Tyson

- - -

Tyson paced the
deck, waiting for Gabrielle to come home. Heshan left a few minutes ago after spilling the beans about Gabrielle’s plans. It bothered Tyson that she’d kept her dinner with Dilvan a secret.

Was it any of his business what Gabrielle was doing?

He thought so. He cared for her and had been taking care of her for three and a half months. He was falling for her. Even before the kiss they shared this morning, he thought about what it would be like to make her his woman. And he had a serious dislike of Dilvan.

If he touched a
single hair on her head...

Tyson
watched as taxi pulled up next to his car. Gabrielle emerged from the back seat.

As he watched her climb the stairs
to the deck, he wondered if that’s why she dressed so nice today and why she had her hair straightened – because she was going to see Dilvan tonight.

“Hey,” he told her. “Why didn’t you call me? I told you I would come and pick you up?”

“It’s okay. You do enough for me already, Tyson.”

Tyson’s jaw tightened a
s he followed her in the house. “So how did it go today?” he managed to force out.

“It went well.”

Tyson frowned, watching her take a bottle of water from the fridge. He wanted her to tell him about her dinner with Dilvan without having to ask about it. Why was she being secretive?

“So
is everything going well with the fall garden plans?” he inquired.

“Yep...
perfect.” Gabrielle took a sip of water. “The students are really excited about it.”

He fi
nally caught her eyes, shooting her an intense glare.

“Is something wrong?” she asked him.

He shrugged. “You tell me.”

She looked puzzled
. “O-kay, I’m going to head to bed.”

T
yson’s anger intensified when he watched her walk away. He cared for this woman, and she was having dinner with Dilvan behind his back. As much as he liked Gabrielle, he wouldn’t stand in her way if she really wanted to be with Dilvan.

CHAPTER 26

Gabrielle

- - -

I feel exceptionally
well this morning. Meeting with Dilvan last night made me realize how much I don’t miss him, how much I could care less about him and how grateful I am to be living here with Tyson. I’d intended on telling Tyson that I’d met with Dilvan last night, but I was so exhausted, I just wanted to go to bed.

* * *

It’s a little after ten this morning and the aroma of coffee has me getting out of bed. I shower quickly and while I’m standing under the running water, it occurs to me that I’d totally forgotten to set my alarm for 4:00 a.m., which means I missed my morning run with Tyson.

Ugh...

I love spending time running with him in the mornings and I could beat myself up for not setting my alarm.
I hate myself right now.

When I make it downstairs, I see Tyson sitting on the couch sipping on his coffee, atypical for him. He’s usually in the kitchen,
perched on a barstool with his laptop in front of him or busy cooking something. Today, he’s comfortable in the living room and he looks troubled, the same way he looked last night as if something is bothering him.

“
Hey, did you go jogging this morning?” I ask, standing at the bottom of the staircase.

“Yeah, I did.”

“I forgot to set my alarm. Why didn’t you wake me up at four?”

He shrugs. “I figured you didn’t want to join me, so I went alone
.”

“Why would you think I didn’t want to join you?” I ask, lightheartedly, because now I know something is wrong. I’m not sure what’s wrong, but I know Tyson has an issue
with me. He’s never been so flippant and standoffish with me.

“Well, you haven’t forgotten to set your alarm before. But last night, for some reason, your mind was elsewhere.”

“Tyson—”

“It’s cool. Don’t stress yourself over it. I
’m kinda glad I went alone because it gave me time to think.” He takes a sip of coffee and sets his mug on the table.

I sigh.
“Okay, did I do something to you?”

“Where were you last night, Gabrielle?”

I walk around the coffee table and sit on the couch with just enough space separating us to have a conversation. “That’s what I meant to tell you...I met with Dilvan last night.”

“You mean you had dinner with Dilvan last night.”

I shake my head. “No. Dilvan
asked
me to dinner to discuss some things with me, but I didn’t eat with him. I just wanted to hear what he had to say.”

“Why?
After everything he put you through, why meet him for dinner, Gabrielle?”

Tyson is upset.
I don’t recall ever seeing him this way, but I can see the anger in his clenched jaw.

“
Tyson, you told me I needed to talk to him.”

“Yeah, and I also told you I would come with you in case Dilvan tried to hurt you.”

“I knew he wasn’t going to try to hurt me.”

Tyson stood up and, “Oh, and you know this how?
Since you’ve known him, all he ever did was hurt you and now, all of a sudden, you trust him.”

“No, Tyson! I don’t trust him. I just went to see what he had to say.”

“And what was that? That he loves you. That he’s sorry, and he hopes you’ll go back to his torture chamber so you two can live happily ever after?”

I shake my head. He’s being irrational now and I know
nothing I say is going to calm him down.

“You still love him, don’t you?” he asks me. “That’s why you didn’t tell me you were going to meet him. You love him.”

“No, I don’t!”

“Well, I think you do. Who am I to stand in the way of you and your relationship with him?”

“Tyson...”

“Here,” he says, handing me a small, brown envelope. “I took the libe
rty of finding you an apartment, and I paid the lease up for a year.”

“Tyson
, why—”

“Heshan is going to come over here to help you move your things.”

I don’t believe what I’m hearing. What happened to the rational Tyson? The one who let me get a word in? The one who enjoyed spending time with me? Now he’s forcing me to move.

“Tyson, why are you doing this?”

“Because you need this, Gabrielle,” he says, heading for the front door.

“No, I—”

“I’m on my way to Padma’s restaurant,” he says, opening the door. “See you around.”

He
closes the door behind him and now I’m sitting here wondering what just happened. I offended him by agreeing to meet with Dilvan, that much is obvious, but I didn’t think he would take such drastic measures and kick me out of his house.

Tears fall from my eyes as
I think about this. I love staying here with him. Over the course of these last three and a half months, I grew close to Tyson, and the feelings I have for him all came to a culmination this morning, when we shared a kiss. Now, I feel like we’re breaking up, even though we weren’t even officially together. He wants me to be happy...says he’s doing this for me.

I dry my eyes and run back upstairs to my room.
Maybe this is for the best
, I tell myself. Life is all about learning lessons and this journey for me – this arranged marriage to Dilvan, living through his abuse, then seeing firsthand how good a man like Tyson treats women, has opened my eyes.

I know now that abuse does not, and is not, equal to love. I know that I cannot measure my worth by the things a man, or anyone else fo
r that matter, says to me. Self-worth and self-acceptance starts within. And lastly, thanks to Tyson, I know that good men really do exist in this world. When I’m mentally prepared for it, love will find me, but before that happens, I must do the difficult task of finding myself.

~ To Be Continued ~

Look for Book 2,
Watch Me Take Your Girl, (The Alexanders),
coming June 2014.

Also, check out these titles:

Accidental D
eception, The Accidental Series, Book 1

Accidental He
artbreak, The Accidental Series, Book 2

Accidenta
l Lovers, The Accidental Series, Book 3

What Donovan Wants, The Accidental Series, Book 4

Dying To Love Her

Dying To Love Her 2

Secrets On Lake Drive

Can’t Just Be His Friend

The Baby Daddy Interviews

Just Like New to the Next Man

Vacation Interrupted

The Crush

For more information about the author
and upcoming releases, visit her website at
www.tinamartin.net
.

Dying To Love Her, Part 2
is now available! If you read Part 1, you definitely do not want to miss this.

What would a man do for the woman he loves?

In Ava, Andre Rockwell has found the woman of his dreams. Nevermind the fact she’s sick with a life-threatening heart condition. He loves her dearly and does everything in his power to prove that love

When Ava packs her bags and leaves unexpectedly, it throws a wrench in their perfect Florida life together. However, she’s not aware of how deeply Andre loves her. Soon, she’ll discover how it feels to be loved unconditionally by a man who would risk it all for her.

Dying To Love Her 2
is the sequel to
Dying to Love Her
. It’s a story that will pull at your heart strings and make you a believer in true love.