Chapter 121 The truth
Melissa’s POV
My fist slammed into the table.
The sound echoed through Marcus’s office. Papers scattered. A coffee mug rattled dangerously close to the edge.
Marcus didn’t even blink. Just looked at me with that maddeningly blank expression he always wore.
“Where is he?”
“Who?” Marcus asked calmly.
I leaned across the table until we were eye level. “Where. Is. My. Gavin.”
“Miss Hayes…”
“He’s been hiding for two days.” My voice cracked slightly. I hated that it did. “He’s not picking up my calls. Not answering my messages. I’ve been everywhere. His office. The arena. Even checked the club. Nothing.”
Marcus’s expression didn’t change. “Mr. Cross asked to be left alone for a few days. He just needs some time to rest. Once he comes back…”
“Don’t give me that corporate bullshit, Marcus.” I straightened up. “Something’s wrong. I know something’s wrong. He doesn’t just disappear like this. Not from me.”
“Melissa.” Marcus’s tone softened slightly. “He asked specifically not to be disturbed. When he’s ready…”
A door opened behind me. I spun around.
Gavin walked out of the back conference room, talking to someone. A very beautiful woman with dark hair, wearing a very expensive suit. She was laughing at something he’d said.
And Gavin was smiling. Not his public smile. A soft, genuine smile.
My heart cracked. He’d been here the whole time. With her. While ignoring every call and text from me.
“Gavin,” I said.
My voice came out calmer than I felt. It was steady and cold.
Gavin’s head snapped toward me. The smile disappeared from his face instantly.
For a second, he just stared. Like he’d seen a ghost.
The woman beside him looked between us, sensing the tension. “I’ll call you later, Mr. Cross,” she said quickly before disappearing down the hallway.
Gavin walked toward me slowly.
“Melissa…”
“Come here,” I said.
He stopped a few feet away. Close enough to touch. Far enough to feel like a canyon between us.
“Melissa, please go home first.” His voice was quiet. “When I get back, we can talk.”
“My love, what’s going on?” I stepped closer to him. “Please talk to me. I know something is wrong. You’ve been avoiding me.”
“Melissa, piccola.” He took a step back. Away from me. “Please. Just go home.”
“Gavin…”
“I have committed a very big sin.” His voice dropped to barely above a whisper. He switched to Italian. “E non posso affrontarti ora, mia dea.” And I cannot face you now, my goddess.
“What does that mean?” My throat was tight. “Gavin, what sin? What are you talking about?”
His expression changed. Hardened.The warmth that was always there when he looked at me…gone.
Replaced by a colder more distant look, like I was just a stranger.
“Please. Just. Go. Home.”
The last three words came out with that aura. That death aura he used on enemies. On people who threatened him or his empire.
Never on me. Never once on me.
Fear shot down my spine. It was cold abd paralyzing. I took a step back. Then another.
Gavin didn’t move. Just stood there with that terrifying expression.
Like I was a stranger.
Like I was a threat.
Like I was nothing.
I turned and ran like a coward.
———
The elevator ride down felt like it took hours.
My hands were shaking. My chest was tight
What sin?
What had he done that was so terrible he couldn’t face me?
Why had he looked at me like that?
Like he didn’t love me anymore.
The car service Gavin always insisted on was waiting outside. The driver opened the door without a word.
I climbed in. Gave him the address to the penthouse.
Then I pressed my face into my hands and tried not to cry.
Something was wrong. Something was very, very wrong. And Gavin wouldn’t tell me what it was.
The penthouse was quiet when I walked in.
I dropped my bag by the door. And Kicked off my shoes massaging my shoulders.
“Jason?” I called out, even though I knew he wasn’t here. He was never home by this time.
Silence.
I walked through the living room. Everything was exactly as I’d left it this morning. Then I saw something on the floor near the hallway.
Clothes. A jacket and a shirt. Men’s clothes.
My irritation flared immediately.
“Jason,” I muttered. “Are you fucking kidding me right now?”
He’d brought someone here. To the penthouse. To fuck again, I remember how traumatized I was the first time I saw him fuck someone.
Of course he had. Because Jason did whatever Jason wanted without thinking about anyone else.
I marched toward his room, ready to tell him to have some goddamn respect…
When a loudsound stopped me. A moan. Coming from Jason’s room.
I should have turned around. Should have gone to my own room and put in headphones and pretended I hadn’t heard anything.
But something about that voice…
It was familiar.
I walked closer to Jason’s door. It was slightly ajar.
Another moan. Louder this time.
My hand pushed the door open before I could stop myself.
And I saw them.
Jason. Shirtless. Behind a woman bent over his bed.
The woman’s red hair was spread across the sheets.
Her face was turned slightly to the side.
And I recognized her immediately.
“Jesus Christ,” I breathed.
My mother.
My mother was in Jason’s bed.
Being fucked from behind by Gavin’s son.
Everything stopped.
My heart. My breath. Time itself.
Diana’s eyes opened. Met mine across the room.
For one horrible, endless second, we just stared at each other.
Then she gasped. “Melissa…”
Jason’s head snapped around. His eyes went wide.
“Fuck,” he said.
I couldn’t move. Couldn’t speak. Couldn’t process what I was seeing.
My mother.
Jason.
Together.
Like this.
“Melissa, wait…” Diana tried to pull away from Jason, reaching for something to cover herself.
I turned and ran.
Again.
For the second time today, I was running away from something I couldn’t understand.
Behind me, I heard Diana calling my name. Heard Jason cursing. I heard them scrambling.
I didn’t stop.