The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 138

He pulled her farther away from the banquet with a stare of disbelief. "Are you out of your mind? Avery is my sister!"

"You and her don’t share any blood ties. If something were to happen between you two, people would only judge until they realize you are not really siblings. It wouldn’t be incest." She stopped speaking when she saw Gabriel’s horrified face. He looked like he was going to lose his lunch if they continued talking about it.

Even if he was denying it in pretense, he wouldn’t be so disgusted by the idea of it. She felt stupid for asking. "I’m sorry. Dominic said..."

"Dominic is an asshole. Don’t get me wrong. Avery is a kind woman. She’s the only family I have. But thinking of her as anything aside from my sister and Angel as anything if not my nephew..." His face scrunched. "Do we have to talk about this?"

"No." She smiled and took his hand. " I didn’t ruin our wedding banquet, did I?" She sheepishly tugged his arm.

"If that was what you were trying, you are in for a rude shock, woman. You are already my wife. You can’t escape from that." He pulled her into his arms. Embracing her for a while, he slid his hand over her belly. Her bump might be a little curve that could still go unnoticed under most of her choices of clothing but it carried the world inside it.

"I can’t wait to meet our baby." He said.

"Me either." She had the urge to rest her head against his body so she did. If anyone ever told her she would fall in love with one of Olphire’s most narcissistic playboys, she would have laughed in their face. Yet here she was, hugging Gabriel Vaillant and swaying to nonexistent music with him as they inwardly counted the days left until they could meet their bundle of joy.

Said playboy had his hand over hers, with his lips against her neck, kissing softly once in a while. If he was merely taking her for a ride—as she thought he was when she got involved with him—he would have long run for the hills. Yet here she was, a husband and a father. It was barely believable.

"If this is a dream, don’t wake me up." She muttered.

He chuckled softly against her neck. "You don’t have to worry about that. I don’t want to wake up either. We can dream together forever."

_____

Avery had wanted to keep the peace for a while but she couldn’t take it anymore. She thought back to when Eloise left and decided the woman couldn’t have gone far. Not if she wanted to stall in the hope that Mina would acknowledge her anyway, and a woman as deluded as Eloise would definitely have that kind of thought.

She searched around and decided Eloise would have exited the banquet hall, so she slipped out, making sure Damon didn’t see her. She still had her bracelet in case, but how dangerous could a fraud be?

She looked around outside, saw no one, and considered which detour to take and was yet to make her decision when a chuckle came from behind her.

"Looking for me?"

Eloise was behind her, arms crossed as though she was ready for whatever confrontation came her way.

Avery shrugged. "You are quite smart, El. You know right when to show yourself."

"Whatever it is you are looking for, you will never find it." Eloise warned.

"Oh, you have no damn idea." Avery felt her insides tingling. She had not been certain what she wanted when she came out seeking Eloise but now that the woman was before her, she knew what she wanted—to kill her. To strangle the life out of her with her bare hands. She didn’t think she was a psycho but lay your fingers on a child and watch its mother turn into a wounded lion.

"Maybe we can go somewhere more private and talk?" Eloise nodded towards the street. There was a surveillance camera right above them. "If I were to accidentally snap your neck in half, I wouldn’t want to leave evidence behind."

Avery smiled. "What a coincidence. I don’t want to be seen killing you either."

Eloise walked past her with a smile, smiling when they were side by side. "The Romanos’ old lair. See you there tomorrow."

"Wait." Avery spoke up.

"Are you such a chicken?" Eloise huffed.

"Just a smart woman. Do you think I would enter a place I know nothing about? It could be rigged for all I know. I want you to come to Damon’s house...for a cup of tea at 11am tomorrow."

"And I should be the dumb woman who enters the enemy’s cave without knowing what wolves hide in the shadows." Eloise nearly scoffed.

"You can always bring your own wolves along if you trust them enough to have them keep you safe." She shrugged and walked back to the banquet hall, letting Eloise decide what to do. All she knew was that if the woman did have enough balls to show up, she would leave without one leg.

_____

"There you are. Goodness, I nearly turned the banquet hall upside down looking for you" Mina pulled her by the wrist when she finally saw her.

"You were looking for me?" Avery was puzzled, making Mina roll her eyes.

"I was looking for my maid of honor. Anyone seen her? She’s a pretty blue-eyed blonde."

Avery chuckled. "You’re being dramatic. Is it time?"

When Mina nodded, she realized it was time for speeches. Mina and Gabriel went first, going back and forth flattering each other and expressing their love. When it was Avery’s turn, she pretended to gag at their cheesy display of affection and sent the guests reeling in laughter.

"A moment ago, I didn’t really know who I was here as." She started her speech when the banquet hall quietened down. "It’s a hard decision to make considering the groom is my brother and the bride is my best friend. But as soon as I got here, I figured out, why can’t I be on my family’s side? By my family, I mean both Gabriel and Mina—and my nephew or niece." The guests already knew Mina was pregnant, so she mentioned it freely.

"Mina has been my friend for six years and while it may seem like a short time to some, it is more than enough to know that I’ll never have a friend like her. She has a heart of gold."

"I’m wounded." Mabella joked in the audience, making everyone burst into a fresh round of laughter.

Avery blew a flying kiss at her and continued, "I would say she is like a sister to me but that would not be true. She is family and I’m glad that she is. Because we are stuck together now." She glanced at Mina who looked emotional and added, "That doesn’t mean I will annoy you any less. In fact, being your sister-in-law just gave me a VIP ticket to annoy the crap out of you for all eternity. Oh, and Gabe, you better be ready to have me over as a guest every other day. Your wife and I will have a lot to gossip about you." She got down from the stage with the guests clapping and laughing at Gabriel’s predicament. Marrying your sister’s best friend was a good idea until they ganged up against you.

"She called me your wife." Mina whispered in disbelief. She’d had a few days for it to sink in but it was still unbelievable. She had never put much thought into marriage before but now that she had done it—and in such a hurry at that—she knew it was the one thing she was never going to regret.

"You better believe it, wife." He kissed her forehead then her lips, and when he had the chance, her stomach.

She rubbed his head. "I’m going to find Avery." Heaven knew the woman was up to something. She could feel it even though the latter didn’t indicate anything was wrong.

Sure enough, Avery was pacing when she finally found her. She had a glass of wine which she offered to her. "It’s non-alcoholic."

"So, grape juice?" Avery received it reluctantly.

"Apple juice."

That was worse but she took a sip.

"Something’s bothering you." Mina observed.

"Nothing, really. Aside from the fact that I’m carrying a live human inside me and it’s been a while since I did this. I’m nervous."

Mina knew she was bullshitting but she didn’t call her out on it, going along with the act for a moment.

"Actually, Avery, you already know this. You are going to be a great mother once again, and this time, an even better god-aunt."

Avery smiled through the first half—it was the best compliment anyone could ever give her—and furrowed her brows at the end. "God-aunt? Is that even a word?"

"I don’t know. I had to come up with a title for my baby’s godmother who also happens to be his or her aunt. God-aunt sounds just right. If you will accept the title, that is."

"Of course I will. It will be an honor." She hugged Mina and pulled back to down the rest of her drink.

"Yeah. You are hiding something. You know you can tell me anything, right?"

If this was a month ago, Avery would have thought twice about it. But if the last few weeks had taught her anything, it was that no relationship was perfect and obstacles didn’t need to mean the end of them. She inhaled deeply. "I’m meeting up with Eloise."