Chapter 15 - Gemma

Given hours to stew over what happened, my fear shifted to anger while I sat in the back of the SUV and watched as the city moved by me.

After being confronted by the Ivanovs, I didn’t tell anyone. I didn’t tell my boss, call the cops, or text Ben about it. Instead, I tried to go about my day and pretend like it never happened at all. I didn’t want it to taint my experience there or let it get in the way of my work—not when it was such a sacred thing to me.

Even if I was still feeling sick about the whole thing, aware that I had a fairly significant crime family on my back and would likely never truly be safe again, I did my best to push through. I put a brave face on and kept going.

But the moment I got in the vehicle when the driver arrived out front, that mask slipped, and I could only feel that sheer, blinding rage.

Between the fear, worry, and anger consuming me, I just wanted to scream.

After everything with Ben and the wedding, being forced to alter the article, and finding out that the Ivanovs were in fact not okay with being framed for something they didn’t do, it felt like everything was building up and up inside me, making me pressurized.

I was ready to explode, and all the way back to the house, I couldn’t think about anything else.

Finally, as the driver pulled up and I climbed out, I made my way inside, still turning over everything in my mind.

I had been through enough traumatic experiences in the last week alone, and I was tired of it. I was tired of letting Ben think that he could move me all over the chessboard as he liked.

Closing the door behind me, I moved through the kitchen, catching the smell of takeout. Normally, my stomach would’ve been growling over the aroma, but at the moment, anger had it twisted in knots.

Heading straight to the dining room on a hunch, I stopped in the doorway to find Ben sitting at the table with food spread out and waiting for me. As he met my gaze, despite his neutral expression tinged with the slightest hint of uncertainty, I snapped.

There was nothing wrong with the scene—in fact, it should’ve been a nice one for me.

But after the culmination of the week's events and having to face the Ivanov twins alone, I just couldn’t hold back anymore.

Ben’s brows pinched together as he seemed to notice my lack of warmth upon entering the room. “Gemma?”

That anger pushed to the surface, and I narrowed my eyes at him. “I need you to listen to me right now and not say a word until I’m finished. Can you do that?”

Taken aback by the force in my voice, he didn’t say anything for a moment, looking confused instead, but he gave me a simple, wordless nod. Even if he agreed to it, I could tell he wasn’t used to being pushed around like that, and he certainly wasn’t prepared to receive it from me.

“Do you want to know what happened to me at work this morning?” I asked, not waiting for any response as I felt how my blood boiled. “After I was dropped off, Alina and Adrik Ivanov cornered me in the parking garage.”

As he listened, Ben’s expression fell.

Before he could sneak a word in, I continued, “He had a gun on him, Ben. A gun—right outside my place of work. They saw the article and they’re pissed about it. They’re demanding that I scrub their name from the article and issue a statement in the paper. They know we’re married and they’re planning on using that to their advantage if I don’t meet their demands. I don’t know if you’re aware of how absolutely terrifying that is to me.”

Blinking through the remorse and guilt, Ben shook his head in disbelief. “Gemma, I didn’t realize—”

“No,” I snapped, cutting him off as I took a step closer. “I’m furious at you. I’m so angry that you put me in this position from the moment you forced my hand. You did this to me. You forced me to marry you all because of that stupid article when you could’ve just sent me off with a warning! You dragged me into this bullshit why? So that you could feel like a big man, right? Not only did you screw over the intern, but you also got hitched and managed to pin your crimes on one of your competitors. You did all of this for yourself, and didn’t stop to consider me for even a second.”

Even if his eyes were full of guilt, aware that he was at fault for my current predicament, I couldn’t give in. I needed to get everything off my chest.

I pointed a finger at him, letting that vitriolic sensation guide me. “You’re selfish, Ben. I know you don’t want to face it, but you can’t ignore that fact. You try to convince yourself that everything is fine, and you rationalize everything just so you don’t have to bear the burden of a guilty conscience. You’ve ruined everything for me, and put me in an impossible position, and trying to act like a good husband doesn’t just erase that!”

While Ben had respected my request long enough to listen to me, the latter half of my tirade made his jaw clench as he stood.

It was clear he didn’t take kindly to being spoken to in that way, but despite his visible irritation, his voice remained calm. Somehow, it still pissed me off anyway.

“I knew the Ivanovs were aware of the article, but I didn’t know they cornered you. Why didn’t you contact me?” Ben questioned, sounding genuinely surprised, and potentially even a bit worried about that idea.

“Because if I tried to contact you, I would’ve been killed before you ever made it,” I grit back through my teeth, unable to let go of that unfiltered anger just yet.

Ben sighed and looked away, scrubbing a hand down his face like he was both fighting an internal battle and trying to force back his instinct to raise his voice in return. “I wanted to talk to you about all of this anyway, I just didn’t think they had already confronted you about the article. That being said, I think it would be better if you don’t return to the office for a while.”

I flashed him an incredulous look, not believing what he was trying to say as more fury flared within me. “What? You want me to quit my internship after letting me go back for a week?”

But Ben was quick to shake his head. “No, I don’t want you to quit. But I think you should talk to your boss and see about working remotely. We can come up with some sort of excuse.”

I blinked back at him in disbelief. While the idea wasn’t a bad one, given how I was a target, it wasn’t what I wanted to hear. The suggestion was avoidant, and it still somehow managed to absolve Ben of everything he had done. Of every way he endangered me, whether he wanted to acknowledge it or not.

“I’m so tired of excuses,” I muttered, unable to temper that deep rage inside me—the embodiment of everything I had been holding back for the last week. “I’m tired of the schemes and lying. It’s gotten me in enough trouble already!”

“Gemma, I know, but—”

As he tried to take a step toward me, I took one back, unwilling to be too close to him. “No, Ben. Just because your last name gives you power and influence doesn’t mean you get to push me around and expect me to just take it. You did this to me. You made me go against my better judgment and lie just to cover your ass. You made me forgo everything I stood for. Everything!”

As much as it seemed like he wanted to shout back at me, he didn’t. Instead, Ben stood there and took it, expression unchanging. I couldn’t tell what pissed me off more—the fact that he wasn’t saying anything, or that he was allowing me to speak without interrupting.

Even if I knew that yelling at him didn’t get me anywhere, I could feel from deep within me that I just needed to let it out. I needed to release that pent-up anger I had stashed away so that I could breathe again, if even for a moment.

“It is soul-crushing to know that I have become a target in a landscape that I have no business being in, targeted by people who have no qualms about putting me down,” I managed to get out, despite how my throat began to feel raw, and I felt like I needed to sit down. “You’ve been reckless about all of this—reckless about my life, and while you can put your head in the sand as much as you want, it won’t change the fact that I’m in danger. Whether I’m at work or not, so long as they are out there, I will never be able to let my guard down again. They threatened me, Ben, and I don’t take that lightly. And now, I have a decision to make, or risk becoming their prey.”

Many thoughts flitted behind his eyes then, but still, Ben didn’t speak. Instead, his eyes betrayed his guilt and remorse, even if he was trying to hide it.

As much as I had begun trying to accept the situation he brought me into against my will, I couldn’t shake the fact that it wasn’t as easy as Ben made it out to be. As if the moment I willingly signed those legal documents and framed the Ivanovs, everything else would cease to be a problem.

That had been a false promise, too.