The Ultimate Chance-Chapter 67

Song recommendation: Liar—Hooked like Helen.

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Vaillant Telecommunications.

Seeing Mina return to her office with a file in hand was a relief. This meant the latter had uncovered Gabriel’s secrets.

It had been two days since Gabriel had insisted on meeting Angel and although nothing had gone wrong, she couldn’t help wondering how long it would be before he showed his true intentions. There was no way anyone could be such a terrifying piece of scum for years, only to turn out to be a kind soul misunderstood by everyone. That was something villains would want everyone to believe about them.

He might be able to hide his true self until it was time to strike, too late for her to stop him.

"I have good news." Mina placed the file on her desk. "For the last four years, he has pretty much been doing the same thing. Going for a run around the park in the morning, returning to his house to do heaven-knows-what, making an appearance in his company–in disguise–a few times every week, bringing a girl home once in a while and probably partying his life away."

The more she talked, the deeper Avery’s frown went. "Tell me there’s something else apart from this." She glanced at Mina.

"None. The good news is, he couldn’t have planned anything against you."

Avery didn’t think it made sense. "Even though there’s a gap in his life every day? He wasn’t up to anything good."

"Well, maybe he used that time to have meetings he doesn’t want anyone to know about.’ Mina reasoned. "If he had a married lover and spent this much time with her, he would erase traces of himself every time they saw each other–just saying."

"He would never." She instinctively defended him. Gabriel despised their mother for breaking a family apart. He would never have a relationship with a married woman.

Mina took a seat and leaned over the desk curiously. "Avery, is this man really your brother?"

"He is. Or at least that’s what I believed for years." She didn’t know what to think. "Please, don’t tell me to trust him. I don’t."

It was baffling but Mina didn’t ask for any more information. What she knew felt too much already. She had only known Avery for five years and the latter didn’t seem willing to talk about her family, but from all the information she had, she knew this was no trivial matter.

"You don’t need to trust him. However, I think you should cut him some slack."

"And give him the chance to do whatever brought him back? I’m not letting that happen!" She exclaimed.

"I understand your concern. But you really need to calm down. Not everyone intends to hurt you and your son."

"There’s no such thing as too much caution." She retorted. The fact that Gabriel could have been going somewhere every day for four years and there was no trace of it sounded as dangerous as the possibility that he could have been up to something he wanted no one to find out about.

Even so, Mina could be right. Maybe she was overthinking everything. So, after thinking about it for a while, she called the woman she didn’t think she would ever want to discuss personal problems with.

Mabella had an apointment with Angel late in the afternoon and no plans for the evening so she stayed after giving the boy his toys to play on his own. They sat at the patio soon after Avery arrived.

"You don’t need to do this if it makes you uncomfortable." She nudged Avery’s untouched smoothie before her.

"I know. It doesn’t make me uncomfortable. It just scares me to the core." She adjusted herself in her seat. "I think I’m way too paranoid."

"That’s not what I thought you were going to say. But the fact that you admitted it means a lot."

"Please don’t tell me I’m making progress." She stopped the woman from speaking. "Just tell me this. Is it plausible that I think my brother is still manipulating me?"

"That’s not what you think." Mabella disapproved of her belief. "Deep down, you know you believe him. You are starting to trust him and it scares you. Is it easier to have someone you can blame?"

She knew Mabella was a psychologist–the very reason why she had sought her–but were they supposed to read minds?

As if using her mind-reading superpower on her again, Mabella chuckled. "I just understand people’s actions. I know when someone is hiding their emotions so deep down that they end up affecting their beliefs, actions and lives." She pursed her lips at Avery’s disbelieving expression. "Angel is not unable to speak. He’s scared."

"How did you come to that conclusion?" She glanced at her son and reminded Mabella, "he’s autistic, in case you forgot. And I don’t want you to tell me things you think I want to hear. It’s not necessary."

"And he’s not non-verbal. That, and the fact that he says a word or two sometimes." Mabella ignored her rant. "I’ve done several tests on him and he is not lacking in vocabulary either. On the contrary, he understands more than kids his age do. But he’s scared if he talked too much and threw tantrums like other kids do, you wouldn’t love him as much as you do."

She was in disbelief. "Why would a five-year-old think up such a thing?"

"Why would a twenty-eight year old think the whole wants is out to crush her?" Mabella threw her question back at her, rendering her speechless.

"The point is, fear isn’t always rational. You cannot be blamed for feeling it, but you can control it."

"By letting Gabriel close to my son?" She was starting to regret opening up about this.

Mabella’s take was unexpected. "Not that. By letting him help you. You are scared because if you believe he is innocent, it would mean your true enemy might still be lurking." She assessed.

"Are you kidding me?" She shuddered. Someone should have warned her that Mabella saw through her patients like open books.

"But if he is as terrifying as you make him sound, he would know how to find the true culprit–which might be one of the things he has been working on all these years."

She nodded in understanding. Mabella wasn’t wrong.

"Would you like to schedule another session?" Mabella asked when her phone chimed to remind her of the time.

"No." Avery immediately refused. "It’s not that you’re a bad shrink. On the contary, you’re great. I’m just not ready to be assessed with such clarity." Especially not by the sister of the man she was sleeping with, she added mentally, moments before she heard an excited ’papa!’ from the living room.

"Think of the devil."

She schooled her expression to feign indifference and made her way to the living room where Damon was tickling his son.

She cleared her throat. "It’s not your day."

Her reminder was expected. "I know. I’m not here to pick him up." He put the boy down to talk to her. "I wanted to see you."

"Oh." Her stomach knotted. He probably had something to tell her and he would be on his way afterwards but her mind ran wild.

"I’m going to cook dinner. Do you want to stay? We can talk over dinner." She suggested. "Or you could join me in the kitchen."

He didn’t say anything in response to her suggestion but soon after she started cooking, she felt his footsteps approach her from behind.

"You wanted to tell me something." She spoke to break the silence that made her feel nervous.

"Do you have plans for the weekend?" He asked.

"Depends on why you are asking." She teased, laughing when she felt him draw closer. What was he up to?

"What if it’s because I want to ask you and Angel out on Saturday?" He asked.

"Angel would love to go. Would I have a choice?" She shrugged.

He closed in, trapping her between him and the granite counter behind her. "What are you doing?" A bare whisper left her lips.

"What if I wanted to ask you out?" He emphasized on ’you’, letting her know that was his true intention.

"I’m flattered." She forced a laugh. His knee was between hers. Crap.

"However, I’ll have to turn you down. All my Saturdays are reserved for Angel." She gulped. The audacious man pried the knife she was going to use to dice meat out of her hand and set it far from them, and placed her palm on his chest.

"And Sundays are for me, correct?"

"I didn’t say that!" She rolled her eyes. Were the siblings both addicted to drawing out words out of her brain? Not that she thought she could reserve an entire day every week for him, but it did cross her mind before he asked.

"I miss you." He confessed. "If you don’t mind, we can spend the day with Angel and the night together—not because I want to sleep with you." He instantly explained when he realized the misunderstanding his words could have caused.

"So, it’s not just about sleeping together." She pushed to make him admit it."

"No." He let go of her, carefully stepping away. "Don’t get me wrong. I would like to make love to you. How could I not? But that’s not the only thing I want."

Instinct told her she was not ready to find out what he was implying that he wanted, so she didn’t ask.

"It’s a date."