CHAPTER 5- TEMPTING

AUTHOR'S POV

SYDNEY held her ears, rocking back and forth. Gabriel's house was a small bungalow a few miles away from Beverly Hills. Sydney was scared shitless when Gabriel drove into the forest but heaved a sigh of relief when she saw a quaint bungalow with numerous logs of trees in front and tools carelessly on the ground.

It's been exactly two hours since Gavin had asked for a divorce. As she sat by the fireplace, she could hear his hateful words haunting her mind.

Gabriel walked into the obsolete wooden living room decorated with animal skins and quaint abstract paintings of nature, he held a mug of coffee in his hand.

“You'll burst if you keep holding it in.” He placed a hand on her back and dropped the mug on the table.

Sydney slowly took her hand off her ears like it had been glued to it. She looked at Gabriel as he kicked the firewood that had fallen out of the fireplace, inside .“Thank you.”

He sat a few inches away from her. She uttered grace and sipped the coffee. He seemed amused. “You are a Christian?”

A hypocritical one. “Yes, you?”

“I'm Jewish.” He sure didn't seem like one.

Sydney nodded. She felt uncomfortable when he kept staring at her. Her eyes scanned the living room. “You seem to love wildlife,” or you hate it. She stared at the tiger skin rug.

A hint of pride flashed through his eyes. “What's there not to love about it? Nature is a beautiful thing.” He saw her wince as she bent to drop the mug and helped her.

“Nothing I guess. My mother loved nature terribly much as a kid.” She couldn't help but smile remembering the day her mother showed her her drawings of nature. She asked her why she stopped drawing, and she said-

“She seems fascinating.” He stared at her like she was the most beautiful woman in the world.

“She is.” she met his gaze. “Are you a carpenter?”

He smiled and looked away. “No, a lumberjack.”

He'd look like one. She thought if she told him who she was, he'd think she was lying. She wasn't dressed or looking like the scrupulous businesswoman she was. She looked ashen and was tousle-haired.

“Is that why you leave away from the modern world?”

She'd feel insulted if someone asked her that but to her surprise, Gabriel grinned. His perfect white teeth reflected the flames.

“No, I enjoy my solitude. The outside world is way too noisy for me. You'll discover there's a lot to life when you relax and listen into the silence.” That would have sounded stupid to her if Gavin said it.

She stared at him, he seemed to be hiding something. “Are you married?”

He looked at his fingers instinctively and back at her. “I didn't wear a ring?”

“I told you rings could mean anything.”

He avoided her gaze, his eyes held sadness. “I was.”

Sydney's throat felt tight. “Oh, divorce?”

He got up and grabbed the mug, avoiding the question. “I've to drop this.” She nodded and he headed to the scullery.

However, his marriage ended, and he didn't want to talk about it. Sydney's phone rang in her pocket. She had all her clothes with pockets.

Her heart raced as she took out the phone. Was Gavin calling to ask if she was safe?

She read the caller's ID and swiped accept. “Hello, mum.” Gabriel sat on the kitchen table, watching her.

“I heard about the baby, I'm so sorry.”Ashley’s voice was watery.

“It's fine mum, Xav is somewhere better.” Sydney squeezed the end of her shirt.

“I know how you must be feeling; it's not easy losing a child. I wish I could come over but you know how your father can be.”

Sydney blinked back tears. “Mum, I'm fine; there's no use in coming over.” especially when her marriage had been botched. “Death is inevitable anyways.”

“This is your father speaking through you.” her voice was lower, more cautious.

“Mum, Dad has nothing to do with this.”

Ashley sighed in surrender. This Sydney wasn't the same naive girl she used to know. “How's Ethan and Emily? Caleb couldn't shut up about Ethan making it to the state championship.”

“Typical dad. He hired a personal hockey coach for Ethan; he said the school's coach didn't know a speck about modern hockey.” She did air quotes.

“How's Gavin?” Sydney stilled. “He was so elated about the baby, I remembered how he insisted on taking you on a vacation till you put to bed.” But she refused right in his face. It was New Year's when she found out she was pregnant.

Sydney rubbed her eyes trying to fight the tears away. “He's sad, we all are but…” she sniffed. “We'll work things out.”

Another voice came from Ashley's end. “Ashley, drop that damn phone and get my reading glasses!” Caleb's voice lacked patience.

Sydney spoke before Ashley could. “You have to go?”

“Sadly.”

“All right mum.”

“And yes, Sydney- you should make more time for your family, especially in times like this. I love you, Syd.”

“Love you too.”

Gabriel walked into the living room when she slid her phone off her ear. They both stared at the fireplace in silence.

Sydney thought of her sister, Anita. How did she manage to have a perfect family and work so effortlessly hard? Sure, everyone saw the Reeds as a Type-A family, but deep down, she knew her home was tearing apart and she was too scared to face it.

“I'm sorry about your child,” Gabriel said nervously staring at the flames. He was closer to her now.

Sydney's eyes filled. “Mhm.”

He squinted his eyes.“My stepdad lost his wife to pregnancy. He said she had triplets but none of them survived, even their mother. You should be grateful you survived it.”

Sydney looked at him pitifully. “You didn't have to tell me that.”

He shrugged. “It isn't confidential, everyone knows.”

“Everyone?”

“My relatives.”

She stared at him. Her eyes trailed down the sharp outline of his jaw to his chest bone. She didn't realize how much ‘testing Gavin's love' had also affected her.

Her body ached to be touched. Although this man was sinfully attractive, she only needed her husband, but he wasn't there.

The silence made them both tense. Gabriel's eyes moved to hers, and she looked away immediately.

“Why did you save me?”

“I would have saved anyone in your place.” His lustful eyes didn't leave her.

“You could have died.” She looked at him, with wide eyes filled with realization. What if he had died because of her?

“The important thing is that we didn't die.” his husky voice was sinfully low.

Sydney swallowed a huge lump in her throat, she couldn't look away from his gorgeous eyes. His eyes slowly moved to her lips.

She's married but he didn't care. She had told him rings could mean anything. What was important to him was what he wanted, and he wanted this broken woman in his arms. He wanted to f*** her pains away.

He moved his lips close to hers. She wanted to feel what it was like, how it would taste on her tongue, but he wasn't Gavin; he could never be.

Sydney shot up from the couch, her heart flipping over. “Are you okay?” Gabriel looked at her like he didn't just try to kiss her.

“Um… I need to use the bathroom.” She stammered. He must have heard her talking about her kids so why did he try kissing her?

He stood. She took a huge step back. “I'll show you the bathroom.”

She was already walking away. “I'll find it myself.”

Sydney easily found the bathroom in the small house. She locked the door and held her chest panting. She felt like she cheated on Gavin. She shouldn't be alone with a man when she's married. She gasped; what if Emily had had a nightmare and needed to be comforted?

Sydney released a breath. She mustered up her courage and decided to call Gavin since he didn't bother calling her.

Or did he? She gasped when she saw six missed calls from him. He must have called when she riding with Gabriel here.

A hopeful smile broke on her lips; her hand shook as she called him. He'd care, after all!

“Sydney!” Gavin exclaimed immediately after he answered the call. There was knocking from his end.

“Gav-” She almost shouted like a toddler who saw candy.

“I have to take another call-”

“Gavin-” He ended the call.

Sydney stood immobile. He had never been the one to end the call, even if he'd had something important to do, he did tell her he loved her and waited since she ended the call.

Sydney felt the silence tearing through her eardrums. Could things ever be the same again?

—————————

The darkness was loosening when Sydney left. She didn't bother telling Gabriel she was leaving. She felt guilty, but after what happened the previous night, she was scared to look at him.

She had called Avery to pick her up.

Sydney stared out the window of Avery's rusted Lexus. It embarrassed Avery driving in it. She had to pretend to be happy when Gavin got the latest Mercedes for Sydney for their 4th Anniversary.

Avery noticed something women gossiping as they stood by a poster of Sydney, modeling a new brand of Gavin's tennis shoes. A mischievous smirk broke on her lips.

“You still haven't told me why you didn't sleep at home.” There was a hint of excitement in her tone.

“I had a few contracts that piled up while I was away.”

Avery feigned concern. “Syd, you just got discharged last night.”

“You know how stern Mr. Patel is.”

Alfred Patel is the CEO of Omnium physical and virtual Marketing Enterprise. It took him twenty-three years to finally get recognized in the business world. Alfred wondered how Gavin took the world's marketing sector by billions at just twenty-seven. Alfred was so keen to find out that he hired Gavin's second-class graduate wife as his sales representative immediately after Gavin brought it up. Sydney had surprised him with her good work and communication skills but he never got the answers to his questions.

Avery continued scolding Sydney till she was pulled over by Gavin's massive smart house.

“You know I love you, Syd, and I just don't want you overworking yourself.”

Sydney smiled at her. “Fine mum, I'll stop overworking myself.”

Avery chuckled. “This is the Sydney I love; keep on smiling; it makes you ten times hotter.” and it made her want to rip it off ten times more.

Sydney rolled her eyes and got out of the car. “We'll go to the spa on Sunday. You look like you need a massage.”

Sydney opened her mouth to protest but Avery shut out a finger. “Ah, ah. You won't change my mind.”

Sydney sighed in surrender. “Fine, I think I do need a massage.” For her sore heart.

They said goodbyes, and Avery drove away. Sydney stared at the smart house and sighed. She couldn't run away from him forever. She had thought about it earlier. Maybe most of it was her fault.

She should apologize to him if not for the sake of anything but her children.

Drawing a sharp breath, She lifted her thumb to the fingerprint reader on the door.

"Scan complete," the voice assistant, Alexa, said. "Welcome, Sydney. Front door unlocking."

The lock clicked open, and Sydney pushed the door open. "Thanks, Alexa," she said, stepping inside.

“Mr. Reed dropped a message,” Alexa said.

“What's it?” Sydney collapsed on the couch exhausted. She wondered why Gavin didn't drop the voicemail personally to her.

Gavin's disdainful voice filled the ocean-themed living room, “If you eventually decide to return home, don't worry about Ethan and Emily. I dropped them off at school. There's some fried sippet and gravy in the fridge, have it. Your drugs are in the medicine cabinet. The doctor said you should skip work for a week till you fully heal; I know you'll say it's bullshit and still go anyways, so I had Alexa lock you in. Your life is important to my kids so take care of yourself.” He didn't say, I love you or I miss you.

Despite how hard Sydney tried holding her tears, she had cried herself to sleep.