Falling For My Ex's Dad (Clarissa and Gabriel) novel Chapter 214

Clairessa’s POV

I could barely breathe—let alone think—as I raced up the stairs.

Every nerve in my body burned, tingling and buzzing from the way Gabriel had pinned me to the wall like I was his.

For a moment… I let him.

No—I wanted him.

His heat, his scent, the weight of his body pressed against mine… I’d imagined it a hundred times, maybe more.

And now that it had actually happened, I hated how much of him still clung to me.

My skin still burned where his fingers had wrapped around my wrist.

My lips tingled from the force of his kisses—brutal, hungry, and impossibly tender.

God, I hated myself for not stopping it.

I should’ve screamed. Slapped him. Anything. But I didn’t. I couldn’t.

Instead, the moment he touched me,

I moaned his name. Told him how much I missed him.

And I meant every word.

That’s what killed me the most—

How easily I forgot every reason I had to stay away.

And the worst part?

I still wanted him to make love to me.

To make me come—again and again—in his arms.

Hell.

I shouldn’t want this.

I needed a distraction.

I needed to cool down, to get away from him before the war in my head spiraled into something I couldn’t undo.

I reached my room, shoved the door open—then froze.

No. What…?

My room wasn’t my room.

It looked the same—but it wasn’t.

Something was off.

The bed was perfectly made—untouched.

But the books I’d left on the side table were gone.

My skincare products on the dresser, the few things I’d started to rebuild with—gone too.

Panic twisted in my chest. I rushed to the closet and threw the doors open.

I didn’t have much after the fire, but the clothes I’d managed to buy—the ones I’d carefully picked out—were gone. Cleared from the hangers.

Like I’d never even been here.

I turned in a slow circle, heart pounding, breath quickening.

“Where the hell are my things?”

My thoughts spiraled, crashing into one name.

Gabriel.

He had to be the one who did this.

Why? So I’d crawl back? Beg at his feet?

Was this his twisted way of punishing me for pushing him away?

He could’ve just told me to leave. I knew Jess would’ve taken me in without hesitation.

But her place was small, already cramped with her own things.

I didn’t want to be a burden.

And Gabriel’s place—despite everything—was closer to Storms Innovations. Which was much more convenient for me.

That’s why I stayed—just until I sorted myself out. And leave when I finally secured my own apartment, maybe in a month or so.

But this?

This was the last straw.

Without holding back, channeling every ounce of fury I felt—I stormed toward Gabriel’s room.

My bare feet slapped against the cold floor, fists clenched tight at my sides.

I didn’t care if this was his home.

I didn’t care if I woke the entire damn house.

He was going to hear it from me.

I shoved his bedroom door open, ready to spit fire.

Ready to rip into him.

Ready to tear his smug little empire down from the inside.

But everywhere was quiet.

No Gabriel in sight.

Which was strange—considering we’d just been together moments ago.

I stepped in fully, scanning the expansive room.

Then I heard the low drizzle of water. Soft at first, then louder, coming from the bathroom area.

My heart kicked in my chest. I knew that sound. I knew exactly what it meant.

He was taking a shower.

The rational part of me—the part still clinging to pride—screamed for me to walk away.

To slam the door, return to my empty room, and deal with everything in the morning.

But my body betrayed me.

Again.

I stepped closer.

“Just one glance,” I told myself, already knowing it was a lie.

Shame crept down my neck as I tiptoed toward the bathroom, fully aware I was about to cross a line I couldn’t uncross.

The door was open. Steam poured out, filling the air with heat and the dark, musky scent of his cologne—familiar in a way that made my chest ache.

I paused.

Leave.

A voice barked in my head.

But I didn’t.

Instead, I lingered in the doorway, angling myself just enough to catch a glimpse—first through the mirror’s reflection, then through the fogged glass of the shower stall.

That’s when I saw him.

Gabriel.

Naked.

His back was to me, hair dark and wet, clinging to the nape of his neck.

Verify captcha to read the contentVerify