Chapter 20.

**Narrator’s POV.**

Tessa had just acknowledged that she was crazy- there was no doubt in it as she now stood in front of Gabriel O’Connell’s bedroom door, actually contemplating on knocking the door to demand answers from the most bitter and sour person in the household.

The partially sane side of her told her to run as fast as she could because Gabriel was the last person on earth that she would want to question or bother about such things, but she had to know the truth.

What Alex had told her had been bothering her greatly and she could not even focus during her feast with Kevin as her mind had been somewhere else- somewhere very far. She was with Kevin- a guy that she liked but why couldn’t she stop thinking about Gabriel? He was a jerk face and a huge pain but why was he imprinted into her mind?

She brought up her hand and knocked on the door, nerves wrecking miserably through her body. She knew this situation could turn a very nasty head towards her and she could probably get kicked out of the estate. Somehow, she thought that it would be refreshing to leave- the drama within the walls of the large mansion was just too much for her to bare. Each son of Mr. Andrew O’Connell came with their own personal package of confusion and pretense.

The door was suddenly pulled open and Gabriel’s head popped out, “What do you want?”, he asked with a sigh, confirming her decision that there was no way he had beaten Alex up because of her- it just wasn’t possible. He opened the door wider, allowing her to catch a glimpse of his neat and tidy monochrome bedroom, “I ask you a question, Tessie, what do you want?”, he leaned on his threshold and folded his arm across his chest, trying to intimidate her,

“It’s Tessa”, she corrected. This was just too absurd, he did not even know her name, how could she even believe what Alex said?

“Whatever”, he rolled his eyes, “You are in my house, I get to call you whatever the fuck I like”, she knew going there was a mistake but she told herself that she was there to look for one thing- closure.

“Umm… Alex told me what you did?”, her words came out as a questioning whisper and even though she was not looking at him directly, she saw his body become rigid, his muscles clenching together- painfully possibly,

“What the fuck did he tell you?”, he said behind gritted teeth as he plotted painful ways to get rid of his step-brother’s body after he was done killing him,

“See, I really do not think it was and would ever be possible so I wouldn’t go above myself…”, he cut her off,

“Would you get to the fucking point; I do not have all day”.

Tessa gave herself a mental slap on the face, what the fuck was she doing here? Why did she need him to confirm whether what Alex said was the truth or not? It was clearly a lie- another one of Alex’s sick games, he was trying to get into her head, but this time it wasn’t going to work,

“I’m sorry, this was a mistake, I shouldn’t have come here”, she wanted to walk away but a strong hand pulled her back, making her yelp in surprise,

“What did he tell you?”, his eyes narrowed down at her short frame, urging her to rat out his step-brother. Tears coated her eyes and she whimpered in fear, how could one person be so damn scary?

“He said…”, she paused for a second and looked at his demanding eyes again before continuing her sentence, “He said you beat him up because of me which I know is absurd because clearly, that can never happen since you hate me and you think I am a whore- which I am not but I swear that I do not believe Alex, I know he was just trying to get into my…”,

“It is true”,

“Head… what?”, her eyes nearly fell out of their sockets in shock, what the fuck did he just say? Wait, was she on some deranged episode of punk’d right now? She actually took the measures to look around for hidden cameras or for any other person in the hallway other than them- they were alone.

He released her hand and let out a sigh, “See, Tessa”, so he actually knew her real name, “You were quite stupid for even thinking about dating Alex”, she scoffed at him, “But, I know that all girls just want a guy that would treat them right and Alex is the king of doing that. As much as I hate to admit it, I actually realized that I got you wrong, i thought you were like the other girls that flocked around him. I’m sorry for judging you so quickly”, this had to be a dream. Was Gabriel O’Connell actually being… nice?

“I am confused”, her hand went to the top of her head and she hit it dramatically, praying that she would wake up from this beautiful nightmare where Gabriel was actually apologizing to her,

“You are lucky, I never apologize so, do not expect me to ever do it again”, her eyes widened again at the threatening voice he used but she nodded, “I will be taking you out, on Saturday”, he demanded, it left her wondering if he could ever ask politely for anything.

“I can’t, I am going out with Kevin”, it was true, she and Kevin had decided to go out that Saturday to see a movie, even though he had to be in disguise throughout. Gabriel’s features hardened, he hated that Tessa even wanted anything to do with his other step-brother,

“Cancel on him, I really do not care”, he said, “You are going out with me whether you like it or not”.

“Would it kill you to say please?”, he let out a loud snicker,

“I can’t believe that you expect me to beg you to take you out”, he took a step closer to her and bent his head down to look her dead in the eye, “I do not beg anybody for anything”,

“You are an asshole”, she spat out,

“One of the perks of being me, Tessie”, he sang and she rolled her eyes at him, deciding that he just called her ‘Tessie’ purposely to piss her off or make her feel less than. His phone chimed in his pocket, “I have to take this, cancel on him”, he said before slamming the door shut in her face.

She let out another scoff, the nerve of that guy! How did he expect her to just cancel on Kevin just because he wanted her to? Who the hell did he even think he was, ordering her around like that and acting like he owned the place? Well, technically, Gabriel O’Connell was the first heir to all of The O’Connell riches so he did own the place- but that still gave him no right to act like he was the boss of the whole entire world.

He had just asked her out in the most bossy and unromantic way possible and somehow, she surprisingly found it hot- his demanding nature. He seemed like the type of man who went for what he wanted, no matter the consequences or the boundaries- he would break through each and every one of them.

She found herself smiling at the thought of going on a date with Gabriel, it would be a very reckless decision and she did not have the heart or spine to stand Kevin up- he was just too sweet and goofy to be stood up, he was like that friend every girl wished for but she could swear that she had feelings for him even though they weren’t very strong.

She had always loved Kevin, ever since she heard his first song, but was it possible that right then, she only loved the idea of him and not the real person? Every girl always dreamed of meeting their celebrity crush, marrying them and living a happily ever after with them but even she knew that it just wasn’t right- it was not love those girls or guys had, it was infatuation.