Saved by the Apex Predator

Regretting missing out on a billionaire yet? The heavy bottom of a rocks glass slammed against the table right in front of me. The eyes staring down at me were brimming with pure, unadulterated mockery.

Gabriel.

My first love. Now standing at the very apex of the city's elite.

Everyone in this room was laughing at my terrible luck. They were dead certain I had walked away from that breakup as the ultimate loser.

They didn't know about the night I clung to his shirt, begging until my throat ached.

They didn't know how he ripped my hands away, shoved me to the concrete, and told me to get out of his sight.

I picked up my glass and took a slow, deliberate sip. My expression remained perfectly deadpan. I took the trash out on that toxic relationship a long time ago.

Chapter 1

The alumni mixer was overwhelmingly loud. Former classmates were practically tripping over themselves to shove their liquor in Gabriel's direction.

"Gabe, man, I'm moving some construction materials over in Brooklyn now. You gotta throw some scraps my way."

"You're the idol of our graduating class, man. It's impossible to get a minute of your time these days. Drink up!" They threw their alcohol back in one gulp.

Gabriel merely held his crystal glass, taking a microscopic sip. Nobody dared to complain. He wasn't the broke, quiet kid from our neighborhood anymore. He was sitting on a net worth pushing ten billion.

His corporate headquarters occupied a massive chunk of the Midtown skyline, a glass and steel fortress people killed to get inside.

Glasses clinked. Laughter echoed. I sat in the dimmest corner of the private room, scrolling mindlessly through my phone.

Someone suddenly shouted across the table. "Penny, stop hiding behind that screen! You and Gabe used to be inseparable. Come over here and give a toast!"

The guy sitting next to him sharply elbowed his ribs. "Are you blind? Gabe has Tori sitting right next to him. Penelope is ancient history."

The entire room went dead silent.

Dozens of eyes bounced like ping-pong balls between me, Gabriel, and Victoria.

I raised my head. I looked toward the center of the room, right at Gabriel. He was already watching me. Neither of us spoke.

The silence stretched tight enough to snap.

We were childhood neighbors who survived the same cracked pavement, but now his silence was the loudest weapon in the room.

Chapter 2

The private room at the mixer was a loud, chaotic mess. A few guys I barely spoke to in college decided I was the night's main entertainment.

"Come on, Penny, give a speech! We never see you."

"Yeah, don't be so uptight. Whoa, look at her staring at Gabe. Still hung up on your ex, huh?"

Someone grabbed my arm, yanking me out of my chair. Another rough shove sent me stumbling toward Gabriel. My spine was a fraction of a second away from colliding with the sharp mahogany table edge.

Gabriels hand caught my waistleaving a mocking, millimeter gap between his palm and my dress to flaunt his gentlemanly boundaries. But his towering frame trapped me instantly.

I hated the feeling of a dozen pairs of eyes dissecting me. I looked at them with deadpan exhaustion. "Gabriel and I are ancient history," I stated flatly.

"I'm married."

The split second the words left my mouth, the towering wall of heat behind me turned to stone.

Gabriel's entire body locked up.

The deafening room went graveyard silent.

The quiet only lasted a few seconds. The pack smelled blood again. Nobody was willing to let their favorite joke off the hook.

That is what I was. A joke. Years after graduation, everyone else had secured their six-figure salaries and status symbols. I was the underachiever, the perfect punching bag to make them feel better about their own miserable lives.

"Stop lying, Penny. You don't exactly give off 'happily married' energy."

"We get it, you're trying to save face. But you can't just make up a whole husband."

"Exactly."

I didn't raise my voice. I didn't defend my honor. I just looked at them. "I am really married."

They weren't buying a word of it.

"Oh yeah? If you're really hitched, why didn't you bring him?"

"Yeah, where is he?"

I paused, considering my words carefully. "He's busy. He couldn't make it tonight."

A collective scoff rippled through the room. The rigid tension bleeding off Gabriels frame evaporated. His stance relaxed, a subtle shift of muscle that screamed utter disbelief.

Someone opened their mouth to push harder. Victoria smoothly cut them off with a flawlessly practiced, sympathetic smile.

"Alright, guys, back off," she purred, playing the perfect, benevolent peacemaker. "Let's stop interrogating Penny about her personal life. Focus on the drinks. Who knows when we'll all be in the same room again."

Victoria held the social currency now. The moment she issued a command disguised as a favor, the pack backed off. The interrogation was over.

The mixer bled into the late evening. People stumbled out of the private room in pairs and groups. Eventually, the room emptied out, leaving only me, Gabriel, and Victoria.

Gabriel didn't so much as glance at Victoria. He turned his head, his dark eyes locking onto me, and closed the distance.

He took a step forward. I took a step back. His expensive leather shoes stopped dead on the hardwood. The sheer atmospheric pressure radiating off him sucked the oxygen from the room.

"Terrified of me now?" he asked, his voice a low, lethal hum. "Come here. I'm taking you home."

I met his gaze, completely unbothered. "No need. Someone is picking me up."

The temperature in the room dropped ten degrees. Gabriels features hardened into a mask of pure, predatory calculation.

"Your husband?" he mocked, testing the waters.

"No."

Chapter 3

Victoria probably couldn't wait any longer. She stepped right up, slipping her arm through Gabriel's with practiced, cloying intimacy.

"Penny, just let Gabe drive you," she purred, playing the perfect, benevolent hostess. "We don't have anywhere to be. It's really no trouble."

I shook my head. I looked right past her. "My ride is almost here. You two go ahead."

Gabriel's patience snapped. He didn't just step away from Victoria; he actively shook her off like a nuisance. His arm shot out. His fingers locked around my wrist in a vice grip, ready to drag me right out the door.

Right when the panic started clawing up my throat, my ride finally pulled up.

A sleek, black Maybach silently glided to a halt at the bottom of the venue's steps, hazard lights flashing through the gloom. The billionaire CEO of SHEL Group had just arrived.

The driver's side door popped open. Preston hurried out, snapping a large black umbrella open. Only then did I realize it had started to rain. It was a fine, freezing mist.

The kind of dampness that soaked into your clothes before you even noticed the pavement was wet.

Preston stopped right in front of me. "Miss Penelope?"

I nodded.

A visible breath of relief left his chest. "Let's get you in the car. I'll take you home."

He noticed Gabriel. Gabriel noticed him. But Preston clearly had zero interest in exchanging pleasantries with the city's golden boy. He offered a curt, dismissive nod of acknowledgment.

I twisted my wrist, breaking Gabriel's rigid grip, and followed Preston into the waiting car.

Truthfully, I barely knew Preston. I wasn't exactly fluent in high-society small talk, so I opted to play the role of a silent passenger in the luxurious leather backseat.

But Preston was a talker. "We only crossed paths briefly in London," he started, glancing in the rearview mirror. "I figured you wouldn't even remember me."

"I remember," I replied softly. "You're Preston, President of SHEL Group's North American division. Victor Sheldon told me you were formidable."

"Oh, Vic exaggerates. My little resume doesn't hold a candle to his." He chuckled.

"It's a huge deal that you're back stateside. Mr. Sheldon made it crystal clear, whatever you need, I'm on speed dial."

"Thank you."

I came back for the reunion, but the real priority was finally seeing my parents. It had been six agonizing months since I last saw them.

Preston originally intended to walk me all the way to my door. But the moment his headlights swept over the apartment building, he saw my parents already standing on the sidewalk, waiting in the damp cold. He discreetly backed the Maybach out and drove off.

I stared at my parents through the misty air. They looked a little grayer, a little more fragile than I remembered.

I forced my voice to stay bright and steady. "Mom, Dad. I'm home."

I hooked an arm around each of them. Surrounded by a chorus of their quiet, relieved murmurs, I stepped back into the house I had abandoned six years ago.

The moment the door clicked shut, the heavy scent of my favorite home-cooked meals hit me. The dining table was already covered in plates. I instinctively moved to grab the silverware, just like I used to. The forks and knives were already set perfectly in their places.

A sudden, fierce burning prickled at the back of my eyes. It was the sheer gravity of being safe. It had been an eternity since I felt this kind of grounded, unconditional warmth.

My parents knew exactly where I had been tonight. They danced around the subject with painful caution. "Was the mixer okay, sweetie? You didn't run into any bad people or situations, did you?"

I knew exactly who they were trying to avoid naming. Their extreme caution over the topic actually made it easier for me to brush it off.

"I saw Gabriel," I said evenly. "He's with Victoria now. They make sense together."

My mom let out a heavy, defeated sigh. "That boy. He used to treat you like the center of his universe. You two were joined at the hip since you were toddlers. But never mind him."

She quickly pivoted, asking about my life abroad.

"I'm doing good," I promised her.

Except for the 2,190 days I spent drowning in absolute hell.

"I'm officially off the medication. Dr. Edith said I just need to check in for a follow-up next month."

Chapter 4

When I moved to London, I was drowning in severe depression. I spent six years in Dr. Edith's private practice. It wasn't until last week that she finally cleared me, stating my evaluations were stable enough to return to a normal life.

My parents looked ecstatic.

It made sense. My illness had dragged all three of us through a living hell.

No, wait. Four of us.

Victor Sheldon. I had put him through the wringer, too. Thankfully, none of us had to walk on eggshells anymore.

I sneaked a glance at my parents' relieved faces and decided to keep my mouth shut. Without my actual husband present to act as a buffer, dropping a bomb like my impromptu marriage would result in a relentless interrogation. I wasn't facing that firing squad alone.

I had a few decent friends back in college. But after a six-year disappearing act, tracking them down was impossible. I only went to the alumni mixer hoping to see them. It was like they all coordinated a mass boycott because not a single one showed up.

Without a job, I spent my days wandering the city aimlessly. After a few days of suffocating boredom, I signed up to volunteer at the local history museum. My weekends were now spent directing tourists and modeling for their promotional brochures.

When Gabriel found me, I had just changed into a heavy, Victorian-era gown for a new exhibit. I was stuck in a makeshift dressing room behind the grand staircase, fumbling blindly with a vintage necklace.

The reflection in the nearby glass display case told me the dress looked fine. My only enemy was the microscopic clasp on the chain. I fought with the metal for a solid minute.

Then, a pair of large, warm hands reached over my shoulders. Long fingers smoothly took the delicate chain from my grip and snapped the clasp securely against the nape of my neck.

I turned around. The word thanks died on my tongue the second my eyes landed on him.

Gabriel.

His gaze swept over the elaborate gown. The tight line of his jaw relaxed slightly. "It looks beautiful. You volunteer here?"

"Yeah."

"Then point me in the right direction. I need to find the West Wing."

"I'll find another docent for you," I replied evenly. "I have a promotional shoot right now."

Gabriel gave a single, firm nod. "I'm in no rush. I'll wait."

He left me zero room to argue. I simply walked away, leaving him standing in the foyer while I headed to the main plaza.

He didn't leave. Even from across the crowded courtyard, I could feel the sheer weight of his stare. It burned into me for the entire hour-long shoot.

Six years ago, that kind of intense focus from him would have made me trip over my own feet. I would have been a flushed, stuttering mess. Now, I just naturally shifted my gaze away.

We both had entirely new lives. Why couldn't we just pretend the other was dead?

Clearly, neither of us was good at playing the ex.

We made it official during our sophomore year of college.

He was the one who pulled the trigger. A guy from my biology lab had asked me out, and word got back to him. Gabriel sprinted across campus just to corner me and demand if I had said yes.

I threw my hands up. "No. I don't even know the guy."

A massive breath left Gabriel's lungs. He looked at me with dead-serious intensity. "Good. Random guys are highly unreliable. If you want a boyfriend, you date me."

"Understood?"

"Understood."

He didn't leave immediately after that.

Chapter 5

He stood there for a long moment, visibly working through his thoughts. Then he awkwardly cleared his throat. "So, do you want to date now?"

"Right now?"

I didn't actually have a burning desire to date at that exact moment. But it was Gabriel.

I shifted my weight, tilted my head, and gave him a bright smile. "Okay."

Looking back, things that are established so easily are just as easily destroyed. Human nature dictates that we rarely cherish what we get without a formal, defining effort. If our relationship had started with him holding a bouquet of flowers under stadium lights, surrounded by the deafening cheers of our classmates, would the ending have been different?

It was way too late to dwell on that now. The dust had settled on us a long time ago.

After the promotional shoot wrapped, Gabriel was still standing in the exact same spot. His eyes had stayed locked on me the entire time. When he saw I was done, he called me over.

I walked up to him, glancing around. "Did you come alone? Where is Victoria?"

He looked genuinely baffled. "I am at a museum. What does she have to do with this?"

"Aren't you two a couple? I assumed you came here together."

"Who told you we were together?" A slow, arrogant smirk pulled at the corner of his mouth. "Are you jealous, Penny?"

Before I could even deliver a deadpan denial, his smile widened. "We are not dating. I just happened to run into her on the street before the alumni mixer. We walked in at the same time."

"Let's go. Show me the West Wing."

Seeing that he was completely done discussing Victoria, I turned and led the way down the corridor. As we walked, he suddenly brought up another name.

"That guy who picked you up the other night. Preston. How do you know him?"

I thought about it for a second before deciding to just hand him the unvarnished truth. "We actually do not know each other well at all. He just knows my husband. My husband is on a business trip in Switzerland right now, so he asked Preston to"

The words died in my throat. I realized Gabriel had stopped dead in his tracks two paces behind me. I turned around to look at him. "What is wrong?"

Every single drop of color had instantly drained from his face. His lips parted. They opened and closed a few times before he could finally produce a sound.

"Your husband?" he finally choked out.

"Yes."

His voice sounded like it was scraping against glass. "What husband?"

It finally clicked in my brain. When I told the private room I was married, not a single person had believed me. Did I really give off the energy of someone completely unattached?

I stared at his devastated expression. He looked like he had just been gutted by someone he trusted. "Gabriel, I really am married."

A terrible, broken smile twisted his features. "If you are just using a fake marriage as an excuse to push me away, you"

I reached up. My finger hooked under the delicate gold chain resting against my collarbone. The exact same chain he had fastened around my neck less than an hour ago. I pulled it free from the neckline of my dress. A flawless, brilliant-cut diamond ring hung from the gold links, catching the harsh museum lights.

"This is my wedding ring. I was terrified of losing it during the shoot, so I keep it on this chain. I was not lying to you, Gabriel. I was not trying to save face at the mixer."

A dead leaf tumbled across the outdoor plaza, scraping against the concrete before settling at my feet. The silence stretched out, heavy and suffocating.

"When did it happen?" The words were utterly hollowed out. A mechanical rasp.

"Recently."

Last month, to be exact. But there was no real reason to hand Gabriel the fine print.

"Recently."

Gabriel swayed on his feet, the grounded certainty he always carried suddenly fracturing. "Penny, do you know something?"

His chest barely moved as he drew a jagged, agonizing breath. "Victoria is not my girlfriend. She never was, and she never will be. I know she wants to be. But I never let her cross that line. Do you want to know why?"

I just looked at him, refusing to fill the silence.

Every syllable he spoke next was a desperate, bleeding wound. "Because I was waiting for you to come home."

Chapter 6

"Penny. I waited for you for six agonizing years. And you got married?"

He buried his face in his hands. A harsh, broken sound ripped from his throat right in the middle of the crowded museum plaza. "How could you do this?"

I kept my eyes locked on the concrete pavement. The silence stretched before I finally found my voice. "I didn't know you were waiting," I said softly. "You told me to get out of your sight."

My gaze darted toward the strangers walking past us. I shrank into myself, dropping my voice to a whisper meant only for him. "Besides. You thought I was disgusting."

"I didn't! How could I ever be disgusted by you?"

He sounded frantic, the words spilling out in a desperate rush. "My head was a wrecked mess back then. You got lured out there because of me."

"Every time I looked at you, the guilt practically suffocated me. I didn't mean it when I ended things. I just couldn't process it."

"I never wanted to leave you," he choked out. "Not once."

Things only got better after Gabriel and I made it official. He would cross the entire campus just to meet me outside my lecture halls. When I was too lazy to walk to the dining hall, he ordered food straight to my dorm. When course registration opened and the portal always crashed on me, he stayed up all night refreshing the screen to secure my classes