I avoided Cristiano for the whole week. I didn’t want to talk to him. So, I went to work, did the chores, and stayed with my mother at the hospital during all of my free time. My mother’s condition was getting worse, so I stayed there at her bedside, holding her hand and chatting with her as much as I could. I didn’t want to believe it but I had a feeling that she wouldn’t live that much longer.
“Ari,” she said, running her fingers through my hair. My eyes flickered open, as I glanced up at my mother.
“I feel asleep again?” I sighed rubbing my eyes, as I glanced at the clock. I had been asleep for two whole hours.
“Ari, go home,” My mother nodded. “Go to bed.”
“No! I want to stay here with you, mom,” I said shaking my head. “I’m fine.”
“Stubborn,” she mumbled dryly. “Just like your father.”
I passed her a cup of water, as I sat up, stretching my body out. I turned up the TV as the sound of loud voices filled the hallway. My mother stared at me, as I glanced out the door, to see nurses scrambling around. Was there a hospital emergency? Someone must be dying or something.
“What’s going on?” my mother asked.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. “Probably a trauma?”
I froze as I heard one of the nurses say what sounded like your grace. He couldn’t be. I was imagining things. The prince couldn’t be here, could he? I glanced at my mother, as her eyes flickered to the door. I turned behind me as a group of the King’s men, stepped out of the way, and Cristiano, himself walked inside of my mother’s hospital room. He had to be kidding me.
“You can wait outside,” Cristiano ordered them as they stepped outside of the hospital room. I chewed on my lower lip, as he closed the door behind him, giving us some privacy.
“What are you doing here?” I huffed still hurt from what had happened between us.
“Ari,” my mother interjected. “That is no way to speak to a prince. I’m sorry, your grace.”
“It’s fine,” Cristiano replied walking towards me. “I deserve it. I just came here to check on you to make sure you were fine. You haven’t been to the villa in a week. I was worried.”
My mother glanced at the Prince then at me. I couldn’t believe he had come all the way here to see me. He had been worried about me. He seemed genuinely concerned.
“Well I’m fine,” I mumbled.
“Ari, you’re not fine,” my mother chimed in, glancing at Cristiano. “He’s been here all week. He’s barely eaten or slept for that matter. Please take him home.”
“But mom,” I protested grabbing her hand.
“Ari, please,” she asked. I sighed as Cristiano nodded. He gave her a smile as he walked out of the room quickly. I grabbed my jacket, kissing my mother on the cheek, before I left. I couldn’t disobey her. A few minutes later, Cristiano returned, leading me out to his car. All eyes fell onto my face, as the King’s men, followed us all the way out of the city.
I glanced out the window, my eyes flickering close, on our way back. I hadn’t realized how tired I had been. I woke up a few hours later inside of perhaps one of the biggest beds that I have ever laid eyes on. I glanced around, immediately realizing that we weren’t in the villa. I sat up as the door opened wide, in the corner of the room, and what appeared to be a maid walked inside. She gripped a plate of fruit, cheese and crackers in her hand, placing it on the table beside me.
“Here you are, sir,” she smiled, before she walked in. “I shall tell your grace that are you awake.”
Before I could say anything, she disappeared out of the room. My eyes flickered around the room. It was huge about the size of the apartment my mother and I lived in – maybe bigger. I moved out of the bed, tracing my finger along the intricate pattern of the dresser. Everything was so expensive.
“Imported all the way from a remote island off the coast of Africa,” Cristiano said the door closing behind me. “Did you sleep well?”
“Yeah,” I nodded as his eyes traced down my body for a moment. I glanced down in embarrassment, suddenly realizing that I was only in my boxers. I hopped back into bed, pulling the comforter over my seminude body. Cristiano chuckled at my awkwardness, walking down to sit at the edge of my bed.
“Eat,” he said holding a grape near my mouth. I opened my mouth, allowing him to feed me. I was actually pretty hungry.
“Just because I’m letting you feed me, doesn’t mean I’m not still mad at you about before,” I blurted out.
“I know,” Cristiano chuckled. “I figured you were the type to hold grudges. Like I said before, I didn’t mean it like that. You’re not a charity case, Ari. I’m in love with you.”
“You barely know me,” I said quickly.
“Well I’m in love with what I know,” he retorted, feeding me a strawberry. “You have a good heart. I saw that in you when we first met. I wanted you that night and I wanted you ever since. It’s quite selfish of me, actually. That’s why I hired you as my housemaid. I wanted to get to know you better and I knew the only way to do that was to give you a job.”
“Cristiano,” I said in a bare whisper, as he wiped the strawberry from the corner of my mouth. His lips fell onto mine, as he straddled me on top of the enormous bed. His knee fell in between my legs as his tongue found its way into my mouth. I wrapped my arms around his neck, as his hands moved to waist.
My chest was burning, as heat rose from my legs and up into my cheeks. The sound of Cristiano’s moans were enough to drive me in insane. My pulse quickened, as I breathed heavily, catching air in between kisses. His hands sliding up my chest, as he tasted every bit of my lips.
I couldn’t believe he wanted me – a nobody. It was almost too good to be true.
