Billionaire's Second Chance At Love

Chapter Seventy-Four

Carmen was sitting in the usual room upstairs, staring blankly at the book in her hands when a sudden commotion caught her ears, startling her awake.

She sat up straighter quickly, frowning at the closed door, wondering if she should even bother to take a look. It wasn't as if she cared what Simon and her mom were up to. Sure, the reason for them to be together for any reason at all made her curious as hell, but the truth was, as weird as it sounded, she had decided not to pry. And it was nothing if not poetic justice in her eyes. For years, Diana had stayed away from her family, not bothering to look back even once, so what right did Carmen have to care about what that woman had been doing with her life?

Exactly. None at all.

However, despite all that, she still found herself peeling the sheets off her legs, putting the book aside, and slowly heading for the door. For some reason that she could not understand, her heart had started to beat like a drum, and the knots in her stomach pulsing to life, as if everything inside her was pushing her to leave the room and follow the sounds.

Carmen took a deep breath, bit her lip, and after assuring herself one last time that she was only going to take a slight look and nothing more, she turned the knob and pulled the door open.

The commotion was much clearer now. And now that she could hear the voices and recognize them—and could see the heated scene downstairs—her poor heart almost bolted out of her throat, wanting nothing more than to break all the barriers and go to him.

Tears stung her eyes so badly that she almost whimpered from the pain. The relief that gushed down her spine, she couldn't even explain. Before she knew what she was doing, her bare feet padded quickly down the stairs, her eyes blurring with tears, her body aching. But none of that mattered. Not when he was here. Not when all she could see was a way to finally escape this hell.

"Ronin!" His name came out of her trembling lips, and she barely noticed the stance he was in when she threw herself at him. Ronin stumbled backwards with the force her body slammed into him, his arms quickly coming around her. "Jesus!"

"I can't believe you're here," she gritted out, putting all her strength into suppressing the storm brewing inside her. She couldn't let go of it right now. She wanted to hold onto it for a little longer.

There was so much she wanted to say—so much to ask—but all of it got smothered by the force of her emotions, which surprised her just the same. Her arms tightened around his neck, her chin trembling as she started to get used to his warmth.

It was only when someone cleared their throat that she opened her eyes for the first time, blinking away the tears clinging to her lashes and focusing on the scene set all around them.

Her eyes fell on Eric first. He stood behind Ronin, his fingers balled into fists on each side of him. Let's just say, he did not look very happy at the moment. And now that she wasn't blinded by the relief of seeing familiar faces, she could tell why.

Carmen pulled away instantly—or at least she tried—but Ronin wasn't ready to let go of her yet. Instead of releasing her from his grasp completely, he let her pull her head back, only for her eyes to lock with his. But the way he was looking at her, the way the lines across his forehead were strained, and the way his lips were pulled into a frown, she couldn't tell if he was happy to see her or mad.

However, all her doubts shattered when he brought his lips down to press against her forehead, gripping her chin and lifting her face upward. "Just tell me you're okay."

Words abandoned her, her throat tight with the swell of her own stupid feelings. Carmen nodded, twice.

"Good." Only then did he peel his gaze away from her and stare at someone behind her.