Becoming His

Chapter 19 - Elephant In the Room

"Fine Chris, if you need to have this conversation right now, let's talk."

His eyes darted to me, wasting no time, he began firing off questions. "Do you want to end this?"

"No." I said truthfully.

"Then why do you need more space?"

"The night Dani called telling me about this 'mafia' stuff, a part of me panicked, but I ignored it because looking at you, I couldn't see a bad person, I only saw my best friend. What happened with Vasiliev- ...that night forced me to think about every side of you and what you do. I just need the space to decide if having you in my life is worth any more nights like that."

"Are you scared of me?"

"Chris, I was never scared of you. I just didn't know what you were fully capable of, and finding out gave me a lot to think about."

He nodded seemingly understanding where I was coming from. Looking down he propped his elbows on his knees, resting his head in his palms.

It went quiet for a while before he spoke, this time a little softer.

"Did you mean it; when you said you loved me?"

"Yes and I still do. With everything in me."

"Good. Perché anch'io ti amo, anche se so che ti meriti di meglio."
(Because I love you too, even though I know you deserve better.)

I looked at him, confused by whatever he said; I could only make out an 'I love you'. Waiting patiently for his next question, another gust of silence passed. "...Are you fucking Dunkirk?"

"For God-sake, no!"

"Then why were you so scared for him to see us together?"

"He may be a close friend but he's still my boss. A boss you just exposed yourself to."

"So he's never tried anything with you?"

"He's married!"

"Doesn't stop some shitheads from trying."

"Put your shirt on and come with me."

I headed out the door leaving it open for Christian to trail behind. We walked down the hall and got the elevator up to the penthouse suite. I was feeling kind of nervous as I knocked and waited.

"What are we doing?" He had been confused since we left my room, but I continued to disregard his questions and comments.

Richard opened the door surprised to see us again.

I smiled slightly embarrassed thinking of earlier. "Hey, Christian just wanted to apologize for earlier and for dinner. But definitely for his.. display."

"I didn't say tha-" I nudged Chris in his side earning a death glare that I noticed in my peripheral. He stepped away from the entrance, leaning against the wall like a bored, frustrated child.

I shook my head showing Richard my irritation.

"Honey, is that room-service? I'm starving. Alesha? Hi sweetie. I'm so sorry I couldn't make it to dinner, I really wanted to meet those Marino boys, I hear they're drop dead gorgeous. Rich told me you had to cancel tonight because there was an elephant in your room." The remark was paired with a wink that made me cough on the air I breathed in, while Richard let out a chuckle.

"Darling, don't be crude." Richard smirked.

I turned to Chris, who had furrowed his brows in confusion at the additional voice. Pulling his arm to me, I brought him back in frame of the couple standing in the doorway.

"Christian Marino DeLuca meet Lucas Dunkirk, Richard's husband."

JJ x