The Billionaire's Arranged Wife (Book 3)

Chapter 28

"I promise to love you forever, every single day of forever."- Edward Cullen.

Athena's POV.  

Another week had trudged its way along. I was slowly coming to terms with the consistent ache that resided within me. It would never leave and a part of me never wanted it to either. It was the one thing that kept me connected to him. The pain made it real. It still hurt from time to time but it was fast becoming bearable.

That part of my life may have been over but it opened a door for a new found relationship. A pattern had formed for me since then. Every morning, the five of us had breakfast together before dispersing to do our own things. Lunch was more informal mostly joined together with Xandro and me as we now freely spoke about our mother. Gradually it had become easier. The day after papa confided in me he insisted we all had dinner together and since then it became a habit. He himself began speaking of her as day by day it had gotten more comfortable with Alesandro and Constantine now sharing their own memories. In a way it had banded us closer together as we shared in her memory while creating new ones. A smile made its way onto my face recalling my earlier conversation with Constantine. At first he hesitated claiming he wanted to protect my feelings until he finally budged confessing his love for Raakel, a childhood friend whose love was long overdue. I felt genuine happiness for him although my mind kept wandering of too Nico. I knew deep within that I would never be able to forget him as the piercing pain tugged at my heart strings once more. Wanting to push him out of the way for the moment, I slipped into the shower, washing away the stench of fish and salt water from my recent fishing trip with Constantine and Papa. Later into the evening I had just emerged into my room, deeply immersed in a well- thumbed copy of Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility, as a soft knock resonated of my door as it was pushed open. It was becoming a habit of papa's to stop by every night as we looked out to the stars together that once again lay scattered across the blanket of the sky that I did not even look up but the awareness that electrocuted me slammed my breath against my lungs. Only one person had managed to cause such a reaction within me as my hand froze midair from turning the pages. As though on a time of its own I slowly looked up clashing my gaze against his icy blues that was so familiar yet so painful to look at, at the same time. My mouth lay agape as words refused to form within me. Heat, longing and misery hung tightly in the air as we drank the other in greedily. His beautiful body stood in my doorway dressed in his signature charcoal suit as it clung tightly molding against his powerful figure. But it was the open pain reflecting on his face that he bared open for me to see that stole my breath away. His usual composed figured now outlined the clear exhaustion and something else in his captivating blue eyes. Dark stubble highlighted his jaw giving him a roguish look as his thick black hair hung about slightly longer now and as a result of him passing his hands through it multiple times. It was a habit he often did to express his frustration. Opened hurt wreaked havoc within me as we continued to stare at the other, words remaining unspoken as I suddenly became self-conscious of the pale pink cotton pajamas that I now wore as opposed to matching with his refined elegance that he held together unyieldingly.

"What are you doing here?" I asked breaking the pained silence as my voice came out harsher than expected due to the raw emotions that threatened to bubble over.

He winced as though I slapped him and for the first time he wore a look of un-surety that unsettled me.

"May I come in?" He asked gently taking a cautious step into the room as I nodded quietly shutting the door behind him.

He said nothing for a while as he filled his curiosity peering about the four walls of the much smaller bedroom as opposed to his grand sleeping area before taking a seat on the bed which was closely opposite my current seating position. Resettling his agonizingly beautiful blue eyes onto mine, my chest convulsed as fresh tears stung against the corners of my eyes. Swallowing the bitter pain, he took a deep breath as if wanting to say something before deciding against it.