Ghost City

26

"How fucked do you think I am?" I asked Aria and Justin, whom I was on the phone with.

"Well, she didn't curse you out or anything, so I'm guessing she's just sad or feels disappointed," Aria answered. "You're not totally fucked."

Justin asked, "Are you planning to propose to her soon?"

I sighed, "No. Yeah, I still love her, and I'm falling in love with her all over again, but I just don't feel like we're they're yet. She even said it herself that we need time to get to know the new sides of each other, so I'm surprised she even thought I was gonna propose."

"Maybe you hinted towards it somehow, or she thought you did," Justin suggested. "Have you done anything to hint at a future with the two of you being married."

"Not that I'm aware of," I answered. I then began thinking about this trip before replying, "Well, this trip was something we had planned before the kidnap. It was supposed to be a graduation celebration. After this, we'd get married and go on our honeymoon in Dubai. I also showed her the place I grew up as a child and opened up more about my past."

Aria replied, "Maybe that's why she thought this was heading in a different direction."

"I mean, she was the one who suggested this trip this time though," I replied.

"Yeah, but you agreeing to it probably confirmed whatever thoughts she had in her mind," Aria defended.

"I guess," I sighed. "She might also be pregnant again. It's too soon to check, but I did...you know...the other night."

Justin chuckled, "Wait, so for the first time ever, you show her the area your grew up in and talk about your past more, then you agree to go on this trip that would've had a lot of meaning if it had happened when it was supposed to, then you bust a nut in her, but you're confused about why she might've thought you'd be proposing to her?"

"When you put it like that..." I said, causing Aria and Justin to laugh at me. "What do y'all think I should do?"

"For starters," Aria said, "confront her about it. Tell her you figured out that she's disappointed by the fact that you didn't propose. Then apologize. Maybe get her some flowers or something sentimental. Talk about where your headspace is right now, and let her talk about where hers is too. It's a hard convo, but you both need to have it with each other."

I sighed, "You're right."

"Of course I am," she chuckled. "You and Zach need to have a talk too."

"Honestly-" I got out.

Aria cut me off saying, "Honestly nothing. Y'all gonna talk it out in person when you get back."

"You and Uncle Nick-" Justin got out before I cut him off.

"Aight, Zach, I could talk shit out with, but y'all uncle...nah," I shook my head. "He don't like me, and I don't like him. I'm perfectly fine with that."

"What went wrong with y'all?" Aria asked.

I shook my head, "I'm not getting into that right now. I'm about to head up to my room and work things out with Sagacity."

"Fine!" Aria sighed with an annoyed voice.

"Good luck, bro," Justin said. I then ended the call and entered the hotel. I wasn't even planning to buy any flowers or anything. She'd probably think I would be planning to propose.

I took the elevator up to our floor and entered the room we were staying in. I then walked to the bedroom, where Aurora and Sagacity were playing a hand game and singing a song. I switched the TV on and put on a cartoon for Aurora before saying, "Sagacity, can I talk to you on the balcony, please."

She nodded and got up, and we walked to the balcony to speak. "Is everything alright?" she asked with worry in her eyes.

"Yeah, I...I just wanted to talk about last night. I figured you thought I was gonna propose, and I just wanna say I'm sorry for misleading you. I really do love you, and I'm falling in love with you all over again, but I don't think we're at that stage yet," I forced my mouth to let out.

"It was a silly thought," she shook her head. "It's okay."

I shook my head, "It's not. I see how I've misled you, and I'm really sorry. I do want a future with you and Aurora. I most definitely wanna marry you someday, but I just think we need to figure stuff out still."

I most definitely needed to think about how to perfectly execute Plan B without giving myself or my motives up. I didn't want to propose to her only for her to find out about my moves and then think I was using her as a pawn. Right now, I had a plan to take care of, and that unfortunately meant that I couldn't pursue other things, especially those that would distract me.

"Okay," she nodded before tears began forming in her eyes.

"S-"

"It's fine," she shook head while wiping away the tears that escaped her eyes. "It's fine, Damien. I understand."

It actually broke my heart knowing that I hurt in this way. Would I rather propose to her right now? Of course. Had I bought the ring she had looked at when we were passing the jewelry store? No, but I thought about it.

Mother didn't want me distracted, and she and I both knew that Sagacity was my biggest distraction. For that reason, I promised her before the mission started that I wouldn't let Sagacity get in the way of our plans. Now, shit was getting complicated. I was falling for Sagacity all over again, even harder this time. Yeah, we argued much more than I would like, but I was also getting to learn her more independent and fierce side. Although I wouldn't tell her this, it turned me on. Sometimes when we'd be arguing, I'd think to just pin her to the wall and perform all of my dirty imagines, but I also didn't want her to feel as if I wasn't talking her points seriously. Some days she'd piss me the fuck off though, but I would still rather those moments than a life without her at all.

I definitely still wanted to marry her, but I needed to take down her father first. It was important that I avenged my father's death. He was stolen from me by none of than Nickolas himself, and he would have to pay for the pain he cost.

Unfortunately, I loved Sagacity too much to hurt her by taking her father's life. Rather, mother and I constructed a plan that would strip him of his prized possessions: his massive, global company that he was so proud of, along with his smaller companies. I knew that his father and uncle had been the previous owners of the company and that owning the company meant a lot to him because of that. I would be taking away one of the last things of his father that he cherished.

"City, I-" I got out but she shook cut me off.

She sniffled, "I really don't wanna talk about this, Damien. Can we please just not?"

"Okay," I nodded sadly as I watched her. She then walked around me to leave, but I took a hold of her arm and said, "I love you." She looked up into my eyes with her watery own and nodded, but I refused to let her go. "Please say it back."

She sniffled, "I can't do this right now, Damien. I'm staying in another room tonight."

We had booked the entire floor for our stay, being that Sagacity had safety concerns.

"Okay," I nodded sadly while releasing her arm.

As she walked off, she said, "I love you too."