I say goodbye to Lucas as I close his car doors and make my way up the front door. I tap in the code and let myself in, closing the doors behind me. The lights are turned off meaning Aria is already in bed and Mari probably left.
I fiddle with my tie before taking it off and unbuttoning my dress shirt as I'm walking up the stairs to get to my room. I open the door and turn the light on, stopping in my tracks at the sight of her body on my bed.
What the hell is she doing here?
I near the bed and look at her. She is peacefully sleeping while cuddling my pillow, the sheets only covering her legs. I walk into my closet to throw my tie somewhere and take my shirt off. I turn around at the sound of her shuffling on my bed and see her back facing me, the sheets now fully off her, revealing the short nightgown she is wearing, the same nightgown that rode up with the movement and is now almost showing her panties.
I quickly put my shirt away and walk towards her, picking her up in my arms and leaving my room to get to hers. She clutches to me, wrapping her arms around my neck and holding me tight. Her breathing on my neck causes shivers to run through my body. I sigh, her scent invading my senses. Vanilla.
I look down at her, checking if she's still asleep and she holds me even tighter than before, making me feel every curve of her body and making me feel warm by holding her close to me.
I look away and open her bedroom door before walking towards her bed and putting her down. She almost pulls me down with her as she's not letting go of me but I somehow manage to untangle her arms around my neck and put her down gently before covering her with the blanket.
I turn around to look at her one last time before going back to my room. I take my pants and underwear off and go to the bathroom to take a shower. A cold one.
I turn the water on and try to be quick. I face the ceiling so water can splash my face as my mind wanders back on her.
I know I've hurt her today. She only meant good with her gesture but my ego wouldn't allow me to treat her well. I could only show her the cold side that I myself didn't like much but it protected me from people. I can't trust anybody, I can't trust her. There were so many women that were like her. Showing care, trying to get to me, looking innocent. But that was all an act so they could get their hands on my money. Or my body, but in the end, it was all about the money.
My gut is telling me she is not like that. From the first day, I met her and seen her beside her sister I could tell the difference. Her sister was definitely one of those women and she is so different than Aria. But I cannot let my guard fall. I will not allow it.
"Why the fuck am I even thinking about her" I groan and turn my shower off before stepping out and wrapping my towel around my hips. I take another towel to dry my hair and throw the one around me before turning the lights off and going back into my bedroom that is connected to the bathroom.
Naked, I lay down on my bed and cover myself. I close my eyes and sigh. Her scent invading my sense once again as I turn around in bed and grab the pillow she was sleeping on.
...
I huff while tying the tie around my neck, my day already starting on a bad note. My father had to call and ruin my morning with his screaming and demanding to hurry up with the template for our new project. If I get our clients to sign the papers agreeing to work with us on this project which is building a hotel in Dubai, I would finally be able to become the CEO of my mother's company and my father can finally leave me alone.
I groan frustrated and throw the tie from around my neck on the floor, almost ripping my shirt while doing so. Nobody could make me angry as my father can. He is a real talent for that.
Knock, knock.
"What?!" I almost yell at whoever is in front of my door. "It's me Mr. grumpy pants" Lucas replies cheerfully. I just let out a short "come in" before he enters the room.
"Who made you this angry so early in the morning?" he chuckles.
Unlike me, he seems to have a good day. A smile plastered on his face, happiness radiating from him. He looks ready for the day.
How can someone be so full of energy this early in the morning?
"Guess" is all I say to him before grabbing my suit jacket and closing the button in the middle. "Your daddy?" Lucas laughs and I glare at him. I cross my arms waiting for him to calm down and he finally does. "Oh sorry, I forgot you are the one who likes to be called like that" he laughs again but soon stops at the expression on my face.
"Shut up before you end up like my tie on the floor" I warn but see amusement in his eyes. "Alright, I don't mind. You know I like it rough" he laughs and starts running out of my room as I lounge after him.
I stop in my tracks when I see him in the hallway talking to Aria. She smiles at him as she greets him shyly. I walk up towards them, putting my hands in the pockets of my black dress pants.
"What the hell were you doing in my room last night?" I interrupt them not caring about their conversation which I already know consists of flirting from Lucas. I look at her, my eyes narrow, and see the smile she had is long gone now.
"W-what do you mean?" she asks quietly, confusion written all over her face but I know it's all an act.
"Stop fucking stuttering and answer my damn question," I tell her sharply. She looks down and plays with her fingers, probably a habit she has when she is nervous but I don't care about that now. "Dude chill, what's got into you?" Lucas frowns at me but I ignore him and keep my eyes on Aria.
"Are you going to fucking answer me or you're just gonna stare at the floor? Huh?" I raise my voice and see her flinch a little before she looks at me, her eyes widened as if she doesn't know what I'm talking about or why am I doing this.
To be honest, even I don't know why I'm yelling at her right now and I can't help but feel guilty when I see her eyes watering while she's trying to keep eye contact. I sigh not knowing why I'm lashing my anger out on her when I should do that towards my father since he is the one that put me in this mood, but I can't stop for some reason.
"Lorenzo sto-" Lucas tries to calm me down but it's not working.
"Shut the hell up and mind your own business. Go downstairs and wait for me there" I interrupt him, not looking at him but keeping my eyes on her. I hear him sigh before he listens and does what I told him to do.
"Why were you sleeping in my room last night? Huh? And above all dressed like that. Were you trying to seduce me or something? You want my attention. Is that it?" I angrily ask while stepping towards her. I see her gulp and take a step back while trying not to cry in front of me.
I don't know why I'm saying the stuff I'm saying. I know she probably isn't like that but she was there, in my room when I told her she is only allowed to be in her own room.
"I-I didn't sleep t-there. I woke up in m-my room. I don't know w-what you're talking about" she almost whispers confusion still showering her face. "And I'm not like that" she continues referring to the seduction part. I chuckle lowly and scratch my short stubble before speaking again.
"Then why were you in my bed, tesoro?" -(sweetheart). I ask but she just looks at me.
"I-I don't know" she quietly answers and I heave I sigh. "You don't know? Really now?" I chuckle and shake my head. I don't have the whole day for this. "Stay out of my room. Do you understand?!" I say harshly and point my finger at her. She quickly nods, some tears falling down her cheeks now.
"What is going on here?" I turn around and see Mari walking towards us, her face falling when she sees Aria.
"Honey, what happened? Why are you crying?" she comes closer to Aria and takes her hands in hers. Aria just shakes her head before replying to her. "Nothing...I'll be in my room if you need me" she sniffles and runs away from us.
"What did you do?!" Mari turns to face me, anger replacing the worry from her face. "I just told her to stay out of my room. She didn't listen to me the first time so I had to remind her" I finally look up and reply to her question.
She just sighs and shakes her head. "She took some sleeping pills last night and fell asleep on the couch. I asked Bruno to take her to her room because I didn't want her to sleep in the living room the whole night and he must've brought her to your room since he doesn't know which one is hers. It was my fault for not telling him" she explains and I can't help but feel bad about yelling at her just some moments ago.
"Stop acting like that towards her. She's done nothing wrong since the moment she started living in this house, but yet you treat her like this. I don't know what's happening with you but this better not happen again." she spats at me, a new emotion on her face, disappointment.
"Now go and apologize to her" was the last thing she says before she goes downstairs.
I look towards her room but stay put. Me? To apologize to her? Not happening. I never had to apologize for anything in my life and this won't be the first time.
After standing there for a few more seconds I go downstairs and out of the house with Lucas following me. We go into the car and I tell Bruno to take us to my company. Well, soon to be my company, hopefully.
I look outside the window but I can feel Lucas is eager to yell at me or at least question why was I acting like that just some minutes ago.
"Just spit it out already" I sigh but still don't look at him.
"What the fuck is wrong with you?! Why did you yell at her like that? I know you're my best friend but I don't recognize you right now. You never act like that. Especially towards women or at least the ones that don't deserve it but I'm sure she doesn't." he finally lets it out only making me feel even more guilty than what I felt before.
"I don't know her for long, heck I just met her yesterday but I can surely tell she is not like those women that always surround you, who want to have your attention and your money. If she is, she would start seducing you and cling onto you from day one, and she wouldn't be so scared of you like she is now" he continues.
I squeeze my fist and put my chin on it. I close my eyes as my mind is being filled with her saddened face, her teary eyes, and her shaking body. Fuck.
He is right, and I fucking hate it. I tug on my tie as an unsettling feeling fills my gut.
Why the fuck did I do that? Why did I have to act like that towards her?
"Did you at least apologize to her?" he asks after some time but I think my silence gives him the answer and from the corner of my eye I see him shaking his head before he looks out of his window.
I will have to do that when I get back home. This feeling is killing me for some reason.
...
"I guess this is it huh? You are the new CEO" my father says as I'm putting the papers our clients signed into the folder. I just give him a nod and continue with my work. I know he is not happy about this. He wanted to keep this company to himself even though it's not really his but my mother's. He even wanted to turn it into something else but that won't work, especially now when I'm the CEO.
"I have to admit I didn't think you will be able to go through this project let alone land a contract with those people." he continues.
Of course, he didn't. He never believed I could get to here. He was never supportive of me. I don't know if that's because I didn't want to be like him and lead a business with the mafia or is it because of something else. But I don't care. I'm done with him and now I can do whatever I want. I can continue the business my mother started and I can do what I actually enjoy doing.
"You should make a celebration party or something. That way you can get more people interested in your business and get more clients" he says unaware I'm already one step ahead of him.
Of course, I already thought of that. That's how my mother would do it even though she didn't actually have to put in much effort since everybody knew how great she was at what she was doing.
"I know. I'll do it" I let out still keeping my focus on putting everything in their right folders.
"Alright" he nods before walking towards the door of my office. "I'm leaving for Italy tonight. Some business awaits for me there. I don't think I'll be back soon, I kind of want to settle down there" he informs me about his plans. I just nod not really caring about what he does as he never cared about me as well.
I hear him sigh before leaving and closing my office door behind him. I lean back in my chair and close my eyes for a second. I'm exhausted. I look down at the papers that need to be put in their places but I just can't do it right now. I can't stop thinking about the girl I need to apologize to.