If there's one thing I am sure of, I am sure that you have always belonged with me
Akif Kichloo
***
"Come on, my love. Let's take a shower." Declan says as he gets out of bed and heads into the bathroom.
Let's?
Okay!
I get up and follow him just as he started it. I leaned against the counter and watched as he pulled two towels down from the cabinet and hung them on the rack. "I got you a gift." He tells me when he turns around. "Well, I didn't pick it out, but I bought it."
"Oh yeah?" I say, watching as he takes long strides toward me. "What'd you get me."
"A dress." He responds, grabbing the bottom of the t-shirt I'm wearing and pulling it over my head. "To wear to dinner tonight."
"When did you have time to do that for me?" I ask him, his hands find my hips and he pulls me toward him.
"I didn't. Lore did, I gave her money and told her to buy something pretty for you." He presses his lips to mine softly. "I think she did a damn good job. I hope you'll like it."
"Thank you, Dec." I say, kissing him back. "When can I see it?"
"Tonight." He kisses me again, then slides my panties down my legs, however, his touch is innocent. He kicks his boxers off and opens the shower door for me to step inside.
The hot water hits my skin and seems to melt all my worries away. When Declan steps in the shower I turn around and look at him. I've never really taken the time to stare like he has with me. He seems to know everything on my body--more than I even know--but I don't know the first thing about his.
Declan's muscular, tanned skin was coated in tattoos. And of course I noticed them before, but I never stopped to really look at them.
The first one that caught my eye was "Les humains sont les vrais monsters" in small letters along his rib cage.
"Humans are the real monsters." I say, reading the lettering. "When did you get that one?"
"After I-" He comes to an immediate halt in his words. "When I turned 18. That was my first one."
"After you what?" I ask, the water drenched his hair and it came sopping into his eyes.
"I don't want to tell you."
"Why not?"
"Because I don't want you to see that part of me. Or at least for that part of me to become real to you." He explains, leaving me more confused than ever.
"Declan..." I say, cautiously. "What happened."
He sighs, his green eyes starting to gloss over. "When I was 17, I killed my father."
I hide my shock in the sentence and let him keep talking. "He beat the living shit out of my mother, he killed her. He-" He stops again, a tear falling down his face. "He fucked with the people I love. My mom, my sister, he just...I just couldn't deal with him getting away with that shit anymore."
I can't say anything. I pull him toward me and wrap my arms around him while he cried.
And we stand like that, him crying in my shoulder, me comforting him, for long enough to make my fingers to prune.
"I love you." He whispers in my ear, barely loud enough for me to hear over the shower hitting the wall.
"I love you too."
***
I step into the closet and immediately see the dress Declan was talking about. It's black and falls to the floor. The dress is sparkly and has a slit that goes to what seems about the waist. It's spaghetti strapped and has the slightest of a heart neckline.
It's fucking gorgeous.
I walk up to it and shove the rest of the clothes aside so I can look at it better, but then something shiny catches my eye. A chain hangs on a nail in the wall with a rusted skeleton key on the end.
My brows furrow when I see that and I wonder what exactly that could be the key to. "Hey, Dec?"
When I don't get a response, I step out into the room to see that Declan wasn't in there. Oh well. I'll ask him later.
It had been a few hours since we woke up this morning and took a shower, dinner was at 5, and it was just before 4, I wanted to start getting ready ahead of time so that I could curl my hair and the curls will have time to slightly loosen up.
I pull the dress off the hanger and slip into it, using the mirror to help pull the zipper up in the back, when I turn around, I can't help but feel slightly insecure. The dress clings to my body and seems to show off everything. The slit comes up just before my panties and my entire leg is showing. Not to mention the top of the dress that dips down enough to see my cleavage. I never wear anything like this. It feels foreign on my body and I don't like it.
I also don't want to disappoint Declan by wearing something else. Nor do I have anything else that would fit this formal dinner, since we didn't get to go shopping when we went into town--thanks Nolan--so I have no other choice but to wear this dress.
I walk into the bathroom to curl my hair and I end up getting my mind off the dress for a while, focusing on the curls and other things like how fucked up my life is.
I've never been happier with someone in such a terrible place in my life. It doesn't make sense to me how I could be feeling all these positives and negatives at once. I mean, really. My brother lied to me my entire life and he may or may not be trying to kill me, but I'm over here falling in love.
Love is fucked up.
Love is so fucked up.
When I finished my hair and was almost done with my makeup, Declan walked in. "Valerie?"
"In here," I said, leaning over the counter and getting closer to the mirror to put on my mascara. Declan walks in and stops at the door. When I turn around, my breath seems to hitch in my throat.
He's wearing slacks and a button-up, but most of the top buttons are undone, revealing all his tattoos. His dark hair is combed back, with a few pieces falling in front and he looks fucking hot.
No, fuck the word "hot." Declan looks fucking scalding.
I feel myself gasp slightly, barely audible to hear. I watch his eyes gaze me up and down and I feel insecure, crossing my arms over my chest.
When I do this, he walks into the bathroom and pulls my arms to my sides. "Lore did a really fucking good job. Remind me to thank her."
"It's pretty, I just...it feels...I don't know. I feel like it just shows off everything." I explain, my eyes finding the ground to hide my embarrassment.
"Valerie," he says, his bent index finger finding my chin and lifting my face to meet his eyes. "You look fucking stunning."
Butterflies erupt in my stomach and only intensify when he kissed me. "As beautiful as you look in this dress, I can't wait to rip it off of you."
I'm speechless. Nothing I can say can explain the million and one thoughts that are spinning around in my head. "Let's go, my love. People are starting to sit."
***
The dining room was full when Declan and I walk in with our hands clasped. There's a long table that takes up the entirety of the room, going from one end to the other, the wooden table was lined with chairs containing one at each end.
Declan takes a seat at the end of the table and pulls a chair out for me to sit next to him. Under the table, his hand finds my knee and rests there. The food comes out by the chefs, they're carrying a large turkey and different vegetables and others. It looks like thanksgiving but a bigger thanksgiving than I'd ever had in my life.
I turn back to Declan to see his eyes are already on me and watch as he adjusts his pants and clears his throat, his eyes looking down.
"Valerie!" I turn to see Lore with a big smile on her face as she sits down next to me. I hadn't talked to her much since we'd been here and it was really refreshing to see her face. "That dress looks beautiful on you, dear. I knew it would."
"Thank you, Lore." I say. "I really appreciate you going out to get this for me."
"Oh any time, my love." She says, just as Ellie hops up in her chair.
"Hi, Valerie." She says with a smile. She's wearing a pink dress with a pink bow in her hair. She looks adorable and it immediately puts a smile on my face.
"Hi, Ellie. How are you, sweetie?" I ask her, my smile growing as she tells me about all the games she's been playing recently.
Kai takes a seat directly across from me, next to Declan. They nod at each other, then I watch Declan pull at his pants one more time before he stands.
Lore elbows me, slightly. "You're welcome." She says, and I look over at her confused, to which she rolls her eyes. "Lovie, don't play dumb with me," She whispers. "I picked that dress out because I knew it would drive him crazy, therefore, you get laid. It's clearly working. You're welcome."
I giggle a little bit, surprised by her mentioning that. Not that I mind, she's very correct, it just doesn't seem like something Lore would say, and hearing her say that is hilarious.
"Attention, please, everyone." Declan's loud voice pulls me away from my thoughts. I look up at him and feel the need to cross my legs from the sight. He really does look hot as fuck. "I've called you all here today because I feel the need to address something."
Declan nods to Kai, and he pulls a remote from his pocket, pressing a button. A projector turns on with a picture of my brother plastered on the wall. It looks like it was taken from a security camera and Nolan looks pissed. He's standing in our driveway with his arms crossed and his brows furrowed. The picture is slightly blurry, but clear enough to see him and his features.
at 40 years old, his hair is barely starting to gray, and there's a slight wrinkle in his forehead, but other than that, nothing shows his age. Nolan always had a knack for looking younger than he always was, maybe it was his anger.
I find myself staring for longer than expected, but I'm snapped back into reality by the sound of Declan's voice.
"This is the face behind the name Nolan Arrow. The name most of you seem to know well, but only one of you know the face of. There's some information regarding this man that we would like to keep a secret for the time being, but at the moment, he must not be let in this house under any circumstances and must not be near any of my girls. Do I make myself clear?" Declan asks, his brow raised slightly.
"Yes sir," All of his men say in sync. My first thought was I didn't know how they all listened to him without even questioning it. My second thought answered my question. Watching the was Declan intimidating them--and me--was the exact reason he got what he wanted from them. He intimidated them into listening to them. They all thought he was gonna kill them if they didn't listen, so I'm sure death and intimidation are clear reasons to do what someone says.
"Good. My expectations are high. Are there any questions?" Declan asks, he crosses his arms over his chest and I almost gasp. This man is giving me a pulse between my legs just by fucking existing.
"What happened to McConnell? Did you kill him?" One man asks.
"No," Declan responds dryly. "No more questions. I just want you all aware of Nolan. We can't let him in"
"That's what she said!" Kai calls and without thinking I snort, laughing at the seriousness and the comedic relief Kai brings to the situation.
A buzz of laughter fills the crowd before Declan finally sits down and we resume the casual dinner conversations.
I look over and see Lore still staring up at the picture of Nolan. When she sees me staring, she drops her eyes. "He looks a lot scarier than I'd imagined him." She says, her voice dropping.
I think it's a weird thing to say, considering Declan is a hell of a lot scarier looking than Nolan, but I suppose when you hear stories like mine about Nolan, your image of him is probably distorted a bit by your mind.
When everyone is finished eating, we all stand up. Declan's hand meets my back and he leans in, his mouth by my ear.
"I'll be right back." He whispers. I nod and watch him walk towards Cohen. I stand there not really knowing what to do. Ellie and Lore were already heading towards the door and Kai was in conversation with someone else. I didn't know any of these people and didn't feel like making conversation with anyone, especially if one of them is working with Nolan.
"So what was it like?" I turn to see a tall man leaning against a chair. He had blonde hair that was groomed well and a huge scar dragging across one side of his face.
"I'm sorry?" I say, not understanding.
"What was it like growing up with him." He gestures toward the picture on the screen. "I'm Blake, by the way."
I nod, my eyes meeting the floor. "I don't know. He was just a good brother until my parents died. Why are you asking-"
I'm interrupted by the sound of snapping. We both look up and see Declan standing behind me. "Her eyes are up here, Ares," Declan says.
I hadn't even noticed Blake was looking at my breasts. I was looking down, I can't believe I let myself do that in front of someone who could be the man trying to kill me. How could I be so fucking stupid?
"I..Declan I'm sorry, I just-"
"You're fired." Declan deadpans.
"What? With all due respect, Love, I can't be fired. I need this job, I...I have a family...if I don't have the money I-"
"Go fuck yourself, Blake." Declan says, then his hand meets my back again. "Come on, my love. Let's go. I have a surprise for you."
A/N:
That's my queue to leave for another week.
Just kidding, I'll probably have another chapter out for you guys either tonight or tomorrow. It's happening, you guys. This shit is going down.
Hope you all have a wonderful Sunday <3
November Clark