Sunday, 10:44pm
"So that's it?! You're just going to leave me? Huh?"
"I'm not leaving you, I'm just. ..I need some time away. Okay?"
"That's the fucking same as leaving! You're breaking up with me. You think I'm stupid?! That I don't know what the fuck you're doing?!"
"Let me go, Ash!"
"No. You were supposed to stick by me, guide me!"
"Well I can't!"
"You wanna leave?! Fine! Leave! Fuck off!"
》 × 》 × 》 × 》
》 × 》 × 》×
》 × 》 × 》
》 × 》 ×
》 ×》
》 ×
》
EARLIER THAT EVENING
Ash's P.O.V:
Sunday, 8:35pm
I booked a suite for us at The Waterfront last night. Kaia had no idea where we were going and it was fucking funny watching her guess so many wrong places. She was tipsy as fuck, dancing and singing in my car. I fucking loved the way she moved and how she thought her singing was crap. It was beautiful to me, anyway. So what she said didn't matter.
I wish we could do it all again. She made me feel so full of life and relaxed.
I'm nothing without her.
She's like the sun shining down on my fucking dull self.
I need her. To live, to breathe.
I'm pulled back to reality when I lose focus outside the huge window and begin staring at my hopeless brother.
"So you're really doing this, yeah?" Axel asks me for the fifth time while straightening up my suit for me.
I roll my eyes and sigh loudly at this dumbass. Of course I was really doing this.
"You're an idiot. Has anyone ever told you that?" I ask, tilting my head and looking at his stressed out face.
"Fuck you" He replies, shoving at my shoulder.
I chuckled a bit and wiped my sweat with the back of my hand. Didn't know I was this nervous.
"Damn. Well how is this going to play out? You ask her to--"
"For fucks sake, Ax. I'll ask her to move in with me. I don't need to bribe her or anything"
"Into your dorm room? Ha-ha, how romantic" Axel teases.
"No, you moron" I growl. "I've been looking at some flats. There's a nice place by the waterfront. Kaia would love it" I let him know, downing my glass of scotch.
"In that case, good luck" Axel says with a smug look, tapping my shoulder on his way out. I hated hanging with my brother but his place was closer to campus so I thought I'd get dressed here. I also kinda needed the prick to fix my suit for me.
I put down my glass and take a seat, careful not to mess up my suit too much. I hate dressing up. I'm just doing this for my angel. Just as I get around to pouring myself another drink to calm my nerves, my phone begins to buzz. It's her. Looks like it's time to go pick her up. I hope everything goes well tonight. With this fundraising shit and me asking Kaia to move in with me. I'll be fucking gutted if it ends badly.
● ● ●
Sunday, 9:05pm
I park just outside her room and kill the engine. I stare at my hand which is still on the wheel. I'm fucking shaking. Great.
I can't bloody blame myself though. I haven't exactly been this committed to anyone before, right up to the extent of asking them to live with me. This girl has me fucked up and in love.
Five minutes later and two more texts from her, I decide to man up and get out of my car. I walked briskly to her door and knocked twice. Just as I lowered my hand and turned around, the door swung open; revealing a very, very beautiful-looking woman in red.
"My word. . .you look absolutely stunning" I exclaimed in awe, taking in her appearance. Kaia held out her hand and I gracefully took it in mine and held it up to my lips, giving it a delicate kiss.
"Wow. Look at you, so charming" she commented as we walked slowly towards my car.
"Only for now, love. Later, I'm gonna rip that dress right off of you. . .If you'd like."
"Hmm. ..only if you play nice" she answered back, getting into my car.
Here it was again. The familiar burning of desire, filling my body. Just one sassy comment from her and my body is already begging to be pressed against hers. It's unbelievable. She's like a magnet, and with every sweet word that comes out of that mouth; I'm drawn to her automatically. Without a fight. Just fucking helplessly drawn to her.
Halfway to dad's place and I glance over at Kaia who's fidgeting with her dress. She looks uncomfortable as she continuously looks down at her lap then out the window. She also hasn't said anything since we left campus. I hope it's not me. I try to recall whether I said something stupid tonight.
"Are you okay?" I ask, finally breaking the silence between us.
She looks at me and forces a smile. I can tell she's faking it. I know her too well.
"I'm. ..I'm good. Yeah" she says, nodding a couple of times.
"No, you're not. What's wrong?" I press further. Why does she feel the need to lie to me? I can see right through her.
"Fine" she sighs. "I'm just nervous, that's all."
I chuckle at her silliness. She has no need to be nervous. She looks beautiful and she's the most humble and kind person I know. I just hope no one tries anything tonight, I don't want to hurt anyone.
"It's gonna be okay. There's no need to feel nervous at all. I'll be by your side the entire night. And since you're quite fond of my excuse of a brother, he'll also be attending. So you won't be bored" I reassure her.
"Oh. Alright then" she responds politely. Even offering me a genuine smile.
"That's my girl" I say proudly, taking her hand and giving it a kiss.
Sunday, 9:40pm
"Ah! Ashton, you're here. You were taking ages, I thought you weren't going to come" Dad says cheerfully, giving me a hug. I lightly pat his back as he hugs me. This is fucking weird. Fuck.
"You live almost an hour away. I had to drive from campus" I say smartly.
"Finally, I get to meet Miss Collins" Dad says with a smile, extending his hand towards Kaia.
"Oh! Please, call me Kaia. Miss Collins sounds so formal" she says politely, shaking dad's hand.
"I like you already. And my, that piece looks absolutely stunning on you, dear!" Dad compliments her.
"You certainly have great taste, I must say" she replies smoothly.
Her politeness is turning me on, I look elsewhere to take my mind off of wanting to take her upstairs right now.
Dad laughs at her comment and guides us further inside the house. "Come! Enjoy the night. I'll be by the door chatting away if you need anything" he says, tapping my shoulder before heading back to his guests.
Kaia and I stood there awkwardly, looking around the extravagantly decorated place. She held onto my arm a little tighter. Can't blame her though, the place was crawling with thugs and the elites of every illegal business you could think of.
"Your dad's quite charming. I like him" she says with a sweet smile.
"And he likes you. See, like I said -- you have nothing to be nervous about."
"Quite an interesting crowd here tonight. What's the fundraising for again?" Kaia asks, cocking her head sideways to look at me.
I placed my hand on the small of her back and guided her out to the balcony, somewhere more private. I grabbed a flute of champagne and handed it to her before pouring myself some scotch. It's a good thing there were tables everywhere, or else we'd have to head to the kitchen or to the main room where everyone is to find something to drink. I'm not feeling very sociable tonight.
"Dad's fundraising is kind of for his business. I guess. He didn't quite tell me much" I lie through my teeth. Truth is, I still don't know how to tell her the truth. I can't just blurt out 'oh yeah Alexis' dad is threatening to kill my whole family if we don't pay back the money my stupid mother owes him', right?
Oh angel, I wish I could tell you everything, but I can't.
"Oh, wow! Well I'm sure he'll reach his target, looks like lots of high class people are here tonight" she says with a smile, taking a sip of her champagne.
"Yeah. I hope so" I reply nervously.
After we had a few more drinks, I led us back inside to see if Axel was around. Everyone we passed had their eyes on my girl, the men deeply caught up by her beauty and the ladies passing vicious looks her way -- clearly jealous. That made me feel prouder but I also held her close to me so none of these rich bastards get the chance to woo her away.
It was in the main room where we found Axel, kicking back on one of the overpriced chairs with a bottle of Jack in his hand. He stuck to the back of the room, clearly not wanting to mingle with everyone. I don't blame him, these fuckers aren't exactly the type to get to know. They're all about business.
"Brother, pretty lady -- take a seat" Axel greets us.
Kaia and I take the two seats beside him and he immediately hands me the bottle, expecting me to drink.
"I can't drink much, I'm driving Kaia back" I say to him, kindly pushing the bottle back his way.
"More for me then" He says smugly, lifting the bottle to his lips.
"You look nice" Kaia says to Axel, admiring his fancy black suit.
"Well thank you, love. What can I say? I'm a man who knows how to dress" Axel responds with a smug grin. What a loser. He thinks he's something.
"Uh huh" Kaia mumbles, turning to face me. She looks like she's going to burst out laughing any second now. She takes a sip of champagne, trying to stop herself.
"Ah! Fancy food" Axel exclaims as the waiter brings us a tray of weird looking food. I chuckled at my brother's tipsy state. Dad is going to be pissed if he picks a fight or ruins the night altogether.
"You hungry?" Ax asks Kaia and I, well Kaia mainly because he's only concerned about her.
"Yes" she replies, and Ax hands over the tray to her. She sits it on her lap and digs in, starting with the mini sushi rolls.
"Try some, it's yummy" Kaia forces me, shoving sushi into my mouth. I chew and swallow almost immediately. Should've told her I'm not too keen on sushi. But she's enjoying herself, I guess I'll have to eat whatever she gives me.
After Axel manages to finish the bottle in front of us, he sinks into the seat and scowls at everyone in the room. Axel wasn't one to judge or pass comments, especially to those dad did business with; but tonight something was up with him and I was determined to find out. My thoughts were interrupted as Ax pulled me closer to him, looking like he had a big a secret.
"You see, brother -- mum must be watching and smiling at these people, throwing around their money for the sake of a 'fundraising'. Little do they know, their money is not going to a good cause."
"It's fucked up, I know. But in order to save us all; this has to be done. I don't want to fucking end up dead because of that bitch" I reply in a hushed tone, making sure Kaia doesn't hear us.
"Funny ay, Kaia?" Axel exclaims, grinning her way. "We go through all this just to pay --"
"Ax, that's enough!" I attempt to cut him off.
"---Mr. Ramirez on behalf of that woman, who's put all our lives in danger just because she's lousy in paying people back. Father's a fool for putting this together. She doesn't deserve any of this" Axel spits before getting up and walking out of the room, pissed off.
I close my eyes and bury my face in my hands. She wasn't supposed to find out this way. She must be staring at me, waiting for an explanation as to why I've been lying this entire time. I can't look at her, I just can't.
"Ashton" Kaia spits, standing up from her seat.
I can tell she's mad just by the way she said my name. I have to figure out what to say. I can't lose her because of this.
I remove my hands from my face and glance up at her. Just as I thought, she was scowling at me.
I sighed before standing to my feet, ready to face her.
"Let's talk upstairs, somewhere quiet" I tell her, before leading her up to one of the spare bedrooms.
She walks quietly behind me as we make our way upstairs. I'm sweating like mad as I think of what to say. Why do I fuck everything up all the damn time? I'm such a fucking mess. I should be lucky she's polite enough to follow me upstairs, if she was any other girl she would've called me out infront of everyone.
I open the door and let her step inside first, before walking in and shutting the door behind me.
Kaia walks straight to the sofa and takes a seat, narrowing her eyes at me. I swallow hard, unsure of how this was going to go.
"Kaia, I --"
"Stop. Just tell me why you couldn't tell me the truth, Ashton" she spits, folding her arms infront of her.
"Kaia" I continue, searching for the right words. "It's more complicated than you think, okay?" I explain, moving closer to her.
"No! You don't get to decide when it's complicated or not! We're supposed to be in a relationship. You're supposed to trust me, confide in me. And from what I've seen, you seem to share your problems with everyone else but me." She growls, getting up from the sofa.
I didn't know what else to say. Was it wrong that I wanted to protect her? Keep her out of the drama? The unwanted attention? I have no fucking idea how to solve this. She looks so mad at me, it's hard to think straight.
I have to say something or I'll lose her. I have to.
"My mother" I start off, getting Kaia's attention. "She's the mastermind. She's. ..she's the drug lord, not my dad."
She kept narrowing her eyes at me, like that wasn't enough. Fuck!
"She's been manipulating him. And as you know, I have a sister. But that's not the case; turns out, she owes Alexis' dad a shit ton of cash. This fundraising. ..it's for that. We don't have a choice, either we pay up or everyone we love dies" I say in the most serious tone I could pull off. I hope she believes me.
"I still don't get why you had to lie to me. Don't I deserve the truth? Aren't I close enough to you yet?" She spits, clearly still mad. Her fists were balled at her sides as she glared at me with stormy eyes.
"Don't you get it? I was trying to protect you! Dammit!"
"Well maybe you should've let me decide on that, okay?!"
"You don't know what you're talking about, Kaia. Alexis is dangerous, her father is a fucking untouchable person. You have no idea what he's done and what he can do" I explain, placing my hands on her shoulders.
"I know for a fact this isn't the only thing you've been keeping from me" she says, tears welling up in her eyes.
"What are you talking about? I just told you about mum and this fundraising. What else do you want me to say? That I'm a fuck up?! An idiot? What?!"
"Tell me why Alexis has you wrapped around her finger! She said one call is all it would take to get you in her bed!"
"Why the fuck do you love listening to people like her and Yvonne? They're both trouble, that's all!"
"See! You're doing it again!" She says, throwing her hands everywhere. I have no idea what's wrong with her.
Kaia moves closer towards the door, shaking her head at me.
"Doing what?! Please, tell me" I plead, desperate to solve this.
"You can't even tell me about Alexis. Yvonne was right, you are keeping things from me" she says, wiping away a tear that had fallen down her cheek.
"Where are you going?" I ask as she slowly turns the doorknob.
"I'm leaving!" She replies furiously.
Sunday, 10:44pm
"So that's it?! You're just going to leave me? Huh?" I question her.
"I'm not leaving you, I'm just. ..I need some time away. Okay?" Kaia replies, trying to convince me that she'll stick around. But I know she won't.
"That's the fucking same as leaving! You're breaking up with me. You think I'm stupid?! That I don't know what the fuck you're doing?!" I shout, grabbing her arm as she tries to leave the room.
"Let me go, Ash!" She spits, yanking her arm out of my grip.
"No. You were supposed to stick by me, guide me!" I tell her, trying hard to make her stay.
"Well I can't!" She finally yells.
That's it. She doesn't wanna hear anything else. She's looking at me like I'm a stranger, an outsider. Her glare is cold, hateful even.
But I refuse to show weakness. I won't.
"You wanna leave?! Fine! Leave! Fuck off!" I tell her and watch as she runs out of the room and down the stairs in tears.
I slam the door and lean against it, slowly sinking down to the floor. I let my anger get the best of me. Now she's gone.
It's no use. She will never understand me. Guess this was a big joke. We're too different, I should have fucking thought of that in the beginning. . .before I let myself fall for her.
♡♡ A/N♡♡
We're almost to the end of the book.
Hope you guys are enjoying it.
Love u all.
Thnx for reading this far.
Xoxo
♡