by I. A. Dice
The pink shade to her cheeks disappeared, leaving her skin ashen. “Oh God…” She looked at me wide-eyed. “He was on the phone thinking something happened to you when I saw Max.”
All she said was “Oh my God” before she cut the call. I snatched Mel’s phone and dialled his number.
“Mel, what the hell is happening?” he fumed, a magnitude of powerful emotions in his voice.
“It’s me. I’m fine, and …”
“Baby,” he uttered, letting out all the air from his lungs, and waking up millions of butterflies in my belly. “What happened? Who was that guy? Did he hurt you?”
“No, I’m okay. He’s an actor. He was looking out for me, but I misread his intentions.” I sent Max an apologetic smile. “Mel’s a fan, and she got carried away when she saw him.”
Thomas let out a shaky breath. “You scared the hell out of me. God, I’m glad you’re okay. Is Scorpio there yet?”
I handed the phone to Scorpio and turned around when Max put his hand on my shoulder.
“I’ll leave you now. It seems you’re in good hands.”
“Thank you.”
Mel swooned some more, lusting after him when he disappeared out of view. Scorpio came back and gave the phone to Mel who straightened out, bracing for an earful. She started apologizing before Thomas could say a word, and Scorpio opened the passenger side door.
“Get in. I’m taking you home.”
Mel took the back seat, and after muttering “okay” and “I’m sorry” a few times, she handed the phone back to me.
“Amelia told me why you’ve been ignoring my calls,” Thomas said, sounding calmer.
“This isn’t a good time.” I rested my head against the side window. “We’ll talk when you get back.”
“I won’t let you wonder for two days whether I’m being a selfish asshole or not. I’m not. It’s just you, baby doll. I want you, and I’m yours.”
I bit my cheek and glanced at Scorpio who watched the road in great concentration. The bed creaked on the other side of the line, and I imagined Thomas sporting a snow-white T-shirt and sweatpants, sitting on the white, neat bed in his hotel room.
“I believe you, but now, I have to go.”
Scorpio stopped the car outside of Nick’s house, then turned to me when Mel left, clutching the notepad to her chest.
“You know, when he told me about you two the first time, I was ready to kick his ass because I wanted to protect you. Now, I think he’s the one who needs protection. He’s a good guy, Nadia.”
That I didn’t expect. Scorpio had me used to thinking of him as being the joker. We never held a serious conversation, and it was odd to hear a serious, sensible words come out of his mouth.
“I know he is, and I don’t think he needs protection. We have rules as you may know, and Thomas knows better than to let me hurt him.”
Scorpio scoffed, and shook his head, switching the gear to reverse. “I don’t think he does.”
CHAPTER 22
THOMAS
Lie better
The room was stuffy despite the open windows, which did nothing to let the cool air in. That’s because there was no cool air around. It was twenty past one in the morning, but the temperature outside still oscillated around twenty degrees Celsius.
Welcome to España.
I sat in a comfortable armchair by the bed with the nightlamp on and a glass of vodka in my hand. The hotel bar closed at midnight, but the bellboy was rather keen to fetch me a drink. It wasn’t my first visit, and he knew I tipped well.
Instead of drinking and staring at the open window, I should have gone to sleep. I had another meeting at nine a.m., but the remnants of all the contradicting emotions kept me awake.
I had spent two days on my toes, trying to contact Nadia. Three hours of silence were enough for me to guess why she decided to ditch my calls. A sense of dread and an anxious state took over when an unpleasant thought entered my mind—she was going to end our agreement.
If that wasn’t enough to send my mind into overdrive, then the icing on the cake happened—Mel’s seemingly terrified “Oh my God” a moment after I heard someone hitting on Nadia. I never went from calm to confused, annoyed and fucking terrified faster.
Possible scenarios infested my mind, stripping me of the ability to think straight. Five minutes passed while I waited for either Scorpio to arrive at the scene or for Mel to pick up the phone. It was the longest five minutes of my goddamn life.
Jesus, I was losing it. Losing it over a girl. A girl who …
Sounds familiar? Good. You remember what happened last time I was losing it for this girl?
Yeah? Well… replay.
Unfortunately, the hotel room left a lot to be desired in terms of things that could be trashed, and all I did was kick the armchair and pace between the door and the window with the phone to my ear.
Not very dramatic.
Just as fast as the fear arrived, it died away when I heard my girl’s voice. No whimpers, no sobs.
Yes. That’s right. My girl.
Nadia could fight it all she wanted, but I would fight back just as hard until she waved the white flag and admitted to wanting more than what we agreed on. She had already took small steps across the bridge that led to me.
My phone chimed on the nightstand. Nadia looked at me from the illuminated screen. I took the picture like a true psycho pervert—on the sly and without her knowledge. She wasn’t smiling; she wasn’t sad. She was calm, and that was the most beautiful expression she could wear.
I promised to call you when I woke up, but I don’t have the heart to wake you. And I doubt you meant the middle of the night.
We talked for forty minutes when Scorpio dropped her off, and she fell asleep while I told her about the record label I toured earlier, trying to decide if it was worth the asking price. I didn’t realise my work was so boring, but there you go.
The sad part? I didn’t mind. At least I knew she fell asleep without the sleeping pills.
The yet-another psycho-pervert part? I listened to her steady breaths for ten minutes before I cut the call.
In less than four weeks, that girl had me wrapped around her finger. She was all I thought about, the one person I wanted to spend time with non-stop. It had been two days since I flew to Madrid, and I missed her as if I hadn’t seen her for a month.
I glanced into the mirror on the wall opposite to the bed and raised an eyebrow, surprised not to see pussy-whipped tattooed on my forehead.
It was there, just invisible.
How did my plan for my life change during a few short weeks? I turned from a rowdy, arrogant playboy without dreams, into a rowdy, arrogant guy with one goal—to make Nadia mine.
It scared me. I struggled to make sense of my thoughts and choices. The sudden territoriality and jealousy surprised me at every turn. I was confused but determined because I liked what Nadia did to me. Feeling was great, but looking into the future impatiently, not indifferently was the best.
Nadia answered before the first ringback tone ended.
“I didn’t peg you for a light sleeper,” she said. “Sorry.”
“I wasn’t sleeping. You were supposed to call. If I were asleep, a text message wouldn’t wake me.”
“I didn’t want to wake you.” She let out an exasperated puff. “Okay, I wanted to. I had a bad dream.”
The bed creaked under my weight when I laid down, both happy that she called and upset that she was plagued by nightmares.
“Do you want to tell me about it?”
“No. I just wanted to hear you. I miss you.” She weighed the words as if afraid to say them aloud. “And I don’t mean sex. I miss you.”
“I miss you too, baby. It’s just two more days.”
“You sure know how to make a girl impatient” she chuckled. “Can’t you come back now? Pretty please?”
Say no more.
Eighteen hours later I landed at Heathrow after paying the lawyer twice the agreed sum s
o that he would get the paperwork finalised before noon. All in all, including a new plane ticket, I spent an extra seven grand to get back to Nadia.
All because she said “please”.
She made me no less crazy than Maya. The difference was that Claudia held back my extravagant ideas when it came to the little girl. There was no one to talk sense into me where Nadia was concerned.
I jumped into the first taxi outside the terminal building and gave the driver Nadia’s address. It was almost ten p.m. when I barged into her apartment uninvited and unannounced.
Soft footsteps started in the living room, and Nadia rounded the corner coming to an abrupt stop when she saw me standing in the hallway a suitcase in hand.
Big, dark eyes watched me with a mixture of surprise and glee. “You came back.”
“You asked.” I shrugged as if it weren’t that big of a deal.
Her face brightened, and just then, a chubby Cupid shot his arrow right at my ass. The smile on her lips was the prettiest “thank you” I ever saw. She came closer, grabbed my tie and drew me in for a kiss.
“You’re crazy, you know? You didn’t have to come back early.”
I dropped the suitcase and took her face in my hands, enjoying the happy sparks dancing in her eyes. Nothing made me more euphoric than knowing that Nadia was perfectly calm.
“No, I didn’t, but I wanted to.” I kissed her forehead. “I need a shower, fresh clothes and you in my bed. In that order, so grab a few things and we’re going back to my house.”
She frowned and stepped back. “What kind of a gentleman are you? Why should I take a taxi home in the middle of the night? Forget it. My shower works just fine and you don’t need clothes in bed.”
“You won’t be taking a taxi. You’re staying the night, baby doll.”
I didn’t expect her to agree. She clung to the no-strings-attached idea despite knowing we were way past being just physical, so she threw me off when her lips parted, but no words came out, and a small nod followed. I took it as a good sign first, but as she ascended the stairs, I realised she hoped her nightmares and screams would scare me away.
Five minutes later, she appeared downstairs with a small travel bag and a cheeky smile.
“I have something for you. Well, kind of.” She winked, then pretended to zip her lips, and I knew there was no point in asking.
To be honest, when she entered my bedroom after a long shower a little over an hour later, I was fucking glad I didn’t ask.
Wet hair stuck to her neck and shoulders; glowing skin was bathed in the orange hue of the dimmed lights.
All I could do was sit there in awe, unable to word a coherent sentence, unable to tear my eyes off her. I bit on my knuckles, watching her flawless body covered in red lingerie. Ribbons were attached to the bra and panties and tied in a bow in the middle of her stomach.
She was imperfectly perfect inside and out. Bruised and unstable, but irresistible, nonetheless. And I just knew, watching the small smile on her lips, that I wasn’t going to fall for her.
No, I already had. Hard, and fast.
“The look on your face makes me want to run.”
She straddled me instead.
I brushed my fingers down her spine and closed her lips with a forceful kiss, ready to dive between her thighs.
“Why?” I moved my hands to her hips, digging my fingers into the warm skin. “Why do you want to run?”
“Because you’re hoping for more.” She cupped my face. “Lie to me.”
“You’re delusional.”
“Lie better. Please.”
“I don’t want more,” I said, then contradicted the words with a kiss. “I don’t want you to be mine, baby doll.”
She fiddled with the buttons on my shirt, and pulled it over my head, resting her tiny palms on my chest. “I don’t want you to touch me.”
Hot lips ghosted across my jawline. I caught her wrists, then flipped her so she would lie flat on the bed.
“Lie better,” I echoed, turning a fantasy into reality when I undid the bow on her stomach with my teeth.
“I don’t want you to want more.”
I unclasped her bra, closing my mouth on her breast before pulling the red panties down her legs.
My heart thudded against my ribs when I pushed inside of her, the pace of my thrusts different to all the previous times we had sex. We were all but rushing, the slow rhythm of our bodies designed to speak the truths we couldn’t say with words.
We couldn’t because we weren’t ready for declarations and empty promises. The road to happiness was paved with small bridges we had to cross first. But that was okay. The wait, the work, the uncertainty—okay because something changed. We went from fighting to keep our relationship purely sexual to accepting that it was a lost fight.
We waved the white flag and let fate do its thing.
I held her close when she writhed under me on the bed until breathless, tired and satisfied, we dropped next to each other. Nadia lay on her stomach with a cascade of brown hair scattered on the pillow.
She looked at me from under her long lashes, and I covered her with the sheets, pressed my lips to her shoulder, and locked myself in the bathroom. I washed my face with cold water, ready to wait until Nadia fell asleep, but when I returned to the bedroom, she was already out.
I drew her hot body to mine and buried my face in her hair, prepared for a wake-up call at any given moment.
But Nadia didn’t move all night. It was me who woke up every hour on the hour. The alarm that blared at five-thirty didn’t wake her either. She was still asleep an hour later when I returned to the bedroom after working out in the basement, and she slept on when, just after seven, I accidentally slammed the wardrobe door.
No one expected me in the office until tomorrow, and so with a laptop on my lap, I sat by the window in the bedroom to do some work.
And Nadia was still asleep.
She woke up three hours later, looked around the room, and when she saw me, she smiled, sighed and stretched like a pussycat.
“Good morning, sleepyhead.”
“What time is it?” she asked.
“Half past ten.”
Her eyes grew wide, and she sat up. The sheets slipped down her body revealing bare breasts. I must have done something right in my life to deserve that.
“I slept for ten hours straight,” she muttered, covering my favourite view. “I didn’t wake up once…”
“No. You slept like a baby.”
If it was the first time in months she slept through the night, then she had something to think about. There was no fear in her eyes, so I sat behind her, and drew her to my chest, waiting until she made sense of the night. She pulled away a moment later and got out of bed, taking the sheets with her.
I caught her hand. “Are you okay?”
She looked as if her thoughts raced hundreds of miles an hour and anxiety settled over me like a stormy cloud.
“I’m always okay when I’m with you.”
She retreated to the bathroom, closing the door behind her, and I hit the headrest of the bed with the back of my head. There was something in her voice that had me bracing for a break-up. Again.
And we weren’t even dating yet.
I knew her way of thinking, and now, instead of being happy that her nightmares didn’t bother her, she was going to turn it around to make it look like a bad thing. I rubbed my face, ready to dodge the bullets.
Water started running in the shower, and Nadia’s phone vibrated on the bedside table. Once, twice, and again. It was Mel, and I considered answering, but before I made my mind up, she called me.
“Where’s Nadia?” she huffed.
“Taking a shower. Should I pass a message?”
“Yes, tell her I’ll pick her up in ten and she better be ready. I have the dress fitting in half an hour.”
“Can’t you go alone today? She could use a day off.”
“Does Nick know you’re back early?”
“Whose side are you on?”
She huffed some more. “Yours. If I weren’t, my fiancé would turn your balls in to blown eggs. Be nice and don’t mess with my schedule. Nadia was at my disposal today. I’ll turn a blind eye this time, but try this again, and I’m taking all your toys!”
I chuckled, and she did too, with no trace of anger in her tone. She was like a firecracker—loud bang and an impressive explosion that lasted a few seconds at the most.
“Fine, mum. You can pick her up from my house in two hours.”
“I’ll be back at work by then. Just drop her off at the venue. She’s got things to take care of there.”
I used the time when Nadia was in the shower to brew two coffees. When I returned upstairs, she stood in front of the mirror, dressed in heels, slim black jeans and a white vest.
“Mel called…”
“I know. I just spoke to her,” she said, then turned around and started to gather her things. “Can you take me to James?”
No eye contact didn’t bode well for me, but I was determined not to let her put a cross on us. She was halfway through the bridge, and instead of pressing forward, she looked down.
“Tell me what you’re thinking.” I handed her a cup.
“I don’t know what I’m thinking. I just… You make me whole again, Thomas. I’m taking advantage of you and you’re still here. What is wrong with you?! Why aren’t you running?!”
Thank fuck for anger. It was easier to control than sadness or fear.
“You act like I didn’t know what I was getting into, like you forced me to do something against my will. I volunteered.”
She shook her head, fire in her eyes—bitch face on display. “Yeah, because you wanted to sleep with me.”
I almost laughed. The attempt at pissing me off was adorable. She lied to herself, and she acted dumb and clueless because she was afraid that I didn’t feel what she thought I felt.