Chapter 14 Arabelle #2
“Well, that’s good to know,” I say. “But you’re not answering my question. I want to know why you want to marry a stranger. You’re wealthy and very handsome. You can get any woman you want.”
“You think I’m handsome and can get any woman I want?” he asks with a smirk.
I can’t stop myself from laughing. “Of course, you’re handsome, and you know you can.”
He directs his gaze toward me but doesn’t respond to my statement.
“I just can’t figure it out, and it’s something I need to understand.”
After another smile from him, I have to pause, take a deep breath, and refocus my thoughts. The man makes my heart race and my pussy weep.
It’s been entirely too long since I’ve slept with anyone. I’m not sure my fingers are doing the trick anymore.
I’m thankful when the waitress comes in and takes our order. It allows me to breathe and regain my composure.
I understand exactly why my father took this deal. He’s greedy. He saw a way to have his debts cleared and maintain control over his company. What I don’t understand is why this man would want to marry a stranger.
“The reason I made the offer to your father is because I’ve wanted you since the first night I met you.” I gasp, and he chuckles. “You want the truth, right?”
“I do,” I say without hesitation.
“You can’t be surprised that a man would want such a talented and beautiful woman as yourself.”
Honestly, I am surprised. I’ve never been hung up on beauty despite others telling me how beautiful I am. I’m just an ordinary girl who loves to dance and who receives compliments about my dance skills and beauty. Yet it has a different feel when he says it.
“Thank you for the compliments, but I want to know why you want to marry me, Florian. It has to go beyond beauty and talent for me. Marriage is a big step, especially getting married to someone you don’t know.
Both my sisters are beautiful, too, and you explicitly told my father no when he offered them to you. ”
I’m not gonna comment on their talents since it won’t paint either one of them in a good light.
He groans and licks his lips. “Say it again.”
My eyebrows furrow in puzzlement. “Say what again?”
A smile spreads across his handsome face. “My name.”
“Florian,” I say without hesitation and with a little confusion. “You want me to say your name?”
Leaning back in his chair, he runs his thumb along his bottom lip. “You don’t know how long I’ve waited to hear my name come from your lips since that first time I met you. It’s not quite the way I’ve imagined it, but it will definitely do for right now.”
A wave of heat slowly rises up my neck. My entire body warms from embarrassment.
I’m relieved when the waitress brings in our food. She puts it down in front of us and then leaves the room. We both focus on our food, and all thoughts of me saying his name disappear. Even though I haven’t received an answer to my question, the silence between us remains tension-free.
With each bite of the grilled salmon, the tender flesh melts in my mouth, releasing a burst of savory flavors.
I groan.
“Is it good?” he asks, a mischievous smirk playing on his lips.
“Umm…very.”
When our eyes meet, the intensity in his gaze sends another surge of heat coursing through my entire being. I lick my lips, and I notice his gaze briefly shifts to my mouth before meeting my eyes again.
“I’ve been wanting to come here since the place opened, but it’s hard to get a reservation. And what about yours?” I point my fork at his steak.
“Laila’s never disappoints.” He cuts a piece of steak and points his fork at me. “You want to try it?”
“You want me to try your steak?”
Trying someone else’s food is a little intimate, in my opinion.
He nods, and a small smile tugs at the corners of his lips. Despite not knowing each other, I lean in and take a bite from his fork, savoring the taste of the tender meat as its juices and flavor coat my tongue.
As I swallow the steak and take a sip of wine, he looks at me with satisfaction.
“Good?”
“Yes. Oh my god. It’s so delicious.”
He takes a sip of the rich, velvety wine and carefully places the glass back on the table.
“I purposely stayed away from you after meeting you that first time. On occasion, I’ve been weak and visited you.”
My mouth drops open in surprise. “What do you mean ‘visited’ me?”
Memories flood back to me, specifically of the stranger who Ms. O’Donnell was adamant about seeing coming in and out of my apartment, leaving me with a sense of curiosity and concern.
“If you knew how obsessed I am with you, Arabelle,” he says, ignoring my question, “it would scare the shit out of you.”
The red roses.
“The rose in my bedroom? All the roses in my hotel rooms? They were all from you?”
Anger is moving through me, and so should fear, but it doesn’t.
This man knows every place I have been. It’s very possible he may have been in my apartment.
More than once. But if he had any intention of hurting me, he would have done so a long time ago.
So, what’s the purpose of all of this? It’s definitely not to harm me.
“I can see your mind working overtime, Arabelle,” he says. “I want you. I always have.”
“You’re stalking me.”
“I am.”
As I slide my chair away from the table, the sound of its legs scraping against the floor fills the air. When I try to stand, he firmly grasps my arm, preventing me from getting up. His grip isn’t tight, but it’s firm enough to keep me in my seat.
Even though I know I should be scared, fear never comes, but I am pissed. I’m angry he believes that it’s fine for him to invade my privacy.
“Please stay.”
“The roses and the notes have been beautiful and have brightened my days more than once,” I confess, not to excuse his behavior but to tell him the truth.
“However, you were in my apartment without my permission, Florian. And, according to my neighbor, it’s been multiple times! I thought she was going crazy.”
“I know, Arabelle. I understand what I did wasn’t right and an invasion of your privacy. I would never claim that it was the right thing to do, but what else was I supposed to do?”
A flicker of something almost like fear passes through his eyes before he hides it away.
“Maybe approach me like a normal human being instead of sneaking around doing stuff like a crazy person!”
“I want you, Arabelle.” He sighs like he’s got the weight of the world on his shoulders, and it’s hard to discuss this with me.
“But I’m a dangerous man. I have many enemies, which has kept me single for a long time.
However, when I saw the opportunity to have you in my life for real, not just from the shadows, I took it.
I’m not the prince in the fairy tale. I am the Beast. I take what I want.
And what I want is you. So, please stay. ”
“Why should I stay?” I ask, not sure I want to hear his answer, but the need to know or hear him say it is overwhelming.
“Because I’m never going to let you go, Arabelle.”
“What?”
“You’re mine now, and I plan to cherish every moment with you.”
I relax in my chair even though I know I should run as far away from this man as I can possibly get.
“And why does my father owe you money?” I ask, my voice filled with suspicion.
“As you know, he has a gambling problem, which you’ve been saddled with taking care of for a long time.”
“You’ve looked into me?”
I should have expected it, but it’s still difficult to listen to him discuss my family problems.
“I have. Just as you’ve looked into me,” he says, giving me a pointed look.
“I gave your father a loan, and he put his company on the line as collateral. Then, he failed to repay the loan plus interest when it was due. I gave him an opportunity to settle his debt in another way, which I don’t do with any of my clients, and he took it. ”
He should have just said that my father sold me.
“You’re a loan shark?” I ask, staring into his eyes, trying to gauge his reaction.
“Among other things.”
He takes a sip of wine, and I’m taken aback by his lack of denial, leaving me in disbelief. The rumors swirling around about him being connected to organized crime might actually hold some truth.
“And you just wanted me as payment?”
Shocked doesn’t even describe how I feel right now. Sold by my own father, I now find myself seated beside the man who purchased me, who claims he’s fixated on me and has admitted to stalking me.
“I’d much rather have you than any fucking company, that’s for sure.”
“Lucky me,” I mumble.
Despite his lack of words, his smirking face reveals his amusement at my comment.
“Why do they call you Beast?”
“Because I’ve earned the name. I’m not ashamed about anything I’ve done or what I do to keep my people safe. I get what I want, including whatever it took to get you. But some parts of my life will never touch you. I promise.”
“How did you earn the name?”
“How do you think?”
Did I really think he’d give me a straight answer?
I sigh. “So, the rumors are true?”
“Depends on what rumors you’re referring to.”
Annoyed, I roll my eyes, unable to hide my frustration. “You know exactly what I’m asking, Florian.”
The intensity of his stare is so strong that it’s almost uncomfortable.
I want to break eye contact, but I don’t.
He may have a reputation for intimidating others, but if I’m going to be his wife, he needs to understand that he cannot wield that power over me.
I refuse to look away and meet his intense gaze head-on.
After a few moments, when I say nothing or change the subject to give him an out, he sighs, leaning back in his chair.
“Actually, I don’t know what you’re asking, Arabelle.
There’s a lot of shit that’s been said about me in the tabloids, which I assume is where you got your information about me.
And a lot of shit is said by people who claim to personally know me and by people who definitely don’t know shit about me at all.
So, most of what you think you know about me is bullshit. ”