Chapter Sixteen
Emerson
I didn’t bother checking the apartment, I already knew Orion had been hiding out in his office since Atlas had left for work, so I headed straight there, despite it being late in the evening.
The building was the infrastructure version of Orion. Obnoxious, powerful, and beautiful. How fitting.
As I stepped into the sleek lobby, I was greeted by polished marble floors, gleaming metallic accents, and soaring ceilings that created an atmosphere of grandeur and sophistication.
Not that I expect anything less from the devil disguised as Orion.
The glass elevator whisked me up to the eleventh floor, offering breathtaking views of the city skyline through floor-to-ceiling windows as I ascended.
When the elevator doors slid open with a melodic ding , I noticed the contemporary design with open floor plans, glass partitions, and modern furnishings, while high-tech amenities and state-of-the-art equipment lined along the vacant desks .
I didn’t allow myself a moment to hover, instead, I headed straight to the office in the far end with its door ajar and light seeping through into the darkness.
Pushing the door open, I was met with the warm embrace of rich wood furnishings, giving the room a timeless yet vintage ambiance. In the center of the room, overlooking the city skyline, was a mahogany desk, adorned with a leather blotter, a brass lamp, and an array of neatly organized stationery.
Behind the desk sat Orion in all his glory, looking exactly like the powerful businessman that he was, and the sight almost stole my breath. A fine line was drawn between his brows as he studied a file on his desk, his nose slightly crinkled as though he was uncertain about what he read.
He hadn’t noticed me yet, and I took the moment to ingrain the image of him like this in my mind. Peaceful, focused, not towering over me with his doom and gloom. Then, as if sensing me, he lifted his gaze to meet mine. His eyes rounded in surprise before blinking repeatedly to check whether his mind was playing tricks on him.
“Orion,” I acknowledged, and that seemed to be all the confirmation he needed as his eyes returned to their narrow stance and he sank back into his office chair.
“What are you doing here, Emmy?” He rubbed the tip of his thumb against his temple before settling his grip on his chin.
The sound of my pulse working overtime was pounding in my ears, but I didn’t let that deter me. I wanted answers to the mystery that was Orion De Luca . The back and forth between us was exhausting. In one breath he could hardly seem to stand me, but in the next, he’d do a full one-eighty and do things such as tend to my wounds, capture my mugger, or help me secure my dream job.
But most of all… I needed to know that the pull I felt between us wasn’t just in my head, that he felt it too. And if he did, why was he fighting it so goddamn hard?
I gulped away the nerves that intensified under the scrutiny of his disgruntled gaze, and closed the door behind me, the sound of the lock clicking reverberated in the otherwise tense silence.
I took a confident step towards him, casting my eyes over the carefully selected artwork hanging on the crisp white walls. “So, this is where you’ve been hiding, huh?” I clicked my tongue.
“Hiding?” he questioned, his brow shooting halfway up his forehead, offended I would accuse him of such a thing.
I met his hardened stare with my own. Don’t back down. “Hiding,” I reaffirmed.
“I don’t hide , Tesoro,” his tone was menacing, dark, and hard. Almost enough to convince me I’d created the whole situation in my head.
Almost.
“Sure, you don’t,” I mused, the corners of my lips tugging into a sardonic grin. It was a pointless battle anyhow, men like Orion didn’t tend to share their shortcomings. So, accepting he wasn’t going to admit his odd behavior, I moved on. “I received an interesting call from Zander Rivers. ”
Rather than responding, his eyes bored into mine with a look of expectancy, silently urging me to continue.
I stepped closer, my fingers trailing along the bookshelf along the wall, and I resisted the urge to smile at the reminder that he still didn’t know where I’d hidden the book at home.
It must be driving him mad.
“He offered me the job of associate attorney,” I informed him, now standing across from him. “Though, you already know about that, don’t you?”
“Congratulations, Emmy ” is all he said, ignoring my question which only added to the irritation already pent up within me.
I pinched my brows, hoping my stare burned a hole into his head. It doesn’t, but not for lack of trying. I towered over the desk, matching his indifference with my own, but the asshole was so stupidly tall, even when he sat down, I seemed only a couple of inches higher.
“What’s your deal, Orion?” I pressed, the coolness in my voice melting away. “You’re hiding out in your office and sneaking around your own apartment to avoid me, but then you’re taking care of my wound and secretly threatening your attorney into hiring me?”
His scowl deepened, but what else was new? “I wasn’t sneaking .” Aggravation crept into his tone, his voice dropping a decibel.
Yeah, right, and the Earth is flat.
“My reasons are just that. My reasons. You could just say thank you and leave.”
“ Thank you? ” Disbelief hardened my limbs into stone, the sheer audacity of him sending me flying off a thinning edge. But I long accepted Orion had that effect. He pressed buttons I didn’t even know existed. And now, I was detonating.
“Fine. Thank you for being an ass since the day we first met for no other reason than just to spite me. Did I do something to you, Orion? In those moments when we met at Thanksgiving, did something about my existence just piss you off?” I seethed coldly, my hands trembled from the fury, and I could physically feel the anger pulsing through my veins. “I don’t know what your problem is, but I’m guessing it’s hard to pronounce.”
“Leave it alone, Emerson!” He bit back, his voice vibrating with anger. I could feel his patience slipping, and if I pushed him any further, I was almost certain the whiskey glass he was gripping was going to shatter into dozens of pieces in his hand.
He was pissed . I could see it in the tenseness of his posture, the firmness in his lips, and the frustration lining his brow.
But so was I, and I couldn’t stop myself from continuing even if I tried. “ Why do you hate me so much?” I demanded, the overbearing frustration he continuously built up inside me exploding out of me in a single question.
“Hate you?” he pushed back, biting out each word as if it were a bitter pill. “I don’t hate you. ”
“No?” I almost laughed. Almost. “You act like a dickhead with the people you respect then, I see. Lucky me!”
He ground his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut for a moment and taking a second to breathe. A muscle pulsed in his jaw, dull redness burning on his cheekbones. When his eyes fluttered open again, his dark pupils dilated and fixed on me with fear-gripping darkness, holding me in place like a statue. His knuckles rubbed along his jaw when he leaned back, his eyes holding such a smoldering intensity it was all I could do to keep my nerve. But I did keep it because I was far from done. My body may have turned to stone, but my mouth hadn’t.
“Why are you such an ass one second, but my knight in shining armor the next? It makes it really damn hard to hate you back, Orion!”
“I don’t hate you, Emerson,” he repeated, and though his words said otherwise, his cool tone opposed his point. My nails dug tiny crescents into my palms, and I just about gave up on any progress being made between us, when-
“I desire you.” His voice turned dark. Smoky. It slithered its way past my defenses, melting away the coldness buried within me, and ignited a heat in my lower stomach.
The three rough words filled the air between us, stealing the air from my lungs and the oxygen from my brain, clinging to the walls around us and settling in his whiskey glass with a stillness that had the room spinning.
My mouth opened, but I quickly clamped it shut. He said the words with such disdain, confirming the feelings were reciprocated hardly seemed as though they would bring around anything good. But still…
Anticipation climbed up my spine at the impending danger swirling in the air. One wrong step and we’d be crossing a line that would change everything. Not just for us but for Atlas, too. Except, I couldn’t seem to bring myself to care.
He watched me cautiously, almost amused by his ability to stun me into silence. “There’s your fucking secret, Tesoro. ” He lifted his glass to his lips, downing the contents of his whiskey in one gulp. “You want to know why I stay away from you?”
No, I didn’t.
I wanted to stay in this bubble for a minute longer. Anything he said next was sure to make it burst, it was a promise to send me plummeting back down from my sudden high like a damn led balloon.
“Because you make me lose control. You make me burn . Burn with such desire and need that it completely takes over my body and mind. You see, I don’t lose control, never have. But one look at you and it threatens to fucking obliterate into thousands of pieces, and then there’s nothing stopping me from taking you. And if I did, I wouldn’t stop, Emerson. I’d embed myself so deep into you, you wouldn’t be able to fucking breathe without me.” He stared at me with the intensity of a starved wolf, and I could hardly think straight.
The heat in my stomach spread to the warmth between my legs, forcing me to clench my thighs to dull the ache he awoke.
“You should consider yourself lucky I give a shit about Atlas. He’s the only thing stopping me from ruining you.”
The ability to form a response became lost on me as I stared back at him, all words dying on my tongue. He was studying me as though he was moments from devouring me, and I wanted him to. God, how I wanted him to.
His words were a warning, not a seduction. But all it did was make the fire burn hotter in my veins. Any self-preservation went flying out the window the moment he said I desire you. Now I was facing the Devil and silently pleading with him not to leave me behind.
Dizziness overcame me, and I closed my eyes tightly, the confidence I’d stormed in here with pulling a disappearing act and leaving me to face Orion alone.
“Orion, I—”
“Don’t,” he cut me off sharply, ordering me silent. “Don’t say anything.”
He slammed his whiskey glass on his desk and stood to his feet, storming to the exit in three powerful, precise strides, and left me towering over his desk with my own thoughts. But I heard the halt of his footsteps as he reached the door, followed by an agitated sigh, and sudden nerves racked my body.
“Don’t shut yourself in a room with me again, Emerson,” he demanded, his voice calmer than it was a moment ago. “Not unless you want Atlas to lose the only brother he’s ever known.”
It’s been a week since I confronted Orion in his office, and a week since I last saw him. However, it’s only been two seconds since the thought of him surfaced in my mind.
The weight of Orion’s words had laid on my chest like a heavy blanket, suffocating me with their significance. Like a snake, they’d slithered their way into my veins, finding the depth of me and wrapping themselves tightly around my lungs until my only way of release was giving in to him.
He wasn’t wrong when he implied Atlas wouldn’t like it. He’d hate it, in fact. But the irrational side of me couldn’t seem to bring myself to care. Forbidden things seemed to have a secret charm that only drew you to them, instead of repelling you further away, and Orion was a big red button that my fingers etched to press.
You make me burn with desire and need that take over my body and mind .
I’ll embed myself so far into you, you won’t be able to fucking breathe without me.
Though Orion wasn’t the only one burning with desire. Something about him fueled the dying ember in me. A fire in me that Miles had dimmed, putting out with his cruelness and harsh blows. But with Orion… My body screamed in his presence, recklessly yearning for him to fan the flames of the blazing inferno he awoke.
It was damaging and wildly self-destructive.
But the dark part of me was under his spell, blindly calling out to him to drag me to the pits of Hell with him.
I craved his chaos. Craved his destruction. Like a red-hot fever in my blood, consuming me from the inside out, I craved him.
So damn much.
I desire you.
I shouldn’t, I know I shouldn’t. But I did. I was sinking into him, and my body was fighting my mind in a deadly game of tug-of-war.
But Atlas…
Don’t lock yourself in a room with me again, Emerson. Not unless you want Atlas to lose the only brother he’s ever known.
He’s the only thing stopping me from ruining you.
Atlas had been my rock since our parents died, and as much as I was intoxicatingly bewitched by Orion, was it enough to risk the wrath of Atlas?
Pulling me from my thoughts, the doorbell to Orion’s apartment rang and I spotted Rosa hot on her heels heading to answer it, duster in her hand and an apron around her waist. I lifted my head over my shoulder, watching Rosa open the front door.
I wasn’t expecting anyone, Orion was still hiding in his office and Atlas wasn’t due back home for another four weeks.
“Avery!” Rosa gushed to the visitor, opening the door wider. My chin lifted, and I pushed harder to see the concealed guest who seemed to have even Rosa so elated.
Avery?
“Lovely to see you, Rosa,” a silvery, unfamiliar female voice laced with an Italian twang greeted back. A slither of dread rippled over my spine, a niggling knot forming in my stomach. Was this woman a… date? She seemed to know Rosa well enough.
“Does Orion know you’re coming, mia cara?” Rosa flapped, a hint of nerves fluttering the edges of her tone. “I would have prepared you a room if I had known.”
A room? Wouldn’t Orion share a room with his date? Actually, now that I thought about it, I’d been living here two weeks and was yet to see a date sneak out of Orion’s bedroom with the afterglow of the morning after flushing her skin. Though, the lack of seeing didn’t exactly mean Orion wasn’t dating.
Orion, dating…
The slither of dread spread into an entire tidal wave, crashing over me and drowning me in my own self-inflicted jealousy.
The voice chuckled softly, almost dismissively. “I know better than to give him time to talk me out of visiting.” Sounds like Orion. “Is my brother home?”
Brother? Relief flooded through quicker than it should have.
Finally, Rosa shuffled on her feet and allowed the visitor to enter the doorway, granting my eager eyes permission to observe her.
Just like Orion, her shoulder-length hair was as dark as the night, and familiar hazel-gray eyes met mine. Though, they were missing the usual coldness, instead replaced with a friendly warmth Orion seemed incapable of.
Her porcelain skin was flawless, and her full, red lips were pulled into a kind smile. She couldn’t have been much taller than me, though her six-inch stilettos gave her a height advantage.
The sense was suddenly knocked back into my brain, and I rushed to my feet to greet her, almost tripping over myself in the process. “Hi, I’m Emmy.” I smiled, shaking her hand. “I’m Atlas’ sister.”
There was a noticeable twinkle in her eye when I mentioned my brother’s name. “Of course, it’s lovely to meet you, Emmy. Atlas has told me much about you.” A definite twinkle . “Is he around?”
“Atlas?” I asked skeptically.
She nodded, a slither of hope flittering across her features.
Interesting. “He’s away on a job at the moment, he’s not due home for another four weeks.”
Disappointment lined her brow, despite the glistening wedding ring on her finger. “I see,” she didn’t let her smile falter, but there was a sudden lack of enthusiasm in her voice. “And my brother?”
I sighed. “Hiding at his office, courtesy of sharing a living space with me.” There was no point denying it. “Rosa, perhaps you could call Mr. De Luca to let him know of Avery’s arrival?”
“Of course, mia cara. ” Rosa nodded before leaving Avery and me in the foyer.
“Do you know my brother well?” I asked, intrigued by the woman who seemed to know so much about me, yet I’d never heard of her. Then again, I didn’t really know much about Orion either.
And waiting for Orion to tell me anything would be like waiting for rain in a drought, drawing blood from a stone was easier than getting information from that brick wall. But if Atlas had mentioned me, how come I never heard her name before?
A noticeable blush colored Avery’s cheeks. Very interesting. “I met your brother when he and Orion first became friends. You could say I’ve gotten to know him well over the years.”
Just how well exactly?
I racked my brain, searching for anything that Atlas may have mentioned since he first met Orion. He hadn’t had any girlfriends that I knew of. My brother was a serial womanizer, never settling down for anyone. Though, there had been one woman who he’d seemed somewhat serious about named—
“Avie?” I gasped.
Avery smiled, but it didn’t quite reach her eyes. I always wondered what happened there. Atlas just stopped mentioning her one day, and the topic was never brought up again. I’d assumed like most of Atlas’ situationships, it had just run its course, but perhaps there was more to it… “Orion doesn’t know, does he?” I asked.
She shook her head. “No.”
Figures .
How ironic. God is definitely sitting up there laughing Her ass off at me right now.
The guilt of wanting my brother’s best friend slowly started to chip away. If it was okay for Atlas and Avery to be something, regardless of how it ended, what made the idea of anything happening between Orion and me so bad?
“So, tell me, how did you manage to scare my brother out of his own home?” Avery laughed, leading me into the living room. “He isn’t the type to be scared so easily.”
She took a seat on the sofa, and motioned her hand to the space beside her, inviting me to join her. I shrugged, taking a seat. “My existence seems to do the trick. ”
Avery nodded her head, a glimmer of understanding curling the corners of her lips. “He’s a complicated man, my brother. Even as a child, nothing was ever straightforward.”
“You’re not kidding,” I resigned, nothing was simple where Orion was concerned. “Are you in town for long?” I changed the subject, I needed to think about something other than Orion for a moment.
“Just the day.” She smiled, leaning back and getting comfortable. “My best friend has recently given birth to a beautiful little girl, and I’ve been dying for a squeeze.”
A sinking feeling plummeted in my stomach, just like it did whenever someone mentioned children. A cloud of what could have been seemed to constantly hang over my head, and while Miles was the last person I’d want as the father of my child, I wouldn’t have loved my baby any less.
Miles took our child’s life before they even had a chance, before I even got to learn I would be a mother. Children weren’t something I had planned on during that point in my life, and the timing would have been far from ideal, but I would have found a way to make it work regardless and I would have given that baby everything I had to give.
Miles took many things from me, but this would always hurt the most. People say you can’t mourn the loss of someone you don’t know, but those people don’t know what it’s like to feel instantaneous, unconditional love and then have it ripped away from you.
Avery and I continued chatting for the next half an hour, and it didn’t take me long to determine she had the sociable gene between her and her brother. It was almost shocking how different they were. While Orion was cold and detached, Avery was warm and friendly; the polar opposite of one another. If they didn’t look so similar, I’d have a hard time believing they were related at all.
When Orion finally returned home, his face had been a picture of mortification, and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t get a great sense of satisfaction from it. Orion De Luca perplexed; a moment as rare as a mine-crafted diamond.
“Avery,” Orion declared, as though saying her name would rid the ghost he seems to have seen.
Avery strolled over to Orion, engulfing him in a warm embrace, though Orion stood there with a pained face, rigid as ever and uncomfortable by the affection.
“I thought you were due to be in Santorini by now?” Orion asked once distance had been reestablished between them. Translation: Why aren’t you there and why are you here?
“Jonah had a last-minute business meeting that couldn’t be postponed. We’re going tomorrow instead.”
“I see.” Orion clicked his tongue. “And you didn’t feel like giving me a heads-up you’d be in town?”
Avery laughed, cutting her palm through the air and brushing him off. “And give you a chance to stop me from meeting the lovely Emerson? ”
The two siblings continued chatting for a short while, and Orion did everything he could to avoid meeting my gaze. I assumed getting answers from him would help melt the ice between us. Instead, it seemed to have grown into a full-on glacier.
Little does he know the entire reason he is holding back from me is actually futile.
I wouldn’t tell him that though. It wasn’t my business to share, even if it would liquefy the ice age maturing between us. That was between Orion, Atlas, and Avery.
“I have an idea,” Avery burst suddenly, her eyes flickering between Orion and me. “You two should come with us to Santorini!”
Uh-oh.
Orion paled, grimacing like he’d just been asked to do the most outrageous thing he could think of, twice . “That’s not an option,” he said, his voice as detached and cold as ever.
Avery lifted her brow at her brother, challenging him. “Why, pray tell, not?” she asked, tilting her head slightly. “Because it interferes with your plans to avoid Emmy until Atlas returns?”
Dammit Avery, did no one ever tell you not to look a gift horse in the mouth?
Orion glared at his sister like she just slapped him across the face. Somewhere, a storm was brewing, and it intended to wipe out an entire village. Ignoring her remark, he said, “I’m too busy with the company right now, and Emmy is starting a new job.”
I mean, he wasn’t wrong . I was starting a new job, just not for another week. Though I wasn’t about to correct him, that would be like waving a red flag in front of the raging bull standing across from me.
“Oh please,” Avery snorted, rolling her eyes. “Most of your work is done through your phone and we both know it.” She turned to me, decidedly cutting Orion out of the decision-making process. “When do you start your new job, Emmy?”
I had two options. I could lie and say a couple of days from now which, judging by the holes burning into the side of my head, I was certain that was the response Orion expected from me.
Or I could be honest and enjoy a nice well-deserved trip to a sunny, beautiful Greek island instead of being held up in this apartment for the next week with nothing to do and a roommate who would rather throw himself off the Empire State Building than be in the same room as me.
“The Monday after next,” I answered casually, resisting the instinctive tug of my lips.
My mother always said honesty was the best policy.
I refrained from looking at Orion, though I could feel the irritation rolling off him in waves, suffocating me with its ferocity. Avery’s smile widened, the same way a victor would at the end of a final battle, and she opened her mouth to speak, but the sound of Orion’s phone ringing cut her off .
“Excuse me,” he grumbled, retreating into the kitchen to take the call in private, but not before shooting Avery a warning glare that read: this isn’t over.
“This is going to be so fun!” Avery beamed, clapping her hands together with a sense of victory. “Oh, we’ll have the best time. Santorini is beautiful, especially at this time of year.”
She then spent the next few minutes making notes on her phone as she talked through her plans, though more to herself than me. Actually, I was fairly certain she’d forgotten I was even here.
When Orion returned, he seemed even more pissed than he had been before. Though it was hard to tell with Orion, he had the ability to always look less than pleased and the murderous scowl permanently etched onto his face didn’t help. But something about now felt different, and there was a slither of concern buried into the groves of his forehead.
It was moments like these where I was reminded there was truly a man hidden beneath the mask of a beast, and against all odds, I wanted to know him more.
“Send me the details, Avery,” he breathed out, albeit reluctantly. He said the words like it pained him to do so. “We’re coming.”
My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets. I craned my neck to look back up at him, and though Avery started immediately running through her plans with him, there was a depleted look on his face that made my stomach sink.
Whatever that phone call was, it wasn’t good.