Chapter Nine
RYAN
In bed that night, Amber’s body was wrapped around mine, her velvet-smooth skin cool against mine. Her red mane of hair was fanned out over my bare chest, tickling me, but I resisted the urge to move and scratch as her soft breaths blew over my chest.
After Celine and Ace left, she had wrapped her arms around me and cried into my shirt. She whispered over and over how sorry she was for not being a better girlfriend all these years. Her guilt for my own actions made my chest ache. The pain in her voice with every whispered apology tore my heart in two.
This woman was so incredibly selfless, and I was damn lucky to call her mine.
I had been staring at the dark ceiling for the past hour since we got into bed. She had happily curled her body around mine and fell asleep within minutes, whereas I was too afraid to shut my eyes. I knew the nightmares and flashbacks of the hell I had gone through weren’t far away. I wasn’t ready for her to see what they did to me, what those flashbacks turned me into. Most importantly, she wasn’t ready to see the weakness in me. Besides, judging by her deep, even breaths, she needed the sleep more than me.
With a soft sigh, she buried her face further against my chest, her cold nose rubbing against my skin. I tightened my arm around her—an automatic response.
I start back at work in the morning, and I knew that everyone was excited for some sense of normalcy. My dad wanted to groom me into the next version of him, ready to take over the family company, but truthfully, it was the last thing I wanted or needed right now.
Celine had always wanted the company more than me. Hell, she’d put in all the time and effort over the last six years while I’d been gone. If anyone should be groomed to take over from Dad, it should be her, but Dad insisted it was a man’s world and she would never be taken seriously. I begged to differ. Celine was headstrong, and she could command an army when she needed to.
Soon, I would have to get out of bed, leave Amber’s warmth that was surrounding me, and start the day with a hot cup of coffee. I would have to pretend that I was okay in front of everyone at work, people I’d known since I was sixteen—people who didn’t know how much I had changed.
And I was dreading it.
In the silence of the night, Amber sighed, her arm tightening around me. The soft flutter of her lashes brushed my chest, and her breathing changed as she woke up.
“Awake, baby?” she mumbled, her soft lips moving against my skin, sending a trail of heat throughout my body. God, it was insane how much I always craved this woman.
“Go back to sleep, baby girl.” I ran my fingers through her unruly hair, hoping I could coax her back under.
“What’s wrong?” She sighed, pulling her face away from my chest to look at me, her green eyes barely open. They were still heavy with sleep, dreamland still tugging at her.
“I’d rather keep my eyes open,” I told her, trying to be as honest and open with her as I possibly could. Especially after the shit show the night before.
“Why?” She sat up slightly, her head resting on her propped-up elbow to look at me.
“I see them in my dreams.” I dragged a hand down my face, exhaustion and stress weighing heavily on my heart.
“Maybe we should go to a doctor?” Her voice was so soft, almost like a lullaby in the night. When she spoke, it felt like everything would be okay. That I could make it through this. But I knew it was just an illusion.
“They can’t fix what I’ve done, Ames. They can’t make it go away. I just need you. I just need you to love me, and I’ll be okay.” Her lower lip trembled, and the hand stroking my chest, which had been drawing lazy circles, stilled.
“I’m here, baby. I’m right here, and I love you.” Sadness lingered in her voice, along with a tinge of fear in her tone. She wrapped herself around me, cradling my head to her chest. I shuddered. I didn’t realize how much I needed her to hold me until now. “I love you,” she whispered near my ear, placing a soft kiss after her words to seal her silent promise.
I wrapped my big arms around her small, curvy body and squeezed her to me, finding comfort in my woman, finding peace from the chaos in my mind through her. She stroked a hand through my short hair, her fingers massaging my scalp and lulling me into a dreamless sleep. Her soft voice reminded me of her love, and it was the last thing I heard before the loud blare of an alarm clock a few hours later yanked me out of my sleep.
She was no longer holding me. Instead, she had her face buried into her pillow and her plump butt pressed against me. She moaned in protest at the intrusive sound and turned, pressing her face against my chest.
“Make it stop.” I chuckled and reached over her to mute the alarm clock.
I was glad to see that hadn’t changed. My spitfire was still not a morning person.
In six years, I had expected something to be different—maybe a fresh coat of paint, at least—but I was surprised to find the business hadn’t changed besides a few new faces. Walking into a place where I once felt at home but was now foreign sent a chill down my stiff spine, especially since everything looked exactly the same as it had six years ago.
Everyone was watching me, and it set me on edge. Two women shared a soft whisper over a cup of coffee in the corner as I passed the entrance. A young blonde, who I didn’t recognize, sat at the receptionist desk. She quickly shoved her phone aside as I walked past. “Sir, excuse me.” Her high-pitch tone pierced my ears. I stopped and returned the tight-lipped smile on her hot-pink lips. “Can I help you?”
“Just here to see my dad, thanks.” I turned away but couldn’t take a step before she stopped me again. I sighed in aggravation.
“Sorry, it’s staff only. You can’t go back there. I’ll get him. What’s his name?” She started to walk around the desk, her pointed shoes clicking loudly on the tiled floor.
“Mr. Wilson.” She paused, her eyes wide with mortification before she quickly recovered.
“You’re the son.” She checked the lobby for people, her brown eyes darting around quickly. “Well, shit. I’ll be damned. Nobody mentioned that you were hot.”
“Look,” I chuckled, a little weirded out, “I’m going to stop you right there. I’m engaged to my girlfriend of six years, and no, there is nothing you can do to change my mind.” Turning quickly, I left the lobby and walked straight into Celine.
“I see you’ve met Brittany.” She laughed, her blonde hair pulled up into a high ponytail that swished when she turned her head to give Brittany a pointed look to get back to work.
“Piece of work, that one is. What do you want me to do today?” I asked her. “I need to do something with my hands—preferably alone.” She nodded, her eyes distant as she thought about what she needed done.
“You can help Dad with a project he’s been working on with Ace. They’re out back. It might help you get some of that anger out, too. Do you know if Ames is coming in?” She crossed her arms over her fancy, pink blouse. Never in my life would I have imagined her like this. But there she was—commanding and all boss-like.
“I told her to come for lunch. I don’t want her sitting at home all day by herself.”
“That’s what she’s been doing for the last year, Ryan.” I frowned. “What makes you think today would be any different?”
“I’m home now. I’ll fix her.” Anger flared in her blue eyes, and her brows pinched in disdain, her lips curling into a sneer.
“You can’t just fix her depression by being here.” I grimaced. “She isn’t a puzzle, and you certainly aren’t the missing piece to make her whole again. You both need help, and the first step in the right direction is to get her out of that apartment. She needs to find a purpose. That’s why I gave her the job. You can’t be the only reason she gets out of bed in the morning, Ryan, and you know better.” She turned on her heel then, her hair slapping my nose as she stormed off down the hall, her own heels clicking obnoxiously as she went.
“I’m open to other suggestions, sis,” I hollered down the hall, gaining the attention of some of the coworkers as they watched Celine stomp off down the hall, almost like a petulant child. I barely resisted the urge to smirk. Cece could be a real piece of work sometimes.
“Get her here now. She’s late for work,” she yelled back before a door slammed shut.
Pulling out my phone, I called my girl. She answered on the first ring. “Hey, baby,” she purred, her voice like silk. I prayed no one noticed my dick plumping at the sound of her sinfully sexy voice.
“Come keep me company, spitfire.”
“I don’t know,” she said immediately. I resisted the urge to sigh. “I might come for lunch.”
“Get your sexy ass into some hot pants and wear a fancy shirt. I want to see you all dressed up, darling.”
“And why is that, baby?” she whispered, though she still sounded like she didn’t want to come to work.
“Too many women here looking at me like I’m fresh meat,” I told her, knowing that would get her to get out of the house and come here. “Come stake your claim.”
She scoffed. “I’ll be there in an hour. You better warn those bitches that the queen is coming to save her king.” She hung up with a sultry laugh.
I loved my little raging spitfire. The girl I had fallen in love with wasn’t too far from the surface. I just had to save her from drowning in her own doubts.
Together, we would save each other; I just knew it. Our love was too strong to evaporate now after everything we’d gone through to get to this point. Nothing could tear us apart.
I wouldn’t let it.