Chapter 27
Visha
Our eyes meet across the room, and my heart skips a beat.
“You can’t even spend an hour without drifting back to him,” Liv mocks and slaps my arm with the back of her phone.
I wince and scrunch my nose at her. “But look. He’s giggling and drinking like a fish. I’m worried, and yeah, I do want to walk over there and kidnap him.”
“Some would call you possessive, you know? Oh, your phone lit up,” she points out. “Who is it?”
I glance at the screen and let my grin overtake my face.
She laughs and I can almost hear her rolling her eyes. “Never mind. There’s only one person who can make you smile like that. What’d he say?”
“He asked me for a dance,” I mutter, flushing brighter when I peer up at Aoi in his booth and catch him smiling at me. “Liv, I think I’m hard.”
She wheezes and holds up her palm. “Okay dude. Too much information. Go tell him that. I can’t help your wiener.”
I get up abruptly when Aoi strides toward the center of the dance floor, surrounded by eager men and women who cannot take their eyes off him. Taking a step forward I glance back at Liv apologetically ,but the huge smile on her face puts me at ease as she motions me to go.
My legs pull me right where my heart belongs until they stop an inch away from him. He gazes up at me, cheeks flushed adorably and eyes sparkling with mischief. The glare Amira throws me over his shoulder doesn’t fly past me, but I couldn’t care less about what she thinks of me right now.
He grabs my hand and settles it on his waist, closing the gap between our bodies until we’re pressed flush against each other. The small tilt of his head when he leans next to my ear to whisper makes my pants tighten at the crotch.
“Does it surprise you that I’m a heavy drinker and a party guy?” he asks, and the look he shoots me tugs at a primal need inside me to devour him.
“You could be a serial killer, and I would still be mesmerized by you.” I lean in, inhaling his intoxicating citrus and jasmine scent.
Before I can kiss him, he puts his index finger against my lips, teasingly telling me, “You haven’t unlocked the kissing privilege yet.”
I burst out laughing and embrace him like I’ve dreamed to for so long, spinning him around until he orders me to put him down. “You never cease to surprise me.”
Noticing several pairs of eyes on us, I fear Aoi may pull away but instead, his hands drift over my biceps and settle around my neck. “Don’t worry, they’re not looking at you.”
And he’s right. Every single man and woman in the room has their eyes glued to Aoi as he sways against me.
As though an incredible idea popped into his mind, he pulls away from me and with a bright smile he grabs my hand, leading us toward the VIP balcony.
I hold back my snarky comment about the ease with which he uses my influence to get what he wants since he walks by the bouncer guarding the balcony without a care in the world.
The bouncer, Bill, nods at me when I gesture at him to escort everyone else back inside. “No one else is allowed out here after us.”
“Yes, sir.”
The remaining people head back inside on Bill’s demand. Aoi leans against the railing and exhales in delight, taking in the starry night sky, silk blouse swaying in the breeze. “This is exactly what I needed. It’s too hot inside.”
The club is not the only thing that’s hot.
I walk up to him and put my palm on the small of his back, extracting a divine startled gasp that shoots straight to my cock. “I overheard your friend say you were finally single.”
He tips his head back into place but his smirk falters. “I warned you. I’m a piece of shit.”
“I don’t think negatively of you for hiding that important detail. I just want to know if it’s true. That’s all.”
“Rachel and I had an agreement,” he explains casually, but I sense an edge to his voice. “We broke it up, though. It was neither real nor serious. I didn’t cheat on her if that’s what you’re implying.”
“I’m not implying anything, Aoi.”
“You don’t think I’m a shameless cheater?” he asks softly, trying to glare at me but with no real fire in his eyes. “You’re not mad?”
I shake my head and grab his hand, pulling him against me. “I could never be mad at you. I don’t see why I should believe you’re a cheater if your relationship with that woman wasn’t real.”
He chuckles and peeks up at me. “Are you disappointed that I hid the truth?”
“Disappointed?” I repeat, stunned. “You don’t owe me anything, Aoi.
I just want you to be happy. If this deal with Rachel made you happy, then I don’t mind.
If breaking things off with her is what you wanted, then I support it.
Whatever you decide, I’ll support your decision.
Disappointment is out of the question.” I wrap my arms around his waist and kiss his cheek.
“I’m glad you’re officially single now.”
He laughs and leans his head against my chest, the tension in his muscles easing as he melts into my embrace. “You’re pampering me.”
“If you think this is pampering, you’re not ready for what I have in stock.”
He leans his head back to watch the sky, placing faith in me not to release him. “I…I don’t want a relationship, Andrew.”
I remain silent, observing him while he blinks at the darkness, seemingly counting stars, until I muster up the courage to break the trance. “I’m willing to wait as long as needed.”
“You don’t mean that,” he scoffs, straightening up and distancing himself from me, his palm slowly pushing against my chest.
“I do.”
“No, you don’t.”
“Aoi, I swear I-”
He pulls his sleeve up and raises his arm, revealing a fine white line scarring his pale skin. “Do you still want to wait for someone who couldn’t wait to end it all? I have issues you can’t handle, and I don’t want you to be in the position where you need to worry about me.”
I stagger back, glancing in horror and confusion between the scar and his face. “You…cut yourself?”
“I did more than that but you’re not ready for what that means.”
He’s right, I’m not. But I want to be the pillar he relies on to keep him steady. I want to be strong enough to shield him from the cruelty of this world, to protect him from his own violence.
I don’t understand what happened, when it happened, and why, but I’m here now. He doesn’t have to shoulder it all alone anymore.
I’m here.
Now and forever.
Covering his scar, he begins walking away, fleeing from the revelation he made, from the consequences of him unveiling such a vulnerable part of him.
I catch his wrist and pull him back against my chest, securing my grip on him. “What happened?” I ask, noticing a shake in my voice.
“That’s none of your business.”
I contain the stinging in my eyes while I hug his back, taking in that he’s here with me right now. He’s alive now by some sort of miracle and that’s all that matters.
“I’m sorry you had to suffer in secret,” I murmur against his ear, and he shudders, digging his nails in my bicep. “You won’t have to anymore. I promise.”
Slowly and carefully, he turns around in my embrace, peering up at me with a kaleidoscope of fear and pain. He glides his hands around my waist and tenderly reciprocates my gesture, sinking into my touch like honey in boiling water.
“I’m pretty drunk right now,” he jokes, attempting a laugh that falls flat. “I hope I won’t remember how I made a fool of myself.”
Caressing his hair, I cup his cheek and kiss his forehead. “There is nothing shameful about you. What happened, happened. It’s not your fault, my Paradise. Pain is a powerful emotion and by no means does succumbing to its thorns mean you’re weak or shameful.”
“How can you say that?” he asks, his voice fragile and shattering like leaves in autumn. “I left an indelible trace of my mistake on my own skin.”
“There is no shame in bearing the burns of the rope you held on to, in order to survive.”
His eyes glisten with tears, an ocean of blues welcoming me in the depth of his soul.
I trace the crease under his blue jewels with my thumb, reveling in the soft flutter of his eyelids and delicate parting of his lips. “Aoi, my beautiful hydrangea, may I kiss you?”
He answers with a soft nod and the heels of his feet lifting off the ground. Closing the gap between us, I part my lips and-
“Mister Lacroix,” Bill interrupts and Aoi jumps away from me, startled and dazed. “Oh, I apologize for the interruption, but three women have inquired about your guest’s whereabouts.”
“I-I should go,” he stammers, flushed and staring everywhere but at me while scratching the back of his nape.
Bill gapes between us and focuses on me before asking, “Am I fired?”
“Yes,” I deadpan, seriously wishing I could fire him for interrupting this special moment with my Paradise.
But I’m not that petty. Bill is a good man and a competent bouncer. Only a moron would fire him over a mistake.
“I’m kidding, obviously. Only Bellami can fire you.”
Aoi chortles under his breath and before he heads back to his friends he says, “I take it back. I hope I remember it all in the morning.”
I flush bright red, grinning as I nod and watch him walk inside. My knees grow weak, and I hold on to the railing for support before I faceplant into the ground.
“You, sir, are in love.”
“Love may be the most magnificent and terrifying feeling I’ve ever known.”
“My wife would advise you to not let the chance pass to be with that man if it’s what you truly want.” He stuffs his fists in his pockets. “If it’s right, it’s right.”
“My heart is tied to his. I intend to keep it that way for eternity.”
He laughs, perhaps thinking I’m being dramatic, but I have never been more serious about anything else.
I want to spend the rest of my life with Aoi.