41. Amara
Chapter forty-one
Amara
“ M y brother?” Nicholas repeats, his face eerily still. The muscle in his jaw tenses, and I can feel the anger rising inside him.
I turn away, my heart pounding in my chest. I can’t do this. I can’t listen to his lies anymore.
“Amara…” His voice breaks through the silence.
“Please… leave me alone, Nicholas.” I can’t look at him. Not now. Not after everything.
“Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, his voice breaking. “What did— Goddamnit . Tell me, Amara. What the fuck did my brother tell you?”
I scoff, shaking my head as I walk away from him, dragging the suitcase along with me. “Don’t worry, he didn’t tell me anything. I heard it straight from your mouth.”
His steps falter, and I hear him curse under his breath. “What are you… Amara can you please just stop for one second?”
I freeze, the wheels of the suitcase halting as my body shakes. My eyes squeeze shut at the sound of his voice, so raw, so desperate.
I just want to forget it all. Forget how he looked at me, how I let myself believe in the lies he told me. Forget how my heart raced every time I thought there was something real between us.
“Please, Amara,” he pleads, his voice low and soft, a desperation in it I can’t ignore. “Please, just turn around and look at me. Please .”
The silence stretches between us, and I fight to swallow the lump in my throat.
I turn around anyway, not strong enough to ignore him. As soon as our eyes meet, he lets out a breath, shaking his head slightly as if he’s trying to process everything I’ve just said. His gaze shifts over my face, his brows knitting together in confusion.
“What did you hear?” he asks, his voice hoarse like the words are stuck in his throat. His eyes lock on mine, pleading. “Tell me.”
I shake my head, my throat tightening, feeling the familiar sting of tears building behind my eyes. “I don’t want to repeat it,” I whisper.
He steps closer, just a few inches, his hand reaching out to touch me. But I take a step back, and his hand drops to his side, clenched into a fist. “Fuck,” he mutters under his breath, running a hand through his hair in frustration. “I don’t know how to fix this if you won’t tell me what you heard.”
“There’s nothing to fix. Not anymore.” I take a deep breath, forcing the words out even though they hurt like hell. “I know how you really feel about me.”
His brow furrows, confusion flickering in his eyes. “Tell me. How do I really feel about you?”
“I don’t—”
“Tell me, Amara,” he cuts me off. “Fucking tell me what you think you know. Tell me what he—”
“ And what about Amara ?”
Nicholas stops dead in his tracks, his face draining of color as he hears his brother’s voice on the recording.
“ You think I give a fuck about her ?”
I hold my phone in my shaking hand, my stomach dropping when I hear Nicholas’s cold, unattached voice talking about me.
“ She was just a distraction. Doesn’t mean shit to me. None of it was ever real. Just a dumb fucking arrangement I had to make the best of .”
I squeeze my eyes shut, my heart breaking. I loved him—love him still—but it was all just a game to him. A means to an end until he got what he wanted. He didn’t need to pretend to care about me, because I would’ve followed through with everything, no questions asked. I had already signed the damn contract.
He didn’t have to lie.
The tears fall freely, streaking down my face as I try to catch my breath.
Nicholas takes a step forward, his face contorting in disbelief. “Amara, I did not say that.”
“Are you telling me this isn’t your voice?” I ask, my voice cracking with frustration. “I know what I heard, Nicholas,”
“I did not fucking say that,” he insists, closing the gap between us. He runs a hand through his hair in frustration, his eyes darting away as if he’s searching for the right words. “Alexander, he…” He stops, visibly struggling to find the right explanation. “He edited the clip to make it sound like—”
“You don’t need to lie, Nicholas,” I cut him off. “I don’t want any favors from you. I’ve already put in my resignation. I’ll find a job somewhere else, whether it’s as a designer or a waitress. I don’t want anything from you.” My voice cracks but I shake my head, trying to keep it under control. “Don’t worry. I’ll keep my end of your stupid deal. I’ll pretend to be your fiancée until you can get what you really want.”
“Amara.” His voice tightens. “I do not give a fuck about that right now. I need you to believe me when I tell you I did not say those things.”
He holds my face in his hands, but I pull away, his touch feeling like a lie. “It’s better this way,” I murmur.
“Amara.” His voice breaks as he reaches for me again, but I take another step back.
“The contract was going to end in two weeks anyway,” I continue, sniffing as my nose tingles. “It’s best if I leave now so I don’t get even more attached.” I bend down to pick up my suitcase, but before I can move, Nicholas’s hand lands on mine, forcing the suitcase back onto the floor.
“You’re not going anywhere.” His eyes narrow, fire burning in them.
“Nicholas—”
“You are not leaving.”
“The contract ends in two weeks,” I remind him.
“I told you, I don’t give a fuck about the contract. How many fucking times do I need to tell you, you’re all I fucking care about!”
I shake my head, unable to believe anything he says.
He sees the look in my eyes, the confusion, the hurt, and it makes him pause. He straightens up, his jaw tight, and then he turns, walking away from me. The sharp click of his footsteps echoes in the silence.
“Nicholas?”
He doesn’t turn back, his silhouette fading into the hallway as he walks into his office. Less than a minute later, Nicholas walks out of his office, a piece of paper in his hand.
“Is that…?”
“The contract?” He holds it up, and without another word, he rips it to shreds, the paper falling to the floor like confetti.
“What are you—”
“Is that enough proof for you that I don’t give a fuck about the deal or the contract or anything else except for you?”
I shake my head, confusion flooding my thoughts.
He takes a step forward, throwing the shredded paper onto the ground, his hands reaching for me. His thumb rubs along my jaw. “I don’t want to end this,” he breathes, shaking his head. “Not now, not in two weeks. Not ever .”
I suck in a breath, my chest tightening at his words.
“I want you, Amara,” he continues, his eyes softening as he looks into mine. “I want you and Pumpkin and everything that comes with the two of you. How could you ever question that for a single second?”
My breath hitches in my throat, my mind reeling at the sincerity in his eyes. But my mind floods with the reminder of the recording. “But what about—”
“I did not say that,” he interrupts, shaking his head. “I swear to you, Amara. At least not about you.”
My brows furrow in disbelief. “What are you talking about?”
He exhales sharply, stepping back just enough to rake a hand through his hair. “When I was eighteen, my dad was trying to land some investors. His business partner had a daughter. Candace. He wanted her to be set for life, taken care of. So, he made a deal with my father. Alexander wasn’t interested in anything that wasn’t getting drunk and high out of his mind, so my dad came to me. Told me what was at stake, how much it meant to him… and I agreed. I made her think we had a future together to keep her father happy.” He shakes his head, his expression tightening. “But it was never real for me. Not even for a second. It was all for my dad’s business. And I’m pretty sure Candace knew that, too…” His jaw clenches. “Which is why she slept with my brother.”
My eyebrows shoot up. “Alexander?”
He scoffs, the muscle in his jaw ticking with tension. “He thought I’d be pissed. Thought he’d be hurting me by sleeping with her. But I didn’t care. She could’ve married him for all I cared. Once the deal was done, I ended it with her. And since I didn’t want her, neither did Alexander.” He shakes his head, frustration coursing through him. “The whole thing was his way of getting back at me. And he tried doing the same to you. That recording you heard…” He pauses, his jaw tensing. “He twisted it. Took bits and pieces and made it sound like I was talking about you. But I never once said we weren’t real.”
He reaches up, brushing my hair behind my ear, and my eyes flutter shut at the touch. He lifts my chin gently, his gaze piercing mine. “Of course it’s fucking real. This thing between us has never once been fake to me, Amara.”
I search his face, my heart hammering in my chest. “Really?”
He nods, his eyes softening as he moves even closer. “You could tell the world I was lying about you being my fiancée, I could lose the deal, and I wouldn’t care as long as I had you.” He cups my face, his touch warm and tender. “I love you, Amara.”
My eyes snap wide open, my stomach dropping. Did he just say —?
“I. Love. You,” he repeats, making my chest pound. “I don’t know when it started, but you’re all I think about. You’re all I want.”
The ground beneath me shifts as he kisses me again, his hands cupping my face like he can’t bear to let me go. “I know it with every sense in me. I love you .” His lips find mine once more. “I adore you,” he murmurs against my jaw, his breath warm on my skin. His hands slide down to my hips, and before I can even process what’s happening, he lifts me off the ground, wrapping my legs around his waist. “I want you to stay. Forever. Please don’t leave me.”
His kisses trail down my neck, his hands gripping me tighter, pulling me closer. “Please don’t ever leave me.” The urgency in his tone makes it impossible for me to breathe, let alone think.
And as he walks us… somewhere, I feel everything shift, the walls I’ve built crumbling under his admission.
“I can’t imagine my life without you.” He lowers me to my feet, his hand brushing against my stomach as he lifts my shirt over my head. “I can’t imagine sleeping in this bed without you. I don’t want to.”
My shirt flies off, leaving me completely braless, and Nicholas groans when he cups my breast. “ Mine ,” he groans, leaning down to flick his tongue over my nipple. “ My fucking woman.”
“Nicholas. Oh god.”
“Need these off,” he groans, pulling down my pants and panties all in one go. “Need you bare.” He keeps his lips on my body as he pulls his own pants down, freeing his cock. I whimper when he pulls away, tugging his shirt off. His hand curls around his length as he pumps it slowly, his eyes roaming every inch of me. “Need to be inside you.”
Spreading my legs with one hand, he kneels between them and positions his cock against me. His eyes lock on mine as he thrusts inside me to the hilt in one smooth motion.
I let out a moan, throwing my head back, his thick cock stretching me open.
“Tell me you’re mine, Amara,” he grunts, his hand wrapping around my throat, squeezing gently, making my eyes flutter. “Tell me I won’t lose you. Tell me you feel the same.” He begs with each kiss, breathy noises leaving his throat every time he pumps inside me.
“I’m yours,” I tell him, every part of my body aching for him. “I’m not going anywhere,” I promise him, running my hand over his hair. He closes his eyes, melting into my hand. “I love you.”
He pauses, opens his eyes, staring at me for a while as if making sense of my words, and then groans, kissing me as he thrusts inside of me even deeper.
“Goddamn, I love you,” he murmurs, breathy and so fucking sexy. “I.” Thrust . “Love.” Thrust . “You.”
Pressure builds inside me until it’s so intense and… Oh god .
“Nicholas. I’m gonna—”
“I know. I can feel you.” He kisses me, his tongue brushing against mine as his thrusts become deeper, harder, faster, my nails digging into his skin. “Fuck. That’s it. Squeeze your pussy around me, baby. Come all over my cock.”
My head lolls back as the orgasm floods me, my legs shaking as he continues to thrust inside me, his cock hitting the spot that makes me see stars.
Nicholas groans, gripping my breast in his hands and a few seconds later, I feel him spill inside me with a groan.
He drops onto the bed beside me, his cock slipping out and grips my waist, pulling me into him, his lips brushing mine. “No more contract,” he whispers against my lips. “No fake engagement and no more pretending.” When he pulls back, his eyes bore into mine and he brushes my hair out of my face. “It’s just you and me.”
“For real this time?” I ask.
He smirks. “Forever, baby. Until we’re old and gray and have a bunch of grandchildren.” My heart soars as he kisses me again, soft and pure and real . “Does that sound good to you?”
I smile, feeling my heart flutter and my stomach settle. “It sounds perfect.”