Chapter One Hundred and twenty three

Damien's POV;

"So why did you two break up?"

Cheryl went silent at the question.

"Fiona," I called out.

"That's enough questions for our guest." I said in low warning.

I glanced at Ariana who was a lot quieter than usual. It seemed like she would explode the moment we were left alone.

"I'm just curious cause mom and Tracy said you guys were really good together." She said innocently.

"Fiona!" Mom and Tracy exclaimed in unison.

My loudmouth little sister had done it again.

"Ahh..." I saw Cheryl swallow.

"We were but-"

"But we didn't work out, that's it." I cut her short and glared at Fiona to shut up because she was about to speak again.

Cheryl gave a smile that didn't reach her eyes. She dabbed at the sides of her mouth with a napkin and looked around the room.

"Thanks for hosting me. Dinner was amazing."

We all muttered one half-hearted response after the other before she looked up at me.

"Shall we discuss business, Damien? When are we taking that trip?" She propped her elbows on the table as she spoke.

I took a glance at Ariana and gulped. She had her eyes stuck to her fingers and had not uttered anything for a long while. It was worrisome.

"Let's head over to my home office to discuss."

Out of courtesy, I pulled out her chair and ushered her out feeling the holes a particular set of eyes burned through my back.

***

"So what do you think?" She asked as soon as she took a seat.

"Honestly, I don't think I can go on this trip with you. You could go and I'll come over to Germany at a later date." I told her.

"My father demands that I come with you or not at all!" She exclaimed.

"Why are you still letting your father push you around?" I asked seriously.

"Damien! Not now please." She shook her head and looked away.

"You're not a teenager anymore, you're a fucking adult. Every conversation with you just has to involve your old man. What's up with that?!" It was frustrating to hear something about her father every time we conversed.

"He owns the business." She deadpanned.

"And you're his heir." I countered.

"Exactly! That's why there's so much pressure on me, I can't let him down. Who am I kidding? You wouldn't understand that, you never did." She let out an annoyed huff and puff.

"I understood perfectly but you didn't listen to me when I tried to help. You just ran off at the slightest provocation and proved him right about me." I said threw it out there. If she wanted to talk about the past, so be it!

"You cheated!" Her voice went up a notch.

"It wasn't intentional. You left and said you weren't going to return no matter what I did but then when I had started to get my life together you pulled up out of nowhere and went nuts because I was having casual sex with someone else." I said, appalled at how she thought I would sit back and wait for her when she abandoned me.

"You're still not remorseful." She mused with humorless chuckle as she shook her head slightly.

"I was hurt. I was broken by everything going on around me and you left at the slightest provocation just like I thought everyone else would. You weren't the only one who got hurt, I was scarred too."

"Your father wrote me off! He didn't think I was good for you and I got the message but now he's sending you to me?" I found my voice going high with emotion as I thought about it.

Wait. It clicked. It all made sense now. Cheryl's father was a businessman and most business men did things calculatedly. This was more than just business, he had a motive.

"Your father wants to make things personal, doesn't he?"

"Genius as always." She had her hands up in mock surrender, the next second.

"You caught me."

"My father for some reason thinks he can take advantage of the fact that we were once together and make us a couple so he could take part in your bounty of wealth." She revealed.

"Oh shit. This man never changes." I said thoroughly astounded at the revelation.

"I can't blame him. Your net worth literally doubled by the time you took possession of the inheritance your father left you. Yes, we all heard about it." She said rolling her eyes.

"For goodness sake, I am a married man and I love my wife and whatever game you and your father are playing at, I'm not going to be part of it." I stated firmly.

"I get that but Damien I-"

I raised my hand to stop her flow of words.

"No, I don't want to hear it. I'm not playing any games, I just want to be with the woman I love and no one else!"

"My father doesn't understand that. I need you to come with me and make things clear to him." She tried to reason with me.

"There is nothing to be made clear."

"Please Damien, just please, I need you to say all this to him, maybe when you do, I can have some peace of mind. I don't want to ruin your marriage, I promise you, that's not why I'm here." Her plea was desperate.

I ran my hands all over my face, stuck between two tough decisions. Ariana most definitely did not want me to go with her but Cheryl needed my help, this woman's father had made her feel like nothing all her life and it was disheartening to see her go through all of these.

Truth be told, I would always have a soft spot for Cheryl because she made me feel the closest thing to what love actually was despite how toxic our relationship was. But Ariana had filled that void and there was no place for her back in my life but I had to help her still.

"My wife's has to join us, if not, you're on your own Cheryl." I doled out my condition, I didn't need any more drama with my wife. We'd had enough for one year.

"Of course it's fine! Thank you Damien, thank you so much." She wiped her teary eyes and clasped her hands together in gratitude.

"It's fine. Just stop crying already." I blinked, unable to hide my discomfort as I handed over a handkerchief to her.

"Thank you." She blew her nose into it.

"You're much nicer now." She said with a chuckle.

I dug my hands into my pant pockets and rocked on the ball of my heels.

"I guess I've found a reason to be." I said.

***

"Babe, sorry I kept you waiting for this long." I said the moment I got into the room after seeing Cheryl off.

"It's fine." She mumbled but didn't bother looking up at me.

"Are you busy?"I asked, wondering why she wasn't looking at me.

"No." She answered in a plain tone.

Knowing how she could be when she got upset. I walked back to the door, locked it manually and pocketed the keys. I doubt that she noticed that because she was simply just sitting by the vanity mirror, brushing through her locks with her fingers.

I took a quick shower and came out to see her fully concentrated on her laptop while seated on the bed.

"Babe," I called out to her, sliding under the covers.

"Mhmm."

The same uninterested hum that came with her being upset about something.

"We're heading to Germany the day after tomorrow."

That must have piqued her interest, because for the first time since I got into the room, she looked at my face.

"We? You're still going through on that trip, all alone with Cheryl?!"

"What? No!"

"I mean you and I. I don't want you getting worried so I think both of us going together is the best for us." I clarified.

"Oh." Her tone came out more calm now.

"I was about insisting on the same." She let out a bashful chuckle, rubbing on the back of her neck.

"Oh you're that jealous huh?" I smugly said.

"Jealous? No I'm not." She flushed.

"Did you tell Cheryl about this?" She quickly changed the topic but I let it slide.

"Yeah." I said, shifting a bit so I could get closer to her.

"And she's okay with it?"

"Of course. Is there a reason she shouldn't be?" I asked.

"I don't know, I felt a little tension between-"

"Babe listen," I cradled her face in my palms and briefly kissed her soft lips.

"You're the one I love. Stop worrying about some other woman, you're the only one for me."

I placed her hand on my beating heart.

"You feel that?" I asked in a husky whisper. Her head slightly bobbed up and down as our breaths mixed due to the close proximity.

"It beats like this only when you're around. No one else has this effect on me. No one." I assured her.

Her eyes scanned my features, she opened her mouth to speak but no words came out. There was something she wanted to say but decided against it, I saw it in her eyes.

Her hands reached for my face as she locked my lips in a furious kiss. This lip lock felt more passionate than anyone else.

It felt like there were so many words unsaid in it. It felt like there was a promise behind it. It was one of those kisses that did not have me thinking of stripping her naked, it was one filled with emotions other than lust, other than sexual desire. It was a craving to be loved right. It was needy but not with dirty intentions but to fill a spot that hands couldn't fill. It was so much more.

That night, there was nothing more I wanted than to kiss her senseless and that was exactly what I did.