Chapter One Hundred and thirty one

Damien's POV;

I didn't like that I had to disappoint her like that but I had plans and I was just too meticulous to have them ruined.

"Here, Damien." Her voice came through as her hands stretched out to give me my box of cufflinks.

"Thanks babe."

She turned to leave and I held her by her waist, having her pinned to my side.

"You have any plans for the day?" I asked, kissing her hair.

"Yeah, I have a restaurant to set up." She muttered, trying to pull herself out of my grip.

"I have plans for us tonight, when are you gonna be home?"

"Earlier than you for sure." She said raising her head to give me a cursory glance.

"I'll pick you up when you're ready." I said.

"Where are we going? What am I supposed to wear?"

I turned her around and smirked at how she gave me doe eyes whenever she asked a question.

I raised two fingers.

"Two words babe." I leaned in and put my lips close to her ear.

"Be ready." I dropped the hint.

Her eyes lit up with an emotion I could not decrypt.

"Love you babe. Now, say it back." I said, shaking her slightly while she chuckled.

"Love you too." She said back with one of those beautiful smiles that had my heart stopping for a second every time I set my eyes on them.

"See you later." I said, dropping a lasting kiss on her lips before leaving.

"Tonight's gonna be good." I said to myself as I jogged downstairs.

"Morning Ma Rosa." I bade as soon as I spotted her supervising the helps as they cleaned up the house.

"Good morning Damien. How are you doing today?"

"I'm great."

Her eyes glimmered in curiosity.

"You look extra happy today. Some good news?"

"TGIF." I shrugged.

"Since when did you start getting excited about Fridays? You work non-stop no matter the day of the week." She retorted with a scoff.

She was right, but I was more surprised about her knowing the full meaning of that abbreviation. Turned out this woman was more woke than I thought.

"Well, Ariana and I are going on a weekend getaway." I announced.

"Oh now I see why. You're going to get yourself laid all weekend." She snorted.

"Ma Rosa! That's a private discussion." I exclaimed.

"At least I wouldn't have to hear her screams." She smugly said.

"Don't be petty. The walls are soundproof there's no way you'd ever hear anything that goes on between us."

For the first time in a long while, I was flustered.

"Hmmm yeah right." She teased with a sarcastic grin framing her features. I shook my head.

"Please help her pack up for the weekend. I'll have her assistant come pick it up later today." I requested.

"No problem."

"You know what to do right?" I had to make sure.

"Leave it to me. I gat you son." She patted my arm and winked. I laughed hard.

"Bye Ma Rosa." I pecked her cheeks and left for work.

***

Ariana's POV;

"It's too bland." I shook my head.

"Ma'am this wallpaper would give the place a classy vibe." Natalie, my young assistant pressed further and once again, I shook my head.

"That's because classy isn't what I want. I want a homey vibe."

"But-"

"You do know this isn't going to be one of those overpriced restaurants right? We're starting small and simple and I don't want anyone glancing through the window and thinking that they can't afford this place. There's a reason why I chose this place in the middle of town." I explained.

"Now, have the decorator come up with other suggestions while I check out how the kitchen is doing." I said, gesturing at the space behind me.

"Yes ma'am." She nodded quickly. I turned to walk away.

"Ma'am, I have to go pick something up, can you give me an hour?"

I glanced at my watch.

"We don't have much time, what are you going to get?"

"It's uhm confidential information ma'am." She reluctantly replied, shifting from one foot to the other.

My brows furrowed. I couldn't hold her here against her will but we had lots of things to accomplish today because the weekend was usually everyone's free time.

"Can't it wait till tomorrow?" I asked.

"No ma'am, it's important that I get on my way right now." The urgency in her tone was worrying and I had to put my sceptism aside.

"One hour." I emphasized.

"Yes thank you ma'am." She scuttled out before I could blink.

"Hmm." I shrugged and got back to what I was doing.

****

I looked up from the catalogue I was marking out when I heard the door come open.

"Hey babe." He suavely walked in hanging his suit jacket over his shoulder with two fingers holding it in place.

"Heyyyy." I dragged barely able to hide my surprise.

"Weren't expecting me, huh?" He pecked my lips lightly.

"Not at all." I admitted. "It's just 4pm, what are you doing here?"

"I'm here to steal you away from work." He announced.

"I still have an hour before I close up early." I told him.

"Following protocols huh? You're such a disciplined boss." His grin was way too wide for me to take that as a compliment.

"Hilarious." I rolled my eyes, sipping on my water bottle. "How's your day been?" I asked.

"I've been thinking about you all day and I just had to be here earlier than planned."

"You're so cheesy." I laughed.

"I know you missed me." He leaned closer and put his nose on mine.

"And cocky too." I added to my previous statement.

"Just stating facts bebita." He smirked.

I smiled and glanced around noticing how the workers seemed to have gotten distracted by our PDA.

"Damien," I groaned.

"I'll continue this until you agree to let us leave." His hands were slowly trailing down to my waist as he threatened.

"Fine let's go before someone tells the paparazzi." I conceded.

"Natalie you're in charge!" I called out to her, looking around the place until I sighted her by a window.

"Have a nice weekend ma'am!" She waved at us and to my surprise Damien waved back.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" He asked when I couldn't take my eyes off him as we stepped out of the place.

"You're nicer than usual."

"You're rubbing off on me then." He said, tongue-in-cheek.

I said nothing in response.

"Where are we going?" I asked when I noticed we were speeding down a different route from that to the villa.

"We're going for a weekend getaway in my penthouse." He said.

"But I didn't pack for it." I protested.

"I've got you covered babe. Just sit back and let me take care of you." He picked up my hand and placed a kiss at the back of my palm.

"Oh you." I smiled.

"But have you eaten yet?" He asked. I shook my head. I forgot to have lunch cause I was so busy.

"Nah, what about you?"

"Nope."

"So we're going to have dinner first." He stated.

"Isn't it too early to have dinner?"

"I think not."

"We could order something at the hotel then." I suggested.

"There's this spot I've been meaning to try, Aiden has said a lot about it."

"Oh okay, let's try it out."

****

"A rooftop dinner," I let out an impressed hum, clinking my wineglass with his.

"You like it?"

"Not exactly my style but I like it. The view from up here is fantastic." I said, looking around the classy place once again.

"Well, I had this place cleared out just for both of us." He announced.

"Is there a reason why you did so?"

"Well, I want us to talk. Get to know each other better than we already do."

"We could have done that at the penthouse." I pointed out amid an amused chuckle.

"I have other plans for that place." He smirked.

"So what do you want to talk about?" I questioned, ignoring his last statement.

"Anything, everything." He picked up a spoon and scooped his soup, bringing it to his mouth.

"What's something you want to learn or wish you were better at?" I asked.

"I wish I was better at loving. I've held on to my past so much, I've shut everyone out and sometimes I just wish I could be more open with the people I love."

"But you've been doing great at loving me." I said. Damien might not have spoken my love language at first but he had been doing his best to love me the way I deserved. Of course he wouldn't always get it right but his efforts count.

"Thanks for trying to make me feel better but let's not lie to ourselves, I've been a jerk to you and literally everyone in my life and now that I've sorted out my past, I just want to do right by everyone."

"Aww baby." I was seated by his side the next minute.

"Babe we all love you. Despite being so mean and intimidating in the past, they all loved you." I put one hand over his shoulder and the other on his chest.

"I used to feel that the only reason why they stuck around is because I pay all their bills."

I shook my quickly. It's unhealthy to think that way.

"Don't think about it like that. I believe you're loved by everyone and you can make them not regret loving you by doing better."

"How?" He asked. His eyes gave off so much emotion. It showed how much this meant for him.

"By bonding with them more often. Just try to make out time for everyone." I advised.

"I'll try my best. You're here to help me right?"

"Always." I said.

"Speaking of family," I sat up. "How did you reconcile with mom after the whole Gerald fiasco?" I never got to ask before now.

"We talked it out. I realized that I missed my mom just as she had missed me over the last fifteen years and since the source of my animosity is out of the way, I decided to let bygones be bygones."

"I'm so proud of you. You're actually more forgiving than I thought." I admitted honestly.

"I love you." He said. I pecked his nose.

"I love you too."