Chapter Forty eight

I knocked and waited for a while but I did not hear an answer. Out of curiosity, I twisted the door knob and walked in and for the first time in about a month I was going into this black and white themed bedroom.

I stood in the center of the room looking around for Damien but he was not present so I walked towards the portrait situated at one end of the room, next to his bar. The portrait showed a desolate place, torn down by flames, it gave off a gloomy vibe and it somehow got me worried. I discarded the thought as soon as it came, I was an over thinker so I decided it was just my mind going down that path again.

I spun around when I felt a presence in the room and shrieked. Damien was standing a little distance away from me, shirtless! I swallowed, taking in the beauty of his well sculpted abs and muscular upper body. I snapped out of my daze and spun back around facing the mini bar while shifting on one foot to the order.

"Put on a shirt!" I exclaimed, blushing at the thought of his shirtless body.

"You can turn around now." He said. His voice sounded really different, strange in fact. I turned and saw that he had a grey T-shirt on, one that complimented his similar eyes so well and made them really stand out.

He sat with his head down, looking really deflated. I had never seen him like that so it worried me further.

"Hey." I said.

"How are you?" He glanced up at me briefly before looking back down.

"I'm good. How are you?" I said steadying my tone as I stared at him without his notice.

"Good." He said monotonously and I hummed with an awkward nod.

"I was told you had come in and I decided to come say hello." I stated my reason for being present to reduce the tension a little bit.

He nodded without saying anything else but my eyes fell on his face, trying to get a closer look. He looked thoroughly stressed out, like he had overworked himself really badly. His eyes were bloodshot and he looked like he had not slept in like forever.

"Damien, are you alright?" I asked as my eyes darted over his frame.

"I'm fine." He muttered, leaning against the couch and looking up at the ceiling. I was unconvinced and I was about saying something about it when he spoke up.

"There's something in your room waiting for you, you should go check it out." He said, still not looking at me.

"Sure, bye." I said eyeing him somewhat suspiciously. I prayed in my heart that it was not an outfit to wear for a function I had to accompany him to, because if it was, I was not going to attend and I certainly did not mind fighting with him again over that. The last one was horrible and I definitely did not want a repeat.

I walked across the hall and opened my room only to see rose petals lined up on the floor and on my bed, I gasped in surprise. I picked up the boquet of roses placed in the middle of the bed and sniffed it's lovely fragrance, it had a sticky note attached to it and it read thus;

"I'm sorry." I read aloud doubtfully, this could not be from Damien, maybe I was just hallucinating.

My work clothes and heels were making me feel uncomfortable because I was home already so I decided to take a quick shower and change into something comfortable before coming back to this.

I came out and picked up some comfy shorts and a baggy top, I had my hair tied and placed behind my head while I came out of the closet.

It was then I noticed the many shopping bags on the floor. How did I not see them before?

I picked them up one after the other and put them on the bed. The bags were about ten in number.

I spilled out their contents one after the other and saw that Damien had got me shoes, clothes and really expensive jewelry. I opened a small box, which happened to be the last thing I opened up and saw that it was a tennis bracelet and there was a note attached to it as well.

"Peace offering?" I read out and I found myself blushing. This was really cute although I would have preferred a less extravagant apology. Him saying the words to my face would have got me instead of all these.

"It's the thought that counts." I soliloquized with a shrug and stepped out of the room to tell him I had accepted his apology.

I knocked lightly and when I heard his voice telling me to go in, I twisted the knob and pushed my way inside.

He was doing something on his laptop while seated on the bed so I went and sat next to him with a childlike grin on my face.

He raised a brow, scanning my face with his entrancing grey eyes.

I shifted closer to him and he put his laptop down, still watching me. I reached out and hugged him in my sitting position while he held my waist with his large hands.

"Thanks for the gifts, I accept your apology. I'm sorry for hitting you too." I recited, while I was still locked in his embrace. He chuckled a lot. I hit him slightly on the back, for not saying anything back. He rubbed my back slowly and I almost moaned, thankfully I held it in.

I sat back in my previous position and stared at him from underneath my lashes.

"Thanks for accepting my apology." He said to me with a slight smile on his handsome face.

"You're welcome." I said cheekily. He chuckled again.

"So, we're cool now?" I asked further.

"Yeah." He said. He suddenly groaned in pain, holding on to his head.

"Damien? Are you alright?" I asked, not hiding my worry.

"It's just a migraine. I'll be fine." He said but looked like he was really hurting.

"Let's go get some painkillers for you." I stood up but he held my wrist.

"Chill, I'll just have someone bring it up." He said softly.

"What about dinner?" I asked.

"I'll have someone bring it up as well."

"Okay..." I pouted, thinking of how to tell him I was really hungry and I had to go fill my tanks.

"Have dinner with me." He offered.

"Are you sure?" I asked because I was somewhat worried that we could end up arguing over dinner even though we just settled our biggest fight so far. I know I sounded paranoid but it was always up and down with him. No offense.

He looked up at me questioningly but I shook my head and then agreed to have dinner with him.

He put a call through to Ma Rosa telling her to please have dinner brought up for both of us as well as some painkillers for him, she eagerly agreed.

"Can I give you a head massage while we wait?" I offered and he nodded. I slid next to him with my back on the head rest and asked him to place his head on my thighs.

I tentatively ran my hands through his soft black locks, something I had be secretly wishing to do.

Wish granted!

My conscience was right, wish granted indeed.

I massaged his temples slowly with my thumbs, continuously rubbing my hands through his scalp as well.

He sighed and got more comfortable on my thighs while I giggled. He looked like he was going to sleep any moment.

Few minutes later, Ma Rosa pushed the door open and came in with a wide grin. Two maids were behind her, holding up trays, she directed them to drop them at on the table situated in the balcony, they left immediately afterwards.

"You two seem cozy." Ma Rosa said with a teasing smile on her face. I looked away shyly.

"Ma Rosa, he has a headache, I was just giving him a head massage." I explained even when I did not have to, she would not believe me anyway.

"Hmm, enjoy." She said dismissively with a sly smirk splayed on her face.

She had the 'I'm going to tell everyone that cares to listen' look on her face and I knew that mom would tease the living day light out of me the next day.

"Damien let's go get something to eat." I said, carefully raising his head. He stood up and walked behind me as I led the way to the balcony.

We had dinner in silence, I was too hungry to want to talk in between anyway so the quiet dinner was very much appreciated.

I saw that he ate very little before swallowing his pain killers with the juice provided. I just had to ask.

"Damien is everything alright with you? You look really drained." I said.

"It's the stress from my trip setting in that's all." He said and I nodded. Silence reigned for a while as we sat staring at the scenery before us.

"Did I tell you that our contract is supposed to last nine months but our marriage can only be annulled at the one year mark?" He stated out of the blue.

"No." I replied despite the fact that I had just found out earlier that day.

"Well it is." He stated.

"Why are you telling me now?" I inquired cautiously.

"I'm just letting you know that you aren't tied to me for life and you can leave at some point so you can enjoy your life as you want it." He said somberly. I turned to stare at him but he was looking straight ahead.

"Thank you." I said whispered. I did not even know why I said that, but I actually felt so relieved at the revelation and I did not even bother to ask why he had not told me earlier.

"You don't have to thank me, it's your right." He said and I smiled.

"I didn't know you had it in you to be considerate." I said truthfully.

"There's a lot you don't know about me." He smirked at me.

"True that." I agreed and looked away. I stood up and walked over to the railings and placed my hands on them. I inhaled and exhaled the pure air and smiled slightly.

I felt him near me some seconds later, tugging my hair out of the scrunchie I had used in holding it together.

"I like it when you leave your hair down." He said huskily, running his hands through my voluminous hair as it fell all over my back. I don't know if it's just me but that statement sounded really sensual and was doing things to me.

He spun me over and had me pressed to the railing. He had his hands on either side of me, leaving me trapped in between his strong arms.

He leaned closer and our noses touched, then he raised my chin with his right index finger folded underneath it and his thumb on my lower lip. I got lost in his gaze for a few seconds and when he drew closer, I shut my eyes. His lips touched mine very slightly and before I could feel it properly, a phone rang out of nowhere, making me jolt back to my senses. I snapped at my daze and saw that he was picking his phone out of his pocket.

I blushed, deeply embarrassed at my conduct. Staying around this guy was making my senses go numb and it was not a good thing. Why did I have to get married to such a hot man when having him near me was just wrong because we were not in an actual relationship?

He got pretty engrossed in his call and I took that as my cue to get out of his room before things would get out of hand.

I ran straight across the hall and got into my room. I slid down as soon as I shut the door behind me then I exhaled heavily. It had been a long day for sure but I was not feeling sleepy so I decided that I was going to watch some TV since it was the weekend anyway.

I just wanted to get thoughts of Damien out of my head so I opted for comedy and nothing more.

Hours in, I searched for my phone and eventually realized I had left it back in Damien's room. I had to go get it. I assumed he would be asleep since he was stressed out, so I slowly trudged out of my room and snuck into his but what I did not expect was to be greeted with a horrific sight.