Chapter Sixty seven

Damien's POV;

"If I agree to this arrangement, you'll have to tell me about your nightmares." She said.

Her words sent alarm bells ringing in my head. I stayed still in silence and waited for her to speak but she never did. I really wanted her to discard whatever she said as a joke but her silence proved she was not joking at all, she meant it.

"Ariana-" I tried dissuading her but she did not even let me speak further.

"Damien, you have to tell me, please. I want to to help you." She cut me off.

I sighed heavily and looked up at her.

"I'll tell you but not now. Give me some time." I said, trying to not crawl back in fear of telling her how dark my past was.

"Alright, do I have your word?" She asked.

"You do." I assured.

"Let's get some sleep." She said, I sat up so she could slide further into the bed. When she got comfortable, I brought her close and sniffed her sweet lavender scent till sleep drew me in.

***

I woke up first as usual and saw that she had her back to me. I peeked over and saw her lips pouted in sleep with her brows furrowed and tiny creases on her forehead. No one but Ariana frowned in their sleep and looked so cute while at it.

I reached over and rubbed her creased forehead soothingly and heard her sigh and chew her mouth a few seconds later. She turned in my direction and snuggled closer to me. I kissed her forehead and checked the time. It was a few minutes past 5am, I overslept by an hour and it was time for her to be up as well since she also had work to go to.

I shook her lightly and she moaned in her sleep. She did not look like she was going to get up anytime soon.

"Ariana." I called out but my voice was raspy. I placed kisses all over her face and that sure woke her up quickly.

"Damien?" She called as she sat up abruptly.

"Good morning." I bade.

"Good morning." Her voice sounded really groggy but it was cute all the same.

"You have work to attend to, you should go get ready." I said as I stood up from the bed. She nodded.

"See you later." She said as she walked me to the door of her bedroom.

"Yeah." I said and walked out. I turned to her to take one last look before going about my business for the day.

"Bye." She whispered and waved lightly.

"Bye." I mouthed before she shut the door slowly. I turned around and walked the short distance across the hall and then got into my bedroom, one we would be sharing again soon.

I went about taking a shower and picking an outfit for the busy day at the office, I had ahead of me.

My phone rang while I was in the middle of dressing up in a dark blue suit with a black inner shirt. I picked it up without checking the caller ID.

"Damien Kingston, speaking." I recited my usual line.

"We found something boss." I heard the caller say and I recognized his voice immediately.

"What is it?"

"We found her."

"Where?"

"Bora Bora, boss." He said and my brows quirked in surprise.

"Send me all the details. I'll have to head there myself." I said, my feet was suddenly tapping repeatedly.

"I'll send them right away."

"Good." I hung up immediately.

My phone beeped just about a minute later and I opened the folder he had sent me. It had everything, the key to the answers I had been looking for all my life. This was it.

I thought about my next step carefully, I needed a perfect excuse to travel and lying about my trip would not be a good way to continue things with Ariana.

Ariana.

That was it, I had the perfect idea and it involved her mostly. She was the perfect excuse. Inasmuch as I hated to make it seem like I was using her, I just had to.

I was going to bring her with me to Bora Bora so it would not be suspicious that I went there. It was a full proof plan and I was sure it would play out perfectly.

I took my things and walked out of the house. I had no time for breakfast, I just had to leave immediately. I had a lot of work to do.

Working with GIU needed utmost supervision because I did not want the investment flopping for any reason, I was putting so much money in it and I did not want to lose anything at all.

When I stepped out, I took a glance back at the house. The inhabitants of the house were in for a surprise and I truly hoped they were prepared for it and even if they were not, I did not care.

I got into the vehicle and sat still as the driver drove me out of the premises.

December was going to be a long month, I could feel it.

****

Third Person's POV;

Stella was uneasy and she could not place why. It surely had to do with Damien but what was it about this son of hers that was getting her anxious, she did not know. She could feel it, something was about to change and she was so unsure about what this change would bring.

She sipped on her glass of lime water and tapped her feet on the floor rapidly as she sat by the window. She watched his car drive out and there was a sinking feeling in her heart.

"Damien..." She whispered to herself. Her son was up to something, she could feel it but she did not know what it was.

She looked over at her husband who slept peacefully. This man had made her life truly beautiful and had been with her through thick and thin. She did not want to lose him for anything, she could not imagine her life without him in it.

Why on Earth was she imagining that there would ever be a life without him?

Her intuition had started playing games with her again but it never failed her. Never.

"Oh dear God, I do not like this feeling, not one bit." She cried out lowly.

She tightened the ropes on her robe and walked out of the the room into the study she shared with her husband. She went over to her desk at one end of the large room and pulled the drawer out as she slid into her seat. She pulled out the album she had always looked into whenever she felt like this.

She flipped through the pages trying to not drown in melancholia. She needed to stop but she could not, she just had to. Her hands rubbed over each page as she flipped through each one of them.

She stared at her happy little boy and her heart broke into a million pieces. His wide grin she had not seen for the longest time shattered her. She missed him, she missed holding on to him and singing him to sleep. She missed his love filled squishy hugs he always gave her but now she barely knew who he was.

She did not want the money, the luxury, the fancy clothes and cars, all she wanted was her baby who would tell her every little thing and not glare at her in distaste for no reason.

She knew that deep down, Damien was not the person who he fronted as. Her son was in there somewhere. The one she always knew was hiding somewhere on the inside and she wanted him to come out and play again.

She thought it was a phase, she thought it was just him being a grumpy rebellious teenager but it had been so long and nothing had changed. He had closed up even more as the years went by. He would rather talk to their Butler and the head housekeeper than his mother, than his family!

She wanted to scream, she really just wanted to yell and wail but no one would hear her. They just would not get how she felt, no one would, no one would hear the unspoken words in her aching heart.

The world saw her as the luckiest mother ever, having such a big name as her son. She was proud but they had no idea what she had to face behind all the glitz and glamour, behind the flashy diamonds and high-class dresses, designer bags and perfumes, behind the expensive vacations to the best spots all around the world, there was so much pain that no one out there could ever comprehend.

Money truly was not everything.

She let the dams flow and did not hold back anymore. She needed the reprieve after all because whatever was ahead needed a lot of strength garnered for it.