Chapter Seventy

I was up pretty nearly the next morning owing to the fact that we had to leave early for our nearly ten hour flight to Bora Bora.

Luckily, Ma Rosa had packed our bags and I was sure she did not miss anything while at it.

I picked up my suitcase and placed it on the bedroom floor while I saw to it that the bed was properly arranged. We were going to be gone for a week so we had to lock our rooms just as Damien had said. But we were going to be back just in time for Christmas.

I walked over to my father's room and saw that he was getting ready to leave as well. Damien and I were going to escort him to the airport before heading to the private hangar for our own flight.

"Good morning Dad." I bade, pecking him on his left cheek.

"Morning Bebe." He said, planting a quick peck on my forehead.

"You ready?" I asked him.

"Yeah almost. Where's your husband?"

"Oh I'm sure, he's around here somewhere." I said waving dismissively as I buttoned his shirt for him and was arranging his collar.

"Hmm. Ariana?" He called out to me.

"Yes Dad?" I stopped what I was doing as he held my hands in his.

"I want you to promise to always be okay no matter what happens." His gaze and tone were eerie and gave me chills. Not good ones, and it was worrisome.

"Dad, where's this coming from?" I asked concernedly.

"Just promise me. Promise that'll you always be the strong girl I've known you to be, promise me Ariana." His voice broke a little bit as he spoke emphatically. His words were heavy and soon I felt a tear drop. Something was wrong but I could not point it out and it worried me greatly.

I hugged him tightly and wept for a little while as he patted my back and kept reassuring me that everything was okay even when I felt like they weren't.

Damien came in and interrupted our moment just like he did the previous night. It was time for us to leave.

We soon made it downstairs to the living room where everyone was waiting to bid us goodbye as we set off for our honeymoon.

Mom came over and gave me a bear hug.

"Bring me some good news." She winked at me after we broke the embrace. I giggled.

These people wanted babies so bad, little did they know it was never going to happen.

Damien held my hand and soon we were out the door and headed for the airport.

Throughout the ride, I kept telling my father to take care of himself over and over. Maybe I was doting on him a little too much, but I could not help it, he was all I had.

Him, on other hand, kept scolding me for not paying attention to my husband -who was engrossed with working on his phone, by the way- but worrying over him who was doing perfectly well without me. Well, ouch!

It's not like I got married and moved far away because of him though, not at all. I just decided to abandon him in New York, all by himself without anyone to take care of him because I'm so in love with the man I got married to.

I scoffed at my sarcastic train of thoughts.

Finally, we arrived at the airport and in no time he was off on his way back home to New York. It was truly difficult to watch him leave but he just had to. Then again, I felt bad for not asking about Nolan but it was all for the best, that ship had sailed on and eventually sunk.

"Let's go?" Damien asked me and I nodded. He took my hand and with our heads down to avoid the prying eyes of the people present at the airport, we briskly walked out of there.

The driver sped off as soon as we got seated in the vehicle. I sat still, feeling some sort of void in my heart after my father's departure. It felt so odd and greatly concerned me but I held it in not wanting Damien to notice my demeanor.

I felt him next to me as he closed the gap between us.

"Are you alright?" He rasped out, holding on to my chin and making me look up at him.

"Yeah, I'm fine." I assured him despite how I actually felt.

"You sure?" He probed, locking his concerned eyes with mine. I nodded steadily and subconsciously licked my bottom lip and bit on it. His eyes followed my actions and I watched as they turned darker.

His thumb trailed my lips slowly, then he released my lower lip from underneath my teeth.

"Don't do that." He said huskily.

"Why?" I asked in a whisper. He held my face and nuzzled me, teasing my lips while at it. He pulled back and shook his head and I gazed at him longingly.

Just then the car came to a stop. We got out and headed up into the jet and took our seats next to each other. Everything was going so fast and before I knew it, I was fast asleep.

I woke up a few hours later and found myself in the bedroom. Damien must have brought me there.

I went into bathroom to answer nature's call and when I stepped out into the sitting area, I saw that Damien was bent over his laptop typing furiously as he sipped on some coffee.

"Hey." I said gently.

He slowly looked up and smirked.

"Hey sleepyhead." He teased eying me from head to toe.

"Busy?" I asked going over to sit next to him.

"Yeah, I'm almost done though." He said with his eyes still glued to the screen in front him. I hummed and said nothing else.

"How much longer till we land?"

"Is there something wrong?" He quirked an eyebrow as he turned to me.

"It's taking forever!" I whined as I sunk deeper into my seat.

"Says someone who's been asleep for the most part." He mocked with a lopsided grin.

"I'm bored Damien." I stated blankly.

"Well, what do you want to do?" He breathed, shut his laptop and turned to face me.

"I dunno. Maybe watch a movie." I shrugged.

"Okay. You pick out something for us to watch while I have the hostesses get us some refreshments." He said and I nodded in agreement.

We had popcorn and other snacks with drinks in front of us in the next few minutes and I had picked out a comedy for us to watch, all to while away the time.

Five hours flew by before we knew it and we ready to land. I was excited. Bora Bora is such a beautiful place and I cannot wait to take a full gallery of photos and videos.

We got out and I can tell you that pictures did no justice to how beautiful the view was.

We got into our ride and headed for where we would be settling for the week.

It turned out to be a beach house Damien had gotten for us on the beautiful Island.

When we arrived, he took my hand and pulled me with him into the house. Our boots clicked the wooden floors as he and I walked in casually.

I looked around the relatively large space and subtly nodded my head in approval. It was not one of the usually overly extravagant places Damien was always fond off. It was simple, cozy, homely and screamed just the right amount of class and the view of the ocean from the living room was exquisite.

"You like it?" He asked me.

"Love it." I responded with a grin. He chuckled lightly.

He led me upstairs and into the rooms. The helps had put our luggage in there already and had exited to let us rest.

"You hungry?" I heard Damien ask as I fell flat with my back on the soft and large king-sized bed.

"Yeah..." I drawled while my eyes stayed glued to the ceiling.

"Let's go get something to eat then." He said, still on his feet even after such a long trip.

"Let me freshen up first. We're heading into town, yeah?" I asked still not moving an inch from my position.

"No we're heading downstairs to the dining area where the cook has had something prepared for us." He said in a 'duh' tone.

"Oh alright." I said, swallowing my surprise at how he sorted things out without even stressing. Here I was thinking we were about to act normal and skip the unnecessary hands and helps since we were in an entirely different country but no, Damien Kingston would always be himself anytime, any day.

I took a warm and quick shower in the medium size bathroom. Certainly not as large and extravagant as the ones back in Los Angeles but it was very decent, just what I wanted.

I came out of the bathroom wrapped in my towel with my wet hair clinging to my skin while I ransacked my suitcase for something to wear. I soon heard someone clear his throat awkwardly and I looked up to see that Damien was standing by the door of the balcony eyeing me hungrily.

I turned red automatically. I had never been so exposed to his prying gaze before now since I usually wore bathrobes back in Los Angeles.

Instinctively I held on to my towel tightly to avoid any silly mistakes.

"Do you mind?" I said in a steady tone, tilting my head towards the door to indicate that I needed him to excuse me.

"Sure." He said lowly but stood still for a few seconds before picking up his towel and headed into the bathroom.

I heaved a sigh of relief and hurriedly picked out a flowery patterned sundress to wear for the rest of the day. I slid it on, shut my suitcase and slipped out of the room quickly. The last thing I needed was to see Damien's half naked body calling out to me.

I went downstairs and found my way to the medium sized kitchen. I looked around and saw that our lunch had been prepared and covered up on the kitchen island awaiting our presence. One by one, I lifted the dishes and placed them on the small dining table in the kitchen.

About ten minutes later, he joined me on the table and we had our lunch in silence. As soon as we were done eating, I took the dishes straight to the sink for washing even when Damien tried to dissuade me from doing such.

"So what do you want to do now?" He asked me by the time I was finished.

"I dunno." I shrugged.

"Do you have anything in mind?" I asked as I plopped down next to him on the sofa. He shrugged too, still typing on his laptop.

I reached over and shut it while he stared up at me in surprise.

"We're on vacation, you shouldn't be working." I pointed out.

"I just need to sort out a few things." He said trying to reach for the laptop but I pulled it away, holding it tightly to my chest.

"Ariana..." He called in a warning tone, perhaps trying to scare me with it but I did not budge.

I took off before he could reach for it again. I flew up the stairs while I felt him following closely but unfortunately before I could shut the bedroom door, he had slid in like a sly rodent.

"Hand it over." He said walking towards me like a predator ready to pounce on its prey.

"Make me." I said cheekily, sticking my tongue out to him. He chuckled deeply.

I jumped on bed before he could reach for me but that was a bad idea because before I jump off it and leave the room, Damien had caught my right leg and I fell on the bed with my face on it. He pulled his laptop out of my hand without any struggle afterwards. I huffed in displeasure. So much for a full proof plan.

He laughed at me while I tried arranging my hair which had spilled all over my face owing to my fall. I frowned at him.

"You don't know how adorable you look when you frown." He said out of the blue and we both paused while we had an eye lock.

I did not know how close he was to me until I felt him caress my face as he linked his lips with mine.