Chapter Seventy five

Ariana wasn't next to me by the time I woke up the next morning. Seemed like she was up before me because I slept in a little later than usual.

I headed down the stairs and heard some clattering in the kitchen. I walked towards it in hopes that she would be in there waiting for breakfast to be served.

To my surprise, she was actually cooking alongside Amy who was brewing some coffee.

They both hadn't noticed my presence while they were caught up in whatever they were conversing about. Seemed like they were getting along pretty well and it was no surprise to me because Ariana tended to be receptive to everyone, both young and old.

Amy spotted me first. She smiled at me and I returned it slightly before trailing my eyes over to my Spanish beauty who was so busy chopping up sausages for breakfast, she did not notice my presence.

I gestured for Amy to keep mute while I sneakily went around the counter and stood behind Ariana.

When she finally raised her head and was about to turn around, probably to go get something from the pantry, I held her close, startling her a little bit. I didn't want to scare her cause she could get burned by the hot oil on the stove and that would be bad.

I leaned down and kissed her neck and she gasped before giggling shyly.

"Good morning." I said.

"Good morning." She said with a smile in her tone. She caressed my face and I did the same to her. I was about dropping a kiss on her lips when Amy interrupted our moment.

"Alright lovebirds, I'm right here." Amy teased with a grin.

We chuckled.

Soon, we were all seated and having breakfast.

We were halfway through our meals when I decided to speak up.

"Amy we're heading back to Los Angeles in a few days and I'd like for you to come with us." I announced and both women paused their eating to face me squarely.

"I'm not sure I'm ready for that, Damien." Amy said surprising me.

"Why? We've waited so long for this, why do you want to hold us back now that we've finally found each other?" I said as calmly as I could.

"I just think it's too soon."

I dropped my cutlery and it clattered noisily on my plate.

"Too soon?! Fifteen years away from me isn't enough for you?!" I found my voice going up a few notches before I could stop myself.

"I'll just excuse you both." Ariana cut in. I said nothing as my gaze was locked on my sister who was staring right back at me.

Ariana exited the kitchen quietly and then I spoke up.

"What's your problem Amelia?" I questioned.

"I'm not ready for all the drama that would come with my return." She sounded absolutely ridiculous to me.

"When would you be ready? When you're grey and old and that man dies without suffering for his evil deeds?"

"Damien, let me think about it. I have a life here and I can't leave it all behind, just like that." She said sentimentally.

"You have so much more waiting for you back home." I pointed out.

"You don't get it, I worked for this. I worked really hard and now you want me to throw it all away?" She countered.

"Amelia, I get that you feel proud of yourself for getting this far on your own but do not be foolish. You sound ludicrous. You don't have to be so melodramatic over a small cafe when you have so much more waiting for you."

Brutally honest as I was, I told her how I felt straight up and the scowl on her face proved how annoyed it got her.

"I don't have time for this." She shook her head, got up and marched out of the kitchen, leaving me calling after her. She surely is my sister.

I swiftly moved out to cool off as well. I stood by the water, watching the calm waves of the beautiful ocean.

"Hey." I heard her whisper from behind me.

"Hey." I muttered, giving her a cursory glance.

"Can we talk?" She asked, now standing next to me.

I sighed. I knew exactly what she was referring to but not wanting to argue with her as well, I agreed.

We found ourselves seated on the sand in lotus positions while facing each other.

"Is there something you want to tell me before I go on with my lecture?" She said with a grin though she was serious. I chuckled, slightly feeling a little more relaxed. Ariana had always been easy to talk to.

"This is about my sister isn't it?"

"Yes and no. But, let's start with that." She adjusted in her sitting position and drew closer to me.

"What happened?"

That question meant a lot of things and had lots of answers I wanted to voice out but did not know how to. I kept mute for a while, somehow forgetting how to speak.

"Take a deep breath..." She instructed lovingly, holding on to my hand with both of hers.

I inhaled deeply and exhaled heavily afterwards. I did this a few times with my eyes closed before opening them up to meet hers.

"Fifteen years ago," I started and abruptly stopped. She nodded and gestured for me to go on but I couldn't. The memories just kept hitting me in the face and I could barely breathe.

Like I always did, I tried running away. I couldn't face them, I just couldn't.

I got on my knees and tried to leave but she held me back. She held on to my face.

"Damien look at me. You can do this, you can. You just have to try." She said in a soothing tone that calmed me a little bit.

"Fifteen years ago, I lost my sister and I've been searching for her all my life. I lost her in the most gruesome way. I almost went crazy because of it." I started.

"Now, I want us to go back home after so many years of being apart and she doesn't want to. It feels like she wants to leave me again." I opened up with great difficulty.

"Oh Damien..." Ariana had pity in her tone and I hated it.

"Don't pity me. I hate that." I voiced out strongly.

"I'm sorry. But, don't you think arguing it would only strain the bond you both are just trying to build up again after so long?" She pointed out.

"I don't know what exactly this is about but I advise you two talk it out and find some common ground."

I nodded.

"I suppose you're right." I agreed.

"You know you should try to not put yourself first when you take decisions. You intimidate people into doing your will and it's wrong." She said tentatively.

"People choose to be simps when they meet a wealthy and powerful person." I shrugged in a carefree manner but she shook her head vigorously in disagreement.

"No Damien, you just do not know how to be considerate sometimes but that's not even the point right now." She was trying to not argue with me, I could tell.

"Aiden was so scared of your reaction, he couldn't let you know how he felt about your sister. Jesse doesn't want to work for you he wants to be a photographer but he's so scared that you wouldn't support him and now Amy-"

"Wait, Jesse?" I cut her rambling shut with a confused frown.

"Yes Jesse." She stated emphatically.

"I didn't know this." I said truthfully. I had absolutely no idea.

"Of course you didn't. But why do you keep pushing everyone away? It's almost like your family doesn't even matter you." She sounded judgemental.

"No, I'm not judging you. I just want to know." She clarified before I could protest.

"You wouldn't understand." I dismissively said.

"Then make me understand." She pressed.

"I think I've said enough for one session, doctor." I said with a smirk.

She sighed defeatedly.

"I'll let you be for now but this isn't over." She said firmly, pointing straight at me.

"Yes ma'am." I gave her a mock salute before pulling her up with me.

I hugged her tightly, that was a way of me saying thank you. She pulled away after some seconds and looked up at me.

"I'll talk to Amy." I promised.

Her brows rose in askance.

"Nicely, this time." I assured.

"I'm glad." She said with a sigh.

"Let's go in." She pulled me with her and I gladly followed with my eyes glued to her ass wiggling in front of me.

****

Ariana's POV;

"How about we go for a swim later?" I heard him say while I was folding some clothes in the wardrobe. I peeked at him from where I was and saw that he was seated on the couch gazing in my direction.

"Sure. Have you talked to Amy?" I asked, picking up a shirt of his.

"Yeah, she's finally agreed to come with us." He said with a relieved sigh.

"That's great." I smiled at him and he returned it.

Damien opening up to me earlier was one of the most priceless things ever. I never thought I'd see the day that would happen but here we were. Another step in the right direction.

Done with all the folding and rearranging, I picked up my two piece bikini and went into the bathroom after alerting him of my readiness for the swim.

After getting into the multi colored two piece bikini, I began second guessing myself.

I stared at my reflection in the mirror and asked if it was too much. This was the first time I was going to be this scantily clothed in front of Damien and daring as I was, I thought it was too soon for such.

I stayed in the bathroom for a pretty long while, contemplating my next move and got startled when a knock on the bathroom door sounded in my ears.

"Everything okay in there?" His voice came through from the other side.

"Uh." I cleared my throat.

"Yes, yes, everything's great. I'll just um, I'll meet you downstairs." I stumbled over my words a little bit.

"Okay, see you there." He said and soon I heard the door shut.

I leaned on the sink with my back to the mirror while my eyes stayed glued to the bathroom ceiling.

"Oh Dios mío. ¿Que hago ahora?" I said in panic. (Oh my goodness. What do I do now?)

Fully aware that he would call for me any minute from now, I pushed myself off the bathroom sink and picked up towel. I wrapped it around my belly area and it covered the lower half of my body, until just below my knees.

I got out and headed to the beach side only to see that Damien and Amy weren't there. Shrugging off their absence as them being stuck in one if their never ending conversations, I made my way over to the inviting blue water.

I left my towel on one of the chairs by the porch and walked the short distance to the water and without delay walked into it until my feet could no longer touch the ocean floor.

I played around with the water since I wasn't much of a swimmer. I've never been a sports person so swimming is one of those things I have no clue about.

I dunked myself under the water and held my breath for a few seconds before getting out and then I turned back around and saw that both Damien and Amy were on the porch already.

I stepped out of the water to meet both of them especially because they were having some juice and I needed the refreshment for my parched throat.

Damien seemed to be frozen on the spot and was acting strange by the time I walked up to them.

When I asked him if everything was alright he said he needed to sit down, which he did. I turned to Amy to ask what was wrong with him and she was wheezing which did well to confuse me even further.

I shrugged and took a sip of my drink.