Chapter 129

I wander out of the bedroom feeling refreshed, robed and a tad pink from my bath and DIY beauty treatments for the last hour. Figuring if I pampered the crap out of myself I would both feel better physically, look a hell of a lot better and it would drag my mind from the ever-obsessive head mess that is Alexi Carrero. I feel calmer, more focused and determined to not let that man have a long-term effect on me, yet I’m still sombre.

Yawning, still fatigued as I wander aimlessly into the almost silent surroundings and realise I am still not alone. She never left and she is stretched out on the couch watching Netflix on low volume while flicking through a magazine.

I sigh heavily and make a beeline for the open plan kitchen in a bid to ignore her and curse her for not fucking off when I made it clear that is what I wanted. I jump when her phone vibrates harshly across the glass coffee table and she flashes a smile my way as our eyes connect when she goes to catch it. Spotting me and acting like she is not imposing on my space at all in any way. I roll my eyes, leaving her to her call and turn to the fridge in a bid to find food that requires no cooking. I am not really in the mood for stove tops and fussing. I just want to eat and go lie back down in bed and vegetate with a book.

I am focusing on some relaxation and drowning out my woes for a few hours. The best way to move on is to put HIM out of my head anytime he pops in there.

‘’Hey you, Uhuuuh, all better and wandering around in a very unsexy bathrobe,’’ she declares loudly after a moment of listening to whoever is on the other end. I assume it is Mico, and he will be relieving her if I have anything to do with it. I cast a sharp glance and yank the refrigerator open to scan the contents, finding cured ham, cheese and salad for a sandwich and start putting it all out in front of me on the counter. I lean into the open door letting the cool interior fan my face for a moment as I reach for a jar of mayo. I’m still running a mild temperature and enjoying the cool air and jump when I come out to see the little perky girl right at my side.

‘‘Yep she’s right here, hold on.’’ She extends the phone to me with a grin and I frown back at her. I guess Mico isn’t convinced I am not dead and at least I can tell him to remove his warden if I get to talk to him. I nudge her back with my bum and dump my new finds on the surface beside the bread. I shove the phone under my chin, bumping the door shut with my hip and rummage for a knife in the drawer to add to my array of sandwich constructing ingredients with eyes on the task.

‘’It’s Camilla, you can call off your little watchdog now I am upright and managing to fend for myself.’’ I answer brightly as in way of a hello, determined that he will be sending puppy eyes home as soon as I am done.

‘’You sound better anyway.’’ The raspy, deep huskiness of a voice that is not Mico makes my stomach flip over and my heart jump into my mouth. He was not who I was expecting to hear, especially not with how she was talking to him. That voice and its unearthly ability to fuck me up so easily … so much for clearing my head of this ever present and looming darkness.

It’s like he senses anytime I start pulling away and set my brain on letting go and jumps up to keep a hold.

‘’Alexi? I thought it was Mico.’’ I state the stupid obvious, flustered and at a loss for words when caught unawares, not sure what to say or how to act now he’s the one on the other end of the line. There’s a long awkward pause and I swear I can almost feel the tension thickening the air around me making it harder to breathe. Despite the confusing events of the last few days, he still has a physical effect with just his voice.

‘’Look …’’ Alexi clears his throat and trails off into silence again for a moment and I just halt every fibre in my body and wait, like a dumb pathetic woman, for the man to say something else to me. Poised on a precipice that maybe he might have had some sort of personality transplant overnight. ‘’Last night …’’ He trails off again and I swear he is doing it to torture me, it’s almost unbearable waiting for him to say whatever it is he is going to say.

‘’What about last night?’’ I butt in, in frustration, snappy with nerves and jump when the apartment door swings open and Mico comes striding in across the room, lugging grocery bags and a smile. He looks over at me with genuine relief that I am upright and lucid and then grins at my immature babysitter, who is back on the couch pretending like she is not listening to me. I turn my back on both of them and cradle the phone closer to my ear, annoyed that they interrupted whatever it was he was going to say.