Chapter 14

Bella's Pov

"I still think you should leave town, Adonis" We were back at the cafe shop, sitting at one of the tables, opposite to each other. He'd tried persuading me to forget about him leaving town.

"This man can come back anytime and the vibes he's giving are deadly. I don't like it" I replied worriedly.

"Stop worrying about me Bella, I'll be fine. The only person I'm worried about is you," He answered, confusing me.

"Why? He only asked about you. He wasn't interested in me" I explained.

"For him to come to you to ask about me, then it means he might target you if he's unable to get a hold of me"

That just sends shivers of fear down my spine.

"I'm scared," I confessed.

"Don't be scared Bella, I'll always protect you, Mi favorita" He held my hand in his and kissed it.

I blushed hard.

"Don't get yourself so worked up, he won't do anything to you unless he has a death sentence" he threatened. I knew he wasn't just bluffing because of the look that crossed his eyes when he made that statement.

"Don't do anything that'll get you in trouble. He mentioned something about you killing his brother"

Adonis looked out of the window as if he didn't want to answer the question that I haven't even asked yet.

"Did you?" I asked

"Yes and he's not the first and he won't be the last, definitely" he answered.

"Uhm?" I wanted to say something to what he had said but I couldn't.

"You're scared of me" he mentioned and I nodded.

Truthfully, I'm a little bit scared of him. Not only about the fact that he's a vampire but also because of the way he mentioned killing people as if it was nothing.

"Do you kill people so you could feed on them?" I asked

"Not for a while now"

"When you say that, what do you mean? Is it a matter of days, months, or years?" I asked again.

He took a hold of my second hand and made me stand up with him from the seat. He removed the apron that was on me. I'd even forgotten about the fact that I had an apron on.

Adonis took the apron to Dede and whispered some words to her. Dede went into the kitchen with the apron and returned with my bag instead, from the locker room.

"Why don't we take a walk, Bella?" He asked as he stretched my bag towards me. I collected it from him and he held my hand tightly, as we walked out of the shop.

"I don't think it is proper to leave her alone in the store,"

"I think she'll be fine," Adonis replied and smiled at me.

Every time our eyes met, I just couldn't bring myself to look away. His gaze always held mine, disrupting my emotions and making my legs turn into jelly. And when he smiles, it's like he's taking my breath away.

"Let's pretend as if we just met for the first time," I suggested and Adonis raised an eyebrow.

"It's like a pretend game. I want to get to know you better" I explained.

I don't understand how I transitioned from avoiding him to wanting to know him but one thing I know is that I can't afford to watch him getting hurt.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Let's start. Hi, I'm Bella Connor" I gave him my hand and he took it.

"I'm Adonis Gonzalez" He introduced himself.

"Greek?" I asked, acting as if I didn't know he was Spanish.

"Nope, Spanish" he replied.

"So, what do you do, Adonis?" He took my hand in his large hands and we continued walking.

"I’m into real estate development. I own buildings around the world. So, let's just say I earn monthly even though I’m not working"

I laughed.

"What do you do, beautiful Bella?"

"I work as a chef even though I dream of owning a restaurant someday. Something similar to Amico chef but distinct in its own way"

"I guess I should write that down," he proclaimed.

"Favorite color"

"Black"

"No wonder, mine is Gold," I told him.

"It complements each other, black and Gold" I nodded, in agreement with his words.

"Tell me about your childhood, Bella. I want to know about you, if possible, everything"

"I grew up alone with my mother until she married my stepfather, Stanley. Stanley was drunk and when he's not drunk, he's always angry. He's either hitting my mother or making her feel so bad about herself. He'll hit me if I try to get involved and after a failed attempt at molesting me once, I started locking my door with this huge padlock," I laughed at the bitter memory.

I noticed that Adonis' hold on my hand was tightened but I ignored it since it wasn't really painful.

"I tried talking my mother out of the marriage but she insisted on staying. She said he'll change, he'll turn a new leaf. When I realized that change wasn't going to come anytime soon, I left home. I just couldn't sit back and watch it all happen. I still blame myself though for everything that happened to her" a lone tear found its way down my face.

Before I could clean it, Adonis already placed his lips on my cheek, kissing my tears away.

"What happened, Bella?" He asked after he dragged me to a seat out. We took our seats as I looked on into the streets, not focusing on anything in particular.

"Nothing that should bother you, Adonis," I replied.

"Why don't you let me be the one to decide if I'll be bothered or not?"

I hesitated for a while before I replied to him.

"He killed my mother and he wasn't even charged with her murder. They said she slipped while she was in the shower but it is so obvious that he either pushed her or something. I'm so angry at him but I'm much angrier at myself for leaving home. If I hadn't left home, I'm sure my mother would still be alive by now"

At that point, I couldn't control the tears anymore. Adonis pulled me closer to his body, shielding me from the stare of passersby.

"Is your stepfather still alive?" He suddenly asked.

I raised my head from his chest to take a good look at him.

"Why?"

"I just want to know. It'll be better if you give me his address as well" He shrugged his shoulders.

"What are you planning on doing to him if I give you those things you requested?"

"It depends on my mood" he smirked and I got the message.

"He's not worth it. You shouldn't stain your hands with his blood" I advised him.

"He hurt you Baby and anyone that does must surely pay for it," he kissed my hair.

"Just don't do anything crazy" he hugged me sideways and kissed my cheeks.

"Tell me about yourself, Adonis," I asked.

"There's nothing to tell," he simply replied.

"Anything is okay,"

"I've lived for two hundred years"

My mouth was wide open in both shock and surprise.

"You're two hundred years old," I asked rhetorically and he nodded.

"Like, two hundred, not fifty, not hundred, not one fifty but two hundred years"

"How did you survive?" I asked, still shocked.

"I'm not human, remember?"

That explained it. I nodded in understanding.

"Did you ever have a family? Parents? Wife and kids"

He ran his hands through his hair after I asked him the question and he didn't respond for minutes.

"Yes. I once had a large family, siblings included, cousins, nephews, my wife, and my kids. One day, I wasn't home, I had gone to attend the funeral of one of our kind, a whole community was wiped out by vampire hunters and before I got back home, my whole family was gone. It was crazy"

I held his hand tightly in a way of comforting Jim. I didn't need to use words, that was enough.

"Do you miss he… them?" I asked quickly, switching from the question that was dancing on top of my lips to something else.

He laughed bitterly, "Do you mean my wife?"

Before I could change his mind, he held my face in his hands.

"Not anymore, because she's right here with me. I've waited for you for a long time Bella and having you here, means the whole world to me"

I removed his hand from my face.

"What do you mean?"

"Vampires are destined for one Emerthus (a soulmate) all our lives and if our Emerthus die before time, they get reincarnated as long as the other soulmate is still alive. This isn't your first life Bella, it's your second''

I was still confused.

"I don't understand,"

He kissed my forehead. "You don't have to understand everything at the same time. It takes time"

"I think it's about to rain," Adonis said and that made me look at my surroundings. The weather was already changing and everywhere was getting darker.

"Let's go to my place, it is closer," I suggested and Adonis agreed.

He held my hand tightly as we walked towards my apartment.

I can't explain the feeling of being with him but I love it because it is peaceful.