Snatching me back, his mouth descends on mine and forces it open with his tongue. My body responds to his aggression and madness. Our teeth and tongue clash, kissing and biting and lessening the turmoil breathing inside us by losing in each other’s taste.
Tugging my head back until my blurry eyes clash with stormy ones, Nathan says, “I’ll accept your punishment, Ari. But know this, if keeping you from harm means telling you a white lie, I will do it all over again. That’s the kind of man I am and the one you fell in love with.”
Releasing me, he takes me in from head to toe one final time and leaves my house. The bang of the door shutting reminds me of the last time he walked out.
It was two weeks until we saw each other.
I wonder how long it’ll be this time.
Wiping my tears, I turn around and freeze. Pihu is watching from behind the leg of the couch. Her expression is wary and afraid. Sadness churns in my gut. I slowly approach her and kneel beside her. “Come here, baby.”
She crawls onto my lap and curls into a ball. I rub soothing circles on her furry back until she falls asleep. Shifting her on the couch, I grab my purse from where it fell on the floor. Taking out my phone, I make an important call.
“Hey, Arya,” Rosalie cheerily says.
“Is Nova around?”
“Yeah, he’s home.”
“Can I talk to him?”
“Is everything okay?”
“Yeah,” I calmly answer. “Just need a favor.”
“One sec.” I hear her shuffling and whisper ‘baby’, followed by Nova’s dark voice. A second later, he says, “Arya, what do you need?”
“Nathan and I had a fight,” I mumble past the pain in my chest. “Will you please check on him and stay at his place tonight? I…” I push back the sob threatening to choke me up. “I don’t want him to be alone.”
“Done.”
“Thank you.”
“You shouldn’t be alone either.”
“I’ll be fine. Just keep an eye on him for the next couple of days.”
“Don’t worry,” he swears softly. “I will take care of him.”
I hang up after bidding goodbye and prepare myself for hellish days.
Chapter Fifty-Five
Arya
A week passes without a single word from Nathan. I asked for a separation, but it doesn’t mean I’m not suffering from despair. He’s on my mind twenty-four seven. Every organ inside my body yearns for him.
A part of thought sending him away will weaken his resolve. I hoped he would choose to tell me the truth. But I was terribly wrong.
Nova says he’s buried himself into work and has been staying at his apartment.
I know it’s because he can’t bear to be at his home without his past haunting him. I was gathering the courage to suggest he sell the place, but I never got the chance.
Will I ever?
With the new information coming to light, I don’t know where I stand when it comes to our professional relationship. He doesn’t need me anymore.
He never did.
