Like I said, everything in life is a smokescreen. None of us are safe from a man who wields his power because of his fat bank account. He’s hated me, and I him, since my mother left. I blamed him, and he blamed me, but now that he’s replaced the first woman I loved, my mom, I know he wouldn’t think twice to break Nesrin and me up.
“Are you deep in thought or just ignoring me?” Her voice breaks through the dark clouds that hover over me like a foreboding threat.
“I can never ignore you,” I tell her, honestly, casting a quick glance at her. Turning my attention back on the road, I take a left, instead of a right because it’s time to tell her what I’ve decided. And she’ll have to accept it. Because I’m not leaving her.
“Where are we going?”
“The lake.” I don’t look at her. I know her doubts are settling in now that she’s heard how many people have lied to her, and I’m not going to be one of them. I put this off for so long, but it’s time to come clean. To tell her how I feel.
When we reach the gravelly road, I pull to the side and kill the engine. She’s nervous, I see her hands shake. Her tremble is visible even as she attempts to come across as confident and sure of herself.
“Come.” I push open my door and exit the car, waiting for her at the front. When she reaches me, I offer her my hand and lace my fingers with hers.
We walk in silence the few meters to the large, silvery body of water. It’s so still here, silence hangs heavily like a thick storm cloud. Stopping at the edge of the water, I turn to Nesrin.
My chest is tight with anxious energy, and my pulse is rioting wildly. I’ve never said this to anyone before. Not even Gen. And even when she craved these words from my lips, I could never offer them to her because I knew I wouldn’t mean it, even if I said it.
“What’s going on?” Her whispered question is more than I can take, and I breathe deeply, before looking into her eyes.
“I wanted to talk to you about something. When we get back to the house, I’m not sure what’s going to happen. I don’t know what my father is going to say when we tell him about us, about you going with me. He may want to strip my position at Thorne Corp.”
“You can’t do that, Damien. That’s your legacy.” Her insistence for me is sweet, but she doesn’t get it, I’m not walking away from her because of this.
“I want you. I’ve wanted you since I saw you in the church that morning. Seeing you stand up for your mother, as she said her vows, you looked like a fucking angel, while I stood like a demon in the shadows.”
Her eyes widen, the gold shimmering with emotion. I watch as the tears collect in her eyes. I hate seeing her sad, seeing her hurt, even when she does it to herself.
“When I told you I would be the one to break you, I meant it. I know I have that power, and I’m not saying that to be an overconfident asshole. But as much as I have the power to hurt you, you have that same hold over me.”
“Damien—”
“Do you remember what you felt when I walked up behind you at the reception dinner and introduced myself?”
She nods, but she doesn’t elaborate. We stare at each other for so long, the silence becomes an entity between us.
“Tell me, wild rose.”
“Anger, jealousy, and attraction.” I can’t help but smile at her answer.
“Anger?”
“Yes, because you were an asshole.” Her lips pout, playfully, and there’s a whisper of a smile on her pretty face.
“That I know.” I chuckle. “And why jealousy?”
She drops her gaze to the ground, her focus shifts away from me for a moment, before those golden orbs lock on my blue ones.
“Because I wanted to be the girl giving you pleasure.”
That’s the answer I wanted. “And I wanted it too. I craved it so much, it drove me crazy. And, at first, I fought it, that need to have you. But when we got home, I gave in to my hunger and here we are.”
“Here we are.”
“I love you,” I exhale in a whoosh of nervous breath. “I love you, Nesrin. I don’t know how, or why, but you’re everything to me. And a job, a fucking legacy, it means nothing if you’re not by my side.”
“Damien—”
I interrupt her once more. “If you don’t feel—”
“I love you, too.” This time, it’s her who whispers it to me, and, for a moment, I think I didn’t hear her right. “I love you, too.” Her voice, more forceful, and I pull her into my arms, my mouth trailing soft kisses from her forehead to her mouth, capturing her lips and tasting her, as if it’s the first fucking time.