Chapter 23 - Secrets.

The fundraiser gala night had gone in a blur, thankfully Alex had been too drunk to do or say anything as Cara plied him with alcohol the entire car ride back as soon as he told her he was sleeping at her place.  He had woke up in her bed, tired and grumpy.

He rubbed at his eyes and looked around, Cara was no longer in bed.

He had a banging headache, and his clothes were rumpled.

He checked the time, it was still early, she would leave for work in less than an hour, that meant she had probably showered and was already dressed.

He was still in his clothes. He would have gone back home but he had hoped that he would spend the night with Cara. He had assumed that since everything was going fine between them, there would be no reason for her to reject him. But it seemed like she had other plans. Because he was sure that she had purposely gotten him drink, just to ensure that he didn't spend a night with her.

Why?

He didn't understand. They never really had a problem in bed before, why now? Why was she pushing him away.

He had thought it had something to do with the company but their issues in the bedroom had gone on for a long time and Cara had made up one excuse or the other for it.

He was going to find out the truth from her, one way or the other.

He ran a hand through his hair and loosened his bow tie.

He loosened his shirt and walked towards the kitchen and found Cara there all dressed up and ready to go to work.

She was humming slightly.

"Good morning."

He said and Cara turned and smiled.

"Good morning. How did you sleep?"

Alex shrugged.

"Well enough I guess."

"I'm making some toast do you want some?"

She asked and he shook his head, he really wasn't in the mood to eat, yet. He still had to figure out a lot of things.

"No. I'm good. What happened last night?"

He asked and Cara turned slowly to look at him. She was wearing a black polka dot fitted dress with heels. She had put on makeup around her eyes and lips and she seemed to be in a very good mood.

Alex could even perceive a whiff of her favourite perfume, it clearly looked like she was happy about something.

"Well, the gala was great. You were tired and instead of you heading home you wanted to come here but you fell asleep immediately after we got here."

Alex sighed as he rubbed at his face and sat on one of the kitchen stools.

"Maybe if you hadn't given me so much to drink..."

Cara shook her head.

"That was all you Alex. I didn't give you anything to drink."

Alex groaned.

"Don't think I already forgot about the bottle of wine you opened so quickly when we were in the car. And I don't remember you taking a sip out of it."

Cara rolled her eyes.

She wasn't ready for his antics. It was way too early for him to be bitching about being drunk.

She placed a mug on the table top in front of him and poured him some coffee.

"Alex. I don't have time for this. I have to go to work. And you need to leave and get changed too."

Alex shook his head.

"We are not going anywhere until we discuss whats going on between us."

"There is nothing going on between us. We're fine."

Alex raised his eyebrows.

"Are we really? You haven't let me touch you in weeks. Ever since that night where we had that big fight when you tried to call off the wedding."

"I didn't notice. It's not like that much is going on in the bedroom department."

Cara murmured as she looked away.

She wasn't lying either, they didn't really have much going on between the two of them. Yes, sex was okay with Alex but that was just it. It wasn't spectacular or anything and she certainly had not missed it, not after Nicholas.

"Are you still mad at me?"

He finally asked and Cara shook her head.

"I'm not mad at you."

She said honestly as she turned to hold his hands.

"We only have a little time till the wedding and I was just thinking it'll be best if we wait before getting intimate again."

"I read somewhere that it brings couples closer to each other and I was thinking we'd try it out. I mean we only have a few more weeks to go."

Alex narrowed his eyes at Cara, he was finding it hard to believe her but he didn't want to pursue the subject.

"Okay. Well, you should have told me about it earlier."

Cara nodded.

"I should have. But with everything that has happened, it's been a little hard."

Alex cleared his throat as he held on to her hands.

"But that doesn't mean we can't do other things right?"

He asked in a low tone as he slowly dragged Cara towards him and she chuckled nervously.

"I can still kiss you. And touch you."

He said absent mindedly as he ran his hands through Cara's body and Cara slowly pushed him away.

"I'm late for work."

She finally said as she started walking back to the kitchen counter to clear the table top.

Alexander nodded.

He also had things to do. He thought as he stood up and walked back to the room. One thing was very sure to him, Cara had lied to him.

She was hiding something from him and he was determined to find out what it was.



Its been barely a week since Nicholas saw Cara and he could already feel her absence in him like a living breathing thing. And it was getting worse, he couldn't concentrate in work and he was always zoning out. He had tried going out and having company around him to get his mind off of her but nothing seemed to be working. He had even dialed Jean's number!

That was a mistake that he had quickly regretted. Fortunately for him, she didn't call back.


His desperation finally led him to visit Cara's office, even though it was a risky choice considering his brother might be around since he was the CEO.
He had spotted Cara on her way out of the office building during lunch break and he had followed her to the nearby deli where she stopped.

"Nick!" she had whispered when she saw him and proceeded to pull him out of the shop before anyone else saw them.

"What the hell are you doing here?"

"Someone might see you."

Nick shrugged.

"Who? I really need to talk to you."

Cara kept on looking around nervously, one of the employees could see them together, she didn't know if they could recognize Nick as Alex's brother but she wasn't going to wait around to find out.

"No one knows me here and even if they do, What's the problem?"

"Is it a crime for me to see my brother's fiancée?"

Cara calmed down a bit after that, he did have a point.

They moved to an empty table at the rear end of the deli shop and sat together.

"What do you want to talk about?"

She asked as Nick gawked at her. he couldn't help it, she looked stunning, in her ankle boots, cream sweater blouse and tight dark brown leather skirt.

"I don't think this is the appropriate place for us to talk, do you think we can meet up somewhere?"

He asked and she shrugged.

If she left work, no one would really notice because she was basically done for the day.

And she felt more comfortable with them meeting and talking in a place where there was zero chance to catch them.

"Okay, but whatever you want to say, you have to make it quick."

Ten minutes later, they were in an hotel outside of Manhattan.

"An hotel?"

"Really?"

Cara asked with slight annoyance and Nick apologized.

"We're just going to the bar inside, it's empty in the day and it's always open."

"Okay."

Nicholas had said the bar was empty and he was right, there were only about five people in it and two of them looked like the staff.

"I'm really curious to know what was so important that you had to drag me here."

Nick shrugged as they settled in their seats.

Cara avoided eye contact for obvious reasons.

"I think you already have some idea as to why were here."

Cara sighed.

"No. I don't really and as much as I enjoy your presence I have to demand that we stop meeting this way. I'm getting married in a matter of weeks and I can't do anything to raise suspicions."

Nick nodded. He knew that, he understood everything and yet he couldn't help but see her.

"I know. But I just have one important question to ask you."

"What?"

"If you had the choice, will you get married to my brother?"

Cara shook her head, the answer was as clear as day. Nick knew that much, why was he asking her again?

"No. Not a chance. I already told you."

Nick nodded.

"I've been thinking about it and I know that you don't have a lot of options but I think the best one will be to call off the wedding,"

Cara scoffed.

'Nicholas! We've discussed this before, there's no way in hell that would happen..."

"Let me finish."

Cara calmed down and let him talk, eager to see where he was going with everything.

"I know you can't cancel the wedding, but if my brother does, I'm pretty sure my parents would let him, regardless of their agreement with your family."

That was actually pretty smart, but Cara didn't know how the plan could work, it didn't look like Alex had any reasons to cancel the wedding.

"Nick, there's no way I'd actually get Alex to cancel the wedding... He seems pretty determined on getting married and I don't know..."

Nick nodded.

"I know. But there has to be something you can do that can make him cancel it. Something so profoundly annoying that he wouldn't want to marry you."

Cara sighed.

Everything, it was too much for her.

"Why? Why are you even helping me. What do you want?"

Nick shrugged.

He would be lying if he said he wasn't doing for his selfish interests but that wasn't the only reason why.

"I just want you to be free..."

He finally said and Cara went mute.

Free.

That sounded like she was in a cage or something, in a way it was.

"That can't be all. Nicholas... I don't know why you're telling me all this, or doing all this."

"Or making us meet here!"

She said as she pointed at the bar and chuckled nervously.

And she also didn't know why she always caved in to his demands.

"Do you really think that whatever it is we have is worth me throwing everything in my life away?"

She asked in a small voice and Nicholas stuttered.

"Cara... That's not what I mean..."

"Then what do you mean?"

Nicholas groaned.

He was frustrated, he couldn't even find the words to express his feelings in front of her. For days he had thought of nothing but her and now that he was in front of her he found himself stuttering.

She had to at least know the emotional turmoil he was going through.

"You're everywhere Cara! You're in my mind. I see you in my sleep and my dreams."

"I just can't get you off my mind and I hate it!"

"I hate the fact that you can't even be free to be with me or even choose who you want to be with because of this stupid arrangement!"

"I just can't fucking get you out of my mind."

The silence between the two of them was deafening.

Cara cleared her throat slowly, suddenly aware of his burning gaze on her body.

"Me too."