43. VANYA: ANSWERS

I knew I was alone in the bed even before I opened my eyes. The warmth of the sheets didn’t compare to the heat their bodies gave off.
My chest suddenly constricted with pain. We fought and all of us went to bed angry. It was something that has never happened before and I hated it. I hated the fact that Obsidian refused to answer my questions, that he would rather lie to me than try and fix our problems.
*Does his loyalty lie with Mom?*
I groaned as I rolled onto my back. Flipping the hair out of my face, I blinked up at the ceiling as I tried to force all the negativity from my mind. It was too early to think about all our problems.
But then my mind trailed to the things I had remembered the night before. Surprisingly, I hadn’t suffered from any nightmares. I swallowed as the images flashed through my mind again.
My father had stabbed my Mom to death because she had asked him for a divorce and then he made her death look like an accident.
“Sweetness.” The low purr of his voice made me shiver.
I sucked in a breath and ignored him. If he thought that things could be fixed by acting like nothing happened then he had another thing coming!
“Vanya.”
Until he decided to answer all my questions, I was going to ignore him. I wasn’t going to talk to him and he sure as hell wasn’t going to get any!
I gasped when a hand wrapped around my ankle and jerked me down the bed. Obsidian leaned over me with his eyes narrowed.
“Get dressed, sweets,” he ordered. “We’re going out for breakfast.”
I blinked at him, utterly speechless. Were we actually going to leave the hotel room to go get breakfast? Nothing had stopped us from leaving it before because he hadn’t ordered us to stay inside, we just had because. . .well, I had no idea why we chose to stay inside day and night.
“You have five minutes before I change my mind. You said that you want answers so I’ll give you some.”
Was he being serious? My eyes darted over his face, trying to find a tell-tale sign that he was lying to me.
As I sat up, my eyes darted around the room. There was no sign of Dev or Ezra.
“Dev is with Ezra,” Obsidian said as if reading my mind. “Ezra is feeling a bit under the weather. Hurry up, sweets.”
Not wanting him to change his mind, I hurriedly got dressed. I couldn’t find a hair tie in the bags so I just ran shaky fingers through my hair to make it look presentable.
I turned to find him leaning against the door, eyes focused on the floor instead of me. His eyes snapped up to mine when I cleared my throat.
“I’m ready.”
Straightening, he took a step towards me as his eyes darted over me from head to toe. His brows dipped into a frown but he said nothing as he took hold of my hand and led me out of the room.
I watched him from the corner of my eyes as we walked. He headed towards the door that led to the stairway but changed directions towards the elevator before we reached it.
“We’re taking the elevator?” I questioned.
He glanced at me. “We’re on the fourth floor, sweets. You’ll never make it.”
Colour flooded my cheeks. I stared down at my feet as I spoke. “I know that you don’t like elevators so I just assumed that we’d be taking the stairs instead.”
“I don’t mind using them as long as it’s not crowded.” Obsidian gave my hand a squeeze. “I didn’t mean it as an insult.”
“Sure fucking sounded like it,” I muttered under my breath.
Obsidian pulled me to a stop and then spun me around to face him. He took a step forward, making me step back to avoid contact with his body. But a second later my back hit the wall and it was an opportunity that he took full advantage of.
“Look at me,” he ordered softly as he cupped my cheek. “You don’t see yourself the way I’m seeing you now. I don’t know if you’ve noticed it, but you’re shaking, sweets. Ezra was right when he said that the food we were eating was bad. You’ve been sick and we should have made sure that you ate enough to build your strength back up.”
“I’m fine.”
Obsidian gave me a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “Just because you keep saying it doesn’t mean that you’ll start believing it.”
Before I could utter a word, he pulled away. Was there a hidden meaning behind his words? Shaking the words away, I tried to be as discreet as I could when I glanced down at my hand.
He was right about one thing though, I was shaking but I felt fine.
“Where do you want to go?” Obsidian asked me the moment we stepped out of the hotel.
I closed my eyes and tilted my head back to suck in a deep breath of fresh air. It didn’t smell the same. Opening my eyes, I blinked up at the sun that was trying to peek through the dark clouds before I turned my attention to the things around us.
“I haven’t been here,” I said softly. “At least I don’t think I have.”
“You were with Melanie and Reeves when he came here to attend some meetings. You were still young which is probably why you can’t remember.” Clearing his throat, he tugged on my arm to get me moving again.
It was clear that he had been on the mainland before. Obsidian led the way down the street where we turned one corner after the other. I lost all sense of direction and it made me feel panicked. If something were to happen and we got separated by chance, there was no way that I would be able to make my way back to the Hotel.
*You don’t even know the name of it. *

Just as the panic was about to suffocate me, Obsidian stopped and tugged me against his side. My eyes darted up to his face for a few seconds and then to the dinner we had stopped in front of.
He opened the door and led me straight to a table away from all the other people but still close enough to the exit. Obsidian waited until I was seated before he sat down across from me, facing the door.
Our eyes locked.
“Welcome to—” the woman sucked in a sharp breath. “Obsidian! I. . .you. . .wow! You look amazing,”
The red-headed woman took a step closer to the table and leaned down, polluting the air between us with the heavy stench of her flowery perfume. My nose scrunched up in disgust. I leaned back in my chair and watched as Obsidian turned his dark eyes to the woman.
He blinked at her and then scowled.
How the hell did she know his name? Why was she looking at him like he was the meal she’d been starving for? It looked like she was ten seconds away from jumping him. She raised her hand as if to touch him but he jerked away, making her freeze.
Clearing her throat, she straightened but made no move to step back. Not once since her arrival at our table had she looked at me. I crossed my arms over my chest and counted to ten in my head as he ordered our drinks.
“How does she know your name?” I asked him the moment she walked away.
“I used to come here to eat before leaving for a trip,” he muttered.
My eyes narrowed. “Did you sleep with her?”
“No,” he answered without hesitation. “I fucked her.”
I flinched.
“Look at me, Vanya.”
I stared down at the tabletop until a gentle grip on my chin forced my eyes up to his. He leaned forward and reached up with his other hand but I jerked away before he could touch me.
“There’s a difference,” he said softly. “I told you that I had never knotted anyone and it wasn’t a lie. I have never slept with anyone before you.”
“You—”
“Here are your drinks,” the redhead said, suddenly appearing at our table.
He leaned back in the chair, eyes locked with mine as she placed our drinks down on the table. When she opened her mouth, he shot her a look that had her hurrying away without a word. The moment she was gone, he leaned forward again.
“I fuck them and I leave.”
“Is that supposed to make me feel better?” I hissed. “It’s not any different than how you treated me when our relationship started.”
His eyes darkened. “There’s a difference,” he rasped. “I couldn’t wait to leave them and wash their scent off me. When I’m with you I don’t want to leave or wash your scent from my body.”
“But you do it anyway.”
Obsidian’s eyes darted away. “You don’t understand.”
“Because you don’t want to explain things.” I scoffed when I glanced up and spotted the redhead heading our way again. “I lost my appetite.”