Chapter 70

**Bella-Rose POV**

James drove for a while in the direction that is new to me before he stopped at the sizable gates with wide metal doors of his home.

As he pressed the remote to open the doors, a huge driveway came into view. Well-kept gardens and bushes decorated the sidewalk with neatly trimmed grass underneath.

Home? No. This is no home. The mansion would be the right word. I gazed at the giant building in front of me. It is constructed in English style giving it a gothic touch. Numerous glass panes decorate the walls of the house to invite the warm sun rays.

It's one of those houses where there is a water fountain in the middle of the driveway with a cherub statue in a cute pose in the middle.

The Mansion can look intimidating if one is not accustomed to seeing it, especially with its mammoth stature. It is circled with a neatly trimmed garden giving it the feel of sitting alone in a forest.

"Wow!" I breathed the word looking at the mansion in a daze.

"Not my car...not my wealth... but my house impressed you?", James asked with a hint of disapproval in his voice

"No. Not impressed. I'm surprised that you live here. You must be all alone in this vast building. Don't you get lonely?", I turned to him as I asked that. People may be getting impressed by its stature, but all I see is a big pile of rocks that screams of empty hallways.

"You, little red, are the only one who thought about it like that", James said impressed, his eyes conveying that he understood what I meant by that.

"You never answered my question. Anyways, what's new? Looking at your house and I'm saying that lightly, you love to lord over people, don't you?" I tried to steer the topic. How many more secrets is he hiding in his heart? One day, when I'm confident enough I will ask him to share those burdens.

"The size gave away?" James said with a smirk

"Wow! You just made a joke. Am I hallucinating?" I said with wide eyes

James threw a not-so-impressed look my way. Just as he was about to reach the door handle, I called him softly, "James?"

He craned his neck and looked at me inquiringly.

"Have you ever been in love?" I asked as my palms started to sweat. I don't know what came over me to blabber that one out, but now that the can is opened, I waited with bated breath at what his answer will be.

I never knew what his thoughts were. Though he likes to stomp his foot and shout 'mine' every single time, there never came an occasion where the word, 'love' is used from his side.

"Where is this coming from?" James asked his face a blank mask

"Nowhere. Just want to know, I guess. Surely, I was not the first girl you took fancy to. You must have dated before. Had girlfriends", I trailed off as a lump formed in my throat at the thought of James with another woman. Oh, why did I open this can of worms! What if he says he had?

My heart beating faster I asked him, "so, have you?"

James who listened silently said, "one of these days I will prove to you that you are beautiful. I will squash those insecurities of yours. And for the record, I never met and will never meet someone like you Bella. You are the most important woman in my life. Does that answer your question?"

"Yes", I said as my eyes welled up with emotion.

"What's this?", James asked as he cupped my face and lightly brushed his thumb over my cheek.

"Happy. Happy tears. You are bad for me James. All I seem to do is cry before you. A girl can lose her self-esteem if it continues'', I said as I gave a joyful laugh.

"Never. Whenever you cry, I will be there to make you smile. Remember that little red. These tears are precious to me. Never drop them because of me. Promise me that", James said as he looked solemnly.

"James. How can I?" I whispered to him, as he demanded my complaisance.

"I'm not listening to anything. Promise me that you will not shed tears", James said sternly.

"You...never answered about your past woman", Instead of promising, I pointed out the fact that he tried to cover up.

"Because they are in the past and I would like to keep them there. Anymore doubts little red?", James said happy to oblige my will for now

"Have you ever lied to me?", I asked as I gnawed my lip. I know for a fact that he never lied to my face. But there is always this nagging thought in my mind that screams I'm missing something.

James' face turned to stone at my question.

"Do you think so? That I can lie to you?" James asked calmly. Very calmly. I gulped at his changed demeanor. My intention was not to upset him. However, I succeeded in doing exactly that.

"No... I don't think so", I stammered

"Then why ask it?" James said his jaw clenched

"It's just...I get this feeling that you are hiding something from me. Every time I ask about your past or you in general, you freeze me. I'm fine with waiting. I don't want to be known as clingy and demanding. But sometimes it's hard to hang on to when you can't even share a glimpse of your life", I whispered each word that came from the depth of my heart.

Am I being challenging asking him about his life? Is there any rule in dating that says no talking about past affairs? Oh, I should have asked Amanda about it. She is an expert in it. Not me. All I'm doing is mucking up his mood to make it worse.

"You are not clingy. Nor are you demanding. Fix that in your brain. My life...I was never the one to share about myself. Not just to you but anyone. I was alone for so long that I didn't know what to do when I finally met someone. You gave me time. Give me some more. I promise I will tell everything about me", James said with sincerity shining in his eyes.

Maybe it's best not to ask anything about him. Though I promised myself before the same thing, I broke it so easily in his presence. I should respect his boundaries. Enough Bella, give the man some space to breathe, I reprimanded myself.

"I will wait for you, James. Take your time. As long as you want. And I'm sorry for asking things about you that you are not ready to share. I promised myself I won't do it again, yet I broke it now. This time I swear I won't utter another word about your past until you are ready to tell me by yourself", I said wholeheartedly.
"How did I get so lucky?" James said his previous dark mood was vanishing.

"I will remember that question when I ask you to do something for me", I said lightly diffusing the tension in the car.

"For you little red, anything", James said with such intensity that my blush came back tenfold. I turned towards the car window to hide my blush.
"Looks like another storm is on the way. Better we hurry up", I said as I looked at the sky through my window.

As I stepped out of the car, a cold wind swept over me making me shiver. I felt jittery all of sudden.

I looked at the open garage that is separated from the main house. An egregiously long line of luxury cars parked like a set of shiny soldiers waiting in line for their commands.

"Boys and their toys", I muttered under my breath.

"A person needs a hobby", James said lightly hearing my utterance.

"There is a hobby...and there is this", I pointed towards his soldiers. "That's called indulgence", I cleared his misconception that it's just a hobby.
James shrugged nonchalantly saying, "the same thing"

I gave up. Just as we were about to enter the foyer, James got a call on his phone.

"Take that call. I will wait for you inside", I said to him as he looked at his phone.

"Are you sure?" James asked holding his phone

"Yup. Where did you hang the painting? I will wait for you there", I said over my shoulder.

"Take a left and wait in the main hall for me", James said as he answered his call.

I did as he said, however, when I entered the hall, a woman was sitting on the couch flipping the magazine.

I halted my progress unsure of who she is and what she might think of my presence here.

James should have told me he has a guest here. Men! They don't think anything about such trivial things.

As I stood still, she lifted her head from the magazine with poise and scanned me. I suddenly felt silly and uncomfortable in my dress with James’s coat on top of it.
She is one of those people who can make you feel small with just a glance. Though I don't like her perusal, I didn't take it to heart for the sake of James. After all, I'm the guest here.

She then slowly placed the magazine beside her and elegantly stood before me. She is...stunning. In her jumpsuit that may have cost an arm and leg, she looked like a goddess that came to life. Her legs are endless, her hair is marvelous...her figure...oh, she is what men call a wet fantasy.

Standing in front of her, I felt like an old crown, my self-esteem hitting rock bottom inside me.

Her perusal came to a halt as scrunched her nose in disdain at my muddy wedges. I blushed at her scrutiny and tried to explain by saying, "it was raining a while back"
I quickly tried to wipe the dirt on the carpet. "Forget it", the woman said flippantly looking at the mess I made.

"Sorry", I apologized again feeling like a kid being chastised by an adult for behaving naughtily.

"I can pay for the dry cleaning", I asked, trying to placate her.

She scoffed as if it was the most ridiculous thing she heard.

"Honey, you couldn't afford it. Leave it be", she dragged the word, "honey" in a not-so-nice way.

What the...! Surely, James is not related to her. I never met a bigger snob than her in my life.

Who the hell does she think she is? For that matter who is she?