CHAPTER579
My head and heart waiver, even more sure that he’s not lying to me.
He’s now as soaked through as me and his new white shirt is barely concealing the rippling muscles or black tattoos showing through the now transparent fabric. His hair is flopping with the water pulling it down but neither of us seem to care that we are being drowned. We are locked in a gaze that translates so much. Silently waiting for the other to say something.
Confused with a million emotions brought on by so much… I walk away towards the building to break his focus on me and get some distance, turn to lean against it and slide down as dizziness hits me, cuddling myself into a crouching position and put my face in my hands on my knees.
Arry’s body comes up against mine immediately as he crouches too and seems to somehow get around all the exposed part of me, his head over mine and shielding our faces from the rain as he huddles me. I can feel it running down every part of me, even inside my jacket and shoes but it doesn’t matter. I’m detached from reality; exhausted and somehow empty inside and I guess it’s the shock of what I thought I just walked into.
“Talk to me, Sophs.” Arry’s voice is low and husky, his hands come up to stroke my face, one hand moving to balance himself on my thigh as he tries to coax me to lift my chin and look at him. He wants to know what’s going through my head.
“I thought you and her …” The words evaporate in my mouth and I cannot bring myself to look at him. Ashamed that I would even think he could, now logic is kicking me into check, and I can see how it was innocent. Arry has never given me reason to doubt him in this way, not since Natasha and she is long gone. Those men who left, the ones that came from his elevator, the one from our apartment, I can picture them in my mind’s eye and realize only now they had been familiar to me. I have seen them before. I guess from times I’ve been at Carrero corp.
“Never ever. Not for anything. You are my heart and soul, Sophs. I wouldn’t be that stupid, I wouldn’t do anything to ever lose you.” Arrick cradles my jaw with his hand and coaxes me to lift my chin so I meet his eyes. I have no words. “Come upstairs with me so we can get dry and talk. I need to send her to the office to take the files to Jake. I’m not going anywhere else… Just you and me… You have to believe me. I would never do anything like that to you, to us. My life would be over; I would die without you.” He pulls my face so close our noses touch and it just breaks what’s left of me. I begin to cry again, at my own stupidity, at how he’s being even though I iced him out for the past twenty-four or more hours and then ran off when I walked into our apartment.
My gentle Arry. My heart. My whole reason for being. How could I doubt you?
“I believe you.” I whisper it, closing my eyes when he leans in and kisses me softly, gentle grazing of the lips and uses the distraction to scoop me up in his arms and lift me from the street like a child. He straightens up and carries me with him, pulling me up, so I automatically nestle my head against his throat, wrap my arms around his neck and bury my face from the world. Feet dangling and water dripping from both of us. Letting him take over for me, take control and get us out of the street. He is in protector mode, carrying me out of the rain and somewhere safe so he can be alone with me to take care of me. Somewhere I can’t run from even if I get upset.
I stay that way, cocooned in him, hiding myself from everyone until I sense the change of surroundings and the lack of moisture on my head. The ping of the elevator to signal he has opened the doors and we are safely closed inside away from prying eyes.
I lift my chin and glance at him from my angle, catching his eye as he smiles at me softly. He looks pale, wary and I realize he is still worrying about what I am thinking about. I’m too quiet, too introverted for his liking and he is thinking the worst. He hates when I close up and don’t tell him what I am feeling.
“I love you.” He says it so seriously, so pointedly as he looks deep into my eyes and I realize without a doubt that Arry would never hurt me this way. He hasn’t got it in him to look at me with such conviction and say he loves me in that way if he had guilt behind those perfect eyes. I nuzzle in close again and wrap myself around him tighter. Shivering from my soaked clothes and dying for some sleep to forget this. I was exhausted before, now I am utterly devoid of all life and energy. Remorse coursing through my veins and I just feel ashamed.
“Put me down.” I say it softly, as I unwrap myself, aware that getting back in there means facing that woman in the apartment and I want to arrive with a little more dignity than this. Arry hesitates then slides me to my own feet but pulls me close and wraps me in his embrace. Keeping me close and tight to him and says nothing to the fact I didn’t say I loved him back.
“I’m really happy you’re here… You just made everything so much better with appearing like that. Despite how things went down just now, and despite the fact I know I have a lot of groveling to do, baby. I’m crazy psyched that you’re here. I missed you so much. You just made my day… Obvious aside.” He kisses the top of my head and doesn’t let me go, trying to sound upbeat and being strange. He knows he’s in the shit house and he’s trying to break the tension.
“I’m still mad at you.” I mumble yet let him hold me, needing so much from him even when I’m feeling like this. I think I just had one of the worst shocks of my life and I’m still reeling a little in surreal disbelief. I need to know that he still loves me, he still wants me here. Even if I am pissed at him. My heart has had a huge knock and I am not feeling at my most secure.
“I know… I deserve it. I’m sorry, baby. I really am. I watched it online… Hated that I wasn’t there with you. I left you a ton of messages too and Christian said you never even opened what I sent you.” He glances down at me and I shrug. Detached, numb, and shivering already and not really interested in the present I left on the couch in Paris.
“I gave Janetta your flowers. I didn’t want gifts… Just your presence.” I sigh numbly, firing home that I’m still upset, even if I sound weird and quiet and distant. I watch the light on the elevator counter above the door climb to the P at the end of the row and lean against him more definitely, swaying to his touch and presence. I just want to get warm and lay down and forget all of this. Forget this whole shitty week.
“I know. I screwed up. I know I did. I’ll do whatever it takes, even sleep on the couch, repaint the apartment in pink and add glitter wherever you want it.” Arry is trying to soften the atmosphere and yet I can’t even muster a smile, let alone a response.
I feel weird when the doors slide open and find myself clinging on a little tighter than before as I brace myself to meet the pretty brunette once more. Only this time I’m tear-stained, rain-soaked, and probably have mascara all the way down to my chin. I fixed my face on the plane in readiness to face him, now I probably look like a drowned rat. I avoid looking in the chrome of the elevator doors to check as I know it will devastate me more.
I don’t respond to what he said, just let him haul me with him into the apartment, holding on to that lithe body. I catch brunette doing an appreciative sly once over as we enter and cannot help the scowl that hits my face. She is checking him out in see through molded clothes and she isn’t being that shy about it. Her eyes stray to me and she tries to conceal the hint of judgement before a fake smile crosses her face.
“Hey Amanda, let me formally introduce you to my girlfriend, Sophie.” Arrick walks us into the hallway and now I can see Miss. Cleavage. has on a tight skirt to her knees and a pair of stilettos, that blouse is not done any further up though and she is sliding on a jacket too. She looks like she slept in her clothes now that I really take her in, see the wrinkles and some tell-tale takeaway stains on the front, and her hair and makeup seem tired. I guess she really has been up all night pouring over files and not fucking my boyfriend. Arrick leaves me standing and walks off towards our bedroom for a moment.
“Hi, I have heard a lot about you, Miss. Huntsberger. Arrick mentions you a lot.” She smiles insincerely and comes forward with an outstretched hand that I obediently shake, despite feeling like I want to poke her in the eye with her own shoes. I hate how provocatively she is dressed, even if it is office wear and I hate she used my name formally, but not his… Her actual boss.
Since when did he allow staff to call him Arrick?
He is much like his father in that he prefers staff to call him Mr. Carrero.
I guess if anything weird had been going on, then this cozy greeting would be going down a whole lot differently right now, and it only confirms the fact that nothing about this is an affair. Arrick isn’t a liar, he isn’t sneaky or someone deceptive and despite his mistakes in the early days of us… he isn’t the type to do this to me.
Arrick comes back with a towel and starts rubbing my hair and face before he hands it to me and gets to work unbuttoning my jacket and peeling it off. Amanda watches quietly, seemingly engrossed that he would be taking care of me this way. All I can feel is judgmental eyes on me and I push him back gently, so he stops fussing over me.
“I need to go shower… Do whatever it is you need to do, Arry. Go to work. I’ll go to bed and sleep and we can talk later.” I get clear of him to move, but he catches me by the elbow, pulls me back to where I was and makes it clear I am going nowhere. He takes the towel once more and continues patting my exposed skin as he turns his head to her.
“Amanda, take the papers and my laptop to the office, tell Jake I’ll be there in another hour or so; delay the meeting if they can, if not tell my brother to handle what he can. I need to be here right now.” He sounds like Jake…Bossy, Boss Carrero and Amanda nods and turns to collect a box of papers in the lounge, from among all the pizza boxes and glasses laying around. I can now see there are four plates, four glasses and four mugs amid all the wrappers and napkins and I glance guiltily at the side of his face.
Stupid, Sophie.
“Yes, Mr. Carrero, anything else?” She blinks innocently, back to formal names I see, wonder if she only reserves his first name when he is out of earshot and I cannot help but notice the way her eyes keep trying to stray to Arrick’s rather toned and sexy body in his damp attire. I really want to slap her, even though I know it’s near impossible not to ogle him like this. I mean she is female, and human I guess, but still, he’s her boss and his girlfriend is standing right here.
“Nope… use the car, it should be there by now and take one of the umbrellas from beside the elevator. Sophie has a few in the rack over there.” He nods behind us, towards the wall rack which houses a million of our jackets by the exit.
“Yes sir. I shall see you at the office.” She smiles sickeningly sweet and Arrick brings his attention back to me, nodding at me to slide my shoes off as he slides down to crouch and starts rubbing my exposed legs under my dress. I catch the way she looks at us, unimpressed and catty but she shields it just as quickly.
I say nothing as she walks past us and makes to leave, grabbing an umbrella in the foyer. From my angle I can see her in the corner of my eye but Arry is oblivious to her departure and is trying to pull off my dress while standing here. Amanda gets in the elevator as he starts to slide it up and over my head, peeling it away from my goose bumped skin and starts rubbing me to warm me up with the towel.
“You should go.” I repeat when the doors close and I know she is gone.
“I need to get changed anyway, we may as well shower together, if you want to that is?” He glances at me warily and I only nod. Despite still being pissed at him, I cannot think of anything better than a hot shower with him. I don’t want to forget or get into sex; I want the closeness of being naked with him and alone. I want to stop feeling like I’m shell shocked and take some time to get my head back in reality."
