Chapter seventy nine

Dallas

The next few days, after you find out that your mother's murderer was also her husband, can be nerve wracking.

I've had two weeks to come to terms with everything that happened. Atlas's betrayal. Lucien's death. My father still being alive but clearly wants nothing to do with me. It wasn't easy, but I managed to accept it.

I had thought things would be easier after that. That my life would be…simpler, but that wasn't the case. My nightmares have become vivid. I kept replaying the moment Lucien fell of the cliff in my head.

The fact that the police haven't found his body was more unnerving. Although they found traces of blood near a river at the bottom of the cliff and a finger. They ran the finger through some tests to be sure it was Lucien's. It was. He was presumed dead.

I thought the nightmares sould stop after he was confirmed dead, but they didn't. I keep having these nightmares that he would come back for me. That he survived the fall and would soon exert his revenge on me for trying to kill him.

Sometimes, I'll imagine him pushing me off the cliff. Sometimes, he'd drive a knife into my heart. The one that usually get me waking up in sweat, my heart racing, is when I see him burying me alive in a shallow grave next to my mother's.

I shut my eyes tight in a desperate attempt to get the image out of my head. My phone dinged, indicating a text notification. I picked it up to see it was a text from Lisa.

LISA: Is it bad that I want to carve their hearts out with my sword? Or bang their heads into the wall and pray to God to knock some sense into them?.

The text read. I let out a small laugh at my best friend's murderous thoughts and quickly typed back.

DALLAS: Tone down the murderous thoughts a bit, Lis. Pretty sure the court wouldn't take lightly to the death of a criminal's children. We can't have them suspecting me of murder, now can we?

Sylvie and Stephanie blamed me for their father's death. The court judgement yesterday didn't exactly smother the relationship between us.

Atlas was sentenced to life imprisonment on the charges of murder, abduction, and defamation. Jim was given the same sentence. I'm pretty sure Oliver pulled a few strings to make sure Atlas doesn't use his influence to get out of jail.

I got back all my mum's properties that hasn't been sold which were surprisingly plenty. Lucien didn't sell our vacation house in Manhattan. And he kept a few of her valuables that he wasn't able to sell. I even got back some of her journals.

I decided to leave the house to Stephanie and Sylvie. Neither of them had a job to sustain themselves nor do they have anywhere else to go. Besides, I don't think I'll ever be able to live in the house.

The twins weren't very appreciative of my generosity though. They were yelling on top of their voice and cursing me throughout the court hearing yesterday. And Atlas, straight up threatened to kill me. It was a complete disaster.

LISA: No one is going to suspect you of anything if they don't find the bodies. Should we do it? *eyebrow raised emoji*

DALLAS: I appreciate the thought, bestie, but I don't think you and I can successfully hide a body. We'd probably get caught while arguing whether to dump them in a river or bury them alive *laughing emoji*

LISA: You know the waters is always better. There would be little to no evidence. So we're doing it? *winking GIF*

I let out a small laugh.

DALLAS: Absolutely not! You just got married. You really want your in-laws to blame your husband for bringing a murderer into their family.

LISA: Pretty sure they'd understand. My mother-in-law adores me.

I was in the middle of typing a response when another text entered.

LISA: I'm really sorry I couldn't be there for you yesterday. I really wanted to.

DALLAS: it's okay. And you were on video call so technically you were present.

LISA: It's not the same. I promise I'll make it up to you.

I was about to ask her how she planned on making it up to me when she's thousands of miles away, but I heard footsteps in the hallway. Oliver is back.

I jumped out of bed and rushed out of my room. I needed to speak with him. I've been avoiding him for two weeks now, and he had respected my space. I've missed him terribly but I just can't seem to bring myself to go to him.

Atlas's words that I was using him for his money echoed at the back of my mind. It was slightly true. Our interactions started because I needed financial help from him, but now that part of our deal had been sorted, I had no idea where it left us.

I needed to figure things out with him. If he wanted to continue or…not. We haven't talked about what would happen when he gets married, which I learnt might be anytime now. I wasn't delusional enough to think he would marry me. Though the thought of him with someone else sent a pang to my chest.

I took a few breaths to steady myself. I wasn't going to feel any negative emotions. I'd simply talk to him and respect whatever he decided to do. He didn't promise me long term after all.

His door was slightly opened when I got there. I pushed it opened and stepped in. He had his back on me, his shirt pulled over his head. He finally turned to face me, completely shirtless.

My breath caught in my throat as I stared at his body. God, he was just as beautiful as I remembered. Sunlight cascaded on his sweaty body giving it a golden like view. I legit drooled at the sight.

“Keep staring at me like that and I'll forget all about giving you space and take you right here, right now.” He said, his tone laced with amusement.

I forced my eyes away from his shirtless body and fixed my gaze on his face. Not that it helped. His face was another image of perfection. My eyes traveled around his face, taking in every feature as if memorizing them. His hair was scattered on his face and I itched to run my fingers through them.

My eyes landed on his lips. How long has it been since I had a taste of that? My tongue darted out of his own accord and ran over my lower lip.

“Dallas?” He called, a silent warning in his deep voice.

“Hmm,” I answered, unable to form actual words.

“You have about five seconds to stop staring at me like that before I cross the distance between us and take you just like I promised.” He groaned.

“Five seconds is too long.” I said in an almost whisper. I had officially lost all sense of reasoning. The man was just too hot.

“Damn it, Dallas,” he took a shaky breath. “I'm trying to do the honorable thing and give you the space you need.”

“Since when did Oliver Kang do things honorably?” I teased, but my voice came out throaty.

He stared at me, his eyes burning with need. The growing bulge in his pants is evidence that his control is slipping. He seem to be going through some internal war with himself.

“Fuck it.”

One second, he is out of reach, the next his mouth is on mine, kissing me hungrily. God, yes. This is exactly what I need.

I wrapped my arms around him and tugged him closer, deepening the kiss. How I survived two weeks in the same house with this man and not kiss him is surprising. But now that I have, I couldn't stop. I wanted more. More.

“Is that the way to her room?”

“Yes, but you'll have to keep calm. This was meant to be a surprise.”

“I'm sorry. I just can't wait to see her.”

I heard voices in the background but I quickly drowned them out and focused on the kiss. The voices became louder and closer. They sounded familiar. Way too familiar. But I can't seem to think about where I've heard them before.

Footsteps approached and there was a small gasp. Wait, is that–

“Holy mother of dragons!”

I finally broke the kiss and turned to the direction of the voice. My mouth hung open as I saw the source of the voice.

“Lisa?”