Chapter 128

Chapter 128: Chapter 128

Music Recommendation: Love the way you lie (Part II) by Rihanna and Eminem.

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He moved.

"Amara," he breathed, crossing the space in two strides. He caught her wrist gently, not forcing, nor holding her, but just anchoring her. When she turned to snap at him, he silenced her with a desperate pull into his arms.

She stiffened against him, but he wrapped himself around her anyway. One hand was at the back of her head, pressing her face into his chest, and the other circled her waist like he could shield her from his own wreckage.

"I’m sorry," he whispered against her hair, again and again. His lips brushed the crown of her head, then her temple, and then her forehead in a series of frantic, repeated kisses.

Each one was softer, and more desperate than the last. "I’m sorry. I shouldn’t have said it that way. I shouldn’t have made you feel like that. I’m the one who isn’t enough—not you."

Her body trembled against him, her arms hovering, unsure whether to shove him away or cling tighter. He pressed another kiss into her hairline, his breath was harsh with remorse. "You’re not dirt. You’re not a mistake. You’re..." His voice cracked, low and raw. "You’re the only good thing I’ve touched in a long time."

And he meant these words. Infact, he meant every words he had ever said to her after knowing her for who she truly is.

Her only mistake was being friends with Celeste. Fuck! Fuck duty! Everything was beginning to shatter him right now, and he can’t keep it in.

He couldn’t give a reason why he could no longer go on with his assignment. This was supposed to be easy. She wasn’t his first, and would never be his last.

She would make such a lovely bride to someone else if he can defy loyalty, and walk out of her life at this moment.

Money! Money!! Money!!!

He couldn’t believe he was about to watch her go, all for money, power and show.

Amara resolve faltered. Slowly, and hesitantly, her arms curled around his waist, clinging to him even as her tears wet his chest.

They stood like that, tangled in a silence too heavy to bear. Elias finally drew back just enough to search her face. His thumb brushed away a stray tear on her cheek, his gaze softening with an ache that nearly broke him in two.

"Let me fix this," he murmured. "Please."

Her brows furrowed, mistrust warring with the hurt. "Fix it how?"

His lips curved faintly, the ghost of a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. "Dinner. Today. You, me..." His gaze held hers, steady and deliberate. "And invite Celeste."

Amara blinked, startled.

"Celeste?"

Elias nodded, his hand smoothing down her arm, coaxing her. "And her boyfriend. Make it a double date. We’ll make it normal. We’ll make it right."

She huffed a disbelieving laugh through the remnants of her tears, shaking her head. "Celeste might not come. And besides, she already has a boyfriend."

"Then invite him too," Elias said smoothly, his hand lifting to cup her cheek. He pressed another kiss to her forehead, lingering there. "It’ll be the four of us."

Amara finally looked up at him, eyes still shining, but softening into something fragile, tentative. Her lips quivered with a weak smile. "You’re insane."

"Maybe," Elias said with a low chuckle, though his chest was still heavy, still burning with guilt. He tucked a strand of hair behind her ear, his touch reverent. "But I’m not letting you push me away, Belle. Not like this. Not after last night."

When she didn’t protest, and when her hand stayed pressed to his chest as though she couldn’t bear to let go, Elias held her tighter, kissed her forehead again, and silently swore to himself that whatever he had to do, he would keep her alive. Even if it destroyed him.

Amara’s face was buried in his chest again, wetting his skin again, and though her body trembled, she didn’t push him away. That alone was enough to shatter him all over again.

"Don’t say I’m not worthy of you, or you’re not worthy of me." she whispered against his chest, her voice muffled but sharp, cutting straight through his muscle and bone. "Don’t ever say that. You don’t get to decide my choices for me."

His eyes slammed shut. Every word from her was a knife, but she was right. God, she was right.

He made a joke about this assignment when it was given to him. Now, he wished he had thought this through. God, he wished he had, before he came on, fell into her.

"I know," he murmured, his lips brushing the crown of her head. His thumb rubbed circles against the curve of her waist, soothing her, though his own chest was a battlefield. "I just... I can’t stop thinking that you deserve better than me. Better than what I am."

She stiffened, pulling back enough to look up at him, her tear-streaked face tipped with defiance. "And what are you, Elias?" she demanded.

His throat worked. The truth. His whole body, and lips fought to give her the whole bloody, rotten truth. They hovered at the edge of his tongue, clawing at him to spit them out. They screamed at him, saying she deserved to know. But he swallowed it down, like a bottle of wine, and buried it in the pit where all his other sins and lies lived.

"I’m a man who doesn’t deserve the kind of trust you just gave me."

Her lips parted, her eyes narrowing, but she said nothing. He could see the storm whirling inside her. He could see the suspicion, confusion, hurt. If she asked the wrong question, if she pushed past his armor now, everything would unravel.

She was his to lose, and he doesn’t mind losing her to the truth. However, he countered. He’d rather be hanged by Carlos than to not live deliberately with her, using the little time he had left.

So he kissed her forehead again, softer this time, lingering like he could burn the moment into his soul.