by Marian Tee
Returning the smile, Kellion gave her a brief, warm hug. “It’s good seeing you again, Dinah.”
“You, too, Master Kellion. Life seems to agree with you in the States.”
He nodded. “It…does.” And for some reason, instead of the Afxisi coming to mind, he found himself thinking of a curvy girl with blue-violet eyes.
“I’m glad to hear that,” Dinah murmured. “Sometimes, I wish my little Jacqueline could do the same.”
Kellion’s jaw hardened. “She could have.” In fact, he had asked her to come study with him in the States before leaving. But she had turned him down, like she always did.
Dinah sighed. “She could…and she couldn’t. You know how it is with her. She feels like she can’t live without him.”
His lips tightened, Kellion not trusting himself to say a thing.
“I know,” Dinah said quietly. “If it were only up to me, or even her parents, we would have chosen you. But it’s not.”
“Why?” Kellion burst out. “All these years, that’s what I couldn’t ever figure out. Why did she have to fall in love with someone like that guy when—” He managed to stop himself.
“When my mistress could have you?”
He didn’t answer.
“When a heart chooses to love, it’s because it sees something special in another person, something that probably no one else can see. Jacqueline saw that in Eugene, and even after all these years, it’s remained special, and that’s what keeps her coming back to him, forgiving him.”
Remembering how thinner and frailer Jack felt in his arms, he said tightly, “I don’t see anything damn special about that jerk.”
“Because you don’t love him. You’ll know when you find yourself someone to love. Even when she’s at her worst, she’ll still look special to you.” Her tone gentled. “The same way you’ll always be special to her.”
Dinah pushed him towards the balcony. “Now, go have some fresh air while I prepare coffee for you.”
Crossing the balcony, Kellion leaned against the rails, Dinah’s words remaining with him. Someone special…
He had always thought Jack was special, but the problem was, she had never felt the same about him.
Unbidden, the thought of Aria came once more, and unease stirred inside him. When he had been with Jack, it had felt absolutely right that he had come to help her pick up the pieces. But now that he was apart from her—
A fresh crisp wind wafted through him, making Kellion feel colder inside.
Why did it feel so goddamn wrong to be here for Jack?
Without realizing what he was doing, he was already pulling his phone out, and it was only then that he saw Aria’s message for him.
Aria: Thank you for the flowers. They were bloody perfect. Thank you for the media coverage. More than anything, I’m happy at how it would help the other artists. Thank you for everything.
Kellion’s heart started beating hard. They were all beautiful words, but why did they feel so damn final?
He scrolled down, and that was when he saw it.
Aria: But I don’t think I can see you again after this.
He called her. Again and again, and he only stopped when Aria had sent him another message.
Aria: I still want to see you smile. I will always see you. But I’ve become selfish. You made me selfish. You make me want more than your smile, and I hate myself for it.
The last words almost had him dropping his phone. He could practically see Aria breaking in front of him, and he only had himself to blame.
Kellion: Answer the phone. PLEASE.
Aria: I think I’m in love with you, and I don’t want to be in love with you. So please, please just stay away because I know you don’t love me back.
In his mind, he saw Aria with the shattered pieces of her glass house surrounding her. She was looking at Kellion. She was the only one who had ever seen him, but he had left her all alone, left her drowning, and he was too damn far away to save her.
Kellion slowly lowered his head.
Aria, I’m sorry.
****
Kellion was already thousands of feet above ground by the time he was free to call his security, needing to make sure that Aria was at least properly looked after. He thought about the note he left for Jack. Hopefully she’d understand why he had to leave so suddenly. He had never done it before, but—
“Mr. Argyros.” Rio had answered at the first ring, but the way he sounded out of breath immediately had alarm bells ringing in Kellion’s head.
“What’s wrong?” he demanded tightly.
When Rio answered in Greek, Kellion knew it was even worse, that his security was about to say something he didn’t want Aria to understand.
Ms. Redfield had been subjected to an attack…she was accosted, but we managed to apprehend her attacker before anything serious—
Kellion cut him off, needing only to know one thing. “Who is he?” A name was all he needed, so he would know who he had to kill for daring to hurt Aria.
“A reporter under the influence and who appears to know about Ms. Redfield’s past…” When Rio repeated the reporter’s slurs verbatim, Kellion had to force his fingers to loosen up, the only way he could prevent himself from crushing his phone into pieces.
He said tautly afterwards, “Let me talk to her.” Guilt flayed him as he waited for Aria to come on the phone. If he had been there, she wouldn’t have been hurt, wouldn’t have felt alone—
Kellion froze as he heard Aria’s voice on the other end of the line.
Please say thank you for me.
She sounded so defeated, so lifeless—
But please tell him I don’t want to talk to him again.
She sounded like she no longer believed in him.
CHAPTER FIFTEEN
Dear Ashton,
You know what I’m most scared about?
That I’d forget about you – that I’d forget anything, everything – I don’t want to live another day if it means forgetting you.
Please, don’t let me ever forget you.
Love, Your Big Sis
“Good morning.” Bobby, the evil redheaded queen, greeted me with an especially chirpy tone the moment I entered the club’s office.
That was a bad sign. I made a 180-degree turn, intending to leave, but she caught me before I could make it to the door.
“Not so fast.” Bobby dragged me back to her desk and forced me down on one of the leather chairs. “I’ve been wanting to talk to you, but…” Her eyes narrowed at me as she returned to her place behind the desk. “I’ve been told you haven’t been answering Kellion’s calls?”
Wow. News sure travelled fast among bikers and their girls. The thought was a pathetic attempt to not think about what Bobby really wanted to say, a desperate attempt to ignore how my heart couldn’t stop chipping away at the mere mention of his name.
“Aria?”
Seeing that Bobby was waiting for an answer, I made myself shrug and blink rapidly like a clueless child. I don’t know what you’re talking about.
Bobby wasn’t fooled. “Ha! Others may think you’re a helpless little thing, but I know better.” She crossed her arms over her chest. “Tell me what’s wrong.” Her words were just as authoritative as the look on her face.
I scribbled on my board. YOU ARE NOT SCARING ME.
Her lip curled. “Oh, please. The fact that you’re writing that means you’re already scared.”
She was right, dammit.
Behind me, I heard someone knock on the door. A moment later, Leandro Christopoulos was walking past me and dropping a kiss on Bobby’s lips.
My eyes widened.
Bobby, the girl who was probably even more anti-PDA than I was.
And even now, she hadn’t murmured a single word of protest, could in fact only hold on to her fiancé as Leandro kissed her with tremendous passion in front of me.
When Leandro pulled away, he remained next to Bobby’s seat, with an air of intensely male sat
isfaction about him. He caught me staring but only flashed a casual smile, his tone friendly as he said, “Hello, Aria.”
Wow. He had just made out with Bobby Granger – and had come out of it alive, with none of his teeth knocked out.
I typed on my phone, YOU ARE A GOD.
He laughed. “Err, thanks, I guess.” He glanced down at his fiancée. “I’ve some unexpectedly free time today, megaira. What do you say we have lunch together?”
Bobby, I noted gleefully, looked flustered, nothing at all like the intimidating future CEO that she was. She cleared her throat, muttering, “Yeah, sure.” But it was so obvious she was dying to spend time with her Greek fiancé. When she saw me smirking at her, she glared at me. “Shut up.”
I gave her another innocent look. I was so not talking.
Bobby looked like she wanted to leap over her desk and kill me. But before she could do anything, Leandro was talking again, drawing her attention immediately towards him like they were interconnected by an invisible bond. “I’ll come back for you in fifteen minutes? I think you’re busy right now.”
“Umm…yes.” Her flustered tone, combined with the soft look in her eyes, practically screamed of her adoration of him.
Boy oh boy. Who knew philanthropists like Bobby could be just as generous with their affections, even in public?
Leandro bent down and gave Bobby another kiss. When he released her, he was breathing hard while Bobby was red-faced. It was fun, watching the way Leandro Christopoulos could so effortlessly transform the evil redheaded queen into a starry-eyed girl unable to string even two words together.
Or at least it was fun until—
“Love you.” Leandro had whispered the words as he straightened to his commanding height. He gave me a polite nod of goodbye before stepping out of the office, leaving behind a dazed-looking Bobby.
Ouch. Two words, just two stupid words, and yet they burned me like the sun, the way they shone so beautifully bright.
“Aria?” Bobby had finally recovered, but her cheeks were faint with color.
I saluted at Bobby. Yes, ma’am?
She didn’t smile. “You still haven’t told me you don’t want to talk to Kellion.”
My face turned expressionless at her words.
“MJ told me about what happened last night.”
And here I was, thinking MJ was my friend. Shaking my head at her words, I wrote on my board. COMPLICATED.
“God, I hate that word,” Bobby muttered. “Ever since Facebook used it as a relationship status, it’s become freaking hard to get people to say just yes or no.”
If I didn’t feel so dead inside, I would have smiled at her quip.
“Aria?” When our eyes met, she pressed gently, “Just tell me one thing, please. Just one and I’ll get off your back.” Without waiting for me to answer, she asked, “Has he done anything to hurt you? Something you can’t forgive him for?”
Slowly, I shook my head again. It really wasn’t him. It was me. It was my fears winning over my hopes, my past winning over my present.
“I see.” Bobby started typing on her phone.
I frowned. That was strangely rude for someone like Bobby. But before I could say anything, I heard the door behind me open again.
“I’ll take it from here, Bobby.”
I stiffened. It couldn’t be him. It just couldn’t be. He was supposed to be in Athens, a whole damn ocean away, dammit. He couldn’t be here so soon.
A shadow fell over me, a man crouching in front of me, dissipating my doubts and filling my badly chipped heart with anguish.
Kellion.
He was suddenly standing in front of me. Kellion. The real one and not a figment of my imagination. My fists clenched on my lap as I stared up at him, still unable to fathom his sudden presence. Just looking at him made me realize how much I missed him. Had he really been this tall? Did I really have to crane my neck all this time just to look up at him? I felt both starved and satiated at the sight of him, unable to get enough but also feeling like I was about to burst.
I looked at his thick black hair, at how they shone under the lights, and I had to clench my fists tighter to prevent me from reaching out to him. I looked at his face, and I could only wonder if he had really been this beautiful all the time. Those green eyes, those high, carved cheekbones, those thin perfect lips – had he really been this gorgeous? Or was it because I knew now I was in love with him that everything felt so different?
“Aria?” It was Bobby speaking, but her voice reached me like she was far away. Right now, all that existed for me was Kellion.
“I’m going to leave you two—”
When her words sank in, I jerked. No. I didn’t want to be alone to him. Panicking, I tore my gaze off Kellion and found Bobby already walking to the door. I hurried towards her and managed to catch the older girl just as she was opening the door.
She turned to me and I shook my head at her. Please. Please don’t leave me—
“Aria, listen.” Her voice was gentle, so beautifully gentle it didn’t sound like her, and I wanted to cry because of it. This, I thought painfully, this was the kind of voice I wished Amelie had. I didn’t give a damn if she had the voice of a siren. I had wanted this kind of voice, one that would have made me feel like I was cared for.
“I wouldn’t have helped him if he had hurt you.”
I shook my head more vigorously. No, Kellion hadn’t hurt me. But—
She took my hand, and her voice became even gentler as she spoke. “But right now…I think right now…you’re the one hurting yourself.”
KELLION
For a long moment, Kellion didn’t move from where he was. Even with Bobby already gone, he forced himself to stay still, not wanting Aria to feel crowded. But when she moved, when she reached for the knob and he knew she also intended to leave—
He moved, too.
He would do anything for her, give anything to her except that.
He pushed the door shut just as it opened, his hand slamming against it as he stood behind her, trapping Aria between his body and the door.
“Please…let…me…go.” Her voice was wisp-thin and brittle, and he knew she wasn’t speaking like before. Wasn’t speaking because she wanted him to smile.
“I’d appreciate if you could give me a moment of your time, terataki.” When she didn’t say anything, he said hoarsely, “Just one moment of your time.” He spun her around, but still she didn’t meet his gaze, her body remaining stiff and her arms glued to her side to prevent any parts of their bodies coming into contact.
Lifting his hand from the door, he reached for her hands with his, flinching at how cold and clammy they felt. It was a sign that she was scared. That she was hurting. And that was all his fault, too.
“Baby, look at me. Please.”
He didn’t really expect her to heed him, but after one long moment, he saw her slowly raise her head, relief and pain both washing over him as their gazes met.
That she was following him was also a result of his selfishness, of Kellion’s thoughtless decision to break her glass house. Aria had trusted him to be there for her. But when she had needed to hold his hand, he had been holding someone else’s.
The realization tore him apart, and he heard himself saying tautly, “I’m sorry.” He tightened his hold on her hands. “I would never have left…I never thought that something like that would happen to you.” He swallowed convulsively.
Slowly, Aria shook her head. “I…don’t…blame…you.”
He said grimly, “You should.”
She shook her head just once. “I…don’t.”
His lips twisted. “Still adorably stubborn.” He saw her eyes widen, knew it was because the words were tender but his voice had been savage.
Yeah, well, fuck, that was how she made him feel right now. Torn in different directions, trying to make sense of the hundreds of emotions that had hit him the moment Kellion had seen her face.
His knuckles brushing against
her cheek, he said roughly, “Do you know how I felt when I read your message? When you told me you didn’t want to see me again?”
“Sorry.” This time, she was the one who held his hand tightly. “Never…wanted…to…hurt…you.” Her lip started to tremble, and Aria’s teeth sank into her lower lip.
Gazing at Aria’s face, Kellion heard himself say, “If you don’t want to hurt me, then say you’ll stay with me forever.” The moment the words were out, he didn’t know who seemed more surprised, Aria or himself. But it was beginning to dawn on him that he meant every word.
He watched Aria bite her lip harder. “I…can’t.”
The words hurt, pushing Kellion close to the edge. The words felt like another rejection, and he wanted to go berserk at it. Why couldn’t anyone see him? Why?
He hadn’t realized he had lowered his head until he felt Aria cupping his face, forcing him to meet eyes that had stopped seeing him—
Kellion’s heart crashed against his chest when he saw the love shining in Aria’s blue-violet eyes.
“Don’t…misunderstand.” A smile wobbled on her lips. “It’s…not…that…I…don’t…see…you.” One, two, three teardrops started to fall, and soon it was an endless, silent, heartbreaking flow of tears.
“It’s…because…I…see…you…everywhere—” She stopped speaking, the tears falling faster on her face. And he knew that even though she was hurting, even though she was hurting because of him, she was also crying for him.
Unable to bear it, Kellion took hold of her face and kissed her. He kissed her the way he had wanted to from the very start, kissed her even as she froze, struggled, and cried, her tears mingling with their kiss.
So many things were unclear now, his feelings a complete mess. When he was with Aria, there was none of the painful, crazy longing he felt every time he was with Jack, no desperate urge to do something wildly impressive to keep her eyes on him.
If that meant he still loved Jack, if that meant he didn’t love Aria—
