by Lannah Smith
Having no idea what he was going to do, I watched Christopher step behind me. I looked at him over my shoulder. His arms were wrapping themselves around my waist, crushing me to his solid body, and he leaned down, touching his lips to my skin.
I felt my body go electric. I fought against the surge and whispered, “You just ate. You might get a stomach ache.”
“But I am aching right now,” he growled into my skin, his thumb stroking the side of my breast. “Aching for you.”
“The dishes—.”
“I’ll do them later. I’m not going to let you do all the chores, honey. We’ll split them.”
Hearing that, I twisted in his arms, pulling his head down, hitting his mouth with mine. His lips opened quickly and just as quickly, he swept his tongue inside. I groaned deep in my throat
“Time for bed, honey,” he murmured.
I nodded in wholehearted agreement.
Then he swept me off my feet and took me to bed.
Dressed and ready for work, Christopher walked into the bedroom, his eyes on me in our bed. I glanced at the clock on the wall. It was half past nine in the morning.
“You know, it’s technically still Christmas,” I mumbled, rubbing my eyes. “You’re too hardworking.”
He sat on the edge of the bed, bent down and kissed my forehead. “Blame Alec,” he murmured.
“You always put the blame on Alec,” I scowled. “You’re the boss.”
He smiled. Sexy, lazy and slow.
“I was away for far too long, honey. My kingdom’s going to topple if I don’t show my face anytime soon.”
“You should have thought about that before you went to your torture chamber yesterday,” I pointed out.
He laughed and his mouth, this time, came to mine.
Then eyes looking into mine, he whispered against my lips, “Are you still naked?”
I smirked and lifted my head to kissed him deeply. “Want to find out?” I whispered.
He didn’t have time to find out. The door suddenly flew open and Christopher literally growled when he pushed off me.
“It’s time to go,” Alec informed loudly, barely giving me a glance.
As pissed as he was, a chuckle escaped Christopher’s lips and he shook his head.
Dropping my head back on the pillow, I frowned. “Should I even ask where you’re going?”
Christopher adjusted the covers over me and stood up, adjusting his suit. “I’m really going to the offices, April.”
I closed my eyes at the sudden fear that pumped through my veins.
He was going to go outside again. Where I wasn’t going to see him.
“Honey,” he called, his deep voice gentle and my eyes opened. “What’s wrong?” he asked down at me.
I stared at him.
Then I asked, “Has my father contacted you?”
He paused and something shifted in his eyes.
“Yes,” he answered truthfully.
A cold shiver slithered over my skin. I narrowed my eyes. “And? What did he say?”
“That he’ll kill me if I don’t return you to him.”
My whole body jerked up the bed but somehow, I managed to keep the blanket pressed to me.
“What?” I exhaled shakily.
“Relax, honey.” He sat next to me again, leaning in, his hand coming to cup the back of my head. “I won’t let him kill me. I plan to live until I’m a hundred years old with you by my side. I’ll be very angry if he takes that away from me.”
I pushed his hand away and looked at Alec who was still standing at the door.
“How loyal are you to me now?” I demanded.
He lifted his brows. “Why?”
“I want you to report to me if he plans to do something stupid so I can stop him if you can’t.”
Amusement lit his blank eyes. He tipped his head forward. “That can be arranged.”
Christopher grinned. “What if he’s the one pushing me to do the stupid thing?”
My head whipped to him.
“You remember what I told you about how I prefer knives?”
“Your slap alone could twist a person’s neck,” he laughed. “You don’t need a knife, honey.”
I ignored him and reached over to nab my new phone off the nightstand. Then I threw it at Alec. “Put your number in, Alec,” I ordered when he caught it easily.
“You’re getting along too well now, aren’t you?” Christopher commented, grabbing my robe off a nearby chair to put it around my body. “One might say you were friends, or even siblings.” He glanced at Alec. “You both do have gray eyes after all.”
Alec’s mouth got tight and he chucked my phone at Christopher, which Christopher too caught easily. “I already have your number,” Alec told me in a completely pissed off tone. “I’ll drop call later.”
Then he stomped out of the room but not before giving Christopher a hard look. My brows went up.
“Will you stop making fun of your right-hand, Christopher?”
“Now I really have to go, honey,” he said with a chuckle.
I snorted. “Did you even hear what I just said?”
His hand on the back of my head again, he pulled me to him and kissed me softly. When his mouth released mine, he only allowed me to pull back an inch and whispered, “I’ll call.”
Then his hand disappeared because he was gone.
I listened to the bedroom door close.
Then I collapsed back on the bed and stared at the ceiling, thinking about my father.
Chapter 60
“Did you neglect to tell me about the blood on my collar, Alec?” Christopher asked in a mild tone as he and Alec waited for the elevator to reach to the ground floor.
Alec didn’t look at him when he replied, “Was there? It was too dark last night.”
This lying little shit.
He sighed. “If you’re mad about Christmas…”
“I’m not mad, sir. Why should I be?”
“Oh, I could definitely think of a reason,” Christopher mumbled wryly, thinking back to Christmas. "I've always thought you were the cool type, Alec. But since April, I got to see all sorts of sides to you."
Alec grimaced. "Both of you bring out the worst in me," he grumbled, pushing the 1 button aggressively, like he couldn’t wait to get out of this enclosed space and get away from Christopher.
Christopher grinned.
"I have a Christmas present for you too, you know," he had told Alec when they left April and Rita in the great room to let them talk in private after they had controlled the tears. Christopher sat back in his chair and went on, “I think you’ll like it.”
Alec leaned against the wall by the door. "You know I prefer cash, sir," he deadpanned.
Christopher frowned. "With the yearly salary I give you, not to mention the bonus I just sent into your account, you don’t really need more money, Alec. You don’t even spend the money on anything."
Alec shrugged to tell him it wasn’t his business. "So what are you going to give me?"
"The results of a DNA test."
Christopher watched Alec’s face get hard. He smiled tightly.
"That is, if you want it."
"I told you..." Alec's voice was hoarse with fury. "I fucking told you I didn't want to know."
"I know."
"You're a meddlesome bastard and I told you I don't need you meddling in my personal life."
It was Christopher’s turn to shrug. "You don't have to read it. But if you want to, it's in the bottom drawer of my desk."
"Jesus Christ, you're such an asshole."
"I didn't even read it, Alec. It might be or not be the result you want."
Alec gave him a look that could kill before he pulled the door open and disappeared. And for the rest of the day, Alec studiously ignored Christopher, much to his men’s amusement when Christopher let them out of the basement to introduce them to April.
Angering Alec had its consequence. The asshole had pulled them out of be
d early in the fucking morning, if it could even be called morning, after celebrating Christmas all night to get into the earliest flight. But his right-hand’s anger could never last a day. He was too used to Christopher being an unfeeling fuck that he quickly gets over it.
Or so Christopher had thought.
When they left the elevator, Christopher was reading his emails on his phone which was why he didn’t notice until the last moment that Alec had stopped walking.
“Christopher?”
He looked up. And stopped short of Alec’s back. Emmy was at the lobby with Rohan. She stood up, wringing her hands together. Then she started to run.
“Jesus Christ,” Rohan muttered worriedly, running after her. “Careful, Em.”
Christopher opened his arms just as Emmy launched herself at him. Alarm bells went off with Christopher’s head and he held her tight in his arms, thinking of the worst. He glanced at Alec sharply. He opened his mouth to speak but Emmy got there first.
“She’s here?” he heard her whisper into his chest and his breath seized. Emmy lifted her head and tears glistened in her eyes. “Is April here?”
He relaxed. And the monster that was about to rear its ugly head calmed.
Behind her, Rohan’s expression was riddled with guilt. Giving Emmy a squeeze, Christopher leaned down until his mouth was in her ear and said gently, “Klay will take you up. You can stay there until Rohan and I return, sweetheart. My only condition is that you tell no one.”
She didn’t need to be told twice, she broke off his embrace and ran for his private elevator, Rohan shouting at her to be careful. Gesturing at Klay, he sent her to follow Emmy with two of his other men. Then he pulled Rohan back when he started for his fiancé.
“Easy, buddy,” he said quietly. “She’ll be alright.”
Rohan’s tortured gaze went to him. Then he nodded and Christopher let go of his arm.
He seemed to be working something out in his mind. His voice was slow, hesitant and regretful. “I couldn’t lie to her anymore,” he muttered, running a hand through his dark blond hair. “She was preparing for the baby’s room earlier when she found the box of stuffed animals April had given her. She burst into tears. She misses her so damn much.”
“So it’s true that she’s turned into a crybaby then?” Christopher asked, giving him a one-armed hug.
Rohan groaned. “I just wanted her to be happy. God knows she’s been so melancholic these days. She’s been thinking about the possibility our baby might get sick like her. She tries to be brave but sometimes, she just couldn’t. I’m sorry I told her.”
“Don’t be.” Without letting go, Christopher guided Rohan to the car parked outside. “You guys came at the right time. April needs a distraction.”
“So she’s really here then?” Rohan’s stared at him, his brows raised.
“Didn’t you notice the heightened security around the building?” Christopher digressed.
“No,” Rohan muttered darkly. “But I did notice the two men hovering around our house and everywhere we go. Emilia has started calling them Tweedledee and Tweedledum, you know.”
He let out a low laugh. Alec and another of his men opened the doors for them and they slid inside the back of the car. Rohan winced when the door closed on Christopher’s side with a loud slam.
“Alec is mad at you,” Rohan muttered, watching Christopher’s right-hand get into the passenger’s seat. “Why?”
He shrugged. “He’s always mad at me.”
“It’s probably because you didn’t give him the week off. He hasn’t even enjoyed the holidays, has he?”
God knew how Christopher tried. But Alec wouldn’t take the offer.
“April’s going to be pissed if she knows I’m not going to my office again,” he muttered. He did plan to make a detour before meeting with his friends but since Rohan was already here, might as well just hit two birds with one stone. “Set the meeting at the company instead, Alec. I don’t want her disappointed again.”
Alec did as he was told and an hour later, greetings were exchanged by chin and words as Christopher took his seat at the table in the boardroom and Leon put a file in front of him.
As Leon reseated himself, John asked, “April?”
Christopher eyes went to Rohan before he answered.
“She’s fine. Rohan has just given her a belated Christmas present.”
◆◆◆
I was still lying on the bed, going over my newly formulated plan again and again, when there was knocking outside the door. I lifted my head. Nobody came in. I sat up, drawing the robe close around me, and slid off the bed.
“What?” I called out, looking for my phone.
I suspected it might be Jaehyun. But it wasn’t.
“Are you decent?” I heard Klay ask through the wood in an apprehensive tone.
My heart felt as though it had just dropped to the bottom of my stomach, thinking of the worst because it was all I knew. “I’m about to be. Why?”
“You might want to come out – hey, wait!”
For the second time that morning, my door flew open, revealing a woman with brown hair and eyes. All the breath left me when I recognized who it was. I couldn't move.
It was her.
Emilia.
She looked older and her hair was longer, past her shoulders but it was definitely her. She looked close to tears. Her face was deathly pale. She was wringing her hands together, staring up at me for a long minute.
My sweet Emilia.
And I felt my face crumple.
Klay took one look at me and closed the door just as Emilia took a hesitant step forward.
"Eonnie," she whispered before she burst into tears.
I couldn't come and comfort her. As much as I tried to hold it in, my own tears started to fall down, one after another. I brought my hands to my lips. I was crying so hard my whole body jerked with every muffled sob.
"Emilia..." I swallowed a sob. "Oh, God, Emilia..."
She threw herself into my arms, hugging me fiercely, sobbing into my chest unceasingly. It took me a few seconds to have the courage to touch her. I was afraid she was a dream, that I had fallen asleep without realizing it. But she was here. She was warm in my arms. And there was something sticking out of her stomach.
My eyes widened and I grabbed her shoulders and pulled her away. My eyes fell on her stomach. Then I looked at her shining eyes.
"Are you...?"
She bobbed her head up and down. "Yes," she let out a wet smile.
"He didn't tell me you were..." I swallowed again, wiping at my face with the back of my palms. "Oh, my God. You're going to have a baby."
"I know," she giggled.
"And you're..." I shook my head and laughed. "You're all grown up now."
"I know."
I smiled. "You look happy."
Emilia got all teary-eyed on me again. "It's because you're back."
My hands were shaking when I wiped her tears away. "I'm sorry I went away."
She shook her head and folded into me, putting her head down on my shoulder. "I know you didn't want to. And I'm sorry that I didn't realize how desperate things had become for you. I'd been too caught up in my own situation that I didn't see it--."
"Shh..." I hushed her, not letting her finish. "It's not your fault. I didn't let you in, Emilia. It's not because I don't trust you..."
"I know." She lifted her head. "You did that because you want to protect me. It sucks. We're friends but I kept on taking and taking yet I had nothing to give you."
"Did I ever call you a friend?"
She paused. "No."
"Then don't feel guilty about taking and taking. All you took was all I could offer anyway. Because I couldn't give you a real friendship."
And because I couldn’t let her discover more of the painful reality that had been my life back then. The misery. The grief. The hopelessness and the desperation. She thought she was going to die. And I didn’t want her to die. Her problems wer
e important to me than mine was.
Without a word, Emilia pulled away and took a seat on the edge of the bed, her hands folded on her lap. Drawing my robe tighter around myself, I crossed my arms. She still looked tiny to me. A familiar fierce surge of protectiveness welled up inside me.
