Taste of Sin

40| Escape

Chapter 40: Escape (Ace's POV)

I sighed, walking up the staircase and to our bedroom. I was a little confused when she didn't come for lunch but she dropped off some food. I was even more confused when I saw that the bag had food for two in it. And her text didn't seem to make sense to me either. I pushed the door open to our room and saw a suitcase splayed open on the bed, more than half of it already full. I frowned in confusion, walking to the closet where she was gathering her clothes. I walked inside, standing right behind her. 

She turned around, crashing right into me and gasping in shock. She placed a hand on her chest, staring at me with wide eyes. "You scared me." She breathed out shakily. 

"What are you doing?" I questioned. 

"Packing," she cleared her throat. 

"For what? Where are you going?" 

"Home." She walked around me, dumping her clothes on the bed, and started folding them and placing them in the suitcase one by one. 

"You are home," I stated, standing near her. 

"I'm going to my house for a while." 

"Why?" 

"I want to stay with my dad for a little bit. Chase's birthday is next month, so I'll come back after that." 

"A month? You want to stay there for an entire month?" 

"Yeah, I do." She looked at me, throwing a t-shirt into the suitcase. Her jaw clenched, her gaze hard. 

"You didn't come by for lunch," I said. 

"I told you, I had meetings." 

"Yet you're back home before me and it's not even six." 

She continued packing, picking up her pace. "I did them quickly, what else?" 

"You stopped by though. Why didn't you come upstairs?" 

"Owen said Nathan was upstairs. I didn't want to interrupt." 

"You should have." I watched her with narrowed eyes, trying to understand what was actually happening but she wasn't giving anything away. "Can you stop packing for a minute and talk to me?" 

"I'm in a rush, sorry," she mumbled. 

"Okay well, just take a two-minute break, please." 

"I can't." 

I frowned, taking in a breath. "Gianna." 

She kept quiet and started ignoring me, packing quickly. 

"Hey!" I snatched the shirt out of her hands, throwing it into the suitcase.

She closed her eyes and let out a sigh, slowly looking up at me. "What?" 

"What? What is going on?" I rounded the bed and walked over to her. I stepped closer to her and she took a step back, maintaining the distance between us. I watched her, trying to think if I did something to upset her, but I haven't even seen her today. "What did I do?" 

"Nothing," she said, shaking her head. She sighed, scratching her eyebrow before sighing, staring at her suitcase. She glanced at me and then resumed packing. "I heard you talking with Nathan today." 

"What?" 

"I came upstairs. The door was open and I heard your conversation. Yes, I was eavesdropping. I heard you talking about me." 

I thought back to earlier and closed my eyes, cursing myself when I realized which part and how much of the conversation she must have heard. The worst part of it, for sure. "Gianna, wait. It's not what you think. I—"