Love Me Again

Chapter 14 - Beneath his appearance lies a rotten core

Chapter 14 – Beneath his appearance lies a rotten core

"Yes."

"You are here for the tasting program!" Gio's eyes brightened.

"Oh, don't misunderstand. Today is my date with Ashley. The tasting program will go on next week as scheduled."

"How did you end up with Ashley?" Gio asked curiously, yet also with a hint of caution.

Ashley was fed up with politeness. She stood up and picked up her bag. "Kyle, let's go somewhere without interruption."

"We have not seen each other for a long time. Surely you don't mind if we catch up."

"I have no desire to speak to you," Ashley said coldly.

Kyle stood up and smiled humorlessly at Gio. "We will talk again next time, but right now, Ashley deserves all my attention."

He asked the waiter to deliver their food back to his suite before they walked out of the restaurant.

Ashley fought not to shiver as she felt Gio's eyes still on her. She had thought she had managed to escape from Gio and was working well toward recovery. But now that he had appeared before her again, she found that she was still very much affected by him.

She got a strong feeling that her days might not be peaceful for long.

Absent-minded, she allowed Kyle to lead the way, no longer interested in having a tour around his suite. Not long after, the waiter delivered the food, thoughtfully reheated. But the knowledge that the food was made by Gio made her sick.

Ashley ignored the food before her and gazed out of the window. The city at night did look good.

Kyle took a seat opposite her, his coat and tie disposed of, and his hair was back to its messy self again.

"Can I ask what's going on with you and Gio Aiolos?"

Ashley sighed before nodding. But she did not move her eyes away from the window. It was easier to speak without looking at Kyle. "He was one of the blind dates that my mom introduced me to. We hit it off, and I agreed to date him."

Kyle whistled. "He's got the looks."

Ashley sneered as she remembered her experience. "To choose an apple, one could not only look at its appearance. It was my fault that I did not realize that beneath his appearance lies a rotten core."

"It must be really rotten if you could still remember the taste so vividly."

"I had thrown the apple far away, but it keeps on rolling back to disgust me. If only I could crush it into pieces..."

At her wistful tone, Kyle asked carefully, "What did he do?"

"Get close to me, acting all nice and gentlemanly, then when my guard is down, he attacks like a beast," Ashley answered flatly.

"He raped you?" Kyle's angry voice had her finally peeling her eyes from the window to look at him. His enraged expression somehow hit her funny button.

Ashley let out an unladylike snort. "What's with you men constantly having sex in your mind?"

"Honey, I don't think about sex every ten seconds. I only think about it five times per day," he mocked, causing her to giggle. "Okay, what did he do then?"

"He tried to date me to get more information about the restaurant while spying on my dad and Ashton at the same time."

"Ashton? Another fling?"