His Unwanted Bride ~Editing~

Chapter Thirty: Alexios

She slept the entire drive back to the manor. Clarissa kept me company quietly on the drive. She was eager to answer more of my questions regarding her sister.
"What is her favorite color?" I asked.
"She likes purple and teal lots," Clarissa whispered.
"What is her favorite thing to bake?" I asked.
"She loves making cookies, and cakes too," Clarissa replied.
"What else does she like?"
"One time, we were walking down the street and there was a boy with a piano in the street and singing. He was playing a song and Tab started humming the song but she was doing weird things with her voice, something about the notes. I think she likes making music," she smiled.
"That's definitely interesting," I smiled glancing over at Tabitha. It seems most of our relationship was spent with her fast asleep. She had clearly been through alot in her life and I was happy she felt this comfortable with me. My mother had taken her gown home the first night she was in the hospital and brought clothes for her. "What else?"
"She likes you," Clarissa smirked.
"What makes you say that?" I asked, curious to hear her explanation.
"She let's you touch her skin. She doesn't let anyone touch her ever. Only me. She lets you though. Even though I like you, if you hurt her. I'm going to have to beat you up," Clarissa continued with a fierce little glare.
"I would never hurt her. You don't have to worry about that. At least not on purpose," I explained with a smile.
"I know you're married, and I don't really understand why or how she married someone she never introduced me to. But she cares about you, Alex. She's different with you," she smiled sadly.
"I'm different with her too. For a very long time I have been unhappy. From a very young age I worked for my family company, doing everything I could to build my family's legacy. But in doing that, I missed out on many things. I didn't get get to "just be a kid" everything was always about the future. Now I have a chance to build my future, the way I want it," I spoke sadly. "I want to be worthy of a strong future with you and your sister."
"You're good at talking. I need you to show it too though," Clarissa said with a smile. I took a deep breath and focused my attention on the road.
"We're almost there," I said to her as we passed through a gate and drove down a long driveway.
"What is this place?" Clarissa asked with her eyes wide.
"Your new home," I chuckled.
We drove up further and the large fountain at the end of the driveway came into view. The manor itself was large, I'm guessing larger than anything Clarissa had seen in person before.
We pulled up to the front of the house and I came to a stop. I unbuckled my seatbelt and climbed out. I turned to Clarissa's door and her face seemed shocked. "Come on out," I said with a smile, opening her door. She climbed out and I walked around to Tabitha's side.
"Hey Tabitha, we are here," I spoke trying to wake her up, but it didn't work. "Tab." She was exhausted. I carefully took her seat belt off and looped her arms around my shoulder before I lifted her into my arms.
"I'll get the door," Clarissa spoke, quickly closing the car door.
Tabitha began to stir in my arms. "It's okay, we are home," I told her.
I led Clarissa in through the foyer and up the main stair case. We walked down the main hallway on the second level and along the way I showed her various rooms we passed until we got to the main bedrooms.
"This one is yours, tomorrow I'd like to take you to get paint and some things for your room," I smiled opening the door. A large canopy bed sat at the center of the wall across from us. A few empty shelves lined the wall, and there was a small desk, a nightstand, a dresser, and a mounted tv. Her suitcase and backpack sat on the floor next to her bed.
"Thank you, I love it," she smiled excitedly running in and jumping on the bed.
"You're welcome," I smiled. "If you need a bathroom there's one right there, you have your own, and a huge walk-in closet. Our bedroom is right next door if you ever need anything. I'm going to go help your sister get settled, and then I'll be back to help you in a moment or two," I smiled.
"Thank you!!!" She yelled jumping up and hugging me before I carried Tabitha out of the room.