Scandalous Love

41. | Riley

James and I sat by the hill later in the evening when I was about to head back. I had told him everything about what I had overheard Hunter and the other guys talking about but he didn't quite seem to believe me.

"You really think they're gonna try it after all that happened in the past?" he asks me, causing me to sigh but nod.

"Yes," I mumble, looking him in the eye. "They sounded adamant on it, James, and I don't want to take any risks."

He nods in understanding, taking in all that I was saying before he pets my hair softly, stroking it. "I'll go and talk to him after. Don't stress about it, okay?" he says to me.

I bite my lip, not really wanting James to go and talk to Hunter. I understood they were close friends but the damage had already been done. I don't want him to make things worse to the point it'll only provoke Hunter more.

"Just be careful, okay?" I say, reaching up and cupping his cheek.

He leans into my palm before placing his hand on top of mine. "I'm always careful."

I smile before leaning in, stepping on my tiptoes to gain enough height to press my lips against his then we pull away, breaking apart.

I try to stay positive but my thoughts were slipping to the left side of my brain and I'm sure James could see it.

He stares deep into my eyes, not allowing me to leave just yet. "What's wrong, Ri?" he ponders, glancing around.

I shrug my shoulders before letting it out. It was better if my feelings were out in the open and not kept inside of me, locked away as a secret.

"I kissed Axel," I admit to him.

His face falters, searching for answers but before he had the chance to interrupt, I continue talking. "I swear I didn't mean to and I really didn't want to. I never meant to cheat. People were pressuring us for a photo last week at some celebration party and I just couldn't walk away from it because everyone was watching... I really didn't-"

I'm about to continue but he cuts me off by kissing me all over again, connecting our lips together. I hesitate, breathing in his scent before I settle and kiss back again.

When we pull apart, he shakes his head at me gently and smiles. "It's okay," he says. He joins our hands together, intertwining our fingers together like a shoelace. "It wasn't your fault and you didn't cheat."

He could say it countless times but it wasn't going to make me feel any better about the situation. In my mind, I had cheated. I never should have given into the kiss in the first place. Peer pressure shouldn't be an excuse...

"Ri, look at me." He leans forwards and rests his forehead against mine, giving me no other option but to look directly at him and nowhere else. "You didn't cheat."

I nod and then he pecks my forehead before letting go of my hand, taking a step backwards. "Text me when you get to your room, okay?"

I nod again before taking a step towards the gates then I unlock it with the keys.

I had already asked Axel to cover for me and he gladly did so. He turned off the alarm system and told everyone I had gone to see Daniel so I'm sure they believed him.

"I'll see you later," James tells me. I smile at him softly before waving and then walking through the gates only to lock it shut behind me.

Entering the building, I walk through the corridors until I come across Matteo in the kitchen. He wasn't in his usual uniform like he normally was. Instead he was in a general pair of jeans and a sweater but he didn't look his usual self.

I change my route and walk over towards him as he hovered against the counter in the kitchen with a camera in his hands. One that looked vaguely familiar to James's camera.

James must have left it here the last time he brought it with him...

I join him and push myself up onto the counter, swinging my legs back and forth. "You okay, Matteo?" I ask him softly.

He turns his head around and looks up at me, offering me a vulnerable expression. He was usually the chirpy one who always had a grin on his face, just like James. But when it wasn't there, everyone would be able to tell something was up.

"I'm okay, Riley," he says. He never called me by my first name unless he wasn't in the mood. Most of the time, my name was Belle or Bella or Beauty. He was one of the few father figures I had and I knew him a lot better than he thought.

"I miss them," he whispers. He shows me the photo he was looking at on the camera and it was a beautiful image of the four of them. James, Piper, Deborah and Matteo.

James must have been six or seven. He held Piper on his lap while he cuddled up in between his parents. It was sweet, and with just one look, Matteo tells me everything on his mind.

"You know him, don't you? The boy you've been hanging around with... it's him, isn't it?"

I sigh and slowly nod my head.

I take the camera out of his hands and begin to scroll through the images but right after that photo was a set of pictures from Ava and Dad's engagement party. Meaning that family photo of the four of them was the last one since they were separated.

The last one since the night Matteo came to work here...

"I left them thinking we would have a better life," he admits, causing me to frown, tilting my head sideways. "I had a meeting here the day I left home with your dad, Riley. He promised me that if I worked here, he would offer my family a better quality of life. He didn't just say it, he promised it. Your mother was lovely. She tried to snap some sense into him but he didn't live up to it. He wouldn't let me go back. I was stuck here and that was when they first built in the security systems."

"So my dad was the problem. Like always," I say, mumbling the last part.

Matteo sighs, looking at me whilst I look down, thinking of what to do.

I had no idea where to go from here. I knew Dad had done some damage to lots of families but I never knew it was this bad.

"I miss them so much. I love Piper and James more than anything," he whispers. A tear escapes from out of the corner of his eye and so I move my hand to his shoulder to seem somewhat compassionate.

"I love James too," I whisper, letting it out without a care in the world about who would hear me.

It was the truth and I'm not afraid to say it out loud. "I love him," I repeat.