In His Arms

Chapter 35

The way his grey eyes stare into mine makes my skin crawl nervously, the intensity of his gaze pierces my resolve as I battle it out internally with my subconscious and inner succubus about what to say to him.

"I thought...I thought you went to breakfast," I stutter, grabbing my nightshirt to cover my exposed chest. "Why are you..."

"I forgot my phone," He says simply, his eyes not leaving mine.

My blood chills at the dangerousness of his voice, the deep baritone of it rattles my bones as I cower in fear in front of him. I have no idea what to say next.

"Did it hurt?" He repeats coldly, his hand suddenly reaching out to grasp my elbow catching me as I take a tentative step away from him, pressing me up against him as a result. "Did it?"

"What..." I breathe nervously at the proximity between us, totally distracted by my state of undress in his presence. "Wha-"

"Who?" Alexander growls threateningly, his eyes darkening in restrained anger. "Janette. Tell me who."

He's mad.

"I...I can't," I whisper, shaking like the last leaf of Autumn after a long pause. "I..."

"You can't or you won't?" Alexander hisses cutting me off shortly, gripping my elbow tighter. "Why would you hide something as important as this from me?"

My eyes water a little at the intensity of his gaze, I have no idea what to do, I didn't expect him to find out about the scars so soon. I didn't think a situation like this would ever occur.

Well, you did throw caution to the wind when you started undressing in the middle of the hotel room, my inner succubus comments, folding her arms disappointedly. Him walking in on us is expected.

Wow, so much for being on my side. Swallowing deeply as he continues to gaze at me, I mumble what I know I shouldn't even have mentioned, "Don't you also have something you're hiding from me?"

The shock in his eyes doesn't go unnoticed by me which confirms that whatever Mr Lee, Eugene and Angela know about him is not common knowledge. Dare I say, maybe it's not even legal knowledge since they know about him.

"Tit for tat," He says seriously, releasing me. "Change your clothes, we'll speak more."

Once his back is turned, I quickly change into the rest of my clothes, mentally cursing myself for thinking his opinion of me hasn't changed from seeing the scars, smoothing out the slightly wrinkled edges of my shirt. Pulling at the three-quarter sleeves nervously as if he can sense that I'm done changing, he turns around to face me, his grey eyes looking expectant.

I guess I'm going first then...

"I was a part of the child trafficking circle from a young age," I start softly, my eyes unable to even look at his back. "I was...beaten when I misbehaved...I escaped and I was adopted by The Summers when I was eleven. It took a year to get the paperwork done."

"And the man that was chasing you down on the street?"

"Tit for tat, Alexander," I warn, eyeing him steadily, biting back the urge to tell him the answer to his question.

After a short pause, he speaks, "I mixed in a sedative in your water on the aeroplane without your consent."

My mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water, trying and failing to come up with a response to his words. He drugged me... The sudden ringing of his phone breaks me out of my fish-like ways as I watch him listen briefly to the person on the other line before saying a curt and quick 'we'll be there in a bit' before he cuts the call, stuffing the device into his pocket.

"That was Adam," He comments, looking at me with what I can only call apprehensiveness in his cool grey eyes. "We'll continue this conversation after breakfast. Come."

Following him hesitantly out of the room, I reach out to grasp his hand in mine in one impulsive move, feeling safe beside him despite the many things he could still be hiding from me, my heart skips a beat when he tightens his hold on my hand, the low thumping of our footsteps on the densely carpeted floor being eerily the only sound in the long hallway.

I must be really crazily in love with him to still be able to feel safe with him right now...especially since he just told me that he was the one who drugged me...

"Although I shouldn't even be considering this after hearing what you just said, Alexander, about taking out the 'No Attachments' rule," I mutter softly breaking the silence between us as we wait for the elevator. "You said in your apartment that your motive of making me Danny's live-in nanny has changed. You never answered me when I asked what's changed."

For a while, he doesn't respond as the elevator doors slide open and he gently tugs me into the mechanical square box letting go of my hand so that it now rests on my lower back. I lower my head to hide the frown that has unexpectedly graced my lips at the loss of skin-to-skin contact with him. Still, he surprises me when he tilts my chin upwards with his other hand so that my eyes meet his, the molten steel of his eyes strikes me like an arrow through the heart at the seriousness of his gaze.

"I have resigned to the notion that I have amorous feelings for you," He declares rather anticlimactically. "Hence, I want to remove the 'No Attachments' rule so that I can get to understand you beyond the boundaries of boss and employee."

What...

I am rendered speechless at his straightforward confession...' amorous feelings'...for me? How in the last few weeks of knowing each other has he ever dropped any hints that the arrangement between us is nothing more than a business agreement? I mean, sure he's kissed me a lot since we've met...but that's for appearance's sake and how does drugging the person you have 'amorous feelings' show that you have 'amorous feelings for that said person? It makes as much sense as setting a trap for a mouse and eating the bait off the mouse trap on your own!

The soft ding of the elevator signals that we have reached the lobby level and as the doors slid open I'm still held against him. I have known since Damian's function that I've fallen for him but under the circumstances of him telling me this the idea of him ever reciprocating my feelings is so ridiculous that I am convinced that there is definitely something he is not telling me.

Shifting me to walk by his side, his hand remains on the lower part of my back as he guides my shocked to the point of silence self in the direction of the hotel's restaurant, completely ignorant to the fact that my mind is now a mess thanks to him. The enticing smell and chatter of other hotel patrons do nothing to distract me from my ever-turbulent thoughts and theories of what he's hiding from me but to his credit, I do get distracted briefly when he sits me down on a free chair as he says his 'good morning's to everyone on the eight tables that have been joined together temporarily for all of us to be seated concurrently.

"Do you want me to get you your food or would you like to do it yourself?" Alexander asks me softly across the table, drowning out the ceaseless chatter of my brothers down the length of the table.

"Huh?" I squeak, unfocused as I blink my eyes a few times to get them to concentrate on Alexander.

"Should I get you some food or would you like to make your plate?"

"I think it'll be best if you choose for me," I say, leaning over the table a little for my next words to not be overheard. "You wouldn't want me to run away while getting my food now would you?"

"Very well," He responds, smirking slightly as he gets up to go to the buffet spread on the other side of the restaurant.

Leaving me to absorb everything.