Page 138 of Arianna

I know Thiago Sandoval, and as much of a bastard he is, he does not hurt innocents, and Arianna was only a pawn caught in the middle of a selfish war.

“You will not touch her sisters either. They have nothing to do with it, and you know it.” I find myself advocating for the life of Arianna’s two sisters. How far I have fallen. “Besides them, you can burn those families down for all I care.”

“Oh, I will,” Sandoval mutters. “Unlike you, brother, love and mercy no longer rule me.” With that promise to reign hell, he hangs up.

Unlike you, brother, love and mercy no longer rule me.

His last words stay with me all the way back home.

* * *

When I get home, I find her waiting for me, sitting quietly on the couch in the dark. “You waited up for me, darling?” I smile when she narrows her eyes at me. She always throws sass my way when she believes I am acting condescending.

“Don’t flatter yourself, Sebastian. I was in the mood to play a game of chess by myself. That is all.” she shrugs, and the movement causes the strap of her black shirt to fall down her shoulders, making me look at her creamy skin.

Fuck, she is beautiful.

I step inside the living room area, shrugging off my suit jacket and walking towards her. Pushing the chess table aside, I drop to my knees between the table and the sofa, right between her legs.

“Will you tell me now where you went?” she whispers, looking me straight in the eyes. That is one of the many things I admire about this girl. Her unwavering strength and the fact that she, unlike most men, does not cower under the heat of my gaze.

Once we landed in the States, she and my daughter, boarded a plane directly to Chicago, and I left for Detroit. She asked then why I was leaving so abruptly, and I told her that I had business to attend to, but I would be back before she knew it.

I kept that promise.

As I will keep every promise I make to her.

“I went to Detroit,” I tell her honestly because I will never lie to her unless it is crucially necessary. Only then. Arianna’s entire demeanor turns from warm and soft to rigid cold. Her natural state, her coping mechanism. Her green eyes narrow, this time, not playfully. No. I see suspicion staring back at me, and it pains me. Lifting my hand, I push a tendril of golden hair that fell free of the messy bun on top of her head behind her ear.

I will never stop being amazed by her beauty and grace.

Arianna is like every work of art created by mankind combined in one beautifully wrapped package.

No, fuck that.

Humankind only, no.

Every inexplicable phenomenon created by a higher being is exactly what she is.

She asks calmly and unaffected, but I see it in her eyes. A million questions and betrayal. “What for?”

“To see your father,” I tell her bluntly.

Confirming her suspicions, she tries to push me away to get up from the sofa, but I don’t allow it. Gently grabbing hold of her thigh, I keep her seated in place. “Don’t run. Not from me. We don’t do that. Get angry and fight me, but don’t fucking leave.” I tell her. At the same time as I lift my right hand and offer her the jewelry box.

Piercing, green eyes narrow on the item, offended by the idea that I brought her jewelry to placate her for going behind her back to the life she left behind.

“Keep it.”

“Open the goddamn box, Arianna.” I try to say it as calmly as possible but fail miserably. “Please.” I say through gritted teeth.

That does it.

I never asked before, and I, sure as hell never said please, but I do for her.

Her delicate fingers take the box from my palm and open it.

Instead of asking a million questions or losing her mind, as most people would in her position when being given a box with a chopped-off finger, she looks down at me, waiting for me to speak. My girl is smart. She knows what it is, but it is up to me to tell her what it means, so I do.

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