Chapter 22

"Did you send me that text?" Amanda asked as she treated Miguel's wounds.

They were at his house.

He shook his head. "Alisha came back a few days ago. I didn't tell you because you didn't want to leave Xavier. She visited me today, and sweetly requested to see my phone. After that, some men broke in and did this to me," he explained weakly.

She drew in a shaky breath and continued treating him.

Tears clouded Miguel's eyes as he stared at her swollen and bloodshot eyes as a result of too much crying. He knew it was a hard decision for her choosing him over Xavier and he couldn't believe he felt bad about it right now.

"Why did you choose me?" he breathed.

Without staring at him, she replied.

"You're the only family I have. How could I let you die when you made sure I lacked nothing since my father passed? You're important to me, Miguel."

He bit his bottom lip hard.

"But you aren’t okay, are you ever going to be okay?"

Tears rolled down her cheeks. "It's my fate, there's nothing I can do about it, but I'm sure this pain would pass if I don't see him again"

"I'm a terrible person, Amanda. I'm not worth this," he confessed, bitterly.

"What are you talking about?"

"I... I killed my father," he muttered.

She gasped. "What?"

"It happened when you were in Canada."

She just stared at him, shocked beyond words. She knew his father was a drug addict and would always beat his mother. When she was pregnant with Miguel, he nearly killed her by pushing her off the stairs, she had managed to survive with a broken arm and a baby who was in the intensive care unit for days. After that, he was arrested and sentenced to prison for attempted murder.

"I thought he was in jail?"

"His jail term was over, and I had no idea how he found me or how he knew your family had raised me. Your mother had just made me the manager in the company then. I started receiving calls from him, threatening me to give him money that he was still my dad. I hadn't even seen him before, just on pictures. He became so pesky, and I told him to fuck off. But one day, he followed me, and slammed the car he was riding against mine. I got down angrily and he introduced himself to me with a gun.

He threatened to kill me like he almost did before I was even born if I didn't give him a lot of money. The money he was asking for was too much, if I had done that, the company's fund would collapse."

He stared at her; he didn't know how she would see him after all this, but he had to get this all out of his system.

"I didn't want to die so I struggled with the gun he was holding, but my...my fingers pulled the trigger and a bullet pierced into his stomach, I was frantic. It was never my intention to kill him, so I took off. I told your mother what happened, and she promised to make sure no one would find out that I did it. I pleaded with her not to tell you and she agreed but then she kept using that against me"

For a long moment, she just stared at him, speechlessly.

"You should have told me, I thought there were no secrets between us?"

"I didn't want you to hate me, I didn't want you to see me as a monster," Miguel replied tearfully.

She held his hands.

"It's impossible to hate you, Miguel"

He ran a hand through his face in a slow yet frenzied motion.

"There's more, Amanda. After that, I kept on having the urge to kill anyone who angered me. I even bought a gun. But I tried desperately to tame that urge until that day, when you told me, you love Xavier."

"What happened that day?"

"I was burning with rage that he took you away from me, so I tracked him down to Da Silva's chocolate company and I tried to kill him."

She froze. "Why would you…I mean…"

"I love you, Amanda," he confessed.

"I never saw you as a little sister, I saw you as a woman, but I didn't want things to get awkward between us since we are like siblings, so I chose to wait till you were all grown up and ready for a serious relationship"

Totally unprepared for this confession, she stared at him warily.

"I just... I didn't... I had no..."

"I know you saw me as a brother you could always count on, and I also know that's not going to change anytime soon"

"About Xavier...why..."

"I tried to kill him because of you, and I couldn't kill him because of you also. I thought about the look on your face when you told me you loved him, and how much pain I will cause you if I kill him."

He wiped off the tears on his cheeks.

"I told you I'm a terrible person, so it's okay if you regret not letting me die and it's okay if you walk away from me and never see me again"

Amanda swallowed hard. She had no idea Miguel had been hurting this bad. Though she was slightly pissed that he tried to kill Xavier but then she was grateful he didn't. She realized now that loving Xavier was wrong. It would continue to hurt people around her and it was best she moved on.

She squeezed the towel and cleaned off the blood on his arm.

"Aren't you leaving?" he asked.

She eyed him. "To say I'm mad at you right now is an understatement but you're going to get it from me when you get better."

Despite the pain he was in, he smiled warmly.

She held his hands.

"You have to promise me not to ever try to kill again and you also have to overcome that urge"

He nodded. She moved closer to him and hugged him.

"Thank you," he breathed out.

Right now, he wasn't hoping for a life with her. He just wanted to continue being someone special in her life and he hoped she would be okay again.

What was wrong with him? Why wasn't he feeling the electric impulse he had gotten used to each time he stared his wife or even touched her.

He stared at the woman sitting beside him at the back seat of his car. Why wasn't anything stirring up in his chest? Was it possible to feel like this towards someone you love in just one day?

He sighed, maybe he was just tired.

Alisha was slightly tensed. She didn't know how to act around him so as not to raise any suspicion from him.

His phone rang, he picked up.

She half listened and realized that he was on the phone with his father.

After a few minutes, he hung up.

"That was my father, he wants to move the date of the anniversary, and he wants it done as soon as possible. You know how complicated he can be"

"Anniversary?” She asked, confused.

"Yes, my parents’ anniversary. He mentioned it at the family dinner. Did you forget?"

"Oh, I was just absent-minded, of course I remember,” she retorted quickly.

Xavier held her hand, choosing to ignore the disturbing fact that he felt nothing.

"Are you okay, Cara? Since we're almost at the house, you can tell me what's bothering you," he urged.

Alisha swallowed. "It's nothing, Xavier."

"Nothing? You can't certainly mean that when you're looking so down. And you even said you had something to tell me when we get back,” he reminded.

That bitch! So she had wanted to tell him the truth tonight, well too bad for her now.

Alisha leaned into him, resting her head on his powerful chest.

"I just wanted you to know how much I love you and I want to be with you forever."

Strange! This couldn't be what she had to tell him. She had said it was something important, well this was important, but this certainly couldn't make her sad all evening.

They walked into the house hand in hand.

"I'll tell Mona to quickly prepare something for you," he said.

"I'm not hungry," she replied.

"Are you sure? You didn't eat anything before we left and also at the function."

"I don't have an appetite to eat anything," she replied and stared at the house in admiration, wondering where their room was.

Xavier frowned. He had thought she would be famished by now. Something was off with her tonight.

She closed the distance between them, wanting him to take her right now.

"I want you, my love."

My love? When did she start calling him pet names?

'What is wrong with you, Xavier? This is your wife... your treasure," he reminded himself.

He bent his head, she felt his breath feather across her cheek, adding fuel to her desire.

He lowered his head, until nothing remained but heat and his mouth settling over hers like a firebrand.

Her hands held on to the lapels of his jacket, it was the only thing stopping her from falling down as the rush of sensation made her legs weak.

She moaned into his mouth, straining closer to him as he deepened the kiss. Her lips yielded to him... parted... He dipped his tongue inside teasing hers into an erotic dance.

His hands roamed over her soft body. Her whole body ignited... between her thighs, pulsing with desire.

Was this what Amanda had been enjoying? She hadn't even felt him inside her body yet, but she felt as if she was on cloud nine. How then would it feel to have him buried deep inside her body?

He suddenly broke off the kiss, and she could see confusion etched on his forehead. Xavier ran a hand through his hair. Tension and coiled energy bounced off him in confusing waves.

Kissing her seemed so foreign. He had even deepened the kiss to feel something... yet nothing. Why was everything feeling so different? He had to feel something, this was his woman...the woman who had made him experience true love.

Not wanting her to know that he was at war with himself, he bent and carried her in his arms then ascended the stairs.

Alisha smiled, burning all over in his arms.

In what felt like seconds, he was lowering her into his bed.

Making love to her would surely make him feel something.

He pulled off her gown, then leaned over her, scattering hot kisses on her neck, lips, and chest. She felt an explosion of hot, wet, lust at her core.

Alisha gasped, waiting impatiently to be filled with him.

He cupped her breasts in his hands. They felt bigger.

His gaze traveled down to her stomach—there was not a single scar—it was spotless.

"Dio!" he exclaimed.

He studied her face, and met her eyes, she didn't have that look that always made him feel weak...that always set his soul and heart aflame...that always made him want to do anything for her.

He was confused as hell.

To confirm his suspicion, he growled.

"Say it!"

With her countless experiences, she knew most men loved to be begged, so she replied.

"Fuck me, Xavier."

Instantly, he jumped out of the bed.

"Who are you?"