Chapter 32 A shared secret?
Immediately Damien left the room, Alexander rushed to Joseph and dropped to his knees beside him.
His hands trembled as he reached for Joseph.
I tugged on my coat and turned around; he was testing my loyalty to Damien. Nobody does that; I had to.
“Ma'am! We have to go!” One of Damien's soldiers shouted.
I immediately rushed to the door but before I stepped out of it I froze and turned to face Alexander, he placed his hands over Joseph's eyes and closed it shut.
My gaze dropped to the knife wound on Joseph's stomach; the one on mine suddenly began to ache. Alexander had saved me when I got stabbed and yet I did that to him.
I shrugged my shoulders. He's my husband's enemy, so therefore he was like that as well, no matter how many times he saved mine.
I ran down the halls of the ship; the place was filled with chaos. Soldiers ran in opposite directions, and water had begun to rush into the ship.
“Damien?!” I shouted as I rushed out, there was another ship close to ours and a ladder extended from it to us.
There were dead bodies everywhere, I looked around to make sure Damein wasn't one of them, where was Celeste? . “Damein!” I roared.
“Charlotte!” Damien ran behind me.
I turned to face him. “Damien,” I gasped as I rushed into his arms.
He squeezed me, “Go on the other ship, this one is sinking!” His voice was barely audible due to the loud footsteps of the soldiers running around.
I nodded and ran to the other ship; it was slightly bigger than the last one. “Is everybody okay?” I shouted.
They all nodded simultaneously.
Marcus grabbed a towel and quickly wrapped Damein with it.
“Make some hot tea for my wife.” He slipped the towel off himself and moved to me, his gaze was fixed on mine and he wrapped me with it.
“I'm not cold” I said calmly accepting the towel either way.
“I know,” he whispered.
He held me in his arms and led me deeper into the ship. A few minutes later we arrived at one of the cabins. He gently slid the door open and led me in. It was slightly bigger than the one we had been on before.
My heels clicked as I walked deeper into the cabin; I neatly folded the towel and placed it on the bed as I turned to face him. He had begun to take off his suit jacket.
“How do you feel?”
“I'm okay,” he sighed, his gaze fixed on mine as she walked to me. He tossed his jacket onto the bed and placed his hands on my chin, lifting it up until our gaze met.
“You lost a ship, how can you be okay?” I cupped his face with my hands.
He shook his head, “I can buy a thousand more if I wanted Amore mio, it doesn't matter” a soft puff of air hit my face from his lips, just then his gaze fell, like something bothered him.
“What is it?”
“You killed a man Charlotte”
I pressed my lips together in a thin line. “I know,” I swallowed.
He slipped his hands into both of mine. “Why?” he rasped. “You could have let me do it. You didn't have to stain your hands”
“I don't regret it.” I shook my head. “Alexander, for some reason, thought he could question my loyalty for you.”
Damien gave a stunned blink, “You did it for me” he said in realization.
As I parted my lips to speak, a knock on the door interrupted. I gently skipped away from Damien and walked to the door to open it.
A soldier stood before me with two cups of hot tea in his hand, I grabbed it immediately, “Thank you”
He nodded and turned to walk off; since my hand was full, I placed my heel on the door and gently kicked it shut.
I turned to face Damien, his gaze still hasn't left me, I slowly walked towards him and handed him a cup.
“You look beautiful” he froze , his eyes sweeping over me, “You look heavenly beautiful” he added.
I smiled, it didn't matter how much danger the outside world had, being her with him, being smiled at, gazed at, it made me feel at home, it made me feel happy.
I drew the cup to my lips and took a sip, “Fuck, this tastes so good”
His brows pinched together, “Where did you learn to curse like that?” He playfully pinched my nose.
I laughed, “I have always cursed, Damien”
His eyes squinted as he pretended to think and then he finally shook his head, “No…I don't remember that”
I chuckled, and I seemed to make him laugh too. As the laughter slowly subsided, he drew his lips close to make mine and kissed it, his lips as soft as always. .
But his smile suddenly faded, and his shoulders fell, and his breath hitched.
“What is it?”
“I still can't get over the fact that you killed a man Charlotte ... .that I let you do it” the words sounded as if it was too heavy for him to say.
I shook my head, and a subtle frown formed on my eyebrows. “You didn't let me do it. I wanted to. Don't say you turned me into a monster.”
“The girl I took away from. Her parents’ attic would never kill.”
“I'm not that girl….but I'm not a monster either, I'm your wife”
He still looked troubled; he tried to look away from me, but I gripped his face tight.
“What is it?”
His fists clenched, “It's ….” He drew his forehead closer to mine , “I hate it”
I blinked. “Hate what, my love?”
He grabbed my waist with one hand and his cup of tea in the other. “I hate how much I liked it.” He gripped me tighter. “I hate how much I liked seeing you do it.” He sniffed. “I'm corrupting you…. I'm scared I'll turn you into a psycho."
I quickly grabbed the tea away from his hand and placed it aside. "You are not a psycho."
“I am…” Tears clouded his eyes.
I grabbed his hand and gently led him to the bed to sit, placing my hands on his shoulders , climbed on top of him.
He pouted slightly as he looked up at me; his hands immediately gripped my buttocks, and he pushed me closer to himself. “I’m sorry, vita mia,” he mumbled against my chest.
“You didn't do anything to be sorry for,” I whispered.
TWO DAYS LATER
The ship had finally returned to land.
The soldiers all came down the ship, some with bags in their hands.
Damien's hand gripped mine tightly as he led me towards a black Cadillac. “Is it one of ours?”
“One of many,” he responded.
As we got into the back seat of the car, I gazed out of the window and saw Alexander come down from it; he had lost that spark in his eyes. I think I really broke him.
“What do we do about Alexander?” I asked.
Damien's hands gripped my thigh. “Unless he strikes, nothing.”
My gaze followed Ezera, who came down the ship dressed in a pair of blue jeans and a black leather jacket.
My brow furrowed as I noticed she and Alexander exchanged glances, there was something about the way they looked at each other,like they shared a secret.