Chapter 54 Fifty Four
AMELIA XAVIER
A week passed after that incident, and I rarely saw Owen. He was either in the study, or at work, but there was always food and it made me wonder when he woke up to do all of that.
I sat on the pool coping, my legs hitting against the water. The warmness of the water calmed my thoughts but not entirely. Owen avoided me as if I were a plague or maybe, he was truly busy and I was overthinking.
Fucking hormones.
I played with the water, a little before I plunged into it, letting myself dive deep to the pool floor. It felt better in the water, but for some reason it didn't fill the hole in my heart. I yearned for something more — no, someone.
My bikini bra loosened, breath slipping away from me, as I struggled to the surface.
Finally reaching the surface of the water, I breathed out, brushing my hair out of my face with my hands. The sky darkened.
Rain was coming.
I swam out of the pool and wiped my body with the towel. Maybe I should get busy especially since the lady Kayla wasn't responsive to any of my emails. I entered the house lost in the thoughts of my own misery, and not aware of my environment. I rammed into something hard — someone hard, and I could swear that my nose was broken. I looked up, holding my nose, tears in the corner of my eyes.
Owen.
“Sorry, I wasn't looking. My nose isn't broken either,” I mumbled using my eyes to search for a space to squeeze myself out of his way. Fuck, he had such huge stature.
Finally finding an escape space, he held my hand making me gaze into his eyes. I quickly recognized that feeling. That feeling of doing something against your will… having no choice but to obey instructions you didn't want to obey.
“Are you okay, Owen?” I asked quietly, biting my lower lip in nervousness. Outside, a pigeon cooed, before spreading its wings to fly away. The silence felt like a heavy weight that needed to be lifted, and as I opened my mouth to say something else, he spoke, “I'm fine, pumpkin. I'll be working late tonight, I'm sorry I'm so busy.”
I shrugged trying hard to act nonchalant, but that shit didn't suit me one bit, instead I countered him, “Or you're just avoiding me, it's better you put it that way than to lie about being busy!” It was his turn to shrug.
Why do I feel awkward?
Just then, his phone rang. “Sweetheart, I promise to give you all my time, after this mission,” he said and kissed my hair. The kiss felt distant and cold. I didn't get the shivers, but rather emptiness filled every part of me. “Yes. Work,” I muttered and walked away from him without a glance.
If he wanted to act this way then I'd do the same. I didn't know how long I bit my lips because they drew blood. My head pounded and I felt nauseous.
I should call the doctor.
OWEN WINTERS
“So you brought me here for what exactly, father?” I asked, my mood sour. The weather looked dangerous and Amy was going to be home alone. Again.
I sighed frustrated that I had to keep up with father's bullshit.
“Well, it's just for fun. I picked some exceptionally beautiful ladies, not to brag but they'll be better than Xavier's daughter,” he explained, pride painting his face.
“Not to brag, father, but they're not to my taste, and I already promised to keep my distance from Amelia, so why the fuck are you doing this?” I blurted rubbing the bridge of my nose in annoyance.
Father brought close to twenty women in order to tell me how Amelia was off limits. I assessed the women. Fuck! Father had a very terrible taste, but that wasn't surprising considering how immature and incompetent stepmother was.
Her whereabouts these days were unknown except that the debit alerts from the Winters’s account were becoming tiring.
“I should get home before the rain starts, those ladies too. They'll catch a cold since they're almost naked if not completely naked,” I said in English and turned to leave.
Father snorted and no one needed to tell me to know that the old man was mocking me. “Can't handle them?”
“I can handle anything, Mr Winters,” I replied coldly, already irritated. My skin crawled. I needed to get the fuck out of here.
“No… I meant a fight. They'll fight each other and the winner has to brawl you-” he waved at them, his expression strangely sweet.
“They're skilled,” he added and clapped twice.
I watched with interest as the women fought in groups, they were skilled, no lie, but to beat me? What did father see me as?
After what seemed like an hour, one of the women was left standing.
Tasha.
That name rang a bell, but I didn't push it. The rain had started as soft drizzle fell to the window panes sliding down slowly as they formed larger drops.
“So I'm to fight the heir to the house of the Winters, it's a pleasure to meet you a second time,” she said as I removed my gloves and tossed it to one of my men.
“That name does ring a bell, but her face seems so solid, he'd think it's a brick or a statue,” I countered in third person.
The girl was sassy and had guts bigger than she could handle
She lunged towards me, but I dodged and gave her an uppercut avoiding the vital points on her neck.
She fell to the floor, but stood swiftly and rushed towards me. This time she calculated her steps before making any move, but as always, I blocked her hands from punching at my sides, smacking her down.
“You're fast, pretty, I'll give you that,” I huffed, steadying my eyes, and focusing on her. She smirked, “you think I'm pretty, I hope we'll end up together ’cause I think you're handsome.” She punched me in the jaw digging into my neck with her nails.
I fisted her stomach making her stagger backwards. The rain increased beating against the window, but I wasn't done with her. This time, I rushed towards her before she could stand and broke her nose with a fist. She fell to the ground with a thud probably unconscious.
I dusted the dirt from my clothes and turned to face father who seemed pleased. “You brought me here to beat people up or what?” I asked in anger. Father laughed.
“Don't feel so high of yourself, watch out,” he said and before I could turn, a blow landed on my cheeks. I held my face, my headache increasing.
Migraines?
I looked up to see Tasha, her masculine structure stood out. She was still pretty — pretty dangerous.
“I still think you're handsome Mr Owen Winters,” she smirked and walked out helping the other women up. “Don't let your guard down, any wrong move and it'll all be over. Dylan let his guard down and his late wife, Anastasia Xavier died, he let his emotions take control and almost killed his wife, Annie Xavier. Don't ever let your emotions control you Winters and most especially… watch your back,” he said and walked out.
I sighed and stood by the door waiting for the rain to decrease, instead it increased pounding on the roof and slapping the goddamned windows.
Amy is home alone.
I thought, staring at the sky. A little rain shouldn't hurt.
Don't let your emotions control you… Father's words rang in my head. I gazed at the dark clouds and spat out.
Fuck this, I was going home.
Quickly, I ran under the rain, and into father's car, since the two of us came. “I'm sorry, Dad, you'll have to manage tonight with the women,” I muttered and started the ignition.
I drove furiously home not thinking of father or his fucked up advice. Amelia was home alone.
Reaching home, I opened the door and rushed in to see Amy wrapped with a blanket, tears in her eyes and arms round a pillow.
“Are you okay, sweetheart?” I asked guilt washing over me. She gazed into my eyes and shook her head. Of course things weren't fine. I kissed her nose and chuckled softly.
“I'm here now, pumpkin, I won't be a jerk again.” I kissed her hair with my fingers, and cleaned her eyes.
But before my instinct pick
ed up something or my adrenaline began to function, she pulled me in and pressed her lips on mine.
I missed this.