Chapter 19 The Unwanted Fiancée
THEODORE
I never would have guessed that my mother, of all people, would show up in Helsinki unannounced just to tell me that I have to marry Carmella.
I slept like shit last night and I woke up in a terrible fucking mood. The conference was later today, unfortunately, which meant I couldn't get rid of my mother until then.
Mom didn't come to stay long. She had other matters to attend to first in Paris, then in London. But, of course, she had to come here just to torment me with this shit I'd been trying to forget for days.
I half expected Alice to be downstairs by the time I woke up, but she wasn't. Only my mother was. She gave me a withering look, then smiled and asked me, "Hungry?"
"Not exactly."
"I hope you thought about what we discussed last night."
I groaned in response. I didn't care if it offended her.
She brought her cup of coffee to her lips and watched me pour myself some. I then leaned against the counter, and we both stared at each other.
Mom had a way of wanting to impose her will on everyone around her that drove me nuts. When I was younger, this gave me a hard time navigating the world. I thought I had to say yes to everyone in order to be likable.
Then, this was quickly replaced by a version of me that was more avoidant and less eager to please everyone. I hated being controlled by anything, especially my own feelings.
"I hear you have company."
"My executive assistant."
"Are you sleeping with her?"
"That's hardly an appropriate question."
"I need to know."
"No, you don't."
She looked like she wanted to say something else, then decided against it. Meanwhile, I needed an excuse to get the hell away from her, so I decided to pour Alice a cup of coffee and carried it with me upstairs.
"You let your staff sleep this late?"
"She injured herself."
"Oh my," she remarked dryly. "How did that happen?"
I didn't answer her and headed up the stairs. I reached her room and knocked. I wasn't entirely sure of what I was doing, especially after last night. Things seemed to be on the right track, and then my mother showed up and ruined everything.
Then, there was the small thing I had to discuss with Alice.
She opened the door, already dressed in cream-colored slacks and a white blouse. I noticed the limp, though. "Good morning."
"Morning," I said before handing her the cup.
She looked down at it. "You didn't have to."
"Why? Would you have come downstairs?"
Her eyes returned to my face. They were so fucking spectacular in the daytime. But I had other pressing matters to attend to.
I couldn't get distracted.
"No," I answered for her. "You wouldn't. You know my mother's downstairs, don't you? You were eavesdropping on a conversation that had nothing to do with you."
Her face was red and she struggled to say something. "I wasn't...I only went to see what was happening! I didn't mean to overhear anything!"
My gaze settled on her lips, and I vividly recalled how desperately I wanted to kiss her last night. The feeling still hadn't disappeared.
"You're so disobedient, aren't you?" I murmured. "I should take a belt to your ass and hit you so hard you bleed."
Her eyes widened and she huffed, but I could see something else on her face. Something that looked a lot like desire.
But she sounded indignant when she asked, "Excuse me?"
A small smile tugged at the corners of my lips. "But that doesn't scare you, does it?"
Before Alice could get a chance to say anything, I heard someone call my name from downstairs.
I tensed on the spot and turned away from Alice.
Carmella? What the hell was she doing here?
As I made my way downstairs, it suddenly hit me: No wonder my mother wanted to know whether I was sleeping with my executive assistant or not. It was because Carmella was on the way, and Mom didn't want her to have the wrong idea.
Fuck. I didn't like where this was going at all.
Carmella dropped her bag on one of the couches and raced toward me once she saw me. The last time we spoke was at our company's New Year's party. She threw her arms around me and held me tight.
I could smell liquor on her breath. Typical.
"Baby," she practically moaned before pressing her lips to mine. "I missed you so much!"
"Did you really?"
She didn't even hesitate. "Of course! Mrs. Hawthorne!"
She left my side and went to my mother, who was still in the kitchen. I stole a glance at the top of the stairs. Thankfully, Alice wasn't there.
"Oh, isn't this great!" Carmella remarked from the kitchen, putting her hands together. "We're all here together and we can have so much fun! I was thinking of going shopping. Theo?"
"I have a conference later on."
Her eyes widened. "What time is it?"
"Three."
"We still have time, right?" she asked before looking back at my mother for encouragement. "We haven't been able to spend time together in ages! I miss you."
"I'm here on business, Carmella," I reminded her. My desire was to send them both home, but I knew that would only worsen things. I didn't want to deal with my mother right now. "Not fun."
"Okay," she said, tucking a lock of blonde hair behind her ear. "Well, then, I'll make dinner for us when you get back, and we can spend some time together before our flight."
"There'll be a storm in the next few days. We need to be out of here by then."
"You're coming with us?"
"No, I'm catching my own flight. Carmella's coming with me. But there's no reason why we can't leave together, Theodore."
Carmella smiled and closed the distance between us. Her arms went around my neck. "I missed you."
Before I could say anything else, she kissed me full on the lips again before pulling away. I made eye contact with my mother and asked myself how the hell I was going to get rid of this situation. I wasn't going to marry Carmella. I knew that for a fact now.
Her arms were around me and she came all the way from the States to see me, yet all I felt was annoyance and the concern that Alice would see me with her and make all the wrong assumptions.
Yes, I was thinking about Alice Rhodes while my alleged girlfriend had her arms around me.
I was an asshole for this, sure, but there was just nothing I could do about it.