Chapter 214: Chapter 214

Violet

I turned slowly, meeting his eyes across the distance of the office.

"What's really going on?" I asked quietly. "Why did you hire me? Why are you keeping me close but acting like you can't stand to be in the same room as me? Why..."

The words stuck in my throat. All the questions I'd been holding back, all the confusion and hurt and desperate need to understand was maddening.

I kept watching him as something in his expression cracked. The cold mask shattered, and underneath I saw pain and longing and barely restrained desperation.

“What were you saying earlier…about the sketches?” He asked, his eyes searching mine.

“I am not answering you until you do” I shot back.

“Violet, maybe you are overworked and stressed. I should have given you enough time for the transition even though that’s exactly what we are running short of.”

“What do you mean?” I asked sharply and he looked at me as if he had suddenly realized he said too much than necessary.

Elijah looked away, not meeting my eyes.

“The Gala was a hit and your designs were the highlight of the event. I have to stay on top of it.”

Somehow, I didn’t find it convincing at all.

“Look at me” I said but he turned away, his back facing me as his hand grabbed the paperweight, twirling it on the glass table.

“Competition is tough in our sector. But I think I pressured you too much. You can take some rest and we will…”

“Look me in the eye and say all this” I repeated, my voice louder than before.

He was acting very weird and I couldn’t fathom why.

“I’ll get our design team to start working on the rough sketches and…”

“Elijah Lockwood, look me in the eye when I am talking to you and answer the damn question!” I shouted, fingers curled into fists as I closed the distance between us.

I reached for his shoulder and forcefully turned him to face me but he still wouldn’t look at me.

"Because I fucking can't stay away from you!"

The words exploded out of him, taking me by surprise.

I gasped, my back hitting the table’s edge he’d standing near to, unable to move or speak or do anything except stare at him.

"Because no matter what I do," Elijah continued, his voice rough with emotion, "no matter how much distance I try to put between us, I can't not want you near me. I can't undo my past mistakes. I can't take back the bet or the lies or any of the stupid, selfish things I did before we  met."

He moved out from behind the desk, taking steps toward me but stopping himself halfway, like there was an invisible barrier he couldn't cross.

"I broke your trust," he said, and I could hear the pain in every word. "I broke your heart. And I don't have the confidence to ask for it again, to hope that you might give me another chance. So like the fucking monster I am, I did the only thing I could think of. I caged you. I forced you to stay close to me just so I can see you every day, just so I can exist in the same space as you even if you hate me for it."

The sudden outburst made tears sting the back of my eyes. I didn't know when I'd started crying, but I couldn't stop or do anything except listen to him finally being honest with me.

This was the Elijah I remembered. The one who'd fought his father for me. The one who'd taken a beating rather than stay away. The one I'd fallen for despite every reason not to.

And like the idiot I was, I wanted to run to him already, wanted to close the distance and throw my arms around him and tell him I forgave everything, that we could start over, that I'd never stopped loving him even when I hated him.

But I wasn’t sure that I could trust this. How could I know this wasn't another game, another manipulation dressed up in pretty words?

I trembled there by the desk, caught between my heart screaming to go to him and my brain warning me to protect myself.

Elijah must have noticed the conflict in my body language because his voice became softer, and more vulnerable.

“I might have given you a thousand lies but I don't expect you to believe me when I say I suck at emotions or matters related to the heart. I’d warned you that I’m a monster because that’s what I am…a cold, heartless bastard. I use and manipulate, snatch and take what I want without remorse. That’s how I became powerful, that’s how I created an empire of my own. There were a thousand chances I got to tell you the truth, but with that came thousands of worries that I’d lose you. I was a fucking coward. And…”

He let out a humorless chuckle. “And I was supposed to win the bet but look what happened, I lost you. But that’s okay because I don't deserve you. Not anymore”

I fought back the lump in my throat.

"I don't expect forgiveness," he said quietly. "I don't expect anything from you except maybe your presence in this building every day. That's all I'm asking for. All I have the right to ask for."

His eyes were still staring at the floor as I heard him say the words I’d been dying to hear all these weeks.

Despite all the questions on the tip of my tongue, I heard myself ask.

“What did you mean by ‘time is running short’? What is going on?”

When he still wouldn’t look at me, I reached for his face and lifted his chin to make him look me in the eye.

And let out a startled gasp.

His eyes were pitch black in their entirety.

“Elijah!!”