Chapter 126 SO..WHAT NEXT?
AMARA'S POINT OF VIEW.
I let out a breath of relief as the tension in my spine disappeared into thin air. Slurping on my mango smoothie, I mused on the events of yesterday.
If trauma had a smell, mine would be burnt toast and mangoes. I sat on the counter in one of Ace’s many hoodies, sighing at the delectable taste of the smoothie I cajoled him into making for me.
The door clicked open, forcing me out of the daze I was in. I didn’t have to look up to know it was him; the air changed whenever Ace walked into a room. Less oxygen, more heat….or maybe that effect was something only I experienced.
“You look like someone who just watched a horror film,” he said, voice dripping with lazy amusement, his lips pulled in his signature smirk as he walked over to me. His sweat pants hung lazily on his hips, his upper body bare so his properly chiselled abs were on display before me. “Or accidentally walked in on one.”
I groaned, dropping my face into my palms. “Don’t. You. Dare. Speak. Of it.”
Ace leaned against the counter, folding his arms, that infuriating smirk playing on his lips. “So it’s true then? You actually caught your parents—” My eyes darted to the flex of his muscles.
“Stop right there!” I yelled, pointing a butter knife at him. I probably looked like a comic book character, but he was teasing me, so I didn’t care. “One more word about it and I swear I’ll stab you and myself so we can both forget.”
He laughed, the sound low and wicked, curling through me in a way that made forgetting what I saw almost impossible. “I’m sorry, vixen, but this is too good. Karma’s got a dark sense of humour.”
“Karma has a sick one,” I muttered. “First, I find out my life is basically a telenovela, then the main leads decide to—ugh—make a comeback performance.” I groaned, my hand on my forehead in a dramatic fashion.
He grinned wider. “Well, at least now we know where you got your talent.”
My jaw dropped. “Ace!” I exclaimed and charged at him. He laughed wildly as he wrapped his arms around me. I made sure to drop the butter knife so I wouldn’t hurt him, as I stared at him with that fuzzy feeling in my chest and belly.
“What?” he said innocently, with that same smile on his lips. “I meant for dramatic timing.”
“No, you didn’t,” I said, feigning anger as I caressed the back of his neck. “You were about to say something perverted.”
“Probably,” he admitted, no shame whatsoever, and groaned, the sound deep and low, making my chest flutter at the rumble of it.
I tried to glare, but the corners of my lips betrayed me by smiling like a fool. “You’re insufferable.”
“And yet, you keep me around.” He moved closer, bracing his hands on either side of me, trapping me between his arms and the counter. “Want to tell me what really happened?”
I signed as I remembered what happened.
My mom and dad were officially back together. They rekindled their love after so many years apart, and are finally choosing each other. Now that should make me happy, ecstatic even, and it does. But I cannot help but feel like this would lead to something really ugly for all of us. I remembered the way my dad reacted after I told him about what I’d found.
‘What?’ He’d exclaimed with wide eyes, his arms around my mother as he took on a protective stance. “If that woman thinks she’ll harm a hair on her head, I’ll be the last face she ever sees.’
“Dad, I don’t think Mom’s safe here. From what I read, a particular car is bugged.” I said, my mind reverting to the information I read. I didn’t trust Caroline with a ten-foot pole. She was the kind of woman you’d dine with while using a long spoon, and clutching a sharp knife in your other hand to strike her if she tried anything.
Sometimes I wondered what the hell my grandparents had seen in her before forcing my father to marry her. She looked like the witch in snow white after the magic wore off, at least in my opinion, but I am biased.
“I know she has the cars bugged. Every damn vehicle in the mansion is bugged, even your car.” My dad said, his words rendering my blood cold. If she had my car bugged….then she certainly heard me and Ace going at it the other night.
Shit!
Well, joke on her for fucking with me. I guess I have to add more itching cream and soap this time around.
“Well, what are we going to do to keep my mom safe?” I asked, glancing at my mother, who looked unfazed. I knew she would hold her own when it came to defending herself. She was a single mother for a long time, who was a victim of robbers who thought she would be easy prey.
But as much as I trusted in her abilities, I knew Caroline would stop at nothing to ensure she got rid of my mother permanently.
“I think I should get you on the first plane to Amsterdam.” My dad said, his expression becoming the softest I’d ever seen, every time he glanced at my mom. I never thought I’d see him look so… peaceful. It was like a huge weight had been released off his shoulders, like he’d finally found rest.
“No way.” My mother objected, making me have to physically restrain myself from rolling my eyes and groaning. She could be so stubborn at times.
‘Takes one to know one, Amara, ’ my subconscious whispered, getting catty at me, but I ignored her.
“Mom, please don’t be like this right now. This is for your safety, after all. If you don’t get somewhere safer, I do not know that we’ll be able to protect you.”
‘Yes, and I already lost you before; I’m not going to lose you ever again. Not especially when I still have a chance at keeping you safe.” My dad said, and we both watched my look around, before she sighed…..rather loudly, might I add, and I knew what was coming next.
“But the flower shop,” I said along with her, while fixing her a deadpanned look.
My mother’s eyes dart to me, her cheeks red with embarrassment. Oh oh…I know that look.
Is mom……shy in front of dad? I asked myself, and immediately, I could see her blush again and avoid his gaze.
Oh, now I get it.
“Mom, I’ll make sure the flower shop and the garden are tended to in your absence. Hell, they won’t even notice your absence.”
Even at that, she still chose to be stubborn, until my dad told me to excuse them for a brief ‘conversation’ I don’t know what the hell he said to her, but by the time I walked back in, my mother avoided eye contact with me, was blushing fiercer than ever before, and she agreed to do what we said.