Chapter 49 Chapter 49
Chapter 49 Chapter 49
Ajax patiently waited for her to continue while he wiped the tears off her face.
Noémie swallowed. “I said so many awful things to you. You must hate me.”
Ajax wanted to laugh at that statement. Silly girl, he thought to himself. “I don’t think it’s humanly possible for anyone to hate you.”
“Because I’m pregnant? And it’s cruel to hate a pregnant woman?”
“No.” This time, he couldn’t hold back and huffed out a low chuckle. “Because you’re adorable. And kind. And wonderful. And just…perfect.” There were no other means to say it.
The way she looked at him, he could tell she didn’t believe a word he said.
“You like me,” she said, as if it had just now dawned on her. Her eyebrows curiously pulled together. “Don’t you?”
“I’m glad you noticed,” he quipped, and had to choke back another laugh when she rolled her eyes.
“Since when?”
“Since always.”
“No!” she sounded surprised.
“Yes.”
“How’s that even possible? You were always so…”
“A prick? Asshole? Workaholic? Pain in the arse?” he offered.
“I was going to say aloof,” she said, the corner of her lips tilting up. “But yeah, they work just fine, too.”
Ajax didn’t even know he was smiling. His entire face so wonderfully warm with all the sweet and fierce emotions roaring inside him.
But then her smile was gone, and that pang in his chest was back to poke around his ribs.
“What is it?” he asked, and without even knowing, leaned forward as if not wanting to miss a word she might say.
“There is something I want to confess…” she muttered, dropping her gaze back on her lap, as her fingers once again clenched tightly around the hem of her skirt.
Ajax didn’t know what to expect, and that explained the way his own chest tightened at the lack of it. He waited, not so patiently, but he didn’t want to rush her, either.
“I…” she swallowed. “The truth is that…that I don’t remember anything.”
“About what?” holding her chin between his fingers, he lifted her face and made her look at him.
Noémie bit her lip. Swallowed. “About that night…I don’t…I don’t have any recollection of that night. Of what happened, how and why and…anything. I remember nothing. I tried. I really did. For so long. But all I remember is…not enough to put the pieces together and be sure that it really happened. For a long time, I thought maybe it was just a dream. That nothing took place, and it was all in my head. But then nothing could explain what I saw when I woke up the day after. The pain. The soreness. You. Naked. Next to me on the bed. How did that even happen? How would you explain that? How would anyone?”
She looked at him. Frustrated.
“Noémie, if you want to know, I can tell you. But I’m not sure if it would be of any use. Or good. Maybe you should just forget—”
“How can I forget something that I don’t even remember?”
“Point,” he said stiffly.
“I want to know why you did it,” she finally voiced her concern, and Ajax felt his breath catch in his throat. “I know you were drunk when I came to see you. Then there was Olivia who brought me that coffee. I know Ms Cooper made it at the words of her employer. She told me that. But then she had a change of heart, and once I started to lose consciousness, she helped me get into a room so she could hide me for the time being. But in a rush or panic, whatever you call it, she carried me to the closest room she could find.”
“It was mine,” Ajax added.
“Yes. It was. But what after that? How did we…end up like that?”
Ajax played with her small fingers, noticing the vast difference between the sizes of their hands. His was like a giant in front of hers. “Do you really want to know?” he asked to be sure.