Chapter 91 Two Weeks

Chapter 91 Two Weeks
ROSEMARY

Thinking about the contract now felt like thinking about a death sentence.

The three weeks left had turned to two and the clock felt like it was always ticking against me. Against what I felt with Julian.

I stood in the boardroom staring at the updated projections for the Marseille project, but my mind was elsewhere.

It was on the texter’s messages, Julian’s seemingly endless secrets, and the growing chasm between us - it was all becoming too much for me to bear.

Nyra watched me carefully from across the table.

“Wow. You look like you have not slept in days.”

“I haven’t,” I admitted quietly.

She didn’t push to ask why or try to say more after that. She knew better.

JULIAN

It was now two weeks left on the contract. The thought was killing me and it felt like I was running out of time and excuses.

Mario had sent another message that morning that was short, brutal, and clear:

"Your fancy marriage is almost over, Julian. It's less than two weeks left. Get those fucking documents signed. Or I will start burning the Marseille deal and every bit of Rosemary's empire to the ground."

I grimaced. If only he knew that the documents were signed already, he would have been fighting a different war with me. A more brutal one.

One that perhaps could spare Rosemary too many of his schemes, I thought. But eventually, I realized he was too slippery to deal with and my best bet was to keep the documents a secret for as long as I needed to.

I spent the day trying to win Rosemary back in small ways. I had flowers delivered to her office with a handwritten note telling her I was thinking about her. I arranged her favorite lunch. I even cleared my schedule to attend her afternoon meetings just to be near her.

But every time I tried to touch her, she pulled away. It felt brutal to me, like someone was stabbing me painfully inside of me.

That evening, I found her at the dinner table drinking a glass of wine while hurriedly typing on her laptop. She didn't seem to notice me.

Eventually, she finished typing and let out an audible sigh of relief. She almost jumped when she noticed I was present.

Instead of saying anything to me when she regained her composure, she merely took a sip out of her wine glass before heading out to the balcony.

I followed her silently, watching the city lights glitter below like they were a sea of accusations, making me feel guilty.

I gently wrapped my arms around her waist, trying to not attract a push back from her.

“Rosemary,” I murmured, my lips brushing her ear.

“Let me fix this. Allow me to.”

She shivered after I spoke, but didn’t seem to want to pull away. I took that as a small victory. My hands slid inside of her robe, cupping her breasts again before moving them in a rhythmic cyclical motion that I knew always drove her crazy.

She moaned softly, leaning back against me. I kissed down her neck, grinding my growing hardness against her ass as one of my hands dipped between her legs.

“You’re so wet already,” I whispered, as my fingers teased her clit in what felt like slow, perfect circles.

“You still want me. Even when you’re angry.”

I slipped my fingers inside of her, pumping slowly while my thumb worked her clit. She gasped, pushing back against me, suddenly chasing the pleasure.

I kissed her deeply, devouring her moans as I brought her closer and closer to the edge.

But when she was right there, trembling and whimpering my name, I slowed down again, keeping her on the agonizing brink.

“Tell me that you still love me,” I whispered against her lips.

"Tell me that we’re not already broken.”

ROSEMARY

I was so close. Agonizingly close. My body was betraying me, desperate for release, desperate for him.

But I grabbed his wrist, stopping his fingers.

“No. I won't say it. Not like this,” I said, my voice breaking.

“Not when you’re still hiding so much that could destroy us from me.”

I stepped away from him, my robe falling open, and my body aching with the feeling of frustration and heartbreak. The look in his eyes - possessive, guilty, but also loving - almost broke me.

“Two weeks, Julian,” I whispered.

“That is all that we have left. And you’re still choosing silence over me.”

I walked inside, leaving him alone on the balcony.

JULIAN

I stayed out there long after she had left, staring at the city that had witnessed both our sins.

My phone buzzed. Patricia again. She hated it when I did not reply her texts, and considering I had not replied the last one, I was surprised she did not call instead. I opened the text.

'I know you have the document. I know you well enough to know when you're telling me half truths. Stop lying to me. Father is losing patience and so am I. The two weeks would be up soon, Julian. Fix it."

I didn’t reply yet again. Her suspicion would only be strengthened if I tried to lie to her and some part of my body language gave me away.

I just didn't know what to do with her at that moment.

I chose to open the folder with the photos and videos of Rosemary as Scarlet instead. It was quickly becoming things I loved to look at - minus the other men in the picture. Her, wild, free, and uninhibited.

The knowledge that she had secrets too only made me love her more - and want to possess her more completely. More thoroughly.

But with two weeks left on the contract, I was running out of ways to keep the truth buried.

ROSEMARY

I lay in bed alone, my body still throbbing, and mind still going on endlessly.

The texter had gone silent for a few days now.

But I could feel the storm that was coming.