Chapter 70

Chapter 70
Arlo was a man with so much intensity, so much presence, that every time he came into my view, I would feel heat pooling around my stomach that it was impossible to ignore.
So yes, I do want to kiss him, and yes, I am unashamed for feeling this way when he’s a man so perfect as if the gods themselves carved him out of marble.
However, what I didn’t know was that the moment I would say ‘yes’ to his question, he would suddenly lift me off the floor as if I weighed nothing, gripping both my thighs and pushing me against the bookshelf.
“Arlo—” He closed the distance between us before I could utter another word, sealing his lips against mine, and I opened myself to him immediately.
My fingers raked the back of his head, clinging to his dark hair. I could feel liquid heat pooling in my core. Aside from that, I could feel him pressing against me, hard and aroused.
Damn. I forgot how much of a wild animal he is when it comes to intimacy.
How long ago was the last time we did something like this? With everything going on in my life, with my busy schedule, the recent attempts on my life, and now Arlo’s family issues, I didn’t have time to do my wifely duties, and it shows with how much extra passionate Arlo is right now.
He kissed me as if he was waiting for this moment to happen, refraining for so long from giving into his desires. It thrilled me even more when his hands moved up to lift my skirt. He neared the apex of my thighs, surprising me with his ferocity, his beastly desires being unveiled.
At this moment, I felt how much Arlo craved me for all those years of watching me from a distance.
To him, I was just a faraway star, and he had been waiting for me to fall so he could catch me.
I was a meteor.
“Ack! Wait a moment!” I gasped loudly, pulling away from our steamy kiss and pushing his wrist down before his finger could slide my underwear aside.
Blushing, I sheepishly set myself back down on the floor, straightened my skirt as if trying to erase all the traces that Arlo’s hand was ever down there. I fixed my ruffled hair before I could meet his eyes — which looked dejected after I just stopped him at the climax of the moment.
“What is it?” he asked in a low voice, towering over me like a predator.
His gaze was a cloud of lust and adoration. I bet I have the same look in my eyes, but now is not… the right time.
“I’m bleeding,” I looked away, embarrassed.
He grabbed my shoulders in panic, “Did I hurt you?” His voice sounded as if hurting me was the greatest sin he could ever commit in his lifetime, which made me chuckle and completely forget about my embarrassment.
“No! Silly,” I laughed, the corner of my eyes crinkling from joy. “It’s my time of the month.”
He blinked.
Then blinked some more.
“Oh,” he finally answered.
I slapped his arm, “What do you mean ‘oh’? You could have bloodied yourself because of me!”
His laugh sounded music to my ears, he started brushing my hair to smooth out the rest while saying, “For you, my darling, I have no problem staining my hands with blood.”
My chest fluttered from hearing that. I smiled, but somehow felt the heaviness in his words that it didn’t sound like a joke at all. Arlo would really stain his hands with blood if something happened to me, I am certain of it.
My breathing finally came to normal after that heated moment with Arlo, while he, on the other hand, looked as composed as ever. Not a single crease was visible in his button-down shirt, but his dark hair was disheveled in a way that would probably make magazine editors weep with joy.
He opened his mouth to say something, probably a comment about my equally rough behavior just now when we were exchanging kisses, but before he could deliver it, the door to the library suddenly opened.
I peeked through the bookshelves and saw Lucien walk in like he was walking into an afternoon tea instead of interrupting… whatever that had been happening between me and Arlo.
“Oh my gosh, you don’t know how to knock?” I immediately stepped out and revealed myself to Lucien.
“No,” Lucien answered casually, with not an ounce of remorse.
From the corner of my eyes, I can see Arlo lean back against the shelves, irritation immediately creeping into his face.
While Lucien looked around, taking in the scene with a small grin on his face that suggested he understood everything without needing any explanations.
“I hate to be the person with the most impeccable timing, but I have great news that I can’t wait to tell you two!”
“What kind of news?” Arlo stepped out into the open as well, meeting his cousin’s gaze.
“Well, my dear Arlo, since you refused to visit our grandfather, he has decided to come here instead.” His words hung in the air.
The ‘real’ grandfather? Not a decoy this time but the actual Frantz?
I don’t know what this meant, but seeing Arlo’s stressed expression and how tension weighed on his shoulders must mean this is bad news.
Lucien continued as if he was discussing the weather, with a casual tone laced in his voice.
“Estimated arrival in three days.”
Three days.
I will meet my grandfather in three days. Someone more powerful than Arlo, someone who needed a decoy to get around with how many people wanted him gone. Even just a little, I think I understand why Arlo is stressing over this news.
“Arlo, you don’t look fine.” I tug at his sleeves, quietly whispering.
“I’m thinking,”
I frowned, “That’s your fancy way of saying ‘you’re not fine’.”
He ignored my comment, he looked deep in thought.
“Why would he do that?” He was addressing Lucien, “People will notice if he arrives.”
Lucien just playfully shrugged his shoulders, “Beats me,” he said.
“Arlo, your grandfather just wishes to visit you, what seems to be the problem?”
He looked at me as if I had said something ridiculous, like lighting fireworks inside a gasoline station.
Arlo lifts his hands to his face to massage the bridge of his nose, “It means every rival family, every enemy who wishes him dead, will be watching this place closely.”
“Oh,” I blinked. 
I mean, I had an idea, but I didn’t expect it to be that dark.
“And when they start watching,” his eyes landed back on me. “They will look for leverage,”
A laugh escaped my lips, “You make it sound like I’m going to get kidnapped or something,”
He didn’t laugh, so I stopped and gulped down the lump forming in my throat.
“Oh,” I said again. My stomach felt tighter.
Then a knock came from the doorway, this time, it was Pierce.
To ease the atmosphere, I pointed at him and said, “See? Pierce has manners, he knows how to knock,” to which Lucien answered with a scoff.
“Sir,” his expression looked confused, addressing Arlo first. “There are two people outside the front gates asking to see Miss Kerri.”
“Me?” I pointed at myself with my index finger. “They must be fans,”
Lucien laughed from his side, and I was quick to shoot him a glare.
“...and?” Arlo was still looking at Pierce, who seemed hesitant.
“They insisted on speaking to Miss Kerri personally,” he continued carefully.
“Well, yeah, they do that sometimes.”
Lucien snorted again.
“What’s your problem?!” I hissed in his direction.
But Pierce and Arlo ignored us like two kids quarreling.
“They introduced themselves,”
“And?” I asked, feeling the tension in Pierce’s voice. 
He finally looked directed at me.
“They said they were your parents.”
Everything in my world stopped.
For a moment, I thought I misheard him.
“My… parents?” I needed to make sure it was really them and not just some random stranger claiming to be them, “What do they look like?”
Pierce cleared his throat before speaking, “I am certain it is them,” he sounded confident. 
Of course, many years ago, while Arlo was watching me from a distance in that small town I lived in, Pierce was also probably accompanying him and on occasion had seen my father and my mother.
I could feel Arlo’s gaze on me, watching me carefully while my expression darkened.
The last time I saw them, they threw me out of the house claiming I stained the family name with my divorce and scandal. With no ounce of remorse, they abandoned me to fend for myself.
And now…
They suddenly appeared at the gates.