Chapter 73 073
Danica's POV
Alexander could be right. But I knew there was more to the bracelet than just being an emotion reflector.
Mom clearly said I should never take it off unless I've found someone I could trust with everything I had, because it's the only way I'd be safe. At first, I thought she said that to scare me in case I ever thought of breaking the promise we made. But now, I'm beginning to think there's truly a mystery behind the bracelet and maybe just maybe, Mom wasn't just trying to scare me.
For someone who just went to get the door, it sure took Alexander a while to come back. I was beginning to think he'd left for some business whatsoever and probably forgotten that I was still here.
But the moment I tried to stand up to head for the door, I saw him walking back from the entrance.
"Who was it?" I asked before I could stop myself.
I didn't mean to ask, my curiosity just couldn't let me off without getting an answer.
"Blake" he said and I nodded once.
"Something important?" I asked again, and that earned a nod from him.
"Yeah, it's quite important, but not as important as my little mate" he drawled, planting a quick kiss on my lips as he pulled off his shirt.
I tried to be decent... Holy heavens, I really tried but it was an impossible feat. There was no way any woman in her right senses wouldn't steal a peak. But I wasn't just any woman, so I didn't just steal a peak. I freaking stared, like I'd be getting an award for thoroughly checking him out.
My hand automatically went up his chest, itching to touch him. And I did.
I ran my fingers through his tattoo, then the line of his abs, and down to the band of his pants.
Every trail of my fingers made him tense but he didn't stop me... Not until my hands wandered to his limits.
He seized my wrist in a vice-like grip, strong enough to stop me but not enough to hurt. The grip left me gasping as my eyes locked with his, my breath coming in short pants.
Before I could blink, my back was firmly pinned to the bed, my wrist caged above my head, as his lips hovered over mine. Close enough to make me want to beg him to kiss me right there and then.
But then his warning came, low, dangerous and freaking hot.
I almost called him sick once, but I'm here, finding his warning hot. Warnings are supposed to repel you, they're supposed to make you back off, but I respond in a direct opposite way to his warnings.
"Careful there, little mate, if you keep that up I'm going to take you right here, right now, so hard that your body will scream in protest. And it's going to hurt like a bitch. I don't want to do that to you" he muttered and I bit back a whimper as I tried to consider my aching nerves by not crossing the lines this time.
As quickly as I found myself lying back-first on the bed, Alexander got off me and headed straight towards the bathroom without looking back.
I tried to recall Alexander's expression when he returned from the entrance of his room. And I realized his expression grew harsher. Try as he may, he couldn't bring back the calm expression he had on before he left for the door, and that's why I knew, whatever Blake must have said to him, hit a nerve.
I didn't want to be the reason why he pushes off attending to something that made his expression turn sour. So I left before he was done using the bathroom.
I found my way to my room and there, I found Jasmine, cleaning the room so happily that it made me wonder why I couldn't feel the same way when I'm forced to clean my father's house.
Perhaps there wasn't anything majorly bad about me cleaning like a hired housekeeper and I'm just the bad one for holding a grudge all those years?
Jasmine's hum died down the moment she sighted me across the room.
"Luna... Danica!" She quickly corrected as she waved at me.
I waved back and slowly found my way through a few dry patches on the ground she was cleaning.
When I finally got to my bed, I crawled to the edge, rested my chin in my palm and then I watched her clean.
"How do you feel so happy while cleaning, Jasmine? I could never bring myself to smile when I do it back at my home" I muttered and she gave me a small smile that said more than it should.
"Perhaps, because I do this voluntarily? Because I want to? You could never feel so sour doing what you love. Just like how you help those sick people get over their pains, I love when I see the smiles and satisfaction of people when I make it possible for them to stay in a sparkly clean environment" she said and that explained a lot.
Cleaning made her feel good the same way helping people heal made me feel good. But cleaning has always made me feel small, like a woman to be trampled on when I do it in my father's house, because I didn't want that. All I wanted was a bit of my father's care, and an ounce of Joey's understanding... Which could have gone a long way since we were in the same age group anyway.
But where did that lead me? It made me a victim of her manipulation until she successfully clawed her way through my heart and ripped it out brutally.
"Feeling bad about doing something you don't like doesn't make you a bad person. It only makes you real" Jasmine added and I nodded, fighting back a string of tears.
Gosh, I wanted to hug her right now. But I could always find a reason to later, without washing off that fulfilled smile from her face.
After cleaning, she spent quite a lot of time with me, telling me funny tales about Dark Orchids’ Pack house and how she ended up becoming Alexander's favorite cleaner and his personal caregiver.
She didn't mind staying for a few more hours just to keep me company, but I did, because I wouldn't be able to live with myself if she got in trouble because of me.
So I pretended to be feeling sleepy. Letting out three fake yawns did the trick and she finally tucked me in bed before leaving.
"Call me when you need anything, Young Miss" she muttered and I let out a tired hum as she pulled the door shut.
'You're too considerate for your liking, Danica' Aurora sighed and I shrugged.
"Am I?"
'You don't need anyone giving you a full lecture on that, trust me' she added and I let out a laugh. But then something clicked.
"How long have you been with me? Buried in the shadows of my inability to hear you?" I asked and she went silent for a beat before responding.
'Since your eighteenth birthday?' she responded and I heaved in disappointment.
I was thinking she'd been there long enough to watch my mom give me the bracelet. Then maybe she could have a clue...
'Something wrong?' she asked.
"I just wonder if you have any idea what this bracelet truly represents" I asked and she giggled before responding.
'It's quite simple. Here is it... The only thing it could possibly represent is its tackiness. It is so ugly, I wonder why you've always kept it on' she muttered amidst her laughter and my hands itched to smack her head. But that would mean smacking my own head, wouldn't it?
I made to tell her to fuck off but then the loud beep from a side of the room interrupted me.
My eyes roamed the room for the source of the sound and it eventually fell on a shiny looking flat device, carefully tucked away on the desk.
My phone.
I'd totally forgotten that I had one.