Chapter 43 WHAT'S WRONG?
Elias walked through the front door first.
He stopped when he saw me standing in the entrance hall doorway, one hand on the frame, looking out to see who had arrived.
He looked at me for a second then walked straight past me and up the staircase without saying anything to me
I stayed in the doorway.
Callum was still outside on the front steps with Vanessa.
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Callum's POV
"What are you doing here Vanessa?"
"I came to stay." She folded her hands in front of her calmly. "We are betrothed to each other now, Callum."
“It's official.” She added.
"We are what?"
"Betrothed." She tilted her head. "Both our fathers approved it. I told them what happened between us at the hotel and they both agreed it was the right thing."
Everything in me went completely still. "You told them what?"
"You took my virginity." Her eyes stayed on mine without moving. "What did you expect me to do?"
The hotel room came back to me. All of it came back, every detail of it and I stood there on the front steps holding my bag.
There was nothing I was going to say that was going to make this smaller than it had already become.
She smiled.
Then she reached up and pecked my cheek, lifted my bag right out of my hand, slid her fingers through mine, and started pulling me towards the front door.
\---
Nova's POV
I watched Vanessa and Callum walk through the door.
Her fingers laced through his. His bag on her shoulder.
She was saying something to him but none of it was reaching me because my eyes were on Callum. Whose expression I can't seem to place.
He stared back at me and I looked away immediately. Focusing my attention back to the TV. Riley who went back into the kitchen stepped out immediately.
Riley stepped out from the kitchen. "Welcome home Mr. Blackthorn. Can I get you anything?"
Vanessa made a short sharp sound beside him and turned to Callum, her voice dropping into something soft that had edges underneath every word.
"Baby, what do you want for dinner? I was thinking we could have french fries, jollof rice, the grilled salmon you like, some plantain on the side, and maybe something light for dessert. What do you think?"
Riley's eyes went wide in shock but she kept a neutral look, waiting for Callum to say something.
Callum slid his hand out of Vanessa's, took his bag from her and walked away.
Vanessa stood in the middle of the entrance hall watching him go.
She smiled and faced Riley.
"You heard what I said." Her voice had lost the softness if hard when she was talking to Callum. "Start with the fries."
Riley's eyes darted to mine and then she went back into the kitchen.
“And you wh—
My phone lit up on the cushion beside me, I grabbed it immediately and went to my room without giving her a chance to say anything.
I got into my room and slammed the door shut behind me. I sat on the bed and answered the call.
It was a video call.
Matthias filled the screen wearing nothing but boxers, his hair damp, water still on his chest and shoulders like he had walked straight from the shower to his phone without stopping for anything.
I shut my eyes immediately.
"Why did you call when you were not fully dressed?"
His laugh came through the speaker. "I was wet for you baby."
"Put on your clothes or I will end the call." I warned him or would I say threatened him.
"Nova—"
"Matthias."
The sound of fabric rustling came through the speaker and soon I heard silence.
"Better?" he asked.
I opened my eyes. He had a shirt on now, sitting on the edge of his bed with his hair still damp and pushed back from his face.
"Better," I said.
He looked at me through the screen for a moment. "You seem tense."
"I'm fine."
"You keep saying that." He leaned forward, dropping his elbows to his knees. "Is this still about the awards?"
"The reservation at Ciel Bleu." I kept my voice flat. "You made it four days before the awards night."
There was silence from his end, like he was trying to process something.
"I was going to tell you," he started.
"When?"
"When the time felt right. I had the whole morning planned out, I wanted it to be—"
"Matthias." I looked at him through the screen. "You planned the breakfast before you even put me on that stage. Before the cameras. Before any of it. Which means you already knew I was going to need something from you the next morning."
His expression moved, finding its angle before he spoke again. "I knew the coverage was going to be a lot and I wanted to be ready to take care of you, that was all it was, I just wanted to make sure I had something good waiting for you."
"A reservation you made four days before."
"Because I wanted to take care of you." He shifted closer to his camera. "Baby. I promise you it was to take care of you.”
I was about to say something when my door opened.
I thought I locked that.
Elias walked in still in his work clothes but stopped when he saw me on the bed with my phone up.
I waved my hand at Elias and mouthed for one minute.
He sat in the chair by my desk with his arms folded and waited.
"Is everything okay?" Matthias's voice came through.
"Everything is fine." I smiled. "I'll call you tomorrow."
"Nova—"
"Goodnight Matthias." I said, cutting him short.
I ended the call and kept my phone on the bed. The screen facing down.
Elias was out of the chair before I could even ask why he was here.
He walked over to me and pulled me into a hug, both arms wrapping around me completely.
He did not say anything, he just held onto me.
Like I was the air he breathed at that moment.
"What's wrong?" I asked softly into his shoulder as I wrapped my arms around him slowly.