Vince’s POV
A tap from Ann wakes me up. This is when I realize I have been sleeping on her shoulder all along and we are at the hotel already.
Mark is standing outside, glancing around.
The idea of coming here, with Ann, wasn’t planned but it sent a thrill through me. I didn’t bother to think about how silly it was or how dangerous because I had no time to think about any of that.
Annette was going. I knew she would go no matter what.
Coming with her was just the best solution. The solution to deal with Mark. And the solution to knowing if what I feel isn’t embarrassingly one-sided.
“We are here,” she points out, a smile tugging her beautiful face.
Jealous shoots through me at her smiling face. Since we left home, she hasn’t smiled at me like she used to but here we are and she is smiling already, just at the sight of Mark.
Does she like him? Is this one-sided?
I’ve always thought she did. I’ve always thought Annette liked me. Right from the very beginning. And even the day we got married.
No woman would marry a man she isn’t attracted to in any way. What she did that night made me believe she was lightly attracted to me in a way.
But now, everything seemed like a fairytale. Like false. Like the impossible.
When she steps out of the car, I do the same signaling to Luca to get things in position.
I know Ann would never allow the guards to tag along so I made sure Luca was driving. He is someone I trust to get things done.
With him here, we are safe for the next few days.
“Hi, Mark,” Ann waves at him shyly, earning a wide grin from Mark. He stares at her from head to toe, taking in her dress. She is wearing a jean and a short top.
She is modestly dressed but he seems to be ripping off those clothes with his lustful eyes, making me itch to cover Ann with every sherd of clothing I can find.
I step in beside her and find her hand.
She go still at the contact but I couldn’t care less, since I have the exact reaction I want on his face.
Blood drains from his eyes. And he stares daggers at me, making me chuckle inwardly.
If only he knows what I am capable of, he wouldn’t dare to cross my paths. I don’t have much patience and if Ann wasn’t involved, I would have gotten rid of him.
But if I do that now, Ann would suspect me. She knows how much I hate this guy’s gut.
“You came with him?” Mark points a finger at me. Ann nods, looking guilty.
“You’ve got a problem with that?” I retort quickly, stepping forward but Ann places a hand in between us.
“I thought you said you called him?” She demands from me with temper blazing in her eyes
“Well, I did.”
She turns to Mark. “He only asked if you could come separately due to some reasons.”
Ann snaps her head back to me, her eyebrow pops up.
When I don’t say a word but hold her more firmly, she moves back next to me and says. “Let’s get settled.”
“Your room is the last on the right,” he walks in and we follow. Take the lift to the second floor and meet us on the third floor in an hour.”
“Thank you, Mark.”
“But..” he stops abruptly, and I halt with Ann, my hand still holding hers. “There is only one room. I didn’t know you were coming with him.”
He seems displeased and it makes me chuckle slowly.
Ann throws me a harsh glare.
“Well, it’s fine…”
“We are married, remember? We share a room at home too so it won’t be a problem. Don’t worry.” I tap his shoulder and walk past him with Ann.
When we get to the lift, she yanks her hand free from my hold and folds her arm around her bosom, without a word.
Well, I still don’t regret coming.
We find the room after two minutes and we go in. Annette drops her bag and I do the same. Before I can settle on the sofa, she spins around to face me.
“What was that about?”
Feigning ignorance, I ask. “What is what about?”
“You know what I am saying, Vince. So you lie too? You told me something different and now Mark…”
“Why does it matter?” I interrupt her from going further, feeling a sudden flare of rage. “You want to believe that jerk over me?”
“Wow!” Confusion laces her tone. “So this is it?”
“Who is he anyways?” I can’t help it anymore. We are not here for this but I can’t help it. I can’t help but feel mad at her for smiling at him when she hasn’t done that to me all day. “Why have you been acting so different towards me? You were smiling at him before we got out of the car. Yesterday at the restaurant too, you were faking your smile because you saw him. That jerk practically ignored me. He pretended as if I was non-existent and you didn’t say anything. So why should this matter?”
I doubt if I have ever said words this long in my entire life.
“I didn’t ask for this, did I?” She nods her head for a moment before asking me this. “I didn’t ask you to come with me, did I? You didn’t need to know who Mark was in the first place but because you wanted to be everywhere I was, you knew who he was and you beat him up and he hates you just like you hate him.” Her words explode with frustration.
“Really?” A fresh shimmer of rage treads through my guts.
“Really, Vince. That’s the truth.”
Silence falls. We are staring at each other with pure rage. I have never felt this much anger for Annette ever before.
An unexpected twinge of sadness tugs at my heart.
“Ann, is this because I said I like you?” I ask and she goes still for a moment, blinking rapidly before turning to go out. I am quick to block her way. “Tell me the truth. Are you avoiding giving me a reply or do you just hate me?”
She doesn’t say a word.
“I didn’t come here for this. I came because I wouldn’t be able to concentrate at work knowing you were here. I would be so worried about you…”
“You don’t need to be worried about me, Vince. You didn’t even need to leave your work to be here for me. I am fine. Perfectly fine as you can see.”
I move away from her, towards the window.
I’ve never felt so vulnerable in my entire life. Despite my anger, I still feel so drawn to her, wishing she can touch me.
“You haven’t answered my question, though,” I say with my back to her.
“What’s the question?”
Frustration chaffs at my heart as I turn around and take long strides towards her. She backs away until her back hits the door.
My fist hit the door and she jolts with fright. With my arms on the door, caging her in, with nowhere to run to now, I ask calmly. “Are you doing all of these because I said I like you?”
She lowers her head, not sparing me a glance until I hit the door again.
She looks up. “You like me?”
Heat sings my cheeks.
“Well, I like you too. It’s normal to feel this way since we are couples.”
My annoyance dies a quick death when her eyes begin to water with tears. Before she can say anything else, I slam my lips on her, hoping this will explain everything.
She doesn’t kiss me back like she did yesterday and the other days. She just stands there, letting me feel every part of her mouth until I force myself to stop.
Breathing heavily, I let my hands drop from her jaws, my heart beating twice its normal rate.
“You don’t do love, Vince. I have nothing to offer you. If you like me, then I like you too and that’s it.”
With that, she whirls round, and I drop my arm to give her way. I watch her walk out of the door like she is walking out of my life.
With an unadulterated rage, I slam my fist on the door.