Hateful Games: (An arranged marriage billionaire romance) (Arranged Games Book 2)

Chapter Seventy-eight

I chase after him, refusing to let him keep me at an arm’s length.

He better think twice if he believes I’ll leave when he needs me the most. When he’s suffering. Has been hurting for God knows how long. No child deserves to see their parents at such a low moment and shoulder the burden alone.

I was beginning to respect Danish.

In a single moment, he’s lost all of it.

Moonlight illuminates the living room, where I find Nova sitting on the couch alone. His elbows resting on his knees as he stares at the carpeted floor. His body structure so eerily still I can’t tell if he’s breathing.

He doesn’t look like my ruthless and arrogant husband.

Instead, a broken man crushed by his past.

Heels discarded and still in my dress, I pad barefoot to him and kneel between his spread legs. One hand on his thigh, I cup his smooth jaw and bring his gaze to mine. His eyes see right through me, stuck somewhere far away.

Seeing him like this, it rips my heart out.

“I’m not going to push you to talk or spill everything about your past until you’re ready, but you have me and I’m not going anywhere,” I whisper to him. Tilting up, I close my eyes and brush my lips against his in a soft kiss.

Rising, I turn to give him some alone time.

I’ve only taken two steps when his hand seizes my wrist. I look behind to find his sad and anguished eyes gazing into mine. I’m pulled back to stand between the same space I left. My fingers running through his hair as he rests his forehead on my stomach.

Tugging me closer, he holds me tight while I rub my palm over his back comfortingly. He exhales softly, struggling and steeling courage to speak. However, I’m jolted to my core from the impact of his revelation.

“My mother miscarried her second pregnancy on this date.”

“Oh, Nova…” I trail off before finding courage. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was the day I was kidnapped.”

Perpetuated by my father… goes unsaid. I’m at a complete loss for words. Nothing could make up for their loss anyway. I thought my eyes were numb, too dry for tears yet they silently fall, catching on my lips.

Except, Nova has only spilled the tip of the iceberg.

I’m afraid he’s erecting a wall when he pulls back. He propels my body forward while shifting backward and resting his head on the back of the couch. I straddle his lap and push the messy locks that shadow his forehead.

“My dad has never loved my mother while she has unrequitedly loved him all her life. Marrying her was another business transaction for him. To bring him closer to the one woman he’s always desired. The one that got away. A loveless marriage is what he cruelly destined my mom to. While she foolishly holds hope that one day he will look at her, want and need her the way she does him.”

The puzzle finally completes to form a clear picture.

The reason behind Nova’s actions and promises to make our marriage work.

He didn’t want to repeat history, write the same fate as his parents’.

“My dad isn’t incapable of love; it’s just my mom isn’t the one his heart belongs to. She could never compare. So, she did what every hopeless romantic does. She drowned her sorrows, his cold rejections, the reality of failing her marriage in booze. He was never home. I’ve only ever known my mother as an alcoholic. That for the longest time I believed it was normal the way she drank daily.”

I listen, my heart sinking at the heartbreaking tale.

“Dad was never home, always away on business. The off chance he was, my mom would smother him with attention until it turned into fights, shouting, and cursing. She would accuse him of cheating on her and he was, but the emotional kind. Or so I thought. Whether or not I was in the room didn’t matter to them. I don’t even remember how old I was the first time I found her crying and puking in the bathroom. I tried to help and she pushed me down because she thought I was taking the bottle away. So, I stayed close by, watching her drown in vodka until she passed out. I brought a pillow and slept down beside her. By morning, she would be back to being sober, pretending the whole ordeal didn’t happen. Every day was rinse and repeat.”

Tears fall freely.

Both of us are victims of neglectful and troubled childhoods. Hurt differently but by the same ones who are supposed to love us unconditionally and protect us, not the other way around.

“I don’t think my father ever wanted me. I was just another duty he had to perform. To avoid the gossip of what went on behind closed doors. He didn’t want a kid, just a legitimate heir to pass his legacy to.” His voice is indifferent, hiding the emotionally scarred boy underneath. “It was sheer luck or a coincidence that he stumbled on us the way you did tonight and the full reality of his actions dawned on him. I was so tired of keeping the secret, taking care of Mom while she was slowly killing herself before my eyes that I spilled everything. I hit and told him I hated him for hurting Mom and ruining our lives. It was the turning point and he made an effort to fix things. Stayed home, sent Mom to rehab, and the months she was gone, he took care of me, but I still didn’t trust or love him. Even though it was the first semblance of us being a family once Mom was back home. Hope flared and I was na?ve enough to believe that they’ll finally fall in love and he’ll make my mom happy. Except, you can’t win a heart that’s already stolen.”

“You shouldn’t have been through this, Nova,” I whisper, caressing his jaw. Kissing his cheeks. Wishing to take his pain away. “Neither you nor Teresa deserved this.”

“It was awful, Rose.” Despair fills the air. “Every time I see her like this, the memories come crashing back. I’ve tried everything to heal her, be there and love her. But everywhere she turns, a reminder waits to send her back into the void.”

“You can’t fight her battles for her, Nova,” I reply, speaking from experience. “You can’t fix a person who doesn’t want to be fixed. Unless it’s her choice, there’s only so much you can do.”

“It doesn’t hurt any less.”

“I know, baby.” I pull him against me, rubbing circles on his back. “Your father shouldn’t have married her if he was in love with someone else. Why didn’t he marry the woman he wanted?”

His features tighten, gaze turning black when he leans back. “Because he lost her to someone else. Her family didn’t approve of my dad because he was from the wrong side of the tracks and because of his own family’s reputation. They arranged for her to marry another man. A year later, my dad found out she was pregnant and let Grandpa pick a girl for him.”

“But he never stopped loving her,” I finish.

“Not to this day,” he says. “Love is the most powerful poison in the world, Rose. With the wrong person, it kills you from the inside, you live but you’re nothing but a dead and hollow shell.”

In spite of it all, Nova wasn’t afraid to fall for me.

I don’t know how long we sit like this. Nova’s mood the same. Resignation to the ugly truth darkening his face. Brushing my lips over his jaw, I whisper, “Let’s go upstairs. You need rest.”

He glances my way, halting me from moving by closing his hands around my thighs. “I’ve never told anyone about my past, just you. I never wanted to until you. And I lied when I said I didn’t need you. Having you here with me, I didn’t feel alone for the first time.”

”You aren’t.” He kisses the inside of my wrist, grazing the side of his cheek.

Climbing down from his lap, I take his hand in mine. Once he rises to his full height, we walk to the staircase, him quietly trailing behind as we ascend. Inside his childhood bedroom, my gait falters when the bed comes into view. The memories of us surfacing briefly, but the need to take care of him outweighs the low stir of desire that his proximity never stops to evoke.

He still says nothing as I enter the adjoined bathroom.

Turning around, I first unzip my dress and let it puddle to the floor. His gaze not straying from mine to roam over my nakedness when I slide the thong down my legs. Shifting closer, I reach the top of his chest and slowly unfasten the buttons of his black shirt. His own fingers lift and undo my hair from its messy bun until they spill down my back.

This is the first time I’m touching him like this.

An intimacy I didn’t know I was missing out on.

His arm falls when I slide his shirt down his broad shoulders. Pressing a kiss over his heart, I unbuckle his belt and pull it through the loops. Unzipping, I remove both his boxers and pants, lowering to the floor until he steps out of them.

His semi hard cock teasing me when I rise to my height.

Once we’re both naked, we enter the shower together. The warm spray of water drenching us in seconds and cocooning us in a cloud of steam. Slowing it, I grab the bodywash and squeeze some into my palm before lathering up the hard planes of Nova’s chest and abs. I clean and wash every inch of him, enjoying his sigh of content and pleasure.

When I reach for my own body, he tugs my hand away.

“I’ll take care of my wife,” he murmurs, his breath ghosting over my ear.

He takes his time, like I did with him, paying attention to every part of me. Lingering on some areas. All too soon, we’re done and drying each other with towels.

Hanging them over a hook, we reenter the bedroom.

I turn toward the closet, but his soft voice halts my progress. “No.”

Obeying, I let him pull me to the bed and crawl underneath the blanket. Like every night, I pat the spot beside me while he towers over. The darkness of the room concealing those warm and expressive eyes. Messy locks falling over his forehead boyishly and his inviting mouth.

“Come here, Nova,” I whisper into the night.

The mattress dips with his weight as he lies on his back. I don’t waste a second before covering us with the blanket and using his arm as a pillow while tangling my legs with his.

His body is relaxed but his mind is elsewhere as his fingers absently rub back and forth down my spine. Leaning on my elbow, I peer down at him.

“What are you thinking?”

His gaze flashes up to mine and his lips curve in a small smile. That I know is for my benefit. Always the protector for the ones he cares deeply about. When he lets people in, he lets them in completely.

“I thought she was getting better but she’s been lying to me. I should’ve checked on her more often, especially today.”

“Your dad should’ve been here too. Even if he doesn’t love her, she’s still his wife and his responsibility. Why doesn’t she leave him?”

I can’t fathom staying with a man and enduring his infidelity.

Nova and I got lucky.

“I’ve asked her many times but she shuts me down. I stopped bringing the subject up because it triggers her. I don’t want to mistakenly push her into drinking. Today is always tough on her every year. Otherwise, she takes care of herself.”

“Whenever I’ve met her, she’s always seemed happy.”

“She believes he’s changed.”

I smooth the frown line that crinkles his forehead. “And you?”

“He tries.” A mysterious look crosses his eyes before it’s gone. “But there are still secrets with the power to ruin. Sometimes the hold of the past is too strong, there are no cutting the ties.”

“Like our families.” With no barrier and every inch of us pressed together, he doesn’t miss when I shudder. I sink back into his arms, hiding my face in the crook of his neck. His scent a peaceful rush. The mistrust and loathing between our fathers are so tightly tangled, not even the sharpest of knives can cut it.

A silent gasp escapes when Nova turns us on our sides until we’re facing each other.

His eyes search mine.

Peering into the deepest parts of me, cracking my chest wide open.

“We aren’t our parents. I won’t let either of our families’ pasts dictate our future.” Leaning until our foreheads touch, he pins me with his stare and harshly says, “I don’t care if you’re scared or if only hate can exist between our families, I fucking love you, Rose. I don’t need you to say it back, I just need—”

“I love you too,” I confess. He freezes. With my heart galloping wildly behind my ribs, beating his name with every breath, I tell him again, “I love you, Nova. I don’t know how or when it happened, but I do. It may have been the first time you kissed me, the first tear you brushed away, every time you kiss my scars or cheer me up when I’m at my lowest. I fall deeper and deeper in love with you. I love being your wife. I love being your little hellion… your Rose. I love being yours.”

He smiles so beautifully, as though I lit up the sky.

“You’re my everything.” His lips crush against mine.

I taste his smile.

His happiness.

His love and possessiveness.

I taste the heartbreak that’s to come.