Gasping for more air and leveling herself to regain composure, Serena ‘s head moved to look at Darien with what she hoped would resemble a look of spite and hatred. Darien tried to control his urge to take her into his arms as he saw the resentment that poured out of Serena’s stare. However, he shook his head and reminded himself that this was a woman who deserved no comfort. She certainly did not deserve or want his.
One thing was for certain, he thought. She still desired him. She still wanted him the way his body ached for hers. He grimaced as he thought about how he was still hard and throbbing for hers. Hell, he nearly took her here in his office!
Serena slashed out, “Clearly, she wasn’t lying about what she said! You make me sick and I can’t believe I nearly let you- you-” She clamped her mouth shut when she saw an amusement replace Darien’s maddening look of lust.
She didn’t know what possessed her to blurt that out. She could smack herself for sounding like a jealous fool. That’s because you are jealous! Her conscience mockingly whispered inside her mind. She denied it to herself even as her mind was full of images of that woman and Darien consorting on the desk behind her made her sick to her stomach.
“I did not.” Darien’s sudden proclamation sent her back to reality.
“What?” Confused, Serena glanced back up at him.
“After all this time, I can still read you like an open book,” he replied with surprising… tenderness?
With a negative shake of her head, “I don’t know what you mean…” She must have been imagining his tone. There was nothing tender about how Darien treated her just under a few minutes ago.
Darien chuckled. “You are thinking that I was going to take you here like I did other women.” Ignoring her sudden intake of air that told him she was about to argue the fact, he merely continued. “You are right only on two things. I wanted to take you and I was going, too and the fact that we should not rejoin on top of my desk, but a bed… our bed
Serena shuddered at his description and his use of the word rejoin—of all words! Images of her limbs intertwined with his flashed across her mind. She almost cursed at herself, but settled with attacking his statement with a cool remark.
“I never said anything about rejoining with you anywhere…”
She didn’t notice the way he suddenly moved towards her and was surprised when he cut her off with a short kiss meant to silence instead of seduce. She was so astonished that she just gaped at him. “We’ll talk about that later, cara… but for now I want you to know that what we just did I never did with anyone else in this room.”
She did the only thing her mind had ordered her body—she snorted. Her reaction sent signals to Darien and he nearly wanted to manhandle her for reacting as she did. He wasn’t even sure why he found the need to assure her.
Get a grip of yourself, Darien! The more logical part of his mind shouted for him to control himself. He was losing all the resolve he had set up against her! He needed to get away from her…
He quickly strode pass her to pace around the room as he talked. “I don’t care what you think. However, I do care about our future.” He paused as he looked back at her with cool eyes. “You have kept my supposed daughter a secret from me for seven years…”
“I’m sorry.” Serena whispered watching him pace—frustration clear with his every stride.
He just laughed off her apology. “Oh, you will be. My proposition still stands, Serena.”
“You mean your threats!” Her temper rose again as he reminded her of his words earlier.
Darien shrugged unperturbed by her sudden anger. “Call it whatever you want. It still stands.” He had stopped his mindless pacing and was turned to face directly as her by now.
She felt her shoulders slump from their squared position and signed. “You aren’t giving me much of a choice.”
His outburst startled her making her jump. His voice booming from all directions, “Much like the choice you did not give me?!”
“Oh, don’t patronize me. You are certainly the biggest hypocrite of all!”
Darien glared at her in scrutiny. “Explain!”
“You meet me. You practically bully me into marriage. You use me as a fucking doormat. You accuse me of random idiotic things! I get tired of your lies. I leave!” She stopped, painting for air and then crossed her arms to glare at him defiantly. “But what use is it now to explain all this? You will never change, Darien.”
A muscle pulled at his check and he watched her with tense shoulders. Finally he stated, “You are right. We must focus on the future. The future that I will be in charge of!”
“Darien, look… There are things—I have a life. I have a job. You can’t just come barging in. I have things to consider.” Serena said trying to make him see sense and logic.
“You will quit your position as The Starlights’ manager. No wife of mine will be working with some rock band with a bad reputation!”
Outraged, she advanced arms raised to take a hold of his shirt, but stopped just inches short when her temper slightly lowered. “How dare you? Seiya and the guys are good people! Those magazines lie all the time.”
“Do not waste your breath trying to defend your lover to me. I do not care. However, as mother of my child, you should not be associating with them in any sense. As my wife, you should not be having a sordid affair!” Darien was shocked at his own words and clamped his mouth shut—lips thinned and his hands clenched at his sides.
He was even more amazed when his wife didn’t even move to hit him or scream at him. Instead, she said in a cool and controlled voice, “Darien, listen to me and this is the truth: I have never ever had an affair with Seiya. He was never my lover.”
“Basta!” Instead of her statement reassuring Darien of her innocence, it convinced him that she was a cold-hearted liar. “You sound so truthful that I almost believe you, but I know for a fact that you are lying.”
Serena stared at him incredulously. “You know it for a fact?”
Darien nodded and replied using his native tongue, “Si!”
“Would you say that in order for something to be fact that there must be proof?”
“Yes, but I do not see—” She held up a hand to stop him.
“Well, then I would be interested in finding out how you provided proof to back up your fact because let me tell you…it would be impossible!” Serena stated dryly.
He eyed her warily as he tried to control his rising fury. “You want to know my proof? Erica—“
Whatever Serena was expecting, wasn’t at all surprised that Darien would mention Erica. Oh, she was pretty sure that the retched woman was the main reason why he would even think she was cheating on him! He knew first hand that despite the fact that she did date Seiya in high school they were never lovers.
When Serena first met the lovely Erica, she was at awe at how beautiful and poise she was. However, it only took a few one to one encounters to realize that under tanned skin was a deadly snake. She made it clear that Darien was her property and Serena was only trespassing.
There was no ways he could forget their very last encounter, a week her and Darien’s first anniversary—the anniversary he had been out of the country for Serena remembered bitterly.
“I suppose I should say congratulations. Why, I always forgot!” Erica had mockingly exclaimed.
Serena ignored her and continued to wash her hands in the marble sink trying to keep her face passive.
“But then again, it doesn’t matter anyway. If it did then he would have been with you and not me last week!”
She laughed at Serena’s hurt expression before stocking off to exit the restroom.
It took all Serena’s will to stop herself from crying and instead go off into the business dinner party Darien insisted they attend.
She supposed she did a great job of acting because Darien hadn’t even noticed. However, it was only later when Seiya arrived and pulled her aside to ask her if she was all right that Darien didn’t notice because he didn’t care enough to.
She had muttered that she was fine and hurried away before Darien noticed her with Seiya. When she finally found Darien, he was too busy talking to bankers to even pay attention to her.
By the end of the night, she was sure that she meant nothing Darien but his little complaint wife. She was going to scream her head of and demand for a divorce as soon as they entered their bedroom, but soon her plan was forgotten when he swept her up and took her to bed.
All thoughts of leaving him were abandoned. She was sure that he had to love her by the way he took his time to pleasure her in ways she hadn’t dreamed of before.
Of course, she was wrong about that. A couple of weeks after that night, everything came into perspective. She finally found out that there was no way she could stay with him when his loyalty and his fidelity were not all hers.
“You believe her?” she finally asked him as she was remembering the past
“Erica saw you. She saw you!”
“She lied! Can’t you see that she has hated me—“
“Shut up! Do not ever talk about her in that way!”
Serena laughed bitterly and sarcastically replied, “Of course not, because dear Erica is such a good friend.”
“Damn right she is! She has been more loyal than you ever were, so I would wipe that sneer of your face if I were you!”
The bitterness in Serena’s heart did not fade away because of time… in fact, as she felt her heart thud loudly against her chest. She was amazed that a hole did not appear yet.
“I finally get it,” she whispered trying to keep the tears forming in eyes from gathering.
He was stunned. The woman never did anything he expected anymore! He wanted to voice it out loud but settled to burn his curiosity, “Finally get what?”
Looking away from him, she answered in a resigned voice, “that you will always take her word over mine.”
“Sere—“
She held out a hand, “Don’t.” Taking a deep breath she continued, “It doesn’t matter. What matters is Rini. She is only a child.”
She saw something flash across his face—regret? Impossible. She was imagining everything again. Much like she imagined that he actually loved her at all. How wrong she was…
Darien was tempted to counter her claim and say that their relationship was very much important to him, but he knew that she was right. “In the interest of our child, it would do well if you keep your rebellious spirit locked in.”
When she glared at him openly defying his orders, he chuckled softy. “There was a time when you were happy to do my bidding.”
In the past, she was so love stuck that she didn’t even stop and think—she only did. She did everything he suggested.
She did everything he told her to: She married him and played his personal concubine instead of finishing her last year of undergraduate study. She didn’t even blink when he persuaded her to drop out because she had no need to work after anyway. He would provide for her.
She stayed in their much too spacious and lonely penthouse waiting for her lord and master to come home whenever he pleased. She eventually stopped talking to Seiya when it was clear Darien resented their friendship.
In return, he never called her to let her know when he was going to be staying extra hours at work. He expected her to be awake, waiting, and willing when he came home.
He never gave her gave her explanations whenever he would travel all the way to Paris, Milan, Sydney, or wherever else Erica was at the time just to see her.
By the end of the relationship, she didn’t know how to be herself anymore.
Wincing, she couldn’t believe that she let herself be made into a doormat! Well, it wasn’t happening again and it was time he knew it!
“Yeah, when I was young and stupid. Never again, Darien.”
“Say what you want, but you know it’s useless.”
Ignoring his taunt, she skipped to another subject. She had glanced at her watch and time was of the essence. “Rini’s school ends in about thirty minutes. I need to pick her up. We’ll just meet you—“
Cutting her off, Darien informed her, “You and I will pick her up. I will not wait another second than necessary to finally meet my daughter.”
Serena saw his determined look and she knew it would be a waste to argue. “Okay, fine, but…”
She trailed off when she heard her cell phone’s ring tone from her purse that was still on the floor. She had dropped it when she and Darien… She shook her head as images started pouring in again.
She did her best to ignore her torn and limp black underwear that was discarded next to the bag and made a move toward were Darien was to gather her things.
However, he was quicker. Before she could utter a protest, he already had the bag and her panties secured in his possession.
“Don’t dare go…”
When he ignored her threat and opened up her bag to fish for her cell phone, she strode over to snatch the bag and panties away.
His curt “hello” made her realize that while she was successful, Darien was still able to get her cell phone. She tried to grab it form him, but his height made it more difficult. He merely swayed away by the time she got close to even getting her fingers on the device.
Darien was furious when he heard the caller’s deep voice reply with, “Who the hell is this?!”
It was Seiya! Tightening his hold of turning away from Serena’s attempts, he spoke in a dangerous tone.
“This is Darien, Serena’s husband.” He knew it was a cheap reply considering Seiya knew exactly who he was, but Darien could not resist reminding him of the fact.
The way Darien replied and seeing his expression alerted Serena that Seiya had called her. Oh, why did God seem to hate her?
She couldn’t let him talk to Seiya like that! She was about to make another attempt to get her phone when he held it out to her.
“Here, perhaps you should explain that you are back together with me now! You better remind him that I still don’t want to see you near him. I will leave you in here while I talk to my assistant before we leave.”
He opened the door and looked back to give her a once over and added, “Oh, and you should make yourself presentable. You are a mess. You wouldn’t want people knowing that you were spread for me on that desk.” He said with a pointed look before walking out with a laugh.
