Liam
I raised a brow at her request, but Amelie remained unwavered under my gaze.
"What do you intend to do with that kind of money?" I asked.
"It should be of no concern to you."
"Isn't it hypocritic that you who condemns me for being rich sudden wants to be wealthy all of a sudden?"
"I never condemned you for being rich, I merely condemned your attitude. So do we have a deal?"
"Absolutely not!" I answered sharply, and her eyes widened expressively in shock. "There is no way I'm letting you make that amount of money on a Monthly basis."
"So you figured it out right? You know damn well that if I have enough money to oppose you then you won't be able to keep in place, isn't it?"
"That's exactly right." I answered without remorse. "You might not like it, but I don't exactly care about your likes and dislikes. All I care about is you becoming my wife and bearing me a child."
"The same here." She returned coldly. I glared at her, and she stared right back without fear. After a lengthy minute of silence, I finally spoke.
"Thirty percent of what I earn should be enough for you."
"Make it seventy percent." Amelie suggested almost immediately. She had this planned out already, I could tell.
"Then the deal is over. You can continue working at Storm, but you have to walk around with a bodyguard." She put down her folded arms and glared at me with uncertainty. Perhaps she didn't hear me very well.
"I'm not doing that." She objected after running my last information through her brain. "You simply want to monitor my every movement,don't you? I won't let you have your way."
"Can you stop trying to make me the villain with the slightest opportunity you get?! For this once think about yourself, instead of trying to find sinister reasons behind all my decisions. Casmir is bad, and I just want you to be safe." My voice was tight. I so desperately wanted to scold her, but fought hard to maintain a light tone. Trying to force Amelie into agreeing with me was never going to work.
Amelie flicked a brief glance towards the kitchen, before returning her attention to me. It had been quick, but I had seen her smile grimly for a second.
"What are you thinking?" I asked without hesitation.
"Ways to make you bankrupt." Came a cold and honest reply. She wasn't lying, and even if she wanted to, the fluidity in her tone suggested otherwise. Her mouth twisted ruefully and she lifted a brow in suspicion. "Who exactly is Anna?"
"Who she is shouldn't be your concern at the moment. We're having an important discussion, let's get that over with first." I suggested.
"I'll work for you at Woods. But if I do, I want Anna fired."
"You've been making very bold demands lately, Amelie Lodge. What exactly are you trying to accomplish here?" I asked. I understood that women had a more superior tendency to act on their feelings, but her asking for Anna's dismissal was just extreme. I could see the reason behind her absurd request, but that wasn't enough reason to let Anna go.
"Is that a yes or a no?" Amelie inquired with a raised brow. She was serious with this charade, and had zero respect in her voice. For this once, I decided to let her get away with it.
"You still haven't given me a reason to fire her. What exactly did she do to you?"
"You want me to get married to you right? So why do you keep moving around town with your ex wife as your secretary?"
"Who told you about Anna?"
"The internet." Came a swift answer. "She really didn't change anything about herself, and the news of your second divorce is still out there. Were you really planning on getting married to me without telling me you had another wife?"
"Ex wife." I corrected. "And I was going to tell you."
"When exactly?! When you've gone and made love to her at work? Or when you were done using me?!" She asked heatedly. She didn't bother fighting back her threatening expressions, neither did she bother with her choice of words.
"You weren't ready yet, and that's exactly why you are acting up on such little revelation." I pointed out.
"So do you still love her?"
I didn't offer a reply. Anything I say right now will definitely be misinterpreted as something else. She might stab me to death if I agreed, and if I don't I will become a liar. She was angry enough as it was, I didn't want to make matters worse than they already were.
"You won't answer, will you?"
"Calm yourself down Amelie. You're brewing a storm right now."
She got to her feet, scooped up her purse from the table and made for the stairs. I bolted after her, and she paused the moment she felt my presence behind her.
"Amelie—"
She sidestepped to the right to give me room, but I held her instead. "Anna is just my secretary." I said. Those were the words she wanted to hear, and it was obvious. "But sadly, I cannot fire her." She tried to break free from my grip after my second sentence, but I persisted.
"Why did you lie to me? You said you hadn't been in another relationship since our divorce."
"I'm sorry about that. I knew you would freak out about Anna, and that's why I held that part back." I answered. "I was broken after our divorce, and Anna just happened to be around. She comforted me and I mistook lust for love. But we're over now." I explained.
Amelie turned slowly to meet my gaze. She seemed angry, disappointed and sad at the same time, or maybe a mixture of all those emotions. Although Amelie came to me with this facade of hate, it wasn't very difficult to figure out she still had something for me. Her body language and reaction to my words and touch made that perfectly obvious. But she was in doubt, and she feared me. These two factors were the fuel driving her to turn down my proposal without a second thought.
If I am able to convince her that I've changed, and get her to become comfortable around me once more, I was positive she would yield to my words. And even if she remained skeptical about getting remarried, it would be easier to get her pregnant and convince her to keep it. All I needed was to get past her doubts and fear.
"I don't want to get married to you again." She whispered out with a failed expression. Her words took me by surprise, I couldn't deny that fact. Annoyance streamed along my veins, but I managed to maintain my mental composure. I was curious, what was she thinking right now? Amelie was beginning to make me use my brain when dealing with her and it was becoming a burden. She was a simple woman, yet she made simple things complex with her emotions.
I drew her into my embrace and held her there. Preying on her emotional insecurities was a tactic I've developed over the long course of our relationship. Even though we had our differences back then, I was still able to keep her from getting a divorce for a whole year, and I did that by being random with my emotional support.
I struck when she didn't expect to plant seeds of doubt and obsession in her made up mind. If I played my cards right, it wouldn't be any different from back then.
"I'm a changed man, Amelie. You don't have to believe me, I'll show you myself." She lifted her up to mine, and to my surprise incited a kiss.
Her kiss was gentle, and I took my time to savor the softness of her lips against mine. Then slowly I increased the pressure of my lips to deepen the kiss.
Gently, I scooped her from her feet as though she was weightless and carried upstairs to the bedroom. All while never breaking contact with her lips.
My hands did the job of undressing her with a steady purpose that ignited excitement in my bones. When she was fully naked, my eyes caressed every inch of her slender shape. From her hair down to her curves, and all the way to her toes. I kissed every part of her delicately while abandoning the clothes that restricted me from being in sync with her.
Her eyes burned with a heat that in their reflection was the passion promised by my aroused body. With no hint of morality, I entered her. A soft cry escaped her lips and afterwards, moans of pleasure and satisfaction ensued. Each stroke took her on a journey of sensuality, her body moved and arched with warpings of excitement under me, while her panting cries fueled my muscles to do more.
I had almost forgotten this feeling, one that only Amelie was capable of stirring up. Her feel was unique, her touch sensational, and her taste otherworldly.
Her fingers dug into my skin, but instead of pain I felt pleasure. Her eyes traversed into the profundity of mine, and in them I could see her leaving reality. She held me tightly as though seeking protection from a beast, while I moaned gutturally into the softness of her skin. I collapsed onto her bosom before finally rolling over to the side.
Her breathing was ragged and so was mine. I waited until she had her breathing under control before kissing her a second time. Her face lit up with a soft smile which I returned before climbing down from the bed.
Her pull was almost irresistible, but I had myself trained. I hadn't expected the emotional warfare building up inside of me to begin after one moment with her. I couldn't risk falling, not right now. Love made one weak, and I wasn't prepared to be weak, not while Casmir was still around.