C E N T R A L C E E || 18+

Chapter Fifteen

To be honest, I was more surprised about Aiysha's presence than about Cench's. After everything she had done, she still had the audacity to come to my house. I didn't give a flying fuck about her, but she was danger. She wouldn't have come over from New York to Beverly Hills to occasionally visit her cousin. No. She had some weird shit going on in her mind that included hurting me. I was sure of it.

My gaze shifted back to Cench. He was more muscular and slightly tanned now. Just the bare sight of him made my nipples go rock hard under the thin fabric of my tank top. The only thing I could do in that moment was to pray that he wouldn't notice. I hadn't expected him to reappear and I didn't know how to feel about it. Part of me craved him, needed him. The other part of me was ashamed of all the words I had said to him, thinking that we would never get back together. Suddenly, all my therapy sessions felt like a waste of time. His presence was enough for me to realize that every inch of my body, soul and mind needed him.

"Casey," I called, my eyes still locked in Cench's. I needed Aiysha out of here and I had no energy to get her out myself. It didn't take five seconds for Casey to drag Aiysha out of my sight. Now, it was just the two of us. Me and him.

"Look, I know this might seem w—" before he could finish his sentence, I wrapped my arms  around his waist. I buried my face in his chest as deep as I could and sighed im relief when his arms found their way on the back of my head. A small kiss on my forehead was enough for me to let out a quite sob. I let out the entire frustration of the past year crying into his chest until there was nothing left but dry pants.

"I'm here now," he whispered. I didn't know how long we had been standing in that position but I never wanted this moment to end. This entire time I had thought that I was over him, that my feelings had been an exaggeration, but now that I was inhaling his scent, buried in his chest, I realised that I had been fooling myself. I could never forget him.

"You're here now," I repeated as I pulled back from him. For a couple of seconds I just looked at him to make sure this wasn't a dream. It was real as hell.

I took his hand and led both of us upstairs into my room. We moved to the blue velvet seats next to the bar. He sat down on one and right as I was about to plop on the other one, he grabbed me by my wrist. It was a soft yet powerful touch. I turned around, seeing him pat his lap with his other hand.

"Come here, Selina," he said. I did as he said and sat down on his lap. It didn't feel weird. He wrapped his arms around my waist and pulled me a little bit closer. My shoulder was brushing against his chest and my arms found their way on his neck.

"Why did you come?" I asked him. There had to be a reason. Otherwise he wouldn't have waited an entire year.

"I missed you," he said, placing a kiss on my shoulder. Those three words alone had the power to shatter my heart into a hundred pieces. I missed you too.

"I'm sorry for all the things I said to you in Italy. It's been a long time now, and I used plenty of it to think about it." I adjusted the glasses on the bridge of my nose, then kept talking. "You weren't just a vacation fling to me and I hate myself for not treating you like it. And honestly, I didn't want you to leave. But I couldn't bring myself to tell you to stay. Marcelo had traumatized me and—"

"I love you, Selina," he interrupted me. "And I don't want to waste another second of our time talking about Marcelo." He placed his finger under my chin, tilting my head up so I looked right into his eyes. "There's nothing you need to worry about anymore, do you understand?"

"I love you too." I pressed my forehead against his. "And I trust you. But don't you think it's weird that Marcelo didn't even try to get me? I mean I'm glad that he didn't but it still scares me. I feel like he's up to something bigger."