OFF-LIMITS

05.

Chapter five | Layla
"Open the door!" I yell as I knock for the hundred's time, I wasn't lying when I said that I'll give Adrian his money back, the problem is..I don't know how to, so in my head, I planned that I was going to persuade him to return the donation, do my plans normally work when it comes to him? Absolutely not.

I raise my hand to knock again but I pause when the door flies open, surprise catches in his eyes for one brief second before the spark goes away, my breath hitches when I notice that he's naked, well half naked, he's wearing grey sweatpants and no shirt, The hard ridges of his muscles aren't only cut, but they're also defined like he spent time sharpening every ab, his sleeve tattoo is more visible, and he has a couple of other tattoos across his chest but I don't make out what they are when I feel him placing two fingers on my chin and pulling my face up towards his.

His heated gaze travels up and down my body like whips of fire, I came here to talk, to fight even, but it seems like all the words vanished from my mouth, however, I try to force myself to stop sidetracking myself with his beauty, I raise my chin and snarl when I notice the smirk across his face, "what?" I ask frowning as if I haven't been checking him out for the last minute, he cocks his head a little, "it's cute that you're trying not to check me out, you like what you're seeing?" He asks and heat creeps across my neck, "no." I lie and he nods, "of course." He says then raises a brow.

"What do you want, darling?" He asks, his voice lowering and I let out a breath, if he could stop calling me names it'd be much easier to concentrate on why the hell I'm here, "we can talk downstairs...when you're wearing something" I point at his chest and his jaw ticks, he doesn't want to talk downstairs, why? No idea, I cross my hands over my chest and raise a brow at him, "come on, wear anything." I say and he leans in, his hot breath falling on my lips, "careful, you keep demanding me like that and you won't like the result, Layla." He says, my name sounding like sin falling from his mouth, I release a breath and take a step backward, walking away from his room as I jog downstairs, "I'll be waiting!" I yell over my shoulder and let out a breath, noticing how my pulse went heretic, I don't like the way my body reacts to this man's words, or even existence, I don't like it at all.

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Adrian doesn't take more than five minutes before he appears downstairs, he drops down on the sofa in front of me and I'm grateful that he kept that distance between us, he runs a hand through his hair, messing it up before he leans back and stares at me for a beat and I finally decide to speak, "the donations....you gave the shelter." I say and he raises a brow, "yeah?" He says his voice raspy, I raise my chin and stare right at him "I don't want them." I say and his face stays the same, not a hint of annoyance crossing it.

"Take your money back Adrian, go to the shelter and ask them to return it, and they will return what hasn't been spent, and I'm telling you again I don't want the money, we don't need it." I say and he runs a hand across his jaw, "not happening." He says sternly, I raise my hands in the air frustration eating my skin, "what do you mean by "not happening" why can't you just do it?" I ask and mimic his tone, I don't want to owe him shit.

"Why are you even doing this?" I ask when he doesn't answer my question, "I want to." He replies with his normal two or three words answer like we don't deserve more words coming from his mouth,
Fuck him and his ego, "Adrian." I sigh and his eyes fill with a mischievous gleam, "what, darling?" He asks again as if I hadn't just said all that fucking shit.

Adrian is pissing me off and he's enjoying it way more than he's showing, I can feel it in my fucking bones, having a conversation with him is hard, winning that conversation is actually impossible, "why would you even donate all this money into a shelter, an animal's shelter, well considering the fact that you hate animals?" I ask what comes first to my mind.

"Who said I donated it for the animals?" He asks and a laugh slips out of me, not a humorous one, "you're impossible." I groan, "just take the money and be grateful for it, Layla." He say-no he demands, his voice rough, deep, and chilling like a moonless night, he stands up and looks down at me, "stop being a brat." He says and my eyes widen, as anger floods through my veins, I stand up and stare right into his soulless eyes, "fuck you." I snarl and he glares at me, if his eyes were his hands I know that he'd be choking the fuck out of me right now.

He lowers his head a little, his hot breath falling on my skin, his scent filling my nostrils, "only if you want to." He whispers and I stagger backward my eyes widening, "am I interrupting something?" A new voice joins and my breath hitches when I recognize who it belongs to, Damien.

He walks towards us with unhurried steps, as he clutches his mug with a hand and the other one is in his pocket, he faces me and speaks "is he bothering you?" He asks, the pace of my heartbeat slows down, as guilt crashes through my veins, fuck you, Adrian, fuck you for making me feel this way, "no it's fine, he was leaving." I say and pinch Adrian's shoulder, he doesn't react, which isn't surprising, he just cocks his head a little and stares at him.

"I thought you were going to pick up our dear mother from the airport." Adrian tells him and I raise my brows, no one told me that their mother is coming today, oh my lord, "don't talk about her like that." Damien snarls, his face twisting in disgust the more he stares at Adrian, he raises a brow in return, "dear mother is considered disrespectful in your vocabulary?" He asks calmly which irritates Dam more, I walk towards him and put an arm around his, "come on, let's leave." I mutter to him and he nods, leaning in to kiss me, I kiss him back just as my eyes meet Adrian's.

His eyes shine with pure maniac, and they dart to where I'm clutching dam's arm and if he could, he would tear us apart by that look alone, I swallow the knot in my throat as we walk away from him towards the kitchen, he walks in the other direction without another word.

Damien sits down on the table and drops his head in his hands, I put a hand on his shoulder, "what's wrong?" I ask, he slowly removes my hand away and my brows furrow, "everything." He says, I nod and suddenly get the courage to speak and tell him what has bothering me to just lessen his pain "I'm struggling with things too, a lot of things, and we'll both figure it out Dam, we always do." I say and he raises his brows, "you're acting like our problems can be fucking compared" he says so harshly I flinch, but he doesn't seem to care as he goes on, "well let's see what you have Layla, can't fucking eat like a normal person, always stressed out, oh..and sensitive as hell, what else? you have problems at your fucking shelter, yes this is fucking huge, don't even try to compare them." He says and my heart beats so loudly I feel it thrumming in my ears, it feels like someone just stabbed me in my fucking face, I swallow the knot forming in my throat, how can he be so cruel with his words?

"I didn't mean to compare..and well maybe those seem like small problems to you but they're not to me," I say quietly and he laughs bitterly, standing up and walking away leaving me all alone, I rub a hand across my face, This relationship is coming to an end soon, I can feel it, I slowly stand up, trying to forget about what he just said, I walk away from the kitchen but something catches my eyes, a pack of Maltesers.

It brings back memories in almost a second, I've always loved this chocolate, but it wasn't the taste of it that made me so happy, it was the memories it brought, my dad always used to buy me those, we'd eat them together, and he'd stay and watch movies with me, the loss of him will always cut through me, but I focus on the good thing right now, I grab it and don't think twice before I open it and throw one in my mouth, letting the chocolate melt between my teeth, it tastes fucking good, I eat the whole pack, but that isn't the thing that bursts the sudden joy in my belly, and spread a huge smile across my face making me forget about what he just said, it's the fact that I didn't feel guilty while eating it,
For once.

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