House Of Memories [CEO!Luke]

Chapter 11

Luke scoffed, a breath leaving past his parted lips. "That's not an answer."

If you tensed in anticipation for his touch before, now you tensed because you couldn't stand the close proximity of his body. You couldn't stand the smell of alcohol, the sight of his dilated pupils. You couldn't stand the idea that he came to you only because he was intoxicated.

Luke's eyes were careful, watching, inspecting you. Your face, your hair, your eyes; his hand was still hovering, brushing your hair just enough for you to feel the movement, but not enough to feel his warmth. Yet your skin still tingled in all the places he almost touched.

"What happened to us?" He asked again, his voice was so soft, you couldn't believe it was coming out of a tall, confident, powerful man in front of you.

You stood quiet, still expecting Luke's fingers to graze your skin any time. It never came and you couldn't help, but feel disappointed to see his hand finally fall by his side.

"For starters, you cheated," you were quick to place blame. You watched as Luke blinked, a quick look of pain washing over his eyes. You could swear his lips flinched, too.

"And you lied." His voice was gentle, but you still felt it vibrate in your chest, shaking your heart from within.

"You did it out of spite," you defended yourself, making sure he knows he's at fault, he's the one to blame. "And I did it to protect you."

"Yet somehow it hurt me."

Luke's replies were quick, his words loud and clear, but his eyes seemed lazy, tired. You didn't know what to say; you weren't sure how much you can say.

"But I never meant to," you promised, cursing yourself for the softness of your own voice. You hated how weak Luke made you feel, how even after years and years of unfairness and secrecy, you were still just as in love with him as you were when you first met him.

Luke stayed quiet and you prayed for him to react, to do anything before you accidentally let something slip. But he stayed silent and you never felt more vulnerable under his gaze as you did then.

"Why did you never tell me?" Your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach, when he spoke again.

"Tell you what?"

"About your... job," he explained with a snicker; the word felt disgusting on his tongue - job. As far as he was concerned, it was no job.

You stayed quiet for a minute, reassessing your words, making sure they were the right ones. "You wouldn't have cared for me. You would have left me as soon as you found out," you paused to let it sink in, "A boy like you with a future as bright as yours was... you would have never gone for a drug dealer."

Your voice gained much more strength now and Luke had to straighten out his shoulders. Drug dealer. Words echoed in his head, his brain unable to imagine you in a dirty basement (or wherever that ganged worked, he really didn't know), surrounded by sleazy men that no doubt saw you as something more than just a... dealer.

His mouth opened in protest, but he quickly shut it up, knowing too well you were completely right. He would not have stayed. Correction -- he could not have stayed. Him being from a heir to a multimillionaire company and all that.

"It would have damaged your reputation. And your business," you continued, stating the obvious. "It would have changed your opinion about me, if you knew what I did. If you knew what I had to do."

Luke's jaw clenched, but he wasn't sure if it was the repugnance for your past or for the fact that he was lied to for almost a decade of his life.