She Belongs To The Billionaire ✔

Chapter 37

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Kara’s POV

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          It was warm, and the temperature was mild even though my curtains were down and my window was shut. 

Late Septembers were always like this, this year was no exception. We were in the autumn period. My door creaked open and after some seconds of shuffling, Stephano slowly crawled into bed beside me. He usually did this whenever he came back late from work, then he would make little conversation with me and we would cuddle before calling it a night. He never spoke much and neither did I.

I understood him, or I really felt like I did. We’d gotten closer and I also knew so much about him. I could depict his mood and his emotions. He would give me a small talk about how his day went, where he went and sometimes, he’d tell me what the meeting was about. It was never about our discussions, but it was about the intimacy between us.

This night though, Stephano didn’t do any of those. It wasn’t like he was obligated to do them but instead, it had become something like a ritual, something I now anticipated. Our own special ritual.

But I waited, and waited. No forehead peck or low curse word like he sometimes muttered whenever he hugged me tight to his chest and we had our little talks. 

He didn’t hug me or ask how my day went and if I’d had dinner yet. He didn’t even check if I was awake or not. I turned around with a little smile and turned on both the bedside lamp on my side and his, for proper illumination. A horrified gasp escaped my lips as I took in his disheveled form.

He was pale, like real pale and his lips were trembling like feathers in the winter wind. His shirt was wrinkled and his hair was a mess atop his head. Was he drunk? He didn’t smell drunk though.

I sat up in a swift moment and knelt on the bed, taking his hands in mine. “Stephano, what’s wrong?”

He didn’t respond; he merely stared far ahead, beside my head with puckered lips. I placed a hand on his upper arm and tapped him twice on the shoulder but he still didn’t look my way. It was as if he didn’t know I was in the room with him and that got me alarmed.

Confusion and fear battled for dominance as I stared hard at him. My heartbeat was suddenly erratic. I had never seen someone behave the way he was doing and it made my heart thump wildly in my chest. It hadn’t been more than few minutes when he came in, so I couldn’t say much about his sudden need to zone out like someone in a really deep thought.

I tapped him. Once. Twice. Thrice.
Stephano. Was. Still. Unresponsive!

“Stephano, sit up!” I snapped in slight agitation and tremor was evident in my voice.

Like a broom had just pricked him, he looked my way then looked away again. He placed his hands on his thigh.

“Sit up Stephano.” I repeated with more firmness in my tone. 

He did and looked around a little bit as if he was unaware of where he was. There was a strange express in on his face, as if he was watching out for something. His gaze was wary.

“Kara?” He called softly.

I wondered what was up with him. “Yes?”

“Kara....” He drawled.

He smiled a little — freely like a little boy, his eyes twinkled. It broke my heart for some reason. This wasn’t Stephano. Not the Stephano I knew at least. My Stephano would never joke around like this, I would have called him out for it. He was beginning to scare me.