"It's not because I don’t care," he said, as though he read my mind. And for a moment I thought I said that out loud, but I didn't.
With a serious expression on his face, Darius continued. "It's because I trust you. And did you really think I would marry you without knowing everything about you? I'm not going to force someone to marry me just because our great grandfathers were a bunch of idiots, Ivory. Your dad told me about your relationship with James and I knew you had zero feelings for him. The only reason I even considered to think he would make a good business partner was because he was recommended and it would be rude if I knocked him right away. So I've just been waiting to turn him down."
I stared, hardly blinking like I was hypnotised by his emerald eyes as I felt something inside me swirl. Was it pride? No.
He said, "I left you in that room alone with him because I knew nothing was going to happen. Not many men can feel that way by just leaving their woman with some man, let alone someone they once had feelings for. It's because I trust you that I left you on your own. I don't want to choke you like our parents do."
I was too distracted by the way he was playing with a strand of my hair as I scrutinised him under my stare. So he did care?
"What, you're not going to say something?" he asked in the voice I used before mocking me with a smile. I narrowed my eyes, playfully shoving him hard enough to turn around, mostly to hide my smile. So he did care.
But I was still a bit annoyed at him. He could have told me this before I had my little outburst, which he found quite amusing.
I pulled the blanket higher, closing my eyes before I heard him again. "What, not even a thank you for that peacock thing?"
I made a grunting noise as I turned back around. Fine. He did win it for me after all.
"Fine. Thank –"
He had a wicked glint in his eyes and I should have seen it coming. Before I can even finish my sentence, he bent down and closed his lips around mine.
And as quickly as it happened, it ended, leaving me confused.
"You're welcome," he said, and then he turned around pulling half the blanket to his side. "Now if you mind, some people want to sleep."
I blinked, staring at his back. Are you serious?
I grabbed the blanket and tugged it back to my side. I turned away from him. Trust him to make me even more confused.
By the time I woke up, it was just past ten in the morning. Why was I up so early?
I turned around as I stretched, only to see that Darius had left already. I sat up looking around and raising my hands above my head. Where did he go?
I looked at the bedside table where he had laid his three phones out last night. They were all gone.
Today I have something important to do. I got up and headed to the bathroom to have a shower, taking his jacket with me. Now, to get this stain out...
I had a quick shower, washing my hair with the shampoo that smelled so good I used half of the bottle. Why did hotels always have such nice smelling stuff? I wrapped a robe around myself and then a towel in my hair and walked to the sink, grabbing the black jacket off the hook.
"God, Ivory, do you always have to be a messy eater?" I admonished myself as I turned on the hot water tap. If I thought it was just cream and it would come off, I was wrong.
The food color from the ice cream stood out against the dark jacket. I grabbed some soap, placed the jacket under the running water and rubbed at the stain.
"Damn it," I muttered, pausing as I got out of breath.
I had removed most of it but the blue was still there. It was like it was etched onto the fabric.
Drastic measures call for drastic time.
I looked under the sink and found a spare toothbrush. I hope it's not someone’s. I placed some of the soap on it and rinsed it under scalding hot water before I rubbed it violently against the patch of stain.
"Go, go, go!"
It didn't do anything; there was still some stain left over. I stopped, leaning against the wall feeling like I ran a marathon. Man, this was like a cardio workout and all I was doing was intense scrubbing.
I looked at my hands that were red from the water but that would go back to normal. I wrinkled my nose at all the soap around my ring and pulled it off, rinsing it under the tap. I turned it around looking at the massive stone, hating how big it was. It was beautiful but it was too big, and impractical for everyday wear.
If I had to put a wager, it would be that my mum bought this or chose it for the wedding. It was a large diamond that was surrounded by more diamonds. I placed it on the counter. The ring was sharp and I could see the imprints of some of the small diamonds on the side of my other two fingers.
Whenever I slept, the ring would turn a bit and dig into my skin, like now.