Chapter Nineteen

Athena's POV

The mysterious man put his hand over my mouth, blocking me from screaming as he pulls me to the back, gripping hard onto my stomach. I keep on screaming but he grips harder as I keep on trying. My hands move around—struggling to break free.

But to only be pushed down on the ground. My hands shake as I use my elbows to move backwards—not having the chance to stand up and run away. The figure's shadows hover on top of me, blocking me from seeing his face.

''Please just let me go.'' I breathe out as tears fall streaming down my cheeks.

The man bends down so that he is the same height as me. His hand moves up to touch my chin and I feel disgusted by his touch. The darkness surrounds us makes it harder for me to testify his face. I wanted to push him away and run but I know it won't lead me anywhere.

''Can't do, sweetheart.'' He replies. My mouth widens his shock as soon as I realise who's in front of me. His voice, his sweet calming voice. I know him. I know him so much to forget. I keep on backing away from him—not even bothering to avoid the dirty ground.

''Just let me go, I won't tell anyone.'' Tears fall once more and it looks like I can't stop myself from crying but I needed to be strong. Thoughts of me dying, tortured isn't helping right now. All negative situations starts to appear in my head.

He holds tightly onto my shoulders—at the same spot where my two bruises appear, I yelp in pain and he seems to notice because he presses harder, I press hard onto my teeth, holding back the pain, ''I won't let you go again.''

I grab onto the realistic and nearest thing I could find. A brick.

In a quick pace, I held the brick up high before hitting it onto his temples. He groans in pain and I take my chance to stand up and run away from him. I almost stumble at the edge but I manage to get back on my feet.

''Athena!'' I hear him shout but I ignore it completely. I run out to the other side, where the light starts to show. Running as fast as I can in my heels, it doesn't matter if I end up spraining my ankle because right now, anything is better than getting caught by him.

Tears blur out my vision but I keep on running, passing through people and pushing them away. As long as I am far away from him, it doesn't matter. I won't stop running, not until I'm sure he's far enough. My head turns around to look behind me, as if I could see him running after me, I start to breathe heavily.

My hair touches the side of my cheek and I push it roughly, avoiding anything that could be a distraction or the cause of him might chasing me.

He's not there, it's just your vision.

I turn around once more, the figure completely out of sight. When I look up front, my eyes fail to focus when someone grabs gently onto my waist. I scream as I push the figure away from me. The man grabs harder onto my waist before pulling me into his chest—running his hand at my back, rubbing it soothingly, ''Athena, it's me!'' He says and I stop struggling as soon as I meet his blue eyes.

''It's me.'' He mutters once more, this time it came out more like a whisper. I sob harder and wrap my arm around his waist, tugging onto his shirt. Tears fall freely and his shirt does an amazing job at absorbing them. ''Shh, I'm here.'' He whispers lightly as he pecks onto my temples, ''I'm here, princess.''

When I tighten the grip around his waist, both of his hands wrap fully around my body which leads me to feel his warmth. I snuggle in comfortably, breathing his scent. My mind feels free and I feel safe. He pulls me closer—resting his chin on top of my head.

Closing my eyes, I let out a breath of relief. It feels like I have been holding it in for the longest time. It doesn't matter if he might be back to the arrogant and cocky Alex because right now, I feel safe around him. I have never felt this safe before—around anyone.

Not even Jeremy, not anymore.

Alex holds me in his arm, for god knows how long. I didn't loosen my grip around him and he didn't either. None of us make the attempt to break the hug and pull from each other's embrace but I know I couldn't stay any longer feeling his warmth so I let go, slowly.

He hesitates at first but he loosen the grip around my body too. My eyes came into full view of his chest. As I look up, I find him staring down at me with worry, concern and sympathy. What's left attached is my grip on his shirt and his hands on both sides of my waist.

His hands moves up to wipe the tears away from my face. He uses his thumb and I feel his soft yet rough skin touches mine. Alex ends up caressing my cheek with the back of his hand and I close my eyes, feeling the comfort. We both didn't say a word. None of us was brave enough to ask what happened.

''Come on, let's go back to the hotel.'' Alex kisses on top of my hair before wrapping his arms around my shoulder. As if on cue, my arm moves to his back and wrap around his waist—my head snuggling close to his heart.

We walk side by side to the hotel which was a ten minute walk away from the scene. Alex didn't let go of me, not until we enter our suite. I feel cold as soon as he let go of my shoulder but I quickly hug my own body, trying to not show how affected I was by his touch.

I sit on the sofa, pulling my legs up to my chest. Alex walks to my side a few seconds after, sitting on the coffee table in front of me. I put down my leg to the other side and my hands both rest on my lap but I keep on playing with the tips of my nails.

''Can you tell me what happened?'' His voice came out hoarse.

Looking down, I was utterly speechless. I don't know what I'm supposed to say. Should I start where I walk out alone around the city and end up getting kidnapped by someone I know but manage to escape? Is that what he wants to know?

''Athena, you shouldn't have left by yourself.'' He continues after not receiving answers from me. I look up to find him clenching his jaw, ''It's dangerous. You know that right. We both know that it's dangerous to wander around in a different country. Especially for you.'' Alex stops for awhile and let out a sigh, long enough, ''Who were you running from?''

I keep quiet, tugging onto my own shirt.

''Baby, please can you tell me who were you running from?'' My heart stops beating as he called me baby. Did I hear that clearly? Or is this another dream? I stop tugging onto my shirt but I don't have the courage to look up and meet his eyes, he could read me like an open book, ''I need to know why you were crying, why you were so scared. Who tried to hurt you?''

I bite hard onto my lower lip, trying to block myself from answering him.

He let out another sigh before standing up and bending down in front of me. His hands quickly grab onto mine, entwining our fingers together. He looks up at me as I keep on looking down—but that fails because I could always catch a glimpse of his eyes—so I look to the side, looking anywhere but at him.

His thumb rubs the back of my hand, causing me to feel relax.

''You don't want to talk about it?'' I hear him ask me, this time his voice is low.

I brace myself and face him. Our eyes meet instantly and I feel lost in those blue eyes. They remind me of the ocean. Clear and clean ocean that would calm down anyone. I wouldn't mind staring into his eyes for the longest time because I know, I would be calm just by doing so.

Shaking my head in denial at his question. He nods his head before standing up, our hands still entwined, ''Can I please ask you this one thing—'' Alex crouches down, ''Did he hurt you? Physically hurt you?''

I know what he meant. He wanted to know if the person touched me or try to do anything bad toward me. I shake my head one more time and he let out a small smile this time. He let go of my hands just to move my hair away from my face, ''Do you want to go to bed?'' He asks.

Standing up slowly, his hand brushing against my collarbone before he drops it to his side. He holds around my waist, pushing light me with him as we walk toward the bedroom. Once we're in, he stops pushing me once I arrive at my side.

I get up on the bed and he pulls the comforter closer to my waist as soon as I lay my back on the bed. He run his hand on my hair once more, ''Get some rest.'' He mutters.

As soon as he turns around, I immediately grab onto his wrist. He looks down at his wrist before facing me, ''What's wrong?'' He furrow his eyebrows.

''Lay down with me.'' My voice was a bit different, a bit husky. Maybe from all those screaming. Alex nods as he walk to the other side after I let go of his wrist. He gets up on the bed and he pushes the pillow wall away from between us.

He lays beside me. His hand moves up to my hand, entwining our fingers before slowly putting it between us. My eyes meet up with him and he seem to guess that I don't like the sudden contact because he starts to loosen the grip. I furrow my eyebrows as I tighten the grip. Alex finds it surprising but he holds back on my hand.

''You know that I'm here.'' Those are the last words I heard from him before I feel myself being consumed by the darkness itself.

Waking up to see that our hands are still entwined somehow cheer up my morning. I had a pretty great sleep last night. Alex has both of his eyes closed and I can see that his hair came out very messy than before. I wanted to run my hand through his hair but being the realistic me, I didn't.

I keep quiet, not even moving a bit—scared if I might wake him up.

Suddenly, Alex moves a bit but our hands left untouched. He moves his body so that he is sleeping on his back instead of his side. I watch as he snuggle his head closer to my head. I sniff in the smell of his hair, smell like fruit and men.

I may sound like a creep right now but hey, the chance is right in front of me so why not!

Watching him sleep in his shirt is a first. I can't really tell if he's comfortable holding my hand in his sleep or is it just bothering him. I press my lips into a thin line, removing the thought away. How can we manage to keep on holding each other's hands while we sleep without letting go?

I sit up straight, slowly, not touching Alex or making too much movement on my hand. I breathe out once I see that he's not moving, not a bit. Looking down at my hand he's holding, I try to let go but our fingers entwined so it makes it harder for me to do so.

I bite onto my lower lip as I use my other hand to remove his fingers, one by one.

One finger open, four more to go.

Feeling him moving beside me makes me turn and look at him immediately. His eyes look up at me as I try to remove his hand. He then furrow his eyebrows, ''Where are you going?'' His voice came as sexy as ever, like how they would always sound every time he wake up.

''Just shower.'' I mutter under my breath.

''You're not going to go out again are you?'' He sits up and support himself using his elbow. He stops once he finds a comfortable spot for his elbow. Our hands are still attached. Before I could answer, he cuts me to it, ''Because you know, I was worried about you yesterday. When I wake up, finding that you're not there with me, or around the suite. I thought you were out for a walk but hours passed and you were gone the whole day. I swear I even contacted the receptionist to see if you have walk back inside but they said you haven't come back ever since you walk out. I was on the verge to call the police but I thought on going out and find you myself.''

This time, he sits up straight, putting our entwined hands on his lap, ''I went everywhere to look for you. The Trevi Fountain, Colosseum, Pantheon and even Plazza Navona, I saw you running from something or more like from someone. I tried screaming your name and run after you but it looked like you were too terrified to even pay any attention. You kept on running.''

I look into his eyes, ''What happened yesterday?'' His grip on my hand tightens, ''You need to tell me. I need to know. What exactly happened yesterday can't happen again and the only way is for you to tell me so I can settle it.''

''No I just want you to stay out of it,'' I quickly respond. He seems to be taken aback from my words so I quickly shake my head, ''It's nothing. I'm fine now, I swear. Nothing happened.''

''Something happened.'' He frowns. His voice a bit harsh this time.

''Yes something did happened but can you please just let it go?'' I move forward, closing the space between us. When I realise what I was doing, I quickly sit back on my spot, ''I swear I'll be fine. I won't wander around alone anymore.''

''We both know you're going to wander around alone again.'' He looks away from me.

''Then I'll tell you. Wherever I go, I'll tell you.'' I breathe, ''Will that convince you enough?''

Alex licks his lower lip, letting out a deep sigh, ''I'm not letting this slip. If anything—''

I cut him off, ''Nothing will happen. I promise, that will be the last.'' Deep inside, I know it will be the last. He won't bother me anymore. He won't come near me. But I can't be so sure, I need to take precaution. He might come back and hurt me but another part of me just know he won't.

In an instant, he let go of my hand. I look down in confusion. He ruffles my hair, ''Go take a shower. You smell like dirt.'' And he lay on his back once more, looking at me. I am still uncomfortable whenever he looks at me for too long. Still can't remove that feeling. That one feeling.

I would always feel nervous around him. Feel like he's watching my every step, every move, every action and it makes me feel anxious. No one has ever look or stare at me—not long enough to make me feel this way.

Well, Jeremy did love to look at me but he doesn't make me feel nervous. I get along with him and I somehow hated the fact that I don't feel anxious around him. We acted like friends and yes, that is what every relationship need, a moment where we act like friends but we act like friends all the time. Excluding the making out and kissing.

But he would always treat me like how a friend is supposed to be treated. Instead of treating me as his girlfriend.

Meeting him yesterday was a mistake. Hearing him say how he still love me was a curse. Knowing what happened last night was caused by him was another bonus of hatred waves for him. I would never go near him. He promised to never hurt me, and yesterday, he just did.

I stand up, walking toward the bathroom. I close the door afterwards, locking it. Looking at myself in the mirror somehow surprise me. Pale, porcelain skin, light brown eyes staring back at me. My lips look chapped and pale. Like blood didn't pass through. I quickly bite my lower lip, pressing hard. Within seconds, I find them starting to redden.

Moving into the shower, I feel relaxed as soon as my body feels the warm water pouring over me like rain. I breathe out as I use strawberry body wash all over my body. After washing it out, I cleanse my skin so that I could remove all the dirt.

Once I'm done, I step out to look at myself in the mirror once more.

My complexion has brighten and I can somehow see glow. My eyes shines with the light and they don't look as lifeless or as pale as they did before. My hair looked darker but I didn't mind because I have always have a thing for dark hair.

Walking out of the shower, I feel relief after knowing that Alex is not in the room. I quickly lock the bedroom's door and change into a grey sweater crop top and light washed out jeans. I wrap a blood red scarf around my neck, making sure to feel the comfort. I take out my black heels and black bag before putting it on the bed. Wearing my black earrings and black ring on my index finger, not bothering to remove my wedding ring.

As I walk out of the bedroom, I see Alex on the balcony. He rests both of his elbows on the rail—looking at the city. I lick my dry lips as I push the curtains slowly and walk out to the balcony. Alex glance at me before fully looking at me. His eyes moves down to eye my outfit.

''We're leaving at one, okay?''

''Okay.'' I nod lightly.

He walks inside, leaving me alone. When I turn around, I see him walking inside the bedroom. And with that, he is out of my sight.

After checking out from the hotel, Alex and I are pulling our luggage as we walk out to the lobby. Andrei has been waiting for us when Alex called him fifteen minutes ago. Andrei walk toward us, picking up my luggage before putting it in the trunk. Alex's luggage follow after.

''Pronti per partire?'' Andrei look at both of us.

Alex nods at him before opening the door to the back seat. I notice how he acts nice around me. I step inside the car and he closes the door afterwards. Within seconds, I find him entering the other side, beside me.

Andrei steps in and starts to drive to the airport.

Silence. Silence is our only accompany right now. None of us said a word. Andrei seems to not talk much and Alex just stares out at the window. Well I, I just watch as them. Not really knowing anything to do.

Andrei stops the car once we have arrive at the airport. He steps out to take our luggage from the trunk. I open the door myself before stepping out. Alex is already in front of me, holding his luggage and mine.

''Avete tutto con lei, sir?'' Andrei asks.

Alex nods once more, ''Sì, grazie, Andrei.''

Andrei nods before smiling at me, ''Have a safe flight, signora Herrera.''

I return the smile before pulling my luggage and start to walk inside with Alex. Alex stops at the entrance, waiting for me to walk near him. As soon as I did, he continues to walk. We walk side by side, our own luggage in hand.

''Let's go.'' Alex says before pointing at the departure gate to his private jet.

We walk side by side until his private jet came into view. One of the stewardess starts to help us with our luggage right before we step inside. I am greeted with the same comfort from before. I sit down at the leather seat, pressing onto my knuckles.

Alex sits beside me, leaning his head on the seat.

I unwrap the scarf away from my neck and slowly put it down on my lap. I tie my hair up into a high bun. When I turn to look at Alex, he is looking at me—not really at me but more like at my collarbone.

Following his gaze, my eyes widen when I see the bruise has became purple and a little bit of blue.

Jeremy did hold onto the same spot tightly last night...

I quickly pull my shirt to cover up the exposed bruise but when my eyes meet Alex's once more, I find him still focusing on my collarbone while clenching his jaw, hard.