CHAPTER CIV
~~~Property belongs to Nôvel(D)r/ama.Org.
SOPHIA CLEARLY UNDERSTOOD what Chase was trying to do the moment his fingers went to her zipper as his lips caressed the skin of her neck. He was trying to distract and seduce her from trying to talk about her feelings like he had done to her in his study.
Gathering up enough courage, she placed her hand on his chest and gently pushed him away. “I can’t do this,”
Chase took a step back, hurt at her rejection. “What are you saying?”
“I-,” She closed her eyes and opened them. “I can’t do this, Chase. I- I can’t do this with you. Not until you tell me you love me,”
“We discussed this already,”
“We didn’t!” She snapped. “We didn’t discuss any of this, Chase. Any time I try to talk about it, you simply end up trying to distract me from the topic, or I sometimes end up in tears. You’re hurting me and I hate it,”
He took a step towards her and caressed her cheeks gently with his knuckles, his rings slightly grazing her skin. “So what do you want?”
She gulped, trying not to lean into his touch. “Your heart,” She didn’t break eye contact. “I want you to feel for me what I feel for you,”
“You want me to get infatuated with you?”
His words felt like an arrow sent to her chest, slicing through it. “I’m not infatuated, Chase,” tears welled up in her eyes. “I love you,”
Chase leaned in and brushed their lips together. “I told you love doesn’t exist in our world,”
“I want to make it exist,” She replied. “I want to change the mafia world,”
“It’s not possible,” He said, pecking her lips as his arm went around her waist. “You can’t change this world. Only I can do that,”
“Then do it for me,”
Chase’s lips lifted into a smirk, and he pulled away a little, gazing into her eyes. “I can do anything for you, Gattina, but not that,” He was back with brushing their lips again, trying to coax her into a kiss. “I can even bring everything to your feet, but not my heart,”
{“Kitten”}
“But that’s all I want. I want your heart,” Her voice came out desperate.
“How can I give you what I don’t have, Gattina?” He asked. “My heart was taken away from me ever since I was little,”
{“Kitten”}
Sophia said nothing. She fisted his suit coat in her hands and listened to the sound of her heart drumming wildly against her chest.
“I’m yours, Sophia Romano,” Chase pulled her bottom lip between his lips, gently sucking on it. He reluctantly let go of her lip and stared deeply into her eyes. “I’m yours, and you have nothing to worry about if Saige is your problem,”
“Why then did you marry her? You’re hurting her as well,” Sophia whispered.
“She signed herself up for it,” Chase said, twirling her hair between his fingers as he stared at the curls with admiration. “She chose to get her heart broken,”
The words left her lips before she could barely register them. “You’re cruel,”
That seemed to stop Chase, and he averted his gaze from her hair to her eyes, his lips curling up into a triumphant smirk. “I know, Gattina. I know,”
{“Kitten”}
“What type of man are you?”
“A cruel one,” He smiled, caressing her cheeks. “I’m a cruel man. I’m the cruel man you happen to want so badly. I’m the cruel man an angel as you can’t stay away from,”
Angrily, Sophia pushed him away from her, and he stumbled a bit before regaining his posture. “I hate you!”
A flicker of emotion appeared in his eyes and disappeared almost immediately. It was so fast that she could barely register it. He smiled smugly. “Do you?”
She couldn’t believe that was the type of person she had fallen in love with. How could she have been so foolish to fall in love with an inhuman person like him? He didn’t care about anyone’s feelings. He only cared about himself. Yes, Saige pissed her off but she would never wish something as bad as what Chase was doing to her for her.
But nothing could change the fact that she still loved that inhuman man even after all the pain he had caused her.
The moment he saw the tears rapidly flowing down Sophia’s cheeks, Chase’s eyes softened, and he went closer to her. “Gattina,”
{“Kitten”}
Sophia immediately raised her hand up to stop him, and he stopped. She dismissed the shock she felt as he did as tell and shook her head. “Don’t come close to me,” She cried. “Don’t come close to me or touch me, Chase. Not until you change who you are,”
After saying that, Sophia dashed out of the room.
“Fuck. Fuck. Fuck,” Chase gritted out and kicked the wall while running his hands through his hair.
~~~
Sophia shut her bedroom door with a bang and leaned her back on it, slowly sliding down the door. She sat on the ground and hugged her knees to herself as her tears increased.
“I’m a cruel man. I’m the cruel man you happen to want so badly. I’m the cruel man an angel as you can’t stay away from,”
The look in his eyes scared her. He didn’t look like the Chase she knew. He wasn’t the Chase that would cradle her face and say sweet nothings to her till she eventually calmed down.
The one she saw was cruel. He was brutish and nothing close to the Chase she had fallen in love with.
Yet, she still loved him. She loved him in every way he was.
A small, gentle knock on her door made her flinch a little, and she immediately stood up. “Who’s there?”
The person replied. “It’s me, Val,”
Wiping her tears, Sophia opened the door and passed Valerie a fake smile. “Hey, Val. You’re back already?”
“Yeah,” Valerie eyed her warily. “I just returned and was on my way to your room when you ran past me crying. Are you okay?”
Sophia meekly nodded. “I- I-,”
“It’s about Don, right?”
Sophia shook her head immediately. “No. No. It’s just that I-,”
“I know you’re in love with my cousin, Sophia,” Valerie said. “I think we’ve passed this stage where you lie all the time,”
Sophia let out a shake breath. “It hurts,”
Valerie passed her an understanding smile. “Can I come in?”
“Yeah,” Sophia replied, moving away from the door to give Valerie a way to walk in. “I’m sorry I let you stand there,”
“It’s okay,” Valerie dropped her bag on the bed and turned to Sophia, who was staring at her. “Tell me what the issue is,”
“He-,” a single tear rolled down her cheek. “He doesn’t love me. He’s only hurting me,”
“Do you think Don loves you?” Valerie asked. “Have you tried to see if he loves you from his actions towards you?”
“I don’t know,” Sophia shook her head. “He cares about me a lot. He can’t bear to see me hurt and all, yet he claims be doesn’t love me. I don’t even understand him at all. There’s a part of me that wants me to believe he really loves me but then, I get hurt again and again each time he says something else,”