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~ Carson's POV ~

"What happened?"

I glanced over at Grey before shaking my head, putting my glass of scotch down on the table in front of me. It was only Grey with me since Fox and Aviana had gone out to pick up some dinner.

Originally it was only going to be Fox but when Aviana and Grey began to bicker again after their disagreement over Dani this morning, I sent Aviana too.

I just needed a drink and some peace and quiet before I got back to doing my work.

"I think I made a mistake."

"A mistake?" I nodded my head as I leaned back into the couch, closing my eyes as I tilted my head back. Despite how much I hated the thought of telling someone how I felt about her, I also just needed to do it. I don't know how to explain it...I felt this urge to just...talk.

It was her, she was rubbing off on me.

"I love her so damn much, but I just don't have time for a girlfriend, my life isn't made for that. These last two weeks have been hell without her Grey. I ended up just blocking her out of my head after I realised I couldn't see her. I even tried to come home the first few days but-"

"But it was too far to drive back every night, I know that. But you didn't make a mistake Carson."

"I didn't?" When I gave him a confused frown, opening my eyes to look at him he let out a laugh picking up his glass of scotch. "No, you didn't. This doesn't happen all the time Carson, all this stuff that happened over the last two weeks was bound to happen the moment you got back. It's just bad timing, but any other time you would have found a way to fit her in, if you loved her enough."

"I thought you didn't like her?"

"I don't, but you're my brother and you love her, anyone can see that." I nodded my head at this, watching as he averted his eyes back to the papers he was reading when it fell silent again.

"I screwed up last night. I said some things that I don't think I can take back."

"Like what?"

"I called her a bitch."

"Well, she called us all jerks this morning so I guess you're even." When he cracked a smile I just shook my head, sitting up properly with a sigh. "I was meaning to talk to you about that. Don't ever talk to her like that again, she's my girlfriend you need to show her respect. I know you don't like her, or trust her but-"

"I don't trust her because of who she is and there's no way I'm going to respect her. She's McKnight's ex Carson, I just don't understand how you're not bothered by that." The moment he said that, my head snapped in his direction.

"You don't think I am? Every damn day I think about him, I want to rip his freaking throat out. But it's not her fault. She hasn't done anything wrong."

It fell silent for a moment between us, the entire time I thought about everything that had happened to her while I felt his eyes on me.

She hasn't deserved a single damn bad thing that's ever happened to her. What she said to me last night about knowing her worth...as much as it hurt me to know she was using those words against me I was so damn proud of her.

She stood up to me and she did well doing it.

"What happened Carson? When you talk about her you get this look in your eye, I've never seen it before."

"What look?" I gave him a confused frown before I picked up my glass again, suddenly feeling uncomfortable under his inquisitive gaze.

"I don't know. That day when you came back and you were telling us what happened, you zoned out with some look on your face when you talked about what happened to her in there. The same thing happened just now."

"I...I can't tell you. It's not my place to say it, she has to do it if she wants to."

Grey only nodded his head although I could see the possibilities running through his head just like they did with me when Dani used to drop all these hints.

When he didn't say anything else, I spoke again the words just coming out of my mouth before I could stop them. If I ever wanted to talk about deep things, it was always with him.

"She's complicated, Grey. Some of the things I said to her last night would have hurt her, really bad and not to mention I've been ignoring her for two weeks."

"Just talk to her. Carson, apart from your family and Avi, she's the only girl you've ever been this close to. She's special to you, just tell her what's been going on and she'll understand."

Almost instantly I shook my head as I picked up my glass, finishing the last bit of liquid in it before I refilled it. "She won't care, what's been happening isn't an excuse for treating her like crap."

"No, but it'll be an explanation. Then you work on earning her forgiveness."

"When did you get so wise?" My question along with a raised brow caused him to shrug. "I learned it the hard way with Maria. I didn't give her enough attention and now look, Sara is turning three soon and we're still fighting. We can't even go through the courts either."

We already knew that we couldn't do anything legally from the moment we took over the mafia. If Grey tried to go through the courts they'd look into him and there's no way we could know what they would find.

The safest option and one of my key rules was to stay below the radar, that means you can't even get a speeding ticket.

Of course, with my driving habits I'd picked a tonne of speeding tickets in the last five years, so I knew how to get them brushed under the carpet. But I couldn't do that for every one of my men, which is why they have a rule of staying below the radar.

"I can try talking to her again."

"Oh hell no, you made it worse last time." The moment Grey glared at me a chuckle escaped my lips. "Maybe I did, but at least she spoke to you afterwards."

"If I remember correctly, she told me to go screw myself and then you."

"Well you didn't, did you?" When I rose an eyebrow at him, he leaned in closer to me giving me a smirk. "We can do it now if you want."

When he wiggled his eyebrows at me I let out a laugh shaking my head as I pushed him away from me. "Never in a million years, I have my girl, you can go screw yourself."

All he did was roll his eyes as he let out a sigh, checking his phone when it started buzzing.

"Fox texted - they're going to be a while, Avi is dealing with something on the phone."

"Something happened?" He shook his head in confusion as he read his messages that were still coming through. "Something about a breach at one of our warehouses, it's nothing to worry about apparently. He said she's just giving them hell for being incompetent."

I couldn't help but laugh at that knowing that was something she would do. "Tell him to tell her to hurry up, I'm hungry. Also make sure they don't forget to bring Dani's too."

We spent another twenty minutes working on some business deals we'd been putting off after that little break when we had that conversation. For most of that day we were still trying to figure out if my accountant Hector had any other people working with him when he stole from me. The only person who would be able to figure it out, unfortunately was Hector which is why Aviana suggested Dani.

I knew she could do it, I noticed that day I asked her to read those business propositions that she had this eye for numbers like it came so naturally to her. But I wanted to ask her myself when we were alone.

"I need to get something from my office upstairs." Grey barely gave me a nod as I got up from the couch, leaving him to type something on his laptop as I went upstairs.

When I passed the master bedroom on my way to my office, my mind instantly went back to last night as a pang of guilt hit me.

I didn't have an excuse for how I spoke to her, I wasn't even going to try and justify it in my head.

I screwed up, I knew that and I knew I would make it up to her. I just needed to find out who else was stealing from me, then I had to sort out the Hollande family who were still hanging around me two weeks later. After that I had to focus on trying find Christopher who'd dropped off the face of the Earth all while holding on to all the business we almost lost when I went missing and people became concerned they might lose their money.

Like Grey said, it's never been this bad, I've never been this busy. It was the worst timing to add Dani to the mix.

Pushing the thoughts out of my head, I went into my office grabbing the couple of files I needed before I went back downstairs, reading them as I walked. It was only when I got down to the bottom of the stairs that I heard the sound of the elevator doors closing and at first I assumed it was Avi and Fox with the food. But when I looked up and saw Dani coming towards me, I just stopped in my tracks.

Before I could ask her what was wrong, she pulled me in for a hug letting out a sob into to my chest. When I instinctively wrapped my arms around her she started crying harder, causing this...panic to rise up inside me.

The last time I felt it was when she was taken from me by Mark for that poker game when she was assaulted. Those couple of moments were a daze in my head, but I do remember that sick panicky feeling I felt when I couldn't get to her and they took her.

When she hugged me, I felt it all over again.

"Dani what happened? Are you hurt? What's the matter?" When I spoke all it did was make her cry even more as she clutched my shirt in her hands pressing her face into my chest. From the corner of my eye I saw Grey standing up with a concerned expression, watching as Dani sobbed into my chest.

"Dani? Talk to me beautiful, what's wrong?" As I spoke I placed my hands on her waist trying to pull her away from my chest so that I could speak to her.

"What's wrong with me?"

"What?" When I gave her a confused frown she just continued to speak through her sobs, refusing to look me in the eye.

"What did I do that was so bad? What did I do to deserve everything that has happened to me? I've never done anything bad to anyone, I don't ever hurt people intentionally, I've always been a good person. I worked hard to get my education and now people think I'm only worthy of becoming a stripper or they just take what they want anyway whether I like it or not. That's all I'm judged by is my body Carson."

A stripper?

"What the hell are you talking about?" When she heard my tone which came out a lot harsher then I intended it to, she looked up at me through her tearful gaze. "I'm worthless, he used to tell me I was only here for his pleasure. That's all I was good for and he was right. What else am I good for?"

As soon as she mentioned Ayden, I felt my grip on her tighten as I pulled her in closer to me trying to keep my inevitable anger at bay. He was another thing I had to deal with on my list, but I was going to make sure he was last so that I could enjoy every second of it.

"That's not true baby, you-"

"No it is, it is true Carson. I was so stupid to think I could ever be successful or independent. I'm just a slut, like he said, like Ayden and Atticus said I'm just a whore. I'm just here for their pleasure."

"What?"

When Grey suddenly spoke, Dani froze in my arms her entire body tensing up when she heard his voice for the first time. For those few moments her cries stopped as she slowly turned around to face him. Almost immediately I could sense her panic when she let out a whimper, turning back to look at me with a look which just screamed 'what have I done?'.

"Dani it's okay."

"No..." She shook her head as another sob left her lips before she turned to look at Grey as if she was checking he was still there or that he was even real.

"No...he can't know. Carson, he can't." When she turned back to look at me with the panic written all over her face, I cupped her cheeks in my hands, looking into her eyes. "Baby it's okay, you can trust him, you don't need to worry about anything. Just calm down my beautiful, talk to me."

Of course, it's Dani and she didn't talk to me, instead she just started crying all over again, her body wracking with sobs as she hugged me. Letting out a breath, after tossing the file I was holding onto a table near me I lifted her up into my arms carrying her over to the couch.

I saw Grey sit down across from us as he kept his eyes on Dani who was still crying in my arms, refusing to look up as I held her in my lap. "Dani please stop crying, I need you to calm down so we can talk. There's nothing to cry about baby."

"It's supposed to be a secret."

"It is." She shook her head at this, finally lifting her head away from my chest to look at me. "It's not."

"I think you're forgetting we're the best in the world at keeping secrets when we want to be." When I gave her a smile, using my thumbs to wipe away her tears from her cheeks, she took a cautious glance over at Grey.

"You won't tell anyone?"

He held her stare for a moment, his eyes boring into her tearful ones before he eventually shook his head.

"I won't, I promise."

I'm not sure if she trusted him, but she didn't say anything else, instead she turned back to face me resting her head on my shoulder. I waited a few minutes until her cries had finally subsided, instead just rubbing her back in an attempt to soothe her.

"What happened?"

"I spent all day looking for a job, no one wants to hire me because I 'quit' my first job at an accounting firm after the first week. When I got out of the cab just now, I made small talk with the guy waiting for me to pay so he could get in."

Considering how turbulent our relationship had been recently, I decided it wasn't the best time to give her hell for talking to strangers.

"I mentioned something about the city being so big and yet no one was hiring and he told me he was opening a club and he needed employees. When he gave me his card, I realised it was a strip club."

The moment I figured out where this story was going, I resisted the urge to tightened my grip on her in case I accidentally hurt her.

"The way he looked at me...it made me feel sick. He told me that I would make him a lot of money and that all I needed was less clothes and a smile to fit his job description. He called me beautiful and he winked at me...you're the only person I ever want that from. No one else." When her voice broke again, this time I did tighten my grip on her ever so slightly, pulling her in tighter to my chest.

"Do you still have that card?" She nodded her head at this, letting out a sniffle as she reached into her pocket to take it out causing my grip to loosen on her. When I took it from her I tossed it over to Grey without even sparing it a glance.

"Look at me." When she heard my voice she lifted her head to look at me, sniffling again as she looked at me through her red eyes.

"You know what you said to me last night, that's exactly what I want you to remember every single time some guy, or anyone for that matter, makes you feel like this. I've only seen you do it once but I know how smart you are and you're only 21. Don't rush it Dani, you'll find a job when it's time and then you can prove every single fool who ever rejected you, or doubted you or underestimated you wrong."

"But..."

"No buts." When I shook my head cutting her off, I gave her a soft smile moving some hair away from her eyes. "The only person you need approval from is yourself, no one else."

She held my stare for a moment before she eventually nodded her head, letting out a tired breath hiding her face in my shoulder again. "I'm sorry for crying, I just feel like crap. My feet are hurting and I have cramps and I'm so hungry but I finished all the chocolate last night."

I couldn't help but crack a smile at her words noticing Grey did the same as I went back to rubbing her back soothingly again and he got back to doing his work from earlier. "Have you eaten today?"

"I didn't have time. I was too busy being rejected left, right and centre. A pet shop even rejected me, can you believe that?"

"What the hell were you doing in a pet shop?" When she heard my confused tone she lifted her head. "I saw this cute puppy in the window so I went inside to make friends with it."

"I think I need to remind you of some rules when you're out in public."

"Rules?" When she gave a confused frown I nodded my head. "Stranger danger, don't talk to the guy getting in your cab and don't wander off into random stores on your own looking for a job. Especially in this city."

"I know all about stranger danger." When she heard Grey let out a scoff from where he was sitting she turned her to look at him giving him a glare. "What?"

"Nothing." When he shook his head, a smirk tugging at his lips I felt her turn her body in my lap properly to face him. "If you have something to say then say it."

When he heard her challenging tone, he lifted his head his smirk only widening when he saw her narrowed eyes. I know she was trying to appear intimidating but after all the crying she just did, it only made her look cuter. It reminded me of that day we found that farm after she'd been crying for ages, her little red nose was so damn cute.

"Carson told us the only reason you were kidnapped with him was because you thought you could take on all those strangers to protect him."

"I was trying to be nice, maybe you should try it some time too."

Oh these two are going to be fast friends.

"I am nice, to the people I like but I don't like you."

"Well I don't like you either."

"That's fine with me."

"Fine then." When she let out a huff, turning back to face me Grey just let out another laugh, turning his attention back to his work.

"I don't like you either." This time when she narrowed her eyes at me, I could tell she was thinking about everything that happened over the last two weeks now that she'd calmed down.

"I know baby." The guilt filled me again as I mumbled the words to her, pulling her into my arms again which she didn't resist. It was only when the sound of the elevator doors opening travelled through the room catching her attention that she finally let go of me, getting off my lap to sit down next to me instead.

~ Daniela's POV ~

There were only three reasons why I was still hugging him.

1. I was absolutely mortified about the way I cried and the fact Grey saw the whole thing so I used the opportunity to hide my face from the world in embarrassment. I don't know how much he heard or what he understood from it, but it was still mortifying.

2. I missed his touch, even if I was still angry I'd spent two weeks away from him. I also intended after this not to be touching him again for the foreseeable future. Who even knew if he would hug me again after this? Maybe he was just being nice because I was crying and then later he'd tell me to get out of his penthouse.

3. The man smelled amazing.

So when I heard the sound of the elevator doors opening I reluctantly pushed myself away from him, looking up when I heard two sets of footsteps coming towards us.

"We're back bitches." When Aviana's voice rang out around us, I remembered everything that had happened this morning, suddenly feeling uncomfortable and awkward now that Fox and Aviana were back.

The entire atmosphere changed now that they were back again, I suddenly felt like the outsider - like I was intruding. Like I didn't belong there with them.

"Says the bitch." When she heard Grey's response as she rounded the corner coming into view, she glared at him. "You want me to kick you in the balls? Because I will."

"I'd like to see you try, bitch." Her glare only deepened before she put down the boxes of pizza she was holding, when her eyes met mine. Why did it have to be pizza, my favourite food on the planet?

"Oh, Dani you're back." I could tell almost instantly from the way she was looking at me she could tell I'd been crying but she didn't say anything thankfully.

It was bad enough Grey saw it all happen and heard what I said, I didn't really feel like repeating it or explaining it again.

"I was just going upstairs actually." I gave her a small smile as I began to stand up when Carson's hand shot out to grab mine. "Stay. You need to eat."

When I turned my head to look at him I tried my best use the look I was giving him to convey how much I really didn't want to sit with them after what happened this morning but of course, he didn't care.

"Sit down." When Carson gave me that look that told me to shut up and listen, I pouted my lips as I sat down in defeat. "But-"

"This one is yours." Before I could complain again, Fox handed me a box giving me a friendly smile as he did. "What do you mean it's mine?"

They didn't even know that I would be here.

"Carson was very specific." As he said that, he glanced over at Carson with a teasing smirk which only made him roll his eyes, snatching the other box out of Fox's hand. Turning my attention back to the box, I lifted the lid causing the aroma of pizza to invade my senses while I analysed the pizza and the toppings they put on there.

Onions, olives, peppers and from the looks of it just the right amount of cheese.

"You remembered?" When I turned my head to look at him, he nodded his head. "How many times do I have to tell you that I listen to every word you say?"

The way he looked at me, it was like all the times we did it, when we just stared like there was no one else around except for us. He had this power to make me get so lost in his eyes, forgetting everything else that was on my mind. He managed to suck me in, just with his eyes he managed to steal my heart all over again.

Why was I mad again?

He ignored you for two weeks and then he was a jerk.

Oh yeah.

"Excuse me, can you stare at each other later? Your special dinner is going to get cold."

When I heard the sound of Fox's amused voice I turned my head away breaking eye contact with him as a blush rose up on to my cheeks. I guess for that very reason I was lucky that every time that staring thing happened we were always alone. I hated being the centre of attention.

Refusing to look up knowing I was once again under the spotlight, I instead turned to look at Carson again to check if he had his food but I found he was still staring at me.

Even after I looked away when Fox spoke, he never stopped.

"Dani...why were you crying?" When Aviana broke the silence that fell around us as we began eating, I turned to look at her trying to think of a reason to give her that didn't make me look like a psycho. "Oh...it's just-"

"Cramps. Who knew she was actually a woman, all this time I thought she was just a baby."

Was I grateful he decided to jump in and insult me so that I didn't have to give a reason? Absolutely.

The only person who found Grey's comment funny was Fox who was somehow on his second slice of pizza as he watched this whole thing unfold. Something told me he was enjoying how uncomfortable I was.

When I turned my head to look at Grey, I noticed he was still working and he hadn't touched his food. I also noticed the same black gun he was holding this morning on the table next to his laptop.

"By the way you're parading that gun around it seems like you might be compensating for something else."

The moment those words left my mouth Fox suddenly began choking on his food across from me while Aviana burst into laughter. Finally Grey lifted his head to look at me, narrowing his eyes at me although I could tell he was amused by my response.

I mean it was pretty good.

No one really said much after that, only making small talk here and there or bickering too. The bickering was mostly Aviana and Grey, while Fox just added his in put when he felt like it.

Carson on the other hand, hadn't said a word since I saw the pizza and he told me he listened to everything I said. The first thing he did say, wasn't exactly what I expected. "When you've finished eating I want you all to get out."

"Oh come on bro, what about dessert?"

"Aren't you the trainer here?" When Fox heard my question, he looked at me with a mouthful of pizza nodding his head. "So aren't you supposed to be healthy?"

At this all he did was shrug his shoulders before he swallowed his pizza, giving me a smile as he picked up another slice.

"I get two workouts in each day so pizza and dessert is fine once in a while."

"You work out twice a day?"

Holy crap that's dedicated.

Although I directed my question at Fox, my eyes shifted over to Grey when he responded instead. "What he means is that he works out once in the morning in the gym and then he works out at night with a girl."

"Sometimes two of them." When Fox wiggled his eyebrows, I shook my head in disgust putting the box with the rest of my pizza down on the coffee table. "I think I'm done."

"Geez, is sex all you think about?" When I heard Aviana let out an exasperated sigh, I couldn't help but let out a laugh causing her to send me a subtle wink when she met my gaze just as Fox spoke.

"Look, sex is a natural thing. I think it should be normalised."

"So if I told you about a date or a one night stand I had you-" Before Aviana could finish her sentence Carson very quickly cut her off. "We don't want to know, that's your private stuff."

"I want to know." Of course, Fox was the only one who wanted to know and Aviana chose to completely ignore him, instead keeping her focus on Carson.

"So Fox can talk about having a threesome, but I can't even talk about a one night stand without you all having a tantrum?"

"I'm not having a tantrum. You're like my sister, I don't want to think about you like that."

I mean he did have a point, but so did she. They were her closest friends and she couldn't even talk about a date with them.

"Aviana just tell someone else. You have other friends, don't you?" Although Grey said it in a casual way, the look on her face caused him to frown at her. "Wait, I thought-"

"I think I'm going to head home, I have some work to do." Now all the attention was on her as she put her plate down, grabbing a napkin to wipe her hands.

"Avi wait." When Grey spoke again, she turned her head to look at him now with a guarded expression on her face. "I have to go Grey."

"No, you don't. Talk to me, what's the matter?" His voice softened as he looked at her while Carson and Fox both sat there with frowns on their faces.

"You're my only friends. I don't have anyone else to talk to, even about this stuff."

So that's why she was so full on about sex that first day I met her. She was so confident, acting like that's all she talked about but really she never talked about it.

"You've never said that before. You always made it out like you had-"

"Like I had more than just three friends? Because it's embarrassing to admit that I'm 25 years old and I've had the same three friends since high school."

When she gave him a sad smile, I felt like I knew exactly how she felt. Of course I didn't have any friends, but I knew how it felt to have to admit to someone that you don't have any friends. Especially when they assumed you had this life full of money, friends and fun like Carson did when we first met.

"At least you have us, we're not that bad, right?" Her smile widened a little in response to Grey's words and she nodded her head. It was surprising to me that he was the one she'd been bickering with all that time and yet, he was also the one who made her feel better. I guess he really was nice to the people he liked.

"Yeah, it's better than having no friends at all." When Fox said that, she let out a laugh nodding her clearly oblivious to the pang I felt in my chest at his words.

It really was better than having no friends.

Of course the only person who knew what was going through my head in that moment was sitting right next to me.

"You need to wash your hands baby?" Noticing my shift in mood, he leaned in closer to me mumbling the words and I forced my eyes away from Aviana who laughing at something else Fox had said, turning to look at him instead.

Wordlessly nodding my head I stood up with him, picking up the box that held my left over pizza. I could hear his friends still talking as Carson collected some of the plates and another empty pizza box and then followed me down the hall and into the kitchen.

He stayed quiet for a while as I rinsed some of the plates, probably giving me some time before he spoke.

"I didn't get a chance to tell you how beautiful you look today." As I washed my hands Carson leaned forward resting his tattooed forearms on the counter turning his head to look at me.

I managed to give him a forced smile as I turned off the tap, grabbing a paper towel to dry my hands while he watched me.

"Can we talk later when they've gone? There's something I want to ask you." Letting out a sigh, I walked over to the trash can to throw the paper towel away.

"Carson just because I hugged you when I was upset, that doesn't mean I've forgiven you-"

"No I know, I didn't think you had. Don't worry, it's not about us." When he cut me off, I turned to look at him with a frown.

"It's not?" Shaking his head, he reached out to take my hand pulling me in closer to him.
"I'm saving that conversation for a better time, now give me a hug."

Despite the amount of times I'd told myself I wasn't going to touch him again, or that I was going to stay mad at him, I still let him pull me in for a hug.

"I love you Dani." When he brought his head down whispering the words into my ear, I closed my eyes trying my best to keep my emotions under control.

This was the first time we'd been alone together in two weeks.

"After that phone call we had I thought I'd never hear you say those words again."

"I'll never stop loving you, no matter what's going on in my life Daniela." As he spoke he pulled away enough to look me in the eye. "Promise?"

"I promise my beautiful." When he gave me a small smile, I narrowed my eyes at him in return. "Stop that, you're not allowed to smile at me."

"Why?" Of course his smile only widened at my tone. "You know why, I'm still mad at you Carson, very mad. I can't believe you just disappeared like that and the way you were treating me was out of order. Especially yesterday, I mean, I don't know who you thought you were speaking to me like that, you're just lucky I stupidly love you enough to even consider staying with you because-"

Before I could finish my sentence Carson suddenly crashed his lips against mine, pushing me back up against the counter as he did. The kiss didn't last very long before he pulled away giving me another smile.

"Sometimes you talk too much."

"And if you don't get your hands off me right now I'm going to kick you in the balls again."

"But will you offer to make it better again like you did last time?" Despite the fact I was trying to push him away from me, I couldn't stop the smile that tugged at my lips when he reminded me of that.

I was so embarrassed.

Flashback

"You want me to do it on you? Are you sure? Won't you get hurt?"

"I'll be fine Daniela, I train everyday." This time he gestured for me to do something while I still just stood there unsure of what exactly he wanted from me.

"Don't you need to attack me or something?" When I said this, Carson just rolled his eyes before taking a step towards me to imitate an attack.

As soon as he took another step, I also took one closer to him to close the gap before I lifted my knee, driving it into his balls.

As soon as my knee made contact with his area, he suddenly stilled before he let out a groan, dropping down to his knees. I decided to give him a minute before I spoke, but in hindsight I should have probably given him a bit longer.

"Are you okay?"

"If you speak again, I will kill you Daniela." His voice came out weak and raspy as he cupped his area, clearly trying to work through the pain.

"I'll just give you a minute."

The room remained silent for a while so I took the time to make the bed before I lay down to get comfortable and warm again. It took Carson quite a few minutes before he finally spoke to me, this time in a harsh tone.

"What the hell was that Daniela?"

"What? You told me to show you what I knew." Making the mistake of looking at him, I noted the angry glare his was giving me as he brought himself to his feet. "Freaking self defence, not that."

"That is self defence." Instead of arguing with me, he just came to sit down on the bed next to where I was lying.

"Are you feeling better?" This time, he just nodded his head, letting out a breath.

"Im sorry for hurting you Carson, I mean, I did ask if you were sure but, anyway, is there anything I can do to help you?"

Although I was being serious, Carson rose an eyebrow before an amused smirk tugged at his lips at my offer.

"You want to help? Do you realise what we're talking about Daniela?"

His- oh!

"I didn't mean it like that! I thought maybe you'd want a glass of water or something."

Pushing the thoughts of that day out of my head, I sent him a cold glare. "I mean it Carson, don't touch me again."'

Finally he nodded his head, stepping away from me although his smile was still on his face. I didn't even care how much I loved it, I wanted to slap it off.

"I missed you." When I just gave him an incredulous look, he gave me another smile. "I missed you a lot."

This bitch is the one who left me and now he's saying he missed me? "Carson are you purposely trying to make me angry or something?"

"Maybe." Rolling my eyes at his response I let out a frustrated breath leaning against the counter closing my eyes as I rubbed my lower stomach to ease the cramps. I really didn't feel like going back in there especially with the pain I was feeling, I just wanted to go upstairs and cry myself to sleep again.

Lost in my thought, I suddenly felt Carson's body close to mine as he pressed his hand to my lower stomach, gently rubbing it as my own hand dropped to my side.

I didn't dare open my eyes, instead choosing to rest my head on his chest as his intoxicating scent invaded my senses.

"Why are you doing this to me Carson?" I didn't even have to elaborate, he knew exactly what I meant - he was making it so hard for me to stay angry at him. "I know I screwed up, but I don't like it when you're mad at me."

"You hurt me. You told me we would be in this together and then you just left me here for two weeks." As I spoke he continued to rub my stomach as if he knew that his touch was the only thing I had been craving over the last few days.

"I'm sorry Dani."

"Sorry isn't good enough. It wasn't just one mistake that you made Carson, you did it every single minute of each day that you ignored me. You knew what you were doing, you made your choice and now you have to live with it."

Forcing my eyes open, I had to suppress every single urge in my body that wanted his touch as I pushed his hand away and then stepped out of his reach.

As soon as I was away from him I missed him. I missed his scent, I missed the warmth of his touch, I missed the way he made me feel so protected whenever he was so close. I missed him so damn bad.

"Dani please, let me make it up to you. Let me try."

"No. Telling me that I'm beautiful, hugging me when I'm crying, remembering my favourite pizza or rubbing my stomach isn't going to make me forgive you. I spent two weeks alone, so it's going to take at least two weeks for me to even consider it - if you even deserve that much."

I could just sense him becoming more agitated with this entire situation as I turned to head back towards the living room when he spoke again causing me to stop.

"You're hurting yourself too." I heard his steps coming up closer to me as he continued. "Why make it an entire month apart? Why not let me spend the next two weeks making it up to you?"

"Because that would just make me a push over, that's too easy on you. You don't deserve me to let it go that easily." I still refused to turn around as I spoke, feeling him stop right behind me before he let out a scoff.

"Too easy? You think any of this is easy for me? Every single day I spent away from you was torture." Like my body was on autopilot, I suddenly spun around to glare at him fuelled by all the anger and hurt that I'd felt over the last two weeks - especially last night.

"Then why did you do it? No one made you do it. No one made you ignore every one of my damn calls. No one made you talk to me as if I was stranger and then just hang up on me. No one made you come into our room and call me a bitch. That was all you."

Guilt surfaced on his face again as he frowned at me. "I know sorry won't cut it, but I don't know what else to say Dani. I'm sorry for hurting you, for being a jerk to you and for the choices that I made. But I can't change them, all I can do is make it up to you."

Almost instantly I shook my head at him, doing my best to try and hold out and not let my emotions get the best of me which would only end in me forgiving him. "I know you're new at this, but when you have a girlfriend Carson you don't just ignore her and then turn up two weeks later acting like everything is fine."

"I told you I didn't have space in my life for a girlfriend but I tried. I tried coming home to you and it didn't work, then things just got worse and I spent every minute in my office trying to just..."

When his words trailed off, he clenched his fists as he stepped away from me clearly trying to control his own emotions. "You were the one who asked me to come here. I tried to leave Carson, you stopped me."

"I stopped you because I love you. Damn...it's never been this bad, I've never been under this much pressure. I thought I could do it, I thought I could balance everything."

Thought?

"You mean you're trying to tell me that you can't...that you don't have space for me." The moment I said that, his eyes snapped over to mine and he instantly shook his head.

"I'm trying to tell you I thought I was ready to come back, but I don't think I was. I needed more time." As he said that he mumbled those words barely above a whisper to make sure I was the only who would ever hear them.

"Carson...that's not true. You just need to breathe, you need to take a step back and decide what's more important. Start taking the steps that will help you get through this. If it's never been this bad then it won't last forever."

As I spoke and my voice softened he came closer to me leaning against the counter near me before he responded.

"I felt like I was dealing with five weeks worth of the toughest work I'd ever dealt with in only two weeks and all the fall out too. I didn't mean to treat you like that Dani, I was just under pressure. I barely slept and if I did it was in my office for an hour before I got back to work."

The more he spoke, telling me about what had happened he was also allowing me to see the pain and the exhaustion that he'd been covering up earlier behind his smile. I wasn't stupid, when I overheard his conversation this morning I knew something had happened.

Honestly I wasn't even mad that he was busy, that I understood. I was mad that he chose to ignore me and push me out and then at how he spoke to me last night.

"I can't just forgive you Carson. I get that you were busy, but how you treated me was just not okay."

"I know that Dani and I'm not asking you to. I'm asking you to give me a chance to make it up to you, all of this isn't an excuse Dani. I'm just trying to explain it to you, in my own screwed up way."

"It was kind of screwed up." When I agreed with him as I cracked a small smile, he gave me one in return before he opened his arms.

"I think I need another hug." When I just frowned at him, he took a step closer to me. "It's just a hug Dani, you won't get pregnant, I promise."

Trying to hide my smile, I took a second as he stood there with open arms before I eventually took a step closer to him, wrapping my arms around his waist as he pulled me into him.

"Can you believe neither of us yelled that entire time?" When I mumbled the words against his chest he let out a laugh, tightening his grip on me. "I don't think they would have heard anything anyway."

When he said that and it fell quiet between us, I heard the sound of Fox and Grey bickering loudly from the couch in the other room causing me to smile.

Once he'd decided he was satisfied with his hug, Carson and I went back out to the couch where he promptly kicked his friends out of his penthouse telling them he would see them tomorrow.

Taking the time while Carson cleared up everything else from dinner and some of his work he had left out, I went upstairs to change into one of his shirts to get comfortable before I returned.

I may have moved him out of the closet, but I still made sure to keep a stash of his shirts in there for my use.

Curling up on the couch, I waited for him to come and sit back down next to me with his signature glass of scotch which only made me shiver in disgust.

"So what did you want to talk to me about?" When I turned to face him properly on the couch he decided to drag it out for as long as he could drinking his entire glass of scotch before he finally answered me.

"I want you to come and work for me."

I just can't hate Carson, he's like my favourite ever 🥺 I love him.

What did you guys think of this chapter? I know some of you already saw it coming that she would work for him 👀