"Thank you."

Angelo took the towel gently from the maid right before she walked away, leaving him all alone now. He had looked forward to the privacy he was getting at that moment all day. He enjoyed the cool breeze that found its way to his skin every now and then. He took a deep breath and lowered his gaze to the water right in front of him, watching Anna's figure from where he stood, taking in every detail and movement as she swam her way to shore.

She was a perfect swimmer, Angelo was sure he had never seen anyone swim so gracefully like she did. Not like he knew but Anna had a lot to think about, she had a lot on her mind and each time she did, swimming seemed to be the only thing that took all her stress away. She had left the office early for this one reason. Angelo bent over and waited for her till she stuck her head out of the pool and took a deep breath of relief, wiping the water off her face while she did.

She wanted to take in the sun's warmth and got really inquisitive when she didn't meet any, not even a ray of it. She could smell how the air had also mixed with the scent of his perfume and could immediately tell that he had something to do with it.

Anna opened her eyes in a hurry, leaving a huge frown on her face as she did. Her frown got even worse when she noticed him right in front of her, just him, there was no one else. He stretched out a hand to help her out but She rolled her eyes immediately and scoffed, consciously ignoring his offer to help as she managed to pull herself out of the pool as fast as she could.

Angelo watched her leave the pool head first, right before her breasts and the rest of her body followed. He knew he was never going to get too used to seeing her swim naked anyway but he tried not to pay too much attention to it. He knew just how much she craved her, every inch of her and he hated how he had to fight himself every second of the day from feeling the way he did. Seeing her looking extremely beautiful, watching her curves define themselves under the sunlight. Angelo looked away immediately and cleared his throat so he didn't have to make himself suffer more than he already was.

He stretched the towel to her.

"Here." He said.

Anna kept her gaze on him as she snatched the towel from him the moment she saw how it was the only one in sight. If the odds were in her favor, she knew she'd have rather walked around the house stalk naked than accept help from him.

She had done her best to avoid him for as long as she could remember, and she was doing really good at it, she want going to let her ruin her efforts. She wrapped the towel around her body and held on firmly to the knot she had made at her side.

"I thought you had a meeting with the board today?" Angelo asked finally bringing himself to look at her when he was sure she was covered enough. "I didn't think you'd be here."

"Didn't feel like being in it." She said right before she eyed him and then turned to go. Angelo turned and met her walking away from him. She was heading straight to the back door. He followed her quickly.

"Anna!" He walked as fast as he could just so he could keep up with her quick pace. Anna didn't stop, she didn't look back either, she just wanted to be as far away from him as possible.

"Anna, we need to talk." He went on.

"If you have anything to say to me, tell my lawyer Angelo. That was the agreement wasn't it?"

"You've been avoiding me, I need to know why." He said just as they walked into the living room. Anna didn't stop, she didn't see any reason to and he knew. Angelo ran as fast as he could and grabbed her arm to stop her. He pulled her to face him, he was running out of breath and didn't think he could chase her any longer.

Anna slapped him the moment her eyes met with him, and she put a lot of strength into it. She swallowed hard and held her breath the moment she noticed how Angelo had blood on his lower lip from biting it hard. She could feel her heart race at the thought of what she had done. She watched him slowly reach for it and swallow hard at the realization of how his fingers were stained with blood. He wiped it quickly and took a deep breath to calm himself right before he turned back to her.

He nodded.

"Fine," he told her. "Do you feel better now?"

She scoffed,

"You need to go to hell." She said in a high pitched tone. She was getting infuriated all over again. She held her breath as she glared at him. She had a lot to say, she needed to vent it all out. Swimming helped, but seeing him again made her lose her mind again. her body needed more, her mind needed more.

"You are the biggest mistake I have ever made." She told him. "I can't believe that I even care this much, I should have known, I should have known that you were just as much as the man your father was. It looks like adultery runs in this family more than I thought."

"It wasn't Adultery," He told her. "I am nothing like my father,"

Anna scoffed.

"I had no idea Patricia was going to come at me like that. We were both excited and it just happened. I didn't know that it was going to rub off on you in a bad light."

"But you should have stopped it, you didn't. You kissed her back because you wanted it didn't you? It was all you ever wanted, being together with your perfect human girlfriend P-a-t-r-I-c-I-a." She drawled.

"I get it, you love her, you never stopped loving her, and it was so stupid for me to even think any differently."

Angelo scoffed. He raked his hand through his hair not sure of what to say. He wasn't sure he understood the argument anymore. He couldn't wrap his head over the reason why she was upset. It was more than what he thought it was now. Anna swallowed hard at the silence that had followed right after.

"Is this what this is about? " Angelo asked her." you're jealous now? "

Anna scoffed and shook her head.

"Don't give yourself a lot of credit Angelo. You're nothing to stir up meaningless emotions like jealousy inside of me. "

"This is it." He told her. "This is why I can never understand you Anna. One minute you're acting like you care and the next you don't." He glared at her. "Anna I wanted you, I told you I loved you and you asked me to go to hell. You said it was fine , you made it clear to me that you didn't care what I did and who I did it with- Anastasia you pushed me away-" Angelo raised his voice

"Yes, of course you'd say that, but I didn't ask you to go around locking lips with your star crossed ex, dragging my name, and every thing I have worked hard for through the mud."

"This has nothing to do with you Anna, this isn't even about you-"

"Well it is!" She raised her voice at him. "It has always been ever since  I made this stupid decision to get married to you. You can't even take care of your own lust, how do you expect to take care of a company?"

Angelo scoffed.

"You're just as sick in the head as the rest of your family, you're just like all of them. You're a liar and a cheat and let's not even talk about how extremely selfish you are!"

She turned and started to walk to the small bar at the other side of the room and he followed her. She was getting so sick of it, she could feel her temperature rise as she fumed with anger.

"I'm selfish?" He asked her just as she got to the counter.

"I'm sick of it." she said. "I'm sick of you getting to walk around and do whatever you want when you want to, I'm sick of you trying to make a fool out of me and out of my emotions."

Angelo walked closer.

"Your emotions?" He asked her. "No, this is what we are not going to do. I was straight with you, you made it clear to me that you didn't need any of my affections-"

"So what?" She asked him. "So you give them to someone else?"

"What was I supposed to do huh?!" He yelled at her for a moment. He was getting extremely sick of it and she could see it from the way he raised his hand to his head. He took a deep breath.

"What is this really about Anna?" He asked. "Why are you getting so upset about what I did with someone else when you made it clear to me that you did not care. What exactly are you upset about? You're mad that I kissed someone else? Is that it? Because from the way I see it, you're not supposed to care this much, but you do. So say it or I will,"

Anna swallowed hard. She watched him, just as her heart started to race even faster.

"You like me don't you?" He asked her. "You're so embarrassed by the thought of it so rather than talking about it, you put up an act, you act like the way you feel doesn't exist when it does-"

Anna turned to the counter quickly and reached for the champagne glass. She could feel how her hands trembled as she reached for it.

"You're so mad at yourself for being upset that I shared a kiss with someone else, and you've turned that all to hate and an endless thread of blame on me."

Anna held on tightly to the bottle, she was never going to admit it, she couldn't. She knew that the moment she admitted how she felt to him, the moment she admitted everything he said, she was going to admit how much he meant to her, she was going to admit how far gone she was in her feelings for him, she was going to admit that she had lost her values to her people.

What are you doing Anna? What is wrong with you?

Shink was right. She knew he was but she was just too into this man standing in front of her to even notice. How did this even happen? How on earth did her hate for this family turn to something better, something that scared her.

Arrrrgghhhh,

Anna let out a loud cry, pushing the champagne glass off the table with a swipe of her hands. She placed both her hands on her head and pulled on her hair gently. It wasn't true, it couldn't possibly be true. She didn't feel that way about him, she couldn't feel that way about him.

Angelo took a minute to get a hold of himself, to get past the shock he felt right before he lowered his gaze to the shattered glass on the ground, noticing how Anna was bleeding from stepping on it.

"Anna!" Angelo hurried to her immediately but she pushed him away and turned back to the counter. She needed a minute. She needed a minute to think things through. She had to give herself a reason, she had to come up with a reason as to why she was feeling the way she did.

Anger, hate, revenge, anything but not Jealousy. It was bad enough that she let Sophie and everyone else tell her how she felt but she wasn't even sure that that was how she really felt. What was it? Why did she feel that way? Why was she suddenly attracted to the man behind her and what did she need to do to get it to stop?

She turned to him slowly, watching the look of fear and concern in his eyes. Angelo raised his gaze to her wondering if she was okay. It was like she couldn't feel a thing with the way all that glass stabbed her feet at each side, leaving trails of blood where she stood. There was just one way to find out, just one way to convince herself for the hundredth time why he was a bad idea. She let go of yer towel and let it fall to the ground immediately.

Angelo froze from taking a step to her.

"Fine." She told him. "If this is what you're really after, I'd give it to you, I'd let you have your fill."

"Pick up your towel Anna."

"No."

He scoffed.

"What?" She raised an eyebrow. "Are you disappointed? Because I'm not Patricia? I'm giving this to you on a platter Angelo. Many men have had to fight their way through to get here every single time till they did. It's what you humans are good at isn't it? Conquering territories?people? Just got the satisfaction of your helpless egos. Making your way into things that weren't yours to take? Go on, do it."

Angelo couldn't believe every thing he had just heard and what was worse, he didn't know if he had any energy left to be upset by it, by how low she thought of him. Anna watched how he looked at her for a moment, disappointment evident in his eyes before he nodded followed by a soft scoff. He scratched his forehead and then dropped his hand.

"I'm not doing this." He said and then turned to leave.
Anna swallowed and took a step to try to stop him, realizing how she might have actually disrespected him a lot in an attempt to make herself feel better. He froze and then stopped. He didn't need to walk away, he didn't need to give her the satisfaction of being proud of what she did. He turned back to her.

"You know what?" He asked her, walking briskly towards her.

"I just can't understand you Anastasia. Every time I think this is going somewhere, every time I try to make excuses for you, excuses that you're just having a hard time putting your feelings together, every time I feel like you're not actually as bad as people say you are, as terrible as some of your people, you just find a way to prove me wrong. I might not be the husband that you spent your time in your little pod dreaming of but guess what? I am human! I am not perfect and from what I see, you Atians are very far from being perfect too. You stay there and judge me when you're not better yourself. I tried Anna, I have done everything humanly possible to get you to trust my feelings for you, to show you how I really feel. I have been nothing but transparent and honest about my feelings for you but what do you do? You take them for a joke and try to make a fool out of me just so you feel better about yourself."

He exhaled.

"So maybe you're right, maybe there's nothing for us both, maybe this was all a mistake, maybe I should never have confessed my feelings to you." He looked her right in her eyes.

"And you know what's worse?" He went on. "It's the fact that I don't regret it. I know that I should but I don't regret the way I feel about you, I don't regret admitting how I feel and that's what's even crazier. So you can stand here and try to act like you don't feel the way I feel, but I won't let you force me into feeling that way too."

Angelo could hear his own breathing, she could hear it too, strange but she could also hear how her heart was pounding as she left her gaze on him. She could feel how her palms had become sweaty and how her heart was skipping multiple beats. She didn't know what was happening to her, she didn't know why her legs were suddenly leading her to where he stood.

Angelo wasn't sure himself, he didn't know why he just stood there watching her, he didn't know why he had been completely numb after all he said, and he didn't know why he couldn't keep his eyes off her either.

Anna stopped when she got in front of him.

"Fine." She said. "Teach me, teach me how to accept these emotions you talk about. Show me."

Angelo didn't understand what she said, he was about to say something when she pushed herself closer to him and sought his lips with hers. She kissed him deeply, wrapping her hands at the back of his head and gripping his hair too. A part of Angelo wanted to stop her, but a greater part couldn't. He wanted to kiss her right back, to hold her.

His hands encircled the small of her back and pulled her close, closing whatever space was left between them. He ran his hands through her hair, their lips moving together in perfect synchronization till they had to break away for air.

She glanced up at him, scared for the amount of vulnerability she was letting slip through her. Her heart was racing fast and lot of feelings clouded her mind .... a lot of voices. No one had ever made her heart race that way before. No one had ever made her so scared of letting go. It was her first time and her heart was welling up with so much emotions. At that moment nothing else mattered. Not the Arc, or Shink, or her life's work, not the future of her people, nothing mattered except him, except for that moment. For the second time, she was bending the laws again, her own laws for this man. It was all clear to her, the answer she was trying so hard to find.

She was in love with him.

"Anna-"

"I think-" She cut him off looking deep into his eyes till she could see her reflection clearly in them. "I think I'm in love with you, and it scares the hell out of me. "

Angelo held his breath. He couldn't believe what he had heard, he couldn't believe that she was finally admitting how she felt. She finally said those words.

"Stop talking."

Angelo whispered to her cutting her off, Anna bit hard on her lower lip. She felt super embarrassed that she was suddenly talking about her feelings, that she was telling him how she felt. She couldn't believe that this was the same man she had spent the entire afternoon forcing herself to hate.

Angelo sort her lips and kissed her. He kissed her deeply while Anna grabbed on tight to him with her arms tightly folded around his neck.

He placed his hands beneath her thigh raising her up and she wrapped her legs round his hips in response so she was straddling him. He walked over the shattered glass, round the long couch and then placed her gently on it not letting go of her lips. Anna wanted him, she knew she did. She had never wanted someone so much.

She struggled to pull his trousers down till she did, spreading her legs so Angelo could fit right in between. She wanted this to be better, she wanted him inside her, she wanted him to take his time while he worked his way around her body gently. Anna could feel her heart skip so many beats as Angelo kissed her body softly, caressing every inch of it while tenderly pressing on her breasts. He kept kissing till he got to her pink risen nipples.

Anna moaned as she felt his soft lips on it, taking it into his mouth slowly and nibbling on it gently.

He went inside her, then again, and again, slowly. He didn't stop, it was like he knew exactly what she wanted.

Anna grabbed on to the couch with one hand and the other on his hair.

He knew what she wanted, what she needed.

She knew it was going to get her into a lot of trouble but she knew she didn't want to wait anymore. She wasn't going to sacrifice anymore of her desires.

And there he was.
This man was beginning to mean so much to her than she ever thought he would. He was so much more than she had ever imagined. He was everything.

Anna looked into his eyes while he starred into her.

He was her happiness and she was scared to admit that he might just be the one to destroy her.