Chapter Eight - Price Residence (Part 2)

James was surprisingly ecstatic about the whole marriage thing now. I still don't know what Alec said to him but now James couldn't stop suggesting ideas about the marriage.

I was busy packing some more of my stuff in my room and I could hear hear him from up here. 'Dad I want a new tuxedo,' 'Alec are you really marrying her? She's so clumsy,' 'Dad do you think Scarlet will trip down the aisle?' 'Alec don't make her wear heels' and so on.......

I pulled my hair in frustration and kicked the door shut to block his voice out.

The last thing I wanted from this situation was to see my family planning it. I can't believe this. I was supposed to get out of this, now everyone knows I am getting married to Alec. How am I going to run away if everyone is expecting me at the altar?

The door to my room opened, pulling me out of my train of thoughts and Alec stepped in. He had an unusual scowl on his face and I raised a brow at him.

"What?"

"We can't leave,"

"Why not?"

He walked over to my window and lifted the blinds up. It was now when I noticed the lightning in the dark sky. It was pouring heavily and I was surprised I didn't hear anything at all.

I averted my gaze to Alec who seemed to have frozen at the window, his hand resting firmly against the frame as he looked outside.

A warm feeling erupted in my chest at the sight of him looking so calm and contented for once. His face muscles were relaxed as the breeze pushed his hair back and I felt goosebumps forming on my skin, a strange feeling taking over me.

Just then, he cleared his throat and turned to me.

I blinked. "Uh so what? We have to drive anyway,"

"Your dad insists on staying,"

"And you agreed?" I raised a brow.

"I had to, seeing that the weather may get worse and it's not a short drive from here,"

"You're right,"

I could feel his gaze on me as I folded my clothes and placed them in the suitcase. I looked up to find him glaring at me and was a bit taken aback. What did I do now?

"Just so you know, I didn't cause the storm," I spoke.

"But we would have been back at the apartment by now if you didn't want to pack your stuff," He snapped.

"Excuse me? It's not like I knew it was going to rain. Also, I had to pack my clothes eventually. I've got nothing in my wardrobe at your place,"

"With all the money I own Scarlet Price, it wouldn't be laborious to change your entire wardrobe to new," He rolled his eyes.

"No thanks Richie Rich. I don't need your money," I gave him a sarcastic smile.

He crossed his arms over his chest. "How ironic,"

I raised a brow at him. "What?"

"Says the one who is marrying me for my money," He smirked.

My jaw dropped at his words. The way he said it, made them seem so wrong. Like I was a gold digger and was marrying him for money. Well, the statement was partially true. I did need his money, but I wasn't a gold digger.

I kept my eyes down, not really wanting to meet his gaze. It's not like he was completely wrong. I was marrying him for money.

But his words did tick off some nerve of mine.

I kept the suitcase aside and stared at Alec. He advanced towards the bed and sat down, leaning against the headboard and rubbing his temple with his fingers.

"What are you doing?" I asked.

Without raising his head up, he flashed his expensive wrist watch at me. "What do you do at midnight Scarlet Price?"

"You're not sleeping in my room, are you?" I asked carefully and he opened his eyes to meet my gaze.

"Ofcourse not. You're going to your dad to tell him that you can't sleep in the same room with your fiancè, who happens to be getting married to you in a few days,"

I shut my eyes and groaned.

"You know what. We should leave," I suggested.

The lightning glazed the night sky and thunder struck the surroundings once more as the heavily pouring rain collided against the roof. I looked up at the ceiling, as if begging the rain to stop and then back at Alec.

He didn't seem to care much as he removed his watch and placed it on the night stand. Next he removed his shoes and socks, pulled his feet up on the bed and leaned against the headboard, looking down into his phone.

"You're not sleeping on my bed," I announced. He didn't seem to listen at all.

"Oh come on," I sighed. "If only I had a couch in this room. Why don't you go and sleep in the bath tub?"

"Why don't you go and die under a rock?" He spoke without taking his gaze away from his phone.

I glared at him.

Getting up, I huffed and moved to the closet which still had some of my clothes and pulled out a pair of sweatpants and tshirt.

"I might as well go and sleep in Jimmy's room,"

"Suit yourself," He muttered, eyes still fixed at the phone screen.

I crossed my arms over my chest. "Seriously?"

His gaze finally snapped up to mine. "You're over reacting Price. What else do you want me to do?"

I opened my mouth to speak but shut it again, not really knowing what to say. He did have a point. There was nothing else he could do and me going to Jimmy's room wasn't probably a good idea either as I did not want dad to start thinking there was a problem.

Sure, I could say that I wanted to spend time with my little brother, but at this point, my sceptic dad is too alert about the marriage anyway.

I looked at Alec, who seemed to be waiting for my reply.

"Never mind Sinclair," I snapped and went into the bathroom and changed into my comfortable clothes. My reflection was messed up and I pulled my hair into a high pony tail and washed my face.

"You know what," I heard Alec through the door and pretended to not hear him. "I'm done giving you anymore chances. Now you will be responsible for my next move,"

What? Was he going to tell dad everything and end the deal?

My eyes grew wide as I heard some shuffling. I snapped the door open and saw him getting out of the bed. Out of my reflexes, I ran to him and the next few moments went in slow motion, with Alec's head turning to me, me taking a long sprint in his direction, hopping on the bed and finally him catching me.

He was almost out of the bed when I had gripped his collar, pulling him back down and his arms wrapped around me to save me from hitting my head on the headboard, the forceful pull causing the first two buttons of his shirt to come off and reveal some part of his muscular chest infront of my eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'm really sorry. I won't do anything stupid again. Please don't end the deal. You can sleep in my bed," I started speaking the moment I recovered from the shock of falling.

Alec's face held both annoyance and shock at the same time as he looked down at me and I realized our position. I was completely lying back on the bed and he was on top of me, his arms around me and my face near his exposed chest. I couldn't help but breathe in his intoxicated scent.

He withdrew his hand from around my waist and brought it up to his ear. I finally noticed the phone in his hands. "I'll talk to you later Ralph,"

He hung up, placed his phone aside and then looked down at me again.

He remained silent for a few moments, as if assessing me like I was crazy.

"What the fuck is the matter with you Scarlet?" He finally snapped and my breath hitched.

"Uh. You were talking to me, right?" I muttered.

"When?" His face twisted into that of disbelief.

"When you said you're done giving anymore chances and that I'll be responsible for your next move,"

Realization seemed to dawn on him as he shut his eyes and shook his head. "No. I was talking to someone on phone,"

"Oh,"

"Even if I was talking to you Scarlet Price, what kind of way is this to stop someone?" He asked and looked down at our position.

His gaze stopped at his chest and he looked back at me, a smirk curling up on his lips and I blushed, looking away.

"I'm sorry. I acted out of impulse," I muttered.

He let out a deep chuckle and I looked up at him again. My hands were still gripped around his collar and I brought them to my chest, curling them together.

His lips were so close to me and my hands were almost touching his chest. I bit my lip to steady my breathing and looked up to find his eyes travelling down to my lips. The heat radiating off his body sent my mind in overdrive and I breathed in his rich scent.

For a moment, I was tempted to rise up and close the gap between our lips but my sanity came rushing back to me as I pulled my gaze away from his lips.

"I- uh- I'll get you some clothes from dad,"

He blinked and tore his gaze away from my lips. His hands let go of my waist and he got off me. My cheeks were still warm when I got up from the bed and hurried out of the room.

Once I was outside, I took in deep breaths to calm myself before going to dad's room. I descended down the stairs in half a state of mind as I tried to keep that position out of my head.

Clearing my head, I gave a firm knock on dad's door. He opened the door in a few seconds, rubbing his eyes.

Remembering that it was almost midnight, I uttered an apology.

"I'm so sorry for disturbing you dad but I just needed track pants and tshirt for Alec,"

He nodded and went inside his room. A few seconds later, he came back with black track pants and a white tshirt.

Muttering a thanks, I went back upstairs and stopped outside the door. Taking in a deep breath, I twisted the knob and entered inside the room.

Alec was talking to someone on his phone and I assumed it was the same person, Ralph. He looked up at me and then at the clothes in my hands. I placed them on the bed beside him and remembering that I left my phone in the living room, I turned to go there.

My sling bag was on the coffee table and I fished my phone out of it. 6 missed calls.

I frowned upon checking the contacts. All the 6 missed calls from Ben. What does he want?

Could it be important? There was another text and I opened it.

I really wanna talk about us Scar. Pick up.

Important? Not really.

Just then, dad stepped into the hall. "Scarlet? What are you doing here?"

I held my phone up to him. "Just came to get this,"

He bit his lip as he probably wanted to speak something else too. "Are you sure?"

"About what?"

"That you came here for this phone and not to sleep on the living room couch?"

I narrowed my eyes at him and he raised up his hands in surrender.

"Just kidding,"

"Sure you are," I rolled my eyes. "Why are you having such a hard time believing this?"

"Can you blame me?"

"Actually no. I'm sorry I didn't tell you before,"

If I were in his shoes, I'd probably be doing the same. Plus, it's not like his suspicions are wrong.

He nodded. "Goodnight,"

"Goodnight dad," I said and went up to the room.

Alec had now changed into the clothes I had given him and was on his side of the bed. Hesitantly, I walked over and sat on the other side of the bed dangerously close to the edge.

Putting his phone aside, he got inside the duvet, leaving half of it for me.

Should I make the typical pillow boundary they make in movies?

I couldn't just slip in beside him so I waited for him to go to sleep as I sat down on my side and started using my phone.

After a few minutes, when there was no movement from him, I fetched a few pillows from behind me and slowly laid them between us.

"What are you doing Price?" He asked without opening his eyes, his voice seeming tired and indifferent.

My hand froze at the last pillow. "Nothing. Absolutely nothing,"

Sighing, he opened his blue eyes and looked at me, then at the pillow boundary I was making, then back up at me. He raised a brow.

"Do you think I'm going to pounce at you like a beast?"

"No,"

"Then why?"

I shrugged. "Maybe because I might pounce over you,"

This caught his attention as a smirk appeared on his lips and he lifted his upper body a bit, his head resting on his hand as he looked at me.

"No no no. I mean in my sleep,"

"Is it because you have wild dreams?" He smirked.

My jaw dropped.

Picking up a pillow, I threw it on his head and watched it bounce away and fall between us. I smiled in victory but my smile vanished when I saw the daunting look on his face.

"What did you just do?"

"Uh..." I picked up another pillow and threw it on him like the first one but he dodged that. "You mean that?" I asked innocently.

His piercing glare pinned me to my spot and when he reached forward, I immediately pulled back and jumped out of the bed. But my relief was short lived as he grabbed my hand and giving a little tug, pulled me back to the bed.

I fell down face front and glared up at him. He had a satisfied look on his face and I threw another pillow but he dodged it. I sat up on the bed and gathered a few pillows in my arms, throwing them at him but he dodged all of them.

"So you wanna fight me Sinclair," I muttered with gritted teeth and went over to pick up the pillows on his side but his hands grabbed my arms in a firm grip.

"Ugh," I struggled to pull free but it didn't seem to work as he simply kept me in place without much struggle, letting out a chuckle to top it off.

When I didn't give up, he gave me a gentle push and I was resting against the headboard, more like pinned between his body and the headboard.

"Not like I'm flaunting Price but I'm really good at kickboxing,"

Whatever Sinclair!

"Okay. I give up," I finally spoke and he resigned his hands.

I immediately placed my hands on his chest and tried to push him back but he didn't move, instead, expertly pinned my hands behind me and held them in place with one hand. My back touched the headboard once more and he lifted his other hand to my face.

His body was only mere inches away from mine and I could feel the heat radiating off him. His hand pushed a loose strand, probably from the messy fight, out of my face.

"Aren't you a feisty little thing?" He chuckled.

I stopped breathing at the close proximity, my knees turning to jelly. I leaned back as his blue orbs bored into my own.

Am I in trouble?

"You're strong Sinclair," I spoke and he seemed confused at my words but kept his grip firm.

"But I'm smarter," I lifted up my knee with as much force as I could, only to be dodged by his forearm. I tried to free my hands amidst the little act but his grip grew tighter.

"Not that smart Scarlet Price," His face turned to that of a ferocious predator, which on the other hand was very sexy, as he locked my knees with his free hand.

"What did I just tell you about my skills?" He said rather cockily.

"Your skills my ass," I muttered nonchalantly while trying to free myself but froze when he looked into my eyes, realization of what I just said dawning on me.

"You're not that innocent Price, are you?" He seemed amused.

I flushed and finally stopped struggling.

I found myself breathing heavily as my cheeks warmed up. His eyes were fixed at my face but I couldn't bring myself to look at him. Finally, my gaze averted to his and he was looking at me in amusement.

"I didn't mean..." I trailed off as the mere thought of my words brought a huge smile on my face, which was struggling to burst into a laugh. I tried to keep a straight face and looked anywhere but at him.

Just then, the ringing of my phone startled me but it was no relief as Alec did not let go of me instantly, he took his own sweet time instead. Slowly, he withdrew his arm from my knees and released his grip on my hands.

I looked at the phone lying on the night stand and rolled my eyes at the contact. Ben.

Alec frowned at my phone and I looked at him in confusion. I took the phone in my hand and put it on silent, not really wanting to pick up. Alec went back to his side of the bed and sat down.

I turned to him and he frowned.

"Did he not see the newspaper today?" He asked.

I shrugged. "Maybe that's what he wants to-"

"Are you two serious?"

I blinked at him. "Me and Ben?" I let out a laugh but he didn't seem amused. "No we're not,"

He nodded and slipped into the duvet once more.

My phone buzzed again and Alec turned around to glance at the device.

"Uh. I'll be right back. It's not like I'm gonna get back with him or something," I spoke, not really knowing why I said that.

His gaze lifted up to mine. "I don't care Scarlet Price," He spoke in all honesty and I felt a gush of embarrassment seep through my veins.

Biting my lip, I nodded and left the room to attend the call.

Once I was in the dark living room, I went up to the huge glass window in the corner and looked outside at the street.

The phone buzzed again. He won't just give up, will he?

"What do you want Ben?" I snapped.

"Thank God! You picked up Scarlet,"

I gritted my teeth in annoyance.

"Scarlet? Are you there?"

"Yes Ben. What the fuck do you want?"

"I saw the newspaper today. Is it true?"

"Yes. It is,"

"But how can you marry him? You were dating me a few weeks ago and now you're marrying someone you just met?"

"What makes you think I just met him?"

"You've known him for long? That means you were cheating on me?"

"No Ben no. Me and Alec weren't dating when I was with you,"

"But this is so messed up Scar. You like me,"

I rolled my eyes, frustrated.

"No Ben. I don't," I snapped straight forwardly, knowing that it was wrong but Ben just couldn't seem to take a hint.

"You do. You're just marrying him because he's powerful. Just for his money," He spoke and his words ticked me off.

"Are you calling me a gold digger?" I snapped.

"No that's not-"

"Listen to me you dipshit. You don't know anything about me and think of yourself as the love of my life when you were no more than just a usual fling to me. And what makes you think I told you anything about my personal life? I've never told you anything considering the leech you are and you have no fucking right to judge me. So shut that hole in your face before I fucking break your jaw with one fist blow. Goodbye asshole,"

I hung up, my breathing still heavy and collapsed back on the couch, throwing my head in my hands. The emptiness of the hall and stillness of night crept up to my nerves and a few tears fell on my cheeks.

I didn't allow myself for a complete breakdown as the realization of crying over a prick's words dawned on me and I wiped my tears away. Taking in a deep breath, I went up to the room.

Alec seemed to be asleep and I slipped in on the other side of the bed. Shutting the lights off, I drifted off to sleep sooner than I thought I would.

*****

"Scar? Wake up," Groaning, I pushed the hand that was rummaging through my hair, aside.

"Scar? Scar? Are you alive?" Jimmy shouted again.

Sighing, I opened my eyes. "What do you want?"

"Why are you on the floor?" He asked and my senses resurfaced, finally feeling my aching arm.

I sat up and found myself on the floor of my side of the bed. I must have fallen off from sleeping so close to the edge.

Sitting up on the bed, I looked at Jimmy.

"Alec is waiting in the living room,"

My gaze flickered to the night stand watch. 7 a.m.

Who wakes up at 7 a.m.?

"Are we leaving already?"

"Yeah dad told me to wake you up. Alec has to go to the office too,"

"Alec this Alec that blah blah blah," I pretended to copy Jimmy's tone and he scowled at me.

"Fine. Keep sleeping on the floor," He left the room.

Rolling my eyes, I went to the bathroom and noticed a spare toothbrush. Picking out another one from the cabinet, I brushed my teeth and took a quick shower, changing into a new set of clothes from the suitcase.

I went downstairs and found Alec sitting in the living room with dad, both of them sipping tea. He was in his old clothes and I noticed the upper buttons of his shirt still undone. Can't believe he went infront of dad like that!

I didn't want to imagine my dad's first thoughts when he saw it.

Dad went into the kitchen for a while and Alec looked up at me when I approached him.

"You couldn't have just picked me up from the floor, could you?"

He paused from sipping his tea and gave me a confused look.

"I placed you on the bed-"

"How come I was on the floor when-"

"Three times Price," He cut me off. "I placed you on the bed three times. You were on the bed when I left the room,"

"Oh,"

"You knew I wasn't going to bite you, right?"

Biting my lip, I nodded and looked up when Mrs. Byrne brought my coffee. I smiled at her.

"Morning Mrs. Byrne,"

"Morning Scar. How are you?"

"I'm very good. How are you doing?"

"I'm doing good too,"

She turned to Alec. "Good morning Mr. Sinclair. Can I get you something else?"

"Morning Mrs. Byrne. No I'm good. Thank you," He spoke in a business tone, flaunting that deep velvety voice of his and gave her a nod when she left for the kitchen.

"So you do have manners," I pointed out like an idiot.

"I run a business Price,"

"Ofcourse. And you're quite good of a businessman Sinclair," I said back and he seemed confused at me appreciating him.

"Seeing you are good at closing deals," I whispered, incase dad was around.

Recognition flashed across his features and he smirked at me.

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