Chapter 9 Take Her in his Arms
“Remember this. This is what it takes.”
The gruesome scene woke Lorenzo up a little. He took the medical chest, squatted down and started to clean Jessica’s wound.
“Direct and rough, that’s how you do things.” Jessica threw a glance at Lorenzo quietly, who was cleaning her wound.
“It’s bold of you to come in when you know I’m direct and rough. Aren’t you afraid of death?”
Lorenzo cleaned up all the tiny pieces of glass on her wound quickly, an odd feeling welling up inside him.
“You’re the one standing high above the masses, and everyone grovels to you, but I wouldn’t.” Jessica turned to him, her eyes twinkling.Content (C) Nôv/elDra/ma.Org.
“All I want is peace. Can you leave me alone for now?”
Lorenzo finished dressing Jessica’s wound and helped her up carefully.
“You don’t have to shut people out. I want to be by your side. Let’s get through the hard time together.”
Not only didn’t Jessica leave, but she turned around and took him in her arms, not letting go. She rubbed her head against his chest, just like a kitten craving for attention.
Her unique scent drifted through the air and hit Lorenzo’s nose. He couldn’t help but tighten his hold on her. His inner beast seemed to quiet down a lot the moment Jessica took him in her arms.
“You don’t have to suffer in silence with me. If you can’t take it anymore, you can bite me to vent your frustration.”
Jessica said in a soft whisper as she stroked Lorenzo’s back gently to pacify him.
“You would go that far?”
“I don’t mean sex. I mean…”
Suddenly, Jessica bit Lorenzo hard on the shoulder as she spoke. Blood gushed out of the wound too quickly for him to react.
“Hiss…”
Lorenzo gasped and tightened his arms around her. Meanwhile, Jessica’s lace trim was snagged on the edge of the table as he drew back subconsciously, and the two fell on the chaise longue together.
“You’re taking this opportunity to retaliate against me, aren’t you, Mrs. Fletcher?”
Lorenzo looked down at Jessica beneath him and raised his brows, pain waking him up a lot.
“It’s called reciprocity, not retaliation.” Jessica’s eyes gleamed brightly.
Just as she was about to get up, Lorenzo pinned her down against him, their warm breaths mingling.
Jessica could see his eyes darkening. Meanwhile, they were in an awkward position…
“Aren’t you going to get up, Mr. Fletcher?”
“You smell so good. What fragrance do usually you use?”
“You asked me before. I never use fragrances. I thought you had some better pickup lines. Or… are you interested in me?” Jessica chuckled.
“It was my fault. You wound must be hurting now. I’m sorry…” Lorenzo whispered tenderly, a regretful look on his face.
His gaze fell on Jessica’s delicate face. He stared at her sparkling eyes through the mask and kissed her on her smooth forehead.
Lorenzo was usually a domineering man, but now he was apologizing to her in his most tender voice, and that made her stiff all over.
This man was dangerous!
“You get up first. That’s fair and we’re even. Why not let go of me first, Mr. Fletcher?”
Jessica pushed Lorenzo in the chest, trying to make him get up first.
Lorenzo, however, put his slender fingers gently on her half mask and slid them slowly through her silky hair before he lowered his head.
“…”
Hear heart racing, Jessica had no idea what Lorenzo was going to do, and she didn’t dare to act rashly. Her eyelashes were fluttering slightly, and soon, their warm breaths mixed together again.
Suddenly, there came a flash of silver light. A special silver needle was pierced precisely through Lorenzo’s skin, and he was overwhelmed with drowsiness in an instant. He closed his eyes slowly, slid to Jessica’s side and fell asleep.
Finally, Jessica let out a sigh of relief. Dazzled by the crystal chandelier, she took a deep breath. Even if she was still a virgin, she knew clearly what the man wanted to do just now.
But she couldn’t get carried away!
Jessica shut her eyes before opening them abruptly.
She shouldn’t take what Lorenzo said seriously. The two had a contract marriage, and each of them took what they needed and used the other for their own sake, so she couldn’t sink down in his tenderness.
Just as Jessica was about to get up, a strong arm pinned her down. She turned to him quietly, but he seemed to be sound asleep.
Even in his dreams, Lorenzo wouldn’t let her go. Jessica wanted to get up, but she couldn’t make too much noise in case she woke him up.
It was comfortable for one person to take a nap on the chaise longue, but it was crowded for two, especially when one of them was a big man. Jessica drew herself back to leave more room for him.
Before long, her phone rang. In order not to wake up Lorenzo, who was finally asleep, Jessica picked up her phone and saw the caller ID was Kevin Armstrong. Of course she had to answer her father’s call.
“Hello, dad,” Jessica whispered in Lorenzo’s arm.
“Do you know what you’ve done? Mr. Lee agreed to invest money, but you, you rubbed him the wrong way, and he’s pissed now! You have to make an apology to him so that he will invest money in our business!” Kevin snapped.
Since his voice was echoing on the phone, Jessica assumed that he put her on speakerphone.
“Dad, I don’t think Ms. Stewart has told you everything. To make him invest money, I had to sacrifice myself for it. Do you want that to happen?” Jessica questioned Kevin.
“Kevin, I did it for the sake of the whole Armstrong family. As a family, do we have to bother about personal gains or losses? Do you really want to watch our family business fail?”
Not only wasn’t Aminah regretful, but she spoke with great confidence, as if she had no choice but to make this decision.
“What you said makes no sense, Ms. Stewart. There are three ladies in the Armstrong family. Do you mean I’m dad’s only biological daughter, while Bianca and Leila aren’t?” Jessica insinuated with a sneer.
Leila Armstrong was Bianca’s elder sister and Aminah’s pride. In Aminah’s opinion, Jessica would never have her day as long as Leila existed.
Leila was the apple of Kevin’s eye. He always followed her advice because she was sophisticated and a better observer than Aminah. Besides, she was a sweet talker, and more beautiful than her mother.
In the old days, a woman had a higher status once she gave birth to a son, but Aminah took pride in her daughter, and Kevin spoiled Aminah for the sake of Leila.
When they were young, Jessica was better than Leila on all sides, so Aminah played dirty tricks and expelled Jessica to the outland and left her alone. Even if she came back now, she was no threat to Leila anymore.
“Kevin, Leila is the pride of the Armstrong family. How can we sacrifice her?”
“Jessica, as the eldest daughter of the Armstrong family, you should lead by example and apologize to Mr. Lee!”
Naturally, Kevin wouldn’t sacrifice his “pride”, as well as his favorite daughter, Leila. Therefore, he urged Jessica to sacrifice herself.