You Are Mine

Keep ignoring me

Nicole's POV

Adrian did not do so much as look at me the next morning. For some reason, that hurt even more than finding out he was only using me. I clutched the pillow with my eyes shut, hoping he would ask me if I was okay or just at least acknowledge my sad face but he did neither as he got ready to leave early the next morning.

More tears stung my eyes, apparently, it had not been enough that I had cried all night. I got up from the bed angrily, as he fixed the bullets on his gun. He was already dressed in his regular clothes, looking just as hot and sin in his unbuttoned shirt and making me question why I was even mad at him.

The other side of the bed was still as smooth as it was when I went to sleep, and that could have either meant he slept at his usual spot on the couch or he did not even sleep in the room. Neither possibility did anything to make me any less upset. My eyes followed his every movement as he dropped the gun back on the table, and closed the buttons one by one.

He turned to me but kept his gaze fixed on whatever was above the bed. "So you're going to keep ignoring me and acting like I don't exist." I blurted in a pained voice before I could hold it back.

"Ignoring you is not answering back when you talk to me, and I'm talking back so no, I'm not ignoring you," he said simply without sparing me so much as a glance.

"God, I hate you so much," I said in a croaked voice, and for some reason, I sent the pillow that was clutched between my hands spiraling until it landed on his taut back. He seemed completely unbothered by the pillow I had just thrown at him, actually, it felt like no more than blowing dust on his back. The thought that I could not even physically hurt him if I wanted to only made me more upset. I pushed off the bed, and shoved my legs in the slippers angrily, then made my way to the bathroom.

But as my luck would have it, he decided to stop me before I reached the door. I moved to the left, avoiding his body, but his hands shot out and planted me firmly in front of him. "Let go of me," I sneered and he retracted his hand from my shoulder immediately.

"I just want to talk Nicole," he said in a strained voice.

"Too bad because I don't want to talk—to you." I tried to push past him to the bathroom, but he held me back firmly.

"You threw a pillow at me because I would not talk to you two minutes ago." I could tell he was almost amused by his tone, and I looked up at his handsome face and shot him an icy glare.

"That was two minutes ago," I bit back, "now all I want to do is take a shower, and go over to everything I have to do today."

"Tell me about it," he said and tanked me closer with his hand that was wrapped around my arm.

"I don't want to talk to you Adrian, let go of me." I placed a hand on his shoulder pushing myself back. Knowing myself self it would only take a few seconds for my traitorous body to react favorably to him. And the last thing I needed was to add s****l frustration to the list of my issues this morning.

"About last night," he continued, ignoring my protest, "I think we had too big a misunderstanding,"

"Then make me understand," I shot back.

"First off, I cannot believe you would think of yourself as just a business deal..."

"Am I not?" I interjected sharply.

"We cannot have this conversation if you will not calm down," he said as his jaw ticked.

"Good then, because I do not want to have it," I pulled my hand away from his grip and this time he let go easily.

He let out an exasperated huff and gave me a long thoughtful look. His eyes lingered on my exposed breasts through the thin T-shirt I wore and I folded my hands across my chest to hide my hardening n*****s from him. I thought he was going to press further but finally, he just nodded and backed up to let me through. I managed to give a half-smile, before walking to the closet and shutting the door.

He was gone by the time I walked back into the room after taking a bath, and now that I was alone in the room, I could let the sadness that I had been holding wash over me. I hated that I had to be such a b***h to him, but for some reason, I could not help it. Later I would find a way to apologize to him but for now, all I wanted was a distraction from all of my sadness.

With no appetite to eat, I went to the art room instead of the dining room. I had a whole lot to do to bring it to what I always imagined my art room would be, but for now, I needed to bring the room to life with some color.

There was a small knock on the door, and Marie strolled in after I asked to come in. She had a broad smile on her face when she saw me, and despite myself, I could not help but smile back.

"Good morning, I'm so glad to see you're all better," she said as she moved to stand next to me.

"Thank you for staying with me all through," I said with a small smile.

"Oh, Adrian did most of the staying,"

"He did?"

She nodded, "I must say I did see a new side to the boss that I had only seen many years ago. He was at your side all through. He waited patiently for you to wake up but had to leave to deal with something. I barely spent an hour with you."

"Oh my God, I cannot believe he stayed that long." a renewed feeling washed through me, one of guilt. he cared enough to stay there with me all night and I woke up only to spew all of those accusations on him, and give him a bad attitude this morning. "Where's Adrian?"

"Rounds, he should be back in the next hour."

"Good, please tell me when he is in his office." I pushed off the jacket I was wearing to reveal the grey booty shorts and matching tank top I had on.

"What are you going to do with this wide space," she turned around slowly taking in the sight of the room.

"Well for starters," I trudged to the buckets of paints and painting equipment on the side. "I'll paint, then I'll figure out what to do."

"It would take you days to finish this," she laughed, "don't you want Adrian to get someone to do this for you?"

"Is there a butler for everything here?"

"Kinda," she shrugged, "I'm just surprised that Adrian let you do any of these."

"I am too, but I have free time for the next six months, surely I can use it to get something meaningful done." I turned to look through the floor to ceiling glass mirror that provided an excellent view of the garden outside. It was a sunny day, and the trees moved in symphony with the quiet breeze as chirping birds nestled in the shade of the trees.

No matter what mood I was in, this room itself would always be a reason for me to be happy. "Okay, if you need any help, I'm right here to help." she offered with a smile.

"Thank you so much, Marie," I said as I got to work with covering the piano and the few pieces of furniture that were scattered across the room.

"I came over to call you for breakfast,"

"Nah, I'm not hungry right now, I'll let you know if I am," I gave her a small smile, and she turned to leave.

I spent the next few hours getting everything ready. I wrapped up everything in white sheets, placed the masking tapes on the right edges, and mixed up the paint. Everything took much longer than I expected since I was doing it all on my own. I knew Adrian would go crazy if he knew how many times I had climbed up and down the painting ladder, and how many times I had almost slipped. But it was not like a simple slip would be my undoing.

My phone rang from one of the covered tables. Getting it would mean I would have to unwrap the table which would probably take the next 10 minutes and I did not have the time for that. But I remembered that only a few people had my number, Adrain, Anderson, my parents, and Denis.

I scrambled for the table as the phone rang through the room a second time. I snapped off the latex gloves I was wearing and pushed off the white sheets. With any luck it would be my mom or best friend, I could not afford to miss a call from either. Much earlier than I expected, I took the phone out and grinned when I saw the name of the caller.

"Den!" I cried as I answered the third ring. I was more than happy to talk to my best friend after all the events that had happened in the last few days.

"Nic, oh my god I never thought you would pick up," his voice mirrored the relief we both felt.

"I'm sorry, I took some time to get my phone." I explained, "God I missed you Den."

"I miss you so much more, I took Cami on a walk today to the park, and almost ended up sobbing," he said in a small voice that was thick with emotion.

"How's Cami?"

Den and I had been taking turns to take care of the little teacup pig since we found it on a walk in the woods when we were 16. It was the cutest most adorable pet I had ever had, actually the only one too. My mom thew a big fit when I brought it home, she was allergic to it so I only took my turns when she was away for work at the hospital during the weekends. His mom was much more receptive but that did not mean she liked the pig. Den and I were like Cami's parent's and one time Den talked about legally adopting her. His mom threatened to file for a legal disownment if he did that, and the topic was never heard of again.

"Sad, but not as sad as I am." his voice was sad "Where are you, can I come and visit at least once. I really need to hug you again."

My chest tightened, in the haze of my problems I had not considered what my best friend must be going through in my absence. "I'm in Chicago," I answered in a small voice.

"Oh my god, that's terribly far. How am I supposed to do without you." he sobbed.

The low vibrating sound of his sobs through the phone made my heart plummet to the lowest. "Please Den don't cry. I'll only be gone for a few months and before you know it I'll be back." I said in an assured tone as I walked to the wall and sagged against it.

"That's too long. How about school? You know your acceptance will expire after a few months."

"Honestly, I have not given any thought to school since my arrival," I admitted.

"Nicole! You know how important school is for both of us," he chastised in a croaked voice.

"I know...I know," I rubbed my forehead, feeling a headache coming up.

"What about work, do you have a job,"

I could not help but snort at that one, "Adrain would not let me go to the mall to get paints on my own. Asking to be allowed to work or go to school, is just wishful thinking."

Just another reminder of how much my life was f****d. A few months ago, all I cared about was getting into the same school as my best friend. But now I had been dragged into a world of power play, manipulators, threats, guns, limited freedom, and a very overbearing husband.

When I was 12 Den and I made a best friends bucket list of all the things we wanted to tick off together, and on that list, there was "get married on the same day," but that one would no longer be made possible seeing as I was already married to a man I barely even knew.

"Who the f**k is that guy?" Denis asked in an angry tone.

"A control freak for starters," I blurted.

"I'm so scared for you Nic. Now I understand why your mom always looks sullen these days. I haven't had a peaceful sleep since I found out you were married."

"I promise Den, you do not have to worry about me. You know I would be out of here screaming for help the moment I feel unsafe."

"So you want to be there?" he asked, sounding bewildered.

"Not exactly. It's just a little...complicated."

"Then tell me. You know we do not hide things from each other Nic." he pleaded. "The first time I heard his voice through the phone that day, I swear I had a nightmare."

I wanted to tell Denis everything. The real reason I could not leave even if I wanted to. Adrian had not threatened me using my parent's safety in the last few days, but I would not put it past him to use that card on me again. I was already in it, and there was no coming out for me, at least not until the day his father was released. And from the look of things, I highly doubted if he would let me go after then.

I could not burden him with such a heavy load. My parents had already been dragged into this s**t, I would not allow another person I loved to get hurt when I could protect them by keeping them in the dark.

"Den you know me better than anyone. I will tell you if I could. But I love you too much to do that, so please do not ask me."

"I swear I do not understand any of this cryptic s**t you're saying, but if you can give him a kick in the nuts for me."

"Why would I do that?" I burst out laughing.

"Because he took my best friend from me." he forced a laughter and sucked in a shaky breath. "Do you know how embarrassing this is?" he said in a lighter voice this time.

"What?"

"I'm sitting on my front porch and sobbing over my best friend that in another country." he laughed, "I'm supposed to be the hard guy in our relationship."

"A good reason why you should stop crying. I'm fine really, but I won't be if you keep worrying about me."

"You know I love you, right?"

"I love you even more Denis."

"And you still owe me pictures, do not think I've forgotten." he laughed, a real one finally.

"I'll send them ASAP."

"Not ASAP, right now. I need to see if you're still looking as good as I remember you." A muffled sound of someone calling him in the background filtered through the phone.

"Tiger woods is back?" I asked amused.

"Wait till the day my dad hears you calling him that." he chuckled, "I have to go, I need to go and engage in the physical and emotional torture called chores."

"So lazy," I teased.

"I love you too," he laughed and ended the call.

My heart was swelling with joy when I got off the call, a new feeling of relief that I was able to convince him that I was okay washed through me. Now the last person that needed to be convinced was my mother. That one though would be harder since she was often worried about me even when I was home with her.

My stomach grumbled and I looked at the time on my phone to see it was already noon. I quickly sent Denis a collection of selfies I had taken in boredom a few days ago. Then I shoved my phone in my pocket, took out my other glove, and headed to the kitchen for lunch.

Marie was on her way out with two glasses and a bottle of wine when I got to the kitchen. "Oh thank God you're here," I said and walked to the fridge to get some food. "I'm starving,"

"I was wondering when you would come," she chuckled, "I'll come to give you something to eat soon, I need to give this to the boss in his office."

"Adrian?" I asked like there was another boss in the house.

"Hmmm-hmm."

He has a bar in his office why would he need this? I walked back to her. "Don't worry, I'll take it to him," I said to Marie. This was my chance to fix my f**k up this morning. Adrian was an annoying control freak often times than not, but I had only a little doubt that he cared for me. And maybe if I gave him a chance to say what he wanted to this morning, that doubt might just be erased.

"Um..." okay," Marie said and handed the tray to me.

I thanked her with a small smile and headed to his office. I was grinning like a fool, glad that we were going to resolve our issues as I reached the door to his office. I pushed the door open with glee but stopped dead in my tracks at the sight before me.

A woman I had never seen before, standing next to Adrian in a ridiculously short skirt and a few buttons on her dress laid down to reveal her breast that was ready to spill from the visibly padded bra she wore. She had a seductive finger on Adrian's shoulder as her seductive eyes roamed all over my husband's body.

I expected Adrian to push her away or just say something to make her stop, but instead, his focus was fixed on the piece of paper he was signing in front of him.

I clenched my fingers around the tray until my knuckles turned white. I was fuming with anger and utterly disgusted t the sight. They were both still oblivious to my presence and I waited a few more seconds for Adrian to push her away, when he did not, I let out all of the anger and frustration I was feeling out in a few harsh words:

"Get your filthy hands off my husband now."