Chapter 8

Isabelle’s Point of View: “So, what is this about?” I kept my cool as we proceeded to go far from the company building. Achilles looked at me but found it in his best interests to ignore me! “Achilles—” “Just wait a few moments, will you?” He looked a little irritated by my constant questions. I slowly nodded, not trying to piss him off. We soon reached his car. “Get in, Bella.” I looked at him once again at the mention of my nickname, before getting in the backseat. My brain was pounded by the constant questions about where he wanted to take me, but I had a little trust in him—no matter how crazy that sounded. I could do anything to believe that maybe he cared for me. He soon entered the car too and started driving. I sat back comfortably and looked out of the car, aware of the speed we were going at. “I won’t tell Dad that you missed work today,” he said after a minute. “So, you shouldn’t either.” I looked at him and sighed. “Why will I miss work? It is not like I am gonna spend the rest of the time… with you.” “What do you mean?” he immediately responded. I didn’t know what I meant by my sentence. I didn’t know what I wanted. Did I want him to spend time with me? Was I taunting him, or guilt-tripping him? Or maybe I was just stating the obvious without any hidden meanings. “I don’t know,” I replied genuinely. “Huh?” he asked, but I chose to ignore him this time. It was already hard to look at him and not want him, and it was even harder after last night. The car came to a halt after a few minutes and I looked out of the window to find a big mansion. On the other side of the road was nothing but the coast—I think we were on The Golden Coast of California. “Why are we here?” I asked him as he got out of the car. He opened my side of the door and extended a hand to help me out, which I casually left hanging. I came out by myself and he closed the door. “Whose mansion is this?” I asked him. “Of course it is mine. Why would I bring you to someone else’s place?” He looked at me with furrowed brows. “You aren’t usually this stupid, right?” I scoffed. He smirked and extended his hand toward me. “Why do you wanna hold my hand?” I asked in a bold tone. Frankly, I was getting irritated by how casually he gave me mixed signals. How different he acted according to the situations and how easily he used me whenever he wanted to. He looked back at me and sighed. “I don’t know what you want from me, Isabella. You want me, you don’t want me!” He exclaimed with irritation and ran his hand through his hair. “And suddenly you care about that?” I asked, confused. He shook his head and took my hand. I looked at our hands, suddenly feeling the butterflies all over again. He didn’t say any other word, but took me inside his mansion. The place was definitely huge, and I didn’t even know that he had a place here. He unlocked the house, and we went inside. As soon as he locked the door, he pushed me against the wall and I looked at him with wide eyes. “Achille—” “Call me Ace.” I panted as I looked into his eyes. His magnificently beautiful eyes looked into mine with possessiveness. I exhaled out a shuddered breath, and he grabbed my jaw. “This is not who you are to me, Isabella. And I want more than what we have. Understood?” The dominance in his tone was obvious, while his words sounded like a fantasy I’ve always dreamt of. “But…” I whispered, which came out like a whimper. His gaze held mine for more time before his grip on my jaw tightened. “Ah…” “Don’t object to what I tell you.” “You… you’re-you’re confusing me,” I managed to say while trying to ignore the pain caused by his strong hold. “And that’s perfect.” I looked at him and then gave a thought to the words he told me just now. More than what we had? “What do you… want?” I asked as I closed my eyes for a moment. “Be mine.” “What—” Before I could say anything more, he joined our lips. I could never describe what I felt in the heavenly moment. No matter how rough he became, no matter how tight his grip on me was—nothing hurt. The feathery feeling added to the butterflies was so rare and beautiful to me. It was something I had never expected to get, but I couldn’t deny how easily he made me feel that way. He took my hands and kept them above my head, making use of his height. I felt helpless, but I liked it. It was embarrassing, but I didn’t care. When he stopped kissing me, I closed my eyes to avoid facing his gaze. “Open your eyes.” His voice was deeper than usual, and he whispered to me. I followed him and opened my eyes. It was easy to get lost in his eyes as he stared back at me. “Say you’re mine,” he whispered to me while keeping the eye contact intact. I breathed heavily and shuddered. I didn’t know what to say. Of course, I wanted to say it, but how? And why? “Bella,” he added when he saw my hesitation. He pushed a few hair strands behind my ear and kissed the side of my face. “You don’t have to be afraid.” “Why did… why did you leave?” I closed my eyes again and asked him. He sighed. “I had to.” “Why?” “You asked me to stay.” “If you can’t, why-why are you here?” He didn’t reply for a long time. When I lost hope that he would reply at all, he took a step back. I opened my eyes, and he looked at me with a worried expression. “I am giving you something, Bella. I am giving you a title in my life.” I looked at him suspiciously. “And what is that?” “Mistress.”