Enchanted (Billionaire Boys Club #2) | ongoing

Chapter 53

                      Donatella:

We ride for a while. I feel the vibrations of the bike beneath me and the wind blow back my hair as we breeze through the roads to wherever it is that we're going, because I still don't know that.

He's doing as he said and not being too fast, though we're not going particularly slow, either. I guess his concept of speed is a little different than most people's but I do feel like we're going at a good pace. Even if we weren't, I would still be unworried. I always feel safe around Darius.

In fact, I kind of want him to go faster.

I close my eyes, resting my helmet clad head onto his back and watching the scenery whizz by. I ignore everything that's happened in the past few days, if only for a few minutes, imagining that this is just another day. That we're happy and normal and there are no secrets or lies or untruths.

Once we do stop, Darius gets off of the bike and slides the visor of his helmet, revealing his black eyes. He then takes my waist in his hands, lifting me up and placing me back onto the ground before undoing my helmet and removing it.

When he does, I catch a glimpse of golden writing on the inside. I shoot out my hand, touching it to the hard-work and stalling his movements. Stepping closer, I read the inscription.

Little Ballerina.

He notices what I'm doing and waits for my reaction, eyes tracking my features with anticipating precision.

I try to fight it. I really do. But I can't help the watery smile that crosses my face.

He gently pulls the helmet away and hangs it back onto the handle of the bike.

"So, where are we?" I ask, facing him.

He inclines his head for me too look behind us and when I do, a gasp escapes my lips.

It's a little store, or cafe I'd say. Though actually, it's not that small. And the interior certainly costs more than the rest of the shops along the quiet street. I inhale the familiar warmth of sugar and dough, memories floating through my head when I read the sign. Gingerbean's.

The first time we went there was when we were out with Darius's mom and me and him were complaining about being hungry. Well, he was complaining and I nodded along wordlessly when he asked me if I was, to prove to his mother that she should buy us a treat. It was a few weeks after his fifth birthday when he invited me to sit on the gilded chair beside him and once we tasted the sweets here, we'd returned at least one hundred times in the next few years.

But I thought it shut down. When I came back to town I went to its location, hoping to find some comfort there since he didn't recognise me like I thought he would. But it was gone. And a lady told me that they were no longer in business there.

"But I thought..." I turn to him, confusion marring both my expression and my brain.

"It didn't shut down. It just moved. This place has more footfall and the owners decided that it would be better to locate it here. I remembered it yesterday and today I went to find it but when I got to the place where I thought it was and it wasn't there anymore, I spent a while looking for it. I found it eventually."

He went all around town looking for a cafe?

"Do you want to go inside?" He asks me and I nod, allowing him to take my hand, leading me through the door.

We sit down at one of the tables, the chairs comfortable and just as plush as I remember. I fold my hands in my lap, not knowing where this is going. Is he bringing me here to let me down gently? To share one last special moment before he tells me it's over and that he doesn't see me the way I see him?