Snippet #2464427

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Patrick was gone soon after Zane and right before Angel, thinking Zane too sensitive and not really wondering why his cousin seemed so bothered by the marriage. Perhaps he wanted the pretty Italian girl for himself. Angel, well – She had agreed, so why was she so upset? She would make a fine trophy wife for him. But he wasn't about to have Annabelle leave him. Women didn't just leave Patrick Stark. He was the one that left them. The plan was simple, chase her down and woo her. Too easy. Despite his dastardly habits and “I don't give two fucks” attitude, he was able to make women absolutely melt under his boyish smile and swoon at his charming words with his smooth Surrey accent. He had no doubt that all he had to do was pout a little and spew some nonsense about love or something, Annabelle would remain by his side. In truth, he cared little for her. She just provided amazing sex and had a rather exciting air about her with her lack of ability to consider any danger factors.

No, love wasn't for him. He didn't believe in it. As far as Angel went, he could care less whether she ended up loving him or not. But by the time that he was done with her, he would break her spirit and she would be exactly how he liked: Seen but never heard unless he demanded it. Women were just pretty faces. That was all. Candy and toys for men. A smile curved across his lips at the thought, his head shaking at himself. In shame? Hardly. He found himself highly amusing.

But the amused expression was replaced by the perfect image of pain as he found Annabelle at some podunk shack she had refurbished in the middle of some forest for her to escape and later for them to spend time in the throes of passion. His car parked some way back, he grimaced as he dirtied himself with mud and leaves while making his way to the shack, stepping indoors and calling out softly. “Annabelle - I know you're in here, love. Come and talk to me.”

Anna stepped hard on the accelerator, making her impala roar as hard as it could, trying to vent out her anger and frustration. She couldn't help but wonder over and over how things had gotten so twisted and messed up. Sure, Anna loved having a good time, she liked fooling around with guys every now and then and Patrick had happened to be one of them. It wasn’t that way anymore though, she didn’t quite know how she had become involved with the ‘enemy’ but before she knew it he had her under his spell-of-sorts.

Of course, Anna wasn’t naïve and knew exactly why Max stayed around. Theirs wasn’t a fairy-tale-like, let's walk in the sunset while holding hands type of relationship after all; truth was most times she didn’t even know what they were, more of a reason as to why she kept her cool around him. Knowing exactly where she’d be able to truly calm down and shut the whole world down, she headed to her ‘secret’ hideout. She had refurbished it for herself, to be on her own when the weight she carried on her shoulders began to drag her down. She couldn’t quite believe yet that she had even managed to trust Patrick with it. For a moment she wondered if it was about that time that she noticed she had fallen for his tricks.

She was lost in thought, as she headed to the main bedroom and closed the door behind her. She moved closer to the king size bed and climbed up only to curl her legs moving them closer, making herself a tiny ball of sorts. She let out a tear or two when she heard Patrick’s voice calling for her. She let out a sigh in exasperation, “No me jodas. Oh fuck off Max, I’m not in the mood.”

“What crawled up your arse?”, he chuckled, closing the door behind him as he began to venture towards the bedroom where he found her curled into a small ball. Really, he had no idea what was wrong with her, oblivious to her deep affection for him.

Anna rolled her eyes at his remark. She immediately cleaned the remains of her tears and almost feeling as if she her life had been shortened a few years she let out a tired sigh. “Just get the hell out Maxi pad.”, she said raising her voice knowing exactly how much he hated the clever nickname she had come up with.

The delicate features of his face lost composure for a few seconds but he was quick to regain it as he moved and sat on the bed next to her. “Look, I know that Angiluzza is like your sister. But you heard her agree. She seemed fine with it. So why are you upset? Generally, when a woman gets engaged their best friend is there to help them through it. But here you are locking yourself in a room in the middle of nowhere sobbing like a child.” His voice had grown more stern as he placed a hand on her back. “So, I'm assuming that this has something to do with us.”

Annabelle turned around to face him now moving his hand away from her as he placed it on her back, she looked at him with boldness and outmost seriousness “You’re right; Angel is the sister I never had. Which is why I know she doesn’t deserve this. This is wrong, this…. whole mess. It wasn’t supposed to happen.”

As soon as he implied that wasn’t the problem behind her stirred feelings, Anna’s eyes widened and flustered in anger. unable to look at him in the eyes as she lied she spoke again “Well… I’m sorry to disappoint you but the whole world does not revolve around you Max. This… has nothing to do with whatever it is that we have.” Deep inside Anna wished nothing more for her self to believe her own words, though it was true that it pained her to see her friend sacrifice herself for the family’s well being, but it was the thought of losing Max that had her almost losing her head.

Patrick let her do her whining, trying not to look bored before speaking up. “First off. The world doesn't revolve around me, obviously. That is the most idiotic saying. But don't you dare sit there and lie to my face. If you were simply upset because you feel your sister is unhappy then you'd be comforting her. Again – Not here crying like a baby. Secondly, the way you say she deserves better. Better than what? Me? There is none better than me and you should know that. If you mean by arranged marriage, she didn't seem to upset in accepting it without whining.”

He grabbed her face and forced her to look him in the eyes, his glacial orbs boring into her own cerulean eyes. “Don't. Lie. To. Me.” He found it difficult to go with his original plan of playing the sweet and loving boyfriend, Annabelle the one making the difficulties. He was growing increasingly frustrated, trying not to frown. She would not be leaving him.

Anna resented Patrick for seeing through her lies, she wasn’t one to cry easily and here she was letting herself be vulnerable in from of the man that could very much cause her demise. And though at first she loved his overconfidence now it was starting to bother her; somehow it make her weary as if he knew how much she cared for him.

She didn’t resist his touch as he grabbed her face and forced her to look at him, ordering for her not to lie to him. “What do you want me to say? Hmm?” she asked in a tired tone, “-you want me to say that I don’t want you to marry Angel? You’re right, I don’t. You want to say that I want to stay with you? You're right, I do." she finally said managing to turn her gaze down, not willing to look at him in the eyes again.

“Then stay with me.”

His voice was like silk as he finally pried the words from her mouth. A smile crossed his features as he moved closer to her and captured her lips in a kiss. Annabelle had some of the softest lips he had come across and they were always good for more than just kissing him. But he figured that it was a bit too soon to be asking for that just yet. A misogynistic womanizer he was, but that didn't mean that he was an idiot. He knew exactly what women wanted to hear and do.

He slipped a hand around her waist while the other slid from the side of her neck to her head, fingers tangling in her blonde locks. “My beautiful little Italian princess. This doesn't have to ever end. We can go on forever so long as you want it. Just because we aren't public doesn't mean this isn't special.” He put on his charm, letting his fingers rub against her scalp while he moved his lips to brush against her flesh. “Don't think of my marriage as such – Think of it as what it is: A business contract. No intimacy involved. Happens all the time in this life.”

Once again, Annabelle was unable to move at his touch; His words pierced through her as he asked her to stay with him. She slightly kissed him back as he surprised her pressing his lips against hers. Her body still trembled at his touch despite they had already been passionate a couple of times; he grabbed her by the waist and carefully grasped a lock of her hair. Patrick knew exactly how much Anna loved it when he massaged her scalp, most of a reason why she wasn't as surprised as he gently rubbed his fingers against her head.

She cursed at herself as she saw herself falling once again for his charms and as she her defenses down. She kept on kissing him pulling him closer to her and taking the lead now tumbling him down on the bed while she sat on top of him. “This is far from over Max, you better make it up to me.” She ordered him with an outmost serious expression before she leaned down to kiss him again.