Chapter 235
Standing Before Love
Seanâs fist slammed into the frame of his office door. It was a horrific sight when blood quickly began to bead and flow from the cuts on his knuckles.
Lyla trembled. âSeanâ¦â
âLyla, if you insist on being crazy like this, then Iâm afraid divorce will be all thatâs left on the table for us.â The look on his face was cold and without throwing her another glance, he pulled away from her grip before walking away from her.
âIf you insist on being crazy like this, then Iâm afraid divorce will be all thatâs left on the table for usâ¦â
Divorce will be all thatâs leftâ¦
Divorceâ¦
As his words reverberated in her mind, Lylaâs legs caved in. She collapsed onto the carpeted office floor and watched as Seanâs back disappeared from view. Her heart twisted with a sharp, cold ache that threatened to cut her breath off.
Sean, on the other hand, had immediately regretted saying those words to Lyla. After all, he had once been deeply in love with her. Heâd told himself to tolerate her since she was only jealous and suspicious because pregnancy got the better of her rationale.
However, he had lost his temper after being aggravated by her tantrum. Myra wouldnât have done that.
She wouldnât have been so unreasonable as to throw a fit in the middle of my office. If that had been Myraâ¦
A dull ache began to throb in his head. No, there was a time when Myra had thrown her fits and whined and complained, too, he corrected himself. However, he had distanced himself, hurting her until her love for him became threadbare and she finally gave up on him. He remembered the last time they were in a room together as husband and wife, but in the end, she had shown up at the City Hall with a steely look in her eyes and she no longer regarded him with love or sentiments. He had pushed her away, bit by bit, and toward the end, she left and never looked back.
The thought seemed to tear his heart into pieces and the pain that followed was excruciating, but it numbed him all the same. His face was still grimâlike the storm clouds that gathered over a restless sea.
Myra could still hear Gemmaâs voice in her head screaming that âIâm Tonyâs girlfriendâ. She was pulled from her thoughts when a familiar scent filled the space next to her and she felt Tonyâs hand clasp over her own. He frowned as he asked, âWhat are you thinking?â
Myra shook her head. âI didnât think Gemma would be soâ¦â
She trailed off, suddenly at a loss for words to describe the other girl. Knowing Tony, she knew she could take his word when he said he had never dated Gemma and the cavalier way with which heâd said it meant he was telling the truth.
Nonetheless, Myra was still somewhat displeased by the idea that some other woman was pining after him.
She tightened her grip on his hand before bringing it to her mouth before biting on the web between his thumb and index finger.
Myra hissed through gritted teeth after releasing his hand. âYouâre nothing but trouble!â
She was beginning to notice that he was trouble or at least he had the potential to be. As if it wasnât bad enough that women flocked to him like bees to honey, those women proved to be relentless pests and this annoyed her to no end.
Meanwhile, the storm in Tonyâs eyes had cleared after he heard Myraâs accusation. He cast her a sideway glance and noted her sulky expression, then chuckled in amusement as he started the car. As he drove through the open gate and onto the driveway, he said, âDonât worry. I donât think sheâs as pretty as you are.â
âDonât try to convince me with sweet talk!â Myra dismissed him angrily. How could she not have realized that for all his accomplishments, Tony was just like any other man?
However, she could not hide the small smile that tugged at her lips upon hearing his compliment.
After having arrived at the front door of the villa, Myra stepped out of the car and entered the house, bringing with her the bag from the menâs boutique.
Tony, on the other hand, headed straight for the bathroom. When he came out after a shower, he saw her seated on the center of the bed, laying out the pale blue shirt that sheâd bought earlier. Sheâd rummaged through the drawer in which he kept his ties and was now picking out the ones that would compliment the shirt.
He was used to wearing white shirts beneath his black suits and he was far too lazy to deviate from this routine. He certainly didnât think that she would get him a pale blue shirt and he wondered how he was going to pull off such a pastel color.
Tony raised a brow and sauntered over to where Myra sat on the bed.
She had only just matched a maroon tie to the shirt when she heard the bathroom door opening followed by the approaching footfalls. She looked up at him as she asked excitedly, âWhat do you think about this look?â
However, she found herself staring into the endless sea that was his obsidian orbs.
He had only a towel wrapped around his waist and he gave his hair a quick rub instead of toweling it dry. Water dripped down from the ends of his hair and rolled past his chiseled cheekbones before it fell onto his toned chest muscles.
Myra could feel her face growing hot at the sight of that.
She swallowed; her heart was racing erratically as she watched the light play across the hard planes of his body.
Tony noticed the pink flush that colored her cheeks and his gaze darkened almost instantly.
Myra was about to turn away when his towering figure approached her and he sat in front of her. His tall frame shielded her petite figure and when they sat like that, she looked as if she was already enveloped in his embrace.
s though he had not seen her blush, Tony threw a nonchalant glance at the shirt and tie next to him. He raised his brows slightly as he asked, âI wouldnât know if it looks good just by glancing at it.â
His head was lowered as he gazed at her and he was sitting close enough for her to feel his breath on the sensitive skin of her neck. Her blush crept all the way to her collarbone, but she let out a cough and feigned calmness as she suggested, âMaybe you should try it on then.â
âOkay,â he answered plaintively. He reached for the shirt and pulled it on, but he left the buttons undone. Abruptly, he took Myra by the waist, pulling her closer until she was on her knees before him.
His hands clasped over hers and brought them to the front of his shirt before he said, âButton it up for me.â
His voice was low and slightly hoarse.
Myraâs face flushed with more fury as she brought her gaze to Tony. The more she stared into his eyes, the more she felt herself drowning in them, as if they were dark whirlpools from which she could not escape.
She looked away from the devilish gleam in his eyes and her gaze darted around frantically as she quickly buttoned up the shirt.
She made fast work indeed and within seconds, the shirt was buttoned. However, when she turned to look at the row of buttons on the shirt, she grew exasperated with herself. The shirt had been unevenly buttoned and it looked ridiculous, if not comical.
âMyra, you did that on purposeâ¦â Tony murmured, his warm breath stirring close to her ear. Before she could react, she felt the press of his lips against the curve of her ear.
âTony⦠Thereâs something Iâd like to tell youâ¦â Myra kept a clear head. She hadnât told Tony about what happened today and she would feel better if she did.
âWhat is it?â He did not appear to want to stop as he trailed kisses to her jawline.
For a moment, she was distracted by the pleasure that was beginning to course through her, but she quickly sobered and pushed him away. Her voice was low as she rasped, âAndrew came to see me today to take the documents for those projects that Thomas signed off for the Stark Group. He apologized to me and I think he did it because he knows you. He also mentioned that you asked him to take good care of me when I was thrown into prison the last time.â