INSANE (Book one)

Chapter 15

Leah Knight

Two days Later

The blender's noisy sound echoes through the empty kitchen as I tend to make avocado porridge for Reina. My mind replays the fight between Ares and I. It had been two days already and Ares was no where to be found. Even though I had grudgingly tried calling him to know about his whereabouts, his phone was switched off. I had called Dean if he had any idea about where Ares had gone but he also had no clue. Don't get me wrong, I'm still pissed off with him calling me a s**t but I was worried about the asshole. He had anger issues, it wasn't his fault. But that doesn't makes any sense venting it on me or Troy.

After feeding Reina, I sat her down on the island. She was healthy and glowing, not at all looking like a pre-matured baby. I was sipping my orange Juice, the sun was setting as I started worrying about Ares again. Speaking of the devil, he walked straight into the kitchen moments after I've heard the front door thinking it was Bianca. He was looking distraught and awfully sick. His right hand had a band-aid wrapped around it and his hair was about longer and shaggy. He had a two-day stubble covering his jaws. He looked like he could use a hospital.

"Ares" I called on him, clearing my throat. He didn't even spare me a glance, he just walked pass me and opened the fridge, helping himself with some water. I stood there motionless, and the only sound in the silent kitchen was Reina's bubbly squeals. But one thing I noticed about him was he wore the same clothes as he did the last time I saw him.

"Ares" I called again. He ignored my presence completely and kept the bottle of water on the island. He then walked pass me again, kissed Reina's cheeks and walked out of the kitchen. My fury surged up again. He was giving me the cold shoulder when he has no right to. I mean, he was the one that called me a s**t, the only offensive word I said was that I hated him. Which was a dry lie. I was just mad at him that time. Whatever, he could stuff it up his angry a*s, I don't care anymore.

**********

It was 10:00pm in the night and still, Ares was ignoring me. I had to say though, his act was surely getting to me. After I had tucked Reina safely to bed, I decided to confront him. I marched up to his home office. I didn't even knock, I walked right in. He had glanced up the door but had completely ignored me and went back to the work on his laptop. He was sick, I could tell by his looks but he wasn't going to stop working. This man and his love for work.

"Ares, I'm not leaving until you talk to me" I called, stomping my feet on the wooden floor and crossing my arms over my chest. He ignored me like I wasn't even there. But I stood to my ground.

"I don't even get the reason why you're so mad! I mean you were the one that called me a s**t". Another silent response. Only the tapping of the keyboard was audible. His face was absolutely expressionless.

"Ares say something!" I groaned. He didn't answer, just continuing his work. He hasn't even eaten anything but he was stuck up on coffee. He would kill himself before his time. I stormed over to his desk and slapped the laptop close, walking round the table and leaning against it, looking at him with arms crossed and annoyance. He leaned back against his chair and muttered a swear word, rubbing his face in frustration.

"there are two elements that are very common in this earth, Leah. Oxygen and stupidity," he paused and looked at me "I'm thinking you're high on both" he added. Jesus, he just called me stupid. I made a face as tears welled up my eyes, but I didn't insult him back. That was what he wanted, he wanted me to insult him back and walk away. But I didn't.

"you have to eat" I managed to croaked out, picking up his half empty mug of dark coffee. I turned around to go.

"oh C'mon Leah, wait" he suddenly grabbed me by my forearm and gently turned me around. He took away the cup from my hand and kept it aside then caged me between his body and table.

"I'm sorry" he whispered. I refused to look up at him knowing that I'd break down in front of him. But he lifted my chin up and forcefully made me look up. His eyes were looking so sick and dull.

"I'm sorry, okay?" he whispered again.

"do you have any idea how hard is it to cope with you not talking to me, you not eating and you killing yourself with work?" I sniffed, tears falling down my eyes. I had been worried about him for too long. He then tried calming me down when he pushed back my hair over my shoulders and kissed me on the neck. I let out a shaky breath as he left trails of kisses up my neck and my jawlines before finally kissing my lips. The kiss was soft and calming, instantly relaxing my nerves. Finally he pulled away and rested his forehead on mine.

"I'm sorry, Leah. It has been rough for me these past two days with our fight and Eros's visit" he sighed.

Wait a sec, who's Eros?

"who's Eros?" I voiced out my thought. He sighed again.

"Troy is not the person you think he is"

I'm slowly getting enough of this sentence already. Everyone I know is not the person I think he is.

"wait wait, I'm not talking about Troy. Who's this Eros?" I asked, confused.

"you see, that's the point. Eros is Troy. He's lying to you. His name is not Troy Winter, his name is Eros Montez. His whole identity is a scam. He works for some Mafia leader, not a shareholder in a company. He's Hoyt Montez's son, Leah. He's fooling you around" he said.

Okay, so this was too quick for me to register. So Troy is a Liar. I can't believe this! But why do I have a feeling I was expecting this to come sooner or later? Maybe because I wanted to be mad at him for something. He had been so nice, too nice. Maybe I was selfish, but he's a lying bastard anymore.

"how'd you know all this?" I asked, eyebrows furrowed. He licked his dry lips, something he does when he's about he's about to tell a lie.

"I have my sources". He's lying to me too. But it was way better than what Troy or Eros or whatever the f**k his name is did to me. Because I was feeling really stupid.

"but Hoyt Montez? Isn't that the multi-billionaire that died like 14 years ago? How comes you know him?" I asked again. Ares rolled his eyes, trying to tame to anger that rose within him.

"I don't really wanna talk about that right now. Have you eaten?" he tried changing the topic. I rolled my eyes.

"I have. But you haven't. Let's go downstairs, I'll make you something to eat" I said pushing myself off the table and trying to drag Ares out of the room.

"I'm not hungry. I just need some rest" he complained like a seven year old. I shut the door behind us, still dragging him.

"Ares, you're literally looking like a ghost right now. You'll eat, take some pills and then you'll sleep okay?"

"I don't like the sound of pills" he made a face. I sat him down on the kitchen stool and scowled at him.

"Ares C'mon. Stop being a baby. It's evident you're very sick"

"but it's just stress! C'mon babe" he whined.

"I am not having this conversation with you" I blew out my cheeks and went to see if I have any leftovers to warm up for him. He can literally pass out right now if he doesn't eat anything.

"are you doing this because tomorrow is Mother's Day?" he narrowed his eyes as I slammed a plate of his favorite meal.

"tomorrow is Mother's Day?!" I asked in disbelief, while looking at him in awe. He swallowed a bit as he played around with his fork. Not sure why he swallowed though.

"yeah. You don't know?" he asked, quietly.

"I had no idea" I answered, grabbing the fork and shovelling up some food before feeding him. He wouldn't eat until I do that.

"oh" was what the he said as I continued feeding him like a small child.

"do you have any plans for me?" I beamed at him. He smiled as he chewed on his food.

"definitely. I was planning on taking Reina to work tomorrow, giving you some girl time with Bianca. You can go wherever you want" he says. I thought through it as I gave him the last bite.

"yeah that would be nice. But Ares you're sick, you can't go to work" I complained. He sighed and pulled me off the stool, dragging me into his laps.

"I'm alright, beautiful. If it makes it any better, I'll sleep in tomorrow until 9 before I go" he cooed with a husky voice, making it impossible for me to say no.

"fine. But make sure you take something before you go. I'll be here to give you anyway" I gave in.

He kissed the area underneath my earlobe.

"thanks beautiful"

**********

Ares did exactly as he promised the next morning, sleeping in until 9. I watched him after we had showered as he fixed his tie and collar. I handed him his briefcase when he finished dressing up. He smiled up at me.

"thanks beautiful" he gushed and kissed me. I smiled as we made our way out of the room and down the stairs.

"is Reina ready?" he asked Bianca and the old lady nodded. He gave her a smile and hugged her, which was weird 'cause Ares was not the hugging type. I think she was shocked too from the way she frowned.

"thank you Bianca. For always being here" he murmured. Bianca broke into a smile.

"it's an honour to work for you, Mr Knight" she replied. He smiled and pulled away then carried Reina's baby carrier.

"well, time for some father and daughter s**t" he mused. I slapped a hand over his mouth and gave him a playful disapproving look.

"I don't think I'd like my daughter to be muttering swear words when she starts talking"

"you mean our daughter?" he narrowed his gaze at me and took away my hand from his mouth. I rolled my eyes.

"still the same thing". He sneakily snaked his arms around my waist and pulled me close, smirking down at me with a playful glint in his eyes. As I was about to complain, Reina squealed her first baby word.

"dada!" she called, playing with her bottom lips. Okay, I kinda feel sad it's wasn't 'mama' or something like that. His smirk grew into a cocky grin.

"might as well take that" he stuck out his tongue. I rolled my eyes.

"you're behaving like a child. And get off me, we have company" I grumbled.

"she's not complaining" he rolled his eyes, talking about Bianca. She shook her head with a smile.

"you're so annoying" I rolled my eyes.

"you're just annoyed with Reina"

"no I'm not"

"you sure? Is it because she called me first and-"

Again, Reina interrupted with a squeal.

"Ma!" she pouted her bottom lip and attempted to look down at it with dark doe eyes while her hands touched it. I smiled brightly at him as he narrowed gaze at her.

"Awwn, don't be so sad. She's just a baby" I winked. He rolled his eyes and dragged me down the corridor by my waist.

"okay, be safe with her. All her stuffs are in the backseat. If she's hungry, the milk is inside her feeding bottle. If she's wet," I paused and sent him a playful wink as he made a face. "diaper change, okay?" I smiled. He scrunched up his nose in playful disgust.

"ew" he muttered. I laughed and leaned down to kiss Reina.

"what about me?" he pouted. I laughed and pressed a sweet kiss to his lips.

"okay now. Off you go. Be safe with her, okay?" I smiled, fixing his collar out of character.

"of course. Take care, have fun" he says, kissing me again. I nodded and he smiled, stepping off the porch. Today, he decided to drive his silver E350 Mercedes Benz, which was kinda sexy. I waved them off as they drove off, before sighing and walking into the house. What to do? I have no idea!

"Bianca, do you have any plans for today?" I asked as I plopped down on the couch, ready for a lonely Mother's Day.

"oh yes, actually. My kids always throw a day family party for me every Mother's Day. They all take the day off their work to spend time with me" she says, fixing her floral scarf over her neck. Well, there goes my plan of hanging out with her.

"that's good. I'm sure they'll be waiting for you by now" I mustered a smile. I might as well just bury myself with Netflix and wait till Ares gets home with Reina.

"probably. But I was just wondering, would you like to come with me?" she asked. I blushed a little, realizing I gave her the pity face.

"I don't wanna intrude" I mumbled.

"oh nonsense! My kids would be delighted to see the Boss's wife" she chirped. I pretended to think about it for a while.

"well, alright then. I'll just go get my coat" I smiled and raced upstairs.

Bianca was a life saver!