Page 8 of Obsessive Love (The King #1)

Chapter Seven

Sophia

C racking my bleary eyes open, I look around the room and groan when I find it empty, bar the crumpled sheets and clothes strewn over the floor. I allow my head to drop back against the pillow as I yawn and stretch out my aching limbs.

I lay there for a moment, staring up at the ceiling and remembering the eventful night. A small smile finds its way onto my face as I recall the multiple orgasms I had in the many different positions I was put in.

God, what an amazing night.

A soft knock at the door interrupts my thoughts and instantly reminds me I'm in the back room of a club, completely naked with only a thin sheet to cover me. My wide eyes dart over to the door and I quickly scramble off the bed, taking the sheets with me.

When the door doesn't open, I sigh in relief and hurry over to my crumpled dress, picking it up and quickly shoving it over my body.

"Sophia! Open the door. We need to get out of here!"

Hearing Jaylen's voice diminishes all of the panic I was previously feeling and I yank the door open. He stares at me with a disapproving look and shakes his head.

"I would love to stand here and tell you how much of an idiot you are right now, but we really need to leave. It's almost midday and we need to get you to Dominic's so that you can clean yourself up before we go to your father's," he scolds, latching onto my hand and dragging me down the hallway.

"Jay, slow down. Why do I have to go to my father's house? What's going on?" I ask, dread settling in my stomach at the thought that he or my brother, Dominic, might've found out what I'd done last night.

He slows his pace, dragging me through the now-empty club and out onto the street where his car is parked. He opens the passenger side door for me and then sighs as he faces me.

"He wants to talk to you and make sure you're prepared to meet your husband tomorrow."

"What?" I screech, staring at him in shock. "I didn't think I had to meet him until the wedding! That's in like five days. Why do I have to meet him tomorrow?"

He screws his face up, a tell-tale sign he has something to say that he thinks may hurt me. I narrow my eyes at him, waiting for his response.

"Alessandro called for the meeting after Jericho tried to get out of marrying you and a few other complications came to light. Your father had no idea this meeting was even happening until last night, hence why he wants you at his house tonight so that he can talk to you about what to expect and how to act."

As I stand there dumbfounded, he nudges me towards the open door, urging me to get in. I climb into the car and pull my seatbelt across me whilst Jaylen closes the door and walks around to the driver's side.

"If Jericho doesn't want this wedding to happen, and if I don't want it to either, then why does it have to happen?" I ask him after he's settled in his seat.

He shakes his head and sighs as he twists the key in the ignition.

"I don't know, Soph. That's something you'll have to ask your dad."

I follow Jaylen as he enters Dominic's penthouse, keeping myself hidden behind him so I can hopefully avoid seeing my brother whilst I'm in such a rumpled state.

As we reach the entryway to the kitchen and living area, Jaylen stops and peeks around each doorframe, making sure the coast is clear. After a few moments, he nods and indicates with his hand for me to pass him.

I quickly shuffle along the corridor, making sure to stay quiet as I head for the stairs, hoping to reach the spare bedroom where I keep some extra clothes and toiletries for whenever I visit.

Jaylen calls out my brother's name as he walks into the living area, alerting him of his presence and hopefully distracting him as we discussed in the car.

I reach the staircase and silently start to climb it, skipping over the two creaky steps I have memorised.

When I reach the top, I sigh in relief and tip-toe towards the spare bedroom. Just as my hand grazes the doorknob, I hear a throat clearing from behind me.

"What do we have here?"

My shoulders slump and I turn around to face my brother, who's casually leaning against the wall and staring at me with a smug look on his face.

"Jesus, Soph. You look a mess."

I scowl at him and shake my head as I turn back to the door, open it, and walk in, planning to ignore my older brother. Unfortunately, he follows behind me, leaning against the open door and watching me as I search through the drawers for some comfy clothes.

"So, what did you get up to last night?" he asks, walking further into the room and opening the wardrobe. When I don't reply, he pulls a sweater dress from the wardrobe and tosses it onto the bed. "Wear this."

I dump the clothes I had in my arms back into the drawers and then turn to face him, placing my hands on my hips.

"Why does it matter what I did last night?" I ask.

"I'm only curious because Dad called me this morning to talk about this meeting that we have to go to tomorrow, and he asked me to pick you up from Jess' house. Obviously, I then called Jess, but she didn't answer. So then I called Jaylen, and he didn't answer either." he trails off, staring at me with furrowed brows. "We both know that Jaylen always answers the phone to me. The only time he hasn't answered was when he'd lost you and you decided to get yourself into some trouble in college."

"Dom, I need to get changed so we can head over to Dad's house," I tell him, trying to evade this conversation. I pick the dress up from the bed and attempt to slip past him to the bathroom, but he steps into my path, halting my movements.

"After that whole debacle last time, I had a tracking app installed on both of your phones," he states. "Now, you left your phone at home, but Jaylen always has his on him. So, do you want to tell me why my little sister was out at one of the Rossi clubs last night and why she was still there this morning, or should I go and twist Jaylen's arm and have him tell me instead?"

My head whips around to face him as my jaw hangs open in shock.

"I was at a Rossi club?"

He raises a questioning brow and nods.

"You didn't know?" he asks. I shake my head, staring at him with wide eyes. Worry flashes across his face when he realises I'm telling him the truth. "Soph, what did you do when you were there?"

I gulp nervously as I think about dancing with the Italian guy and my cheeks heat as I remember kissing him and how it felt to have his mouth and hands all over my body.

"I, uh, I," I stutter, thinking of an appropriate response to his question.

He grabs my shoulders and gently shakes me, waiting for me to focus on him again.

"Please, just tell me you didn't do anything stupid."

I pull my bottom lip into my mouth and sink my teeth into it as I stare at my brother's worried expression. Before I can answer him, footsteps pound against the floor in the hallway and we both turn to stare at the open doorway. Jaylen appears, his eyes darting between us both.

"What's going on?" he asks, panic evident on his face.

"You took her to 'Blitz'?" my brother shouts, releasing me from his hold. He glares at Jaylen as he crosses his stocky arms across his chest.

"Jess wanted to go," Jaylen shoots back, glancing over at me and silently communicating with me to play along with whatever he says. "I checked before we went that none of the Rossi family was going to be there, and I kept an eye on both of them the whole time. Nothing bad happened, Dom. I made sure of it."

My brother watches our cousin for a few moments with narrowed eyes.

"Why were you still there this morning?"

"We weren't. I left my phone there last night, must've slipped out of my pocket or something while I was trying to wrestle Jess out of the club. That's why we took longer to get here, because I had to go back to the club and get my phone after we left Jess' house."

My brows raise in surprise at the story that Jaylen's come up with on the spot and I can't help but feel slightly impressed that he seems like he's being completely truthful. I could never lie that well.

My brother sighs and swipes a hand down his face, shaking his head.

Before he can look at me for any confirmation on Jaylen's story, I mutter something about getting ready and then hurriedly lock myself in the bathroom.

Sitting in the backseat of Dominic's car on the way to my father's house, I can't stop my thoughts from drifting back to last night.

Who knew one night with a handsome stranger could be so unforgettable? The feel of his hands on my skin was like nothing I'd ever felt before, and every time our lips touched, it was as if a fire was lit inside of me.

Even though the sex was somewhat rough, it was filled with passion and an intense amount of lust and desire. At first, I thought that it was maybe due to my lack of experience as to why I felt the way I did, considering I've only ever slept with one guy before. Still, after talking to Jess on the phone whilst I was getting ready and hearing how shocked she was at my description of the night, I'm convinced I was lucky to have connected with the mysterious Italian hunk.

"Soph, I know you're not thrilled about this whole marriage thing, but try not to bite Dad's head off tonight whilst he's going over everything with you. He doesn't like this just as much as you do, but it has to be done," Dom says, glancing at me through the rear-view mirror.

I roll my eyes and shake my head.

"You don't get it, Dom. He promised me that this would never happen. He knew I never wanted this and he vowed to me that he'd never take my choice away from me."

"If you don't go through with this marriage, it'll cause a war. You need to understand that that's the only reason he's taking your choice away from you. If the Rossi's had a daughter, it'd be me in your position instead, but Alessandro only has sons, so unfortunately, this responsibility is now on your shoulders," he sighs.

I watch out the window as we pass through the entry gates that lead to my father's winding driveway and I close my eyes, taking a deep breath and mentally preparing myself for the conversation ahead.