CHAPTER TEN.

After helping her to wipe her hair, Alex took a seat on her sofa before crossing one leg over the other. His full attention was on her which was making Clarrisa a little shy. This was the first time Alex was being sweet to her and the feeling was overwhelming for her.

“Why do you look so flustered?” He asked after a while, a sly smile tugging at the edge of his lips.

Clarrisa gave him a faint smile, “I am just overwhelmed, like I can’t get over the feeling of you being here”

“Really?”

He leaned forward before tugging at his already disheveled hair, “ you are going to be my wife though so you have to get used to this sweet side of me”

“Really?” Clarrisa asked wide eyed and he nodded with a smirk.

“Absolutely”

Deep inside of him, he wanted to badly puke at his own display of affection towards her. If not for Bianca, he would never be here bur here he was and this whole thing was already making him tired.

“Will you spend the night here?”

“Should I?”

Now Clarrisa was more stupified, this was a different side to Alexander chase that she didn’t think she would ever see.

“I would love that”

“I will let the helpers know and they will prepare the guest room”

Alex nodded and watched her walk out of fhd room briskly, he didn’t fail to notice the smile on her face.

The moment she closed the door behind her, the happy look on his face disappeared and a look of disgust took over. He felt suffocated just being in the Gerald mansion but what could he do? He needed all the proof he could get to send that murderer to the deepest abyss.

*****

Clarissa had a bright smile on her face as she made her way down the stairs, her parents were still arguing about the news while her brother just entered.

He was a workaholic just like Alex and he didn’t like to mingle much.

His name was Dylan and he was managing some of his father’s businesses which was scattered across the globe.

“Why do you look so excited?” Dylan asked when he came across her at the stairs.

“It’s nothing to concern yourself with brother. Go have some rest”

Without waiting for his response, she hurried downstairs before calling out to the chief butler who came rushing to her.

“I want you to clean out the guest room, my fiancé will he staying for the night”

“Alex is staying for the night?” Her mum asked to be sure she heard well and Clarissa nodded much to her amazement.

“Did he agree to this himself?” Gerald asked.

“He suggested it”

The happiness evident on her face made her mum smile too, this was a first and maybe it was worth it.

“I will go back now and keep him company” after talking, she scurried away upstairs again, she didn’t want to miss a chance with the man she loved.

Alex was admiring her room when the door flung open and she entered which made him turn and a smile appeared on his face upon seeing her.

“Are you checking my room out?”

“Hmmm” he nodded, “it speaks volume about you”

Her pictures decorated the walls of her room while his pictures also accompanied it.

Before taking over her father’s business, she was a model for a top Asian company but after two years she quit the contract before returning to America to work for the family so most of the pictures had a model kind of vibe.

“I already told them to clean out the room, I can give you a tour on the house if you want”

Alex shook his head in the negative, “that will be some other time Clarrisa, it’s already late”

“Oh” an awkward smile formed on her face which Alex found cringy. He wanted to badly leave at that moment but he couldn’t, that wasn’t part of the plan.

“Okay, I will take you to the guest room then, I made arrangements for everything”

“Let me have a talk with Mr Gerald before I retire to bed”

He didn’t even wait for her to say anything before making his way out of the room, he wasn’t going to allow the night to waste.

Gerald was the only one in the living room when Alex walked up to him. He wasn’t smiling or frowning, he just had an expressionless look on his face.

“I am surprised that you decided to spend a night at your would be in laws, it is a pleasure”

The man smirked but his blood was boiling, he wanted to snatch Gerald up and dash him against the wall but he had to keep his cool which he was trying very hard to do.

“I have to get to know my wife’s family, that is a given” he lowered himself on the sofa opposite Gerald before crossing one of his legs over the other.

Alex studied the man in front of him for a while before leaning forward,

“How was Mr Baxter to you?”

Gerald froze when he heard that name, this was a name he had not heard for close to ten years. The name of his best friend, the name of the family he massacred.

“How do you know him?” He managed to ask after a while which made a little laugh to resonate out of Alex’s mouth.

“Everyone knows the story of you and Mr Baxter Gerald, he was your best friend and he willed everything to you, am I right?”

“You sure did your homework, Alex” Gerald sipped his drink, “Baxter was a good friend”

“I am sure he was”

The sarcasm in his voice didn’t go unnoticed by Gerald which made him smirk.

“It seems Mr chase have a personal problem with me”

Alex leaned back and uncrossed his leg,

“Why will I have a personal problem with you? I am about to marry your daughter, we should be on good terms I suppose”

“I hear the sarcasm in your voice Alex”

“You think so?”

“I know so”

The two of them became quiet and kept looking at each other, the tension between them was as high as anything but the smile on each face made it look like everything was fine.

“Let’s have a partnership Gerald '' he finally said what was in his mind and Gerald froze for a while. A partnership with Alexander group of companies was the pinnacle of his career and this was something he was not going to joke with.

“A partnership?”

“Let’s talk about it in the office on Monday”

Not bothering to wait for his reply, Alex stood up and made his way upstairs.

*****

The moment his door closed behind him, the smile on his face disappeared and he slumped on his bed.

He pulled out his phone before calling a certain number and the latter answered on the first ring.

“Aren’t you coming back?” Bianca’s voice filtered into his ears.

“I am spending the night here” Alex responded, his hand massaging the back of his neck.

“We didn’t discuss that”

“It was just a decision I made at the spur of the moment”

“What are you planning, Alex?“

He sighed, “I don't know for….”

His voice trailed off when his door burst open and Clarrisa entered.

“Sorry I burst in like that, I was supposed to knock”

“What do you want, Clarrisa?” He was trying as much as possible to make his voice sound calm and composed, it was rude of her to enter the room like that anyways.

“I just wanted to make sure you are okay, do you need anything?”

The man looked at her for a while and smiled, “you wanna sleep here?”

Clarissa’s eyes opened as wide as saucers, “can I?”

“Yeah sure, you can”

This was all part of his plans, if only she knew.

Clarrisa couldn’t stop herself from smiling before walking over to the bed and before Alex could comprehend what she wanted to do, she threw herself in his embrace.

“Thank you so much Alex for coming over” Clarrisa whispered into his ears and tightened the embrace.

Typical Alex would have pushed her away but this Alex allowed her to hug him. Not because he was happy that they were hugging but because his plans were ringing at the back of his head.

“Get ready to always be treated like this Clarissa”

He whispered back.

She was happy, shs was excited. This was the best day of her life.

She never knew she would be this close to her fiancé but here she was in his arms.

After hugging him to her head content, she slowly disengaged from him and clasped her hand over his.

“Alex”

“Hmmm”

“Thank you for coming over tonight, ir means so much to me”

“Should I ask for a reward then?” A sly smile was tugging at the edge of his lips which didn’t go unnoticed by her.

Clarrisa’s heart skipped a beat when she heard him, was he about to get intimate with her? A lot was going through her mind and her expectations grew when he placed his index finger under her chin.

“Can I use your laptop?”

Clarrisa “..”

“What?” She couldn’t believe her ears, “is that the reward you wanted?”

“You thought I wanted to ask for something else?”

She shrugged and gave an awkward smile, “no, I was not expecting you to ask for my laptop though” she then stood up, “I will get it”

As she left the room, she didn’t see the mocking look on her fiancé’s face.