The Dark Alpha

Chapter 17

"Alright," Pearl giggled as she stood up from her bed after throwing one of her pillows at me, "let me go take a long, much needed bath, and then we can try cooking supper."

I nodded, sitting up straight on her bed and crossing my legs as I watched her adjust her Versace top and walk into the bathroom, closing the door behind her.

I reached for my phone that was laying beneath the mountain of pillows that Pearl and I had made to get comfortable on the guest bed, which she was quick to claim as her own.

I scrolled through my contacts, searching for the familiar name that caused immediate butterflies in my stomach and hit the call button. I fiddled with my silk nightgown as the ringtone resonated in the silence.

"Diamond, I missed you," was the first thing that I heard from Arthur and my little pout turned into a full blown smile.

I giggled, like a silly little girl, "I missed you too, Arthur. How have you been?" I asked him, immediately falling back onto the bed like a lovestruck teenager.

I heard him sigh, "not so well. Life without you is dull."

"We haven't seen each other in three days, Arthur, it's not so bad," I pointed out with an eye roll. "You miss me too much."

"If I don't see your face at least once a day, I feel like I'll cease to exist."

"You're so melodramatic," I laughed as I felt a sudden vibration from my leg so I sat up, looking around for the cause of it before my eyes set on my sister's latest iPhone.

My laughter immediately stopped when I saw the name Isaac written across the screen. I paused my finger over the accept button before I realised that I shouldn't even think of answering my sister's phone calls, especially to this assassin whose baby she's pregnant with. Then again, she may terminate the pregnant, but even so I still shouldn't get involved.

"-ing...Diamond? Are you listening?" Arthur called to me and I put the phone back down before I gulped all my curiosity down.

"Huh? What? Sorry," I said all at once.

"I asked how your sister was doing," he chuckled and I nodded.

I bit my lip, "she's...well."

"You don't sound too sure. Is everything ok?" He asked gently and I really just wanted to sit there and spill it all. I felt like the secret was too heavy for me to carry alone and I needed somebody else to be there for me.

It made me feel even worse, because if this is what I felt, then what must Pearl be feeling? She must be in a much worse place than myself and it's sad because I knew that Isaac was the only one who made her happy, but she couldn’t be with him.

To be honest if there was someone in our family who could get away with who they date and who they marry, it was most probably Pearl because she never made a wrong decision. She always did what was in the best interest for the family and for the business.

Even so, the boss needed someone who could love and care for them, and if it was Isaac who gave her that then why not?

"No," I said honestly, unable to lie to him, "no, nothing's ok..." I trailed off.

"Do you want me to come and give you a shoulder to cry on? You don't have to tell me what's wrong, if you don't want to."

I closed my eyes, "you're so wonderful, you know that? You're the kindest, most gentle man there has ever existed. Thank you for that, Arthur," I said honestly, thinking back to all the kind words he's said to me, "I don't think I can ever thank you enough."

"Well yo-" I felt the phone begin to vibrate again and I lifted it up to see the same name written across the screen. I sighed but held the phone in my hand before I tried to listen to Arthur.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you, Arthur, but there's something that I’ve been meaning to ask you. My sister wants to meet you," I said, getting straight to the point, "would you like to meet her as well? It's going to be really casual, nothing serious, so you don't have to stress about anything. It's just going to be like a meet and greet."

"Yes, I'd love to meet Pearl. I'm free tonight...and tomorrow morning. Basically, I'm free when you want me to be."

I looked down at the phone that was vibrating again before I looked up at the closed bathroom door where Pearl could be heard singing like she always does when she's soaking in a bath, "how's tonight? Pearl and I are going to be cooking so it would do you well to bring some pizza unless you want food poisoning."

He chuckled, "will do, I'll bring some of-"

"Sorry to cut you off, Arthur, but I have to go. I'll see you tonight, goodbye."

I quickly cut the call and looked back at the bathroom door to make sure that it was still closed before I looked at my sister's phone and saw that she had over 20 missed calls.

"Pearl, I spoke to Arthur," I yelled loudly, "he'll be coming tonight!"

"Really?" She exclaimed back, "that's nice to hear, give me 10 more minutes, then we can get started on supper!"

It was like on cue her phone rang and without a second thought I answered.

"Pearl? Why haven't you been answering my calls?! I mean- I just- what's wrong with you woman?! Listen...I'm tired of you, Pearl. I am sick and tired of you," he snapped and I sat there with my eyes wide open, wondering why the hell I even answered the phone, and wondering why the f**k I couldn't say anything, "after everything that I've done for you, this is what you do to me?! I give you my all and you spit it back into my face with some pathetic excuse about how we won't be accepted! Well f**k that, Pearl! f**k. That."

I'm sure I swallowed a fly or two, not because of his tone, but because he sounded all over the place. One minute he sounded like he was struggling, then the next he was angry, then sad, and it was all really amazing how I was able to feel the raw emotion just through his words.

"Uh...this isn't Pearl..." I finally whispered out, a shiver running down my spine at the fact that I heard Isaac say more than two words. All of my life the only things I've heard him say were, "yes", "no" and "it's done".

There was a pause on the other side before I heard him groan, "oh, hello, Diamond," he said, his tone back to the usual cold silent and creepy voice that made me want to cut the call and ask my sister how in the hell she even fell for this scary man in the first place. "Where's Pearl?" He asked after a short pause and my eyes looked at the bathroom door where I could hear her still singing.

"Maybe you should cut all contact that you have with Pearl, Isaac," I found myself saying, "she wants nothing to do with you."

"You're saying some very dangerous words, Diamond," I heard the sound of clicking on the other side of the line, "I'd watch what I say."

"Are you threatening me?" I asked him, feeling my heart begin to race and also shocked by his nerve.

"I'd never harm you, Diamond. I just don't think you should speak for Pearl. Where is she?"

I looked back at the door to make sure she wasn't there, "what's going on between you two, Isaac? I mean...there shouldn't have ever been anything happening between the two of you in the first place."

"That was the plan, but there's certain things you can't prevent from happening."

"You know what my father and brothers will do when they find out about you and Pearl," I brought up to both him and I. Reminding myself of the dark side of my family where they didn’t fear blood on their hands, "you'd get hurt."

"...please let me talk to Pearl. I just need to talk to her."

"She ended things, Isaac. It's over. Stop calling her and causing her all of this pain."

"Diamond," I could hear that his patience was running low, "give the phone to Pearl. Let me talk to her... please. I just, I need to speak to her and I can't explain it to you, but please let me just talk to her."

I sighed, "she doesn't want to talk to you and she doesn't know that I'm talking to you right now. If she did, well, I wouldn't even be talking to you anymore than I am."

I heard shuffling in the background, "well, can you at least pass on a message for me?" He asked me and I ran my hand through my hair, nodding.

"Yes," I answered when I realised he couldn't see me through the phone.

"Please tell her...tell her that, that I care and I'll never stop. There's a lot I need to explain to her, but she needs to give me the time to do that. Running won't help do anything but delay the inevitable. Can you tell her that for me?" He asked me and I paused, thinking it over.

"Ok," I said softly as I heard the sound of the bathroom door jiggling, "I have to go, bye."

I hung up the phone and quickly cleared the phone call and hoped she wouldn't see anything before I tossed the phone right next to mine and smiled at my sister as she walked out of the bathroom.

"Hey, Isaac's been calling a lot," I said to her, trying to sound calm about it and not give away that I'd answered the call, "are you going to answer?"

She pursed her lips, tightening the towel around her, "no," she curtly answered as she walked to the bed and picked up the phone before she switched it off, "there's nothing else that I need to say to him."

"Ok," I nodded, thinking back to his message and then sadly deleting it from my head. I didn't need to tell my sister any of his nonsensical words that would put her through more misery. She had a lot on her mind, and I'd rather she be happy for this short time until she tells me what's her next move before we do anything else.