Irresistible Boss Succumbing to Your Touch (Maria Anita) novel Chapter 471

Manuela’s POV

Things had improved between Flavian and me. Whatever it was, he was more attentive towards me, like before, but something was still wrong, and he wouldn't talk to me about it, continuing to pretend it was nothing. However, with Sam and Henry's wedding approaching, things were getting busier.

I was leaving the boutique with the girls after choosing our dresses for the wedding when my phone rang. I pulled it out of my purse and saw it was Flavian. I stepped away from the group a bit to answer it.

"Little one, are you done with the girls?" Flavian asked, though he sounded tired, which was becoming normal.

"Yes, I am. Sam's going to drop me off at the apartment."

"Want me to pick you up?" Flavian had been insisting on driving me to the office and then to college and picking me up afterward, saying we'd get to spend more time together that way, which is why I'd barely been using my car.

"No need, wait for me at home."

"I miss you!" he said, and my heart skipped a beat. We lived together and saw each other every day, but I loved it when he called to tell me he missed me.

I was smiling, but before I could respond, someone rode past me on a bicycle and very quickly snatched the phone from my hand and struck at me with a knife. Thanks to Sam's security guard who was near me and pulled me away quickly, the blade only caught my forearm. I screamed from the shock and felt warm blood running down my arm.

"Stay calm, miss." The security guard said, still holding me. "May I see?" I was crying, frightened by what had happened, but he examined my arm, took a handkerchief from his suit pocket, and placed it over the cut. "Apply pressure, miss, to try to stop the bleeding."

Samantha approached, worried. The security guards explained what happened, and we went to the hospital. In the car, I started to calm down. I told Samantha I had been talking to Flavian on the phone, and the security guards said Henry would inform him about what happened.

I don't know how Flavian got to the hospital before us, but he was already there when we arrived and rushed to meet me. Concern was written all over his face when he hugged me.

Soon after, Henry came in and said the doctor was waiting for us. Flavian was clinging to me, almost carrying me. His phone rang persistently until he answered it on the fifth time. He was furious—not just irritated, but enraged. He yelled at the person on the other end, and I trembled under his arm. He hung up and called Bonfim, letting him know his phone would be off because he was staying with me.

I got ten stitches in my arm, but at that point, the only thing on my mind was who had managed to get Flavian so upset. Whoever it was, something told me they were the source of all the stress he had been experiencing lately. But what if it was a lover? Could he be cheating on me? No, Flavian wasn't like that, at least I didn't think he was. By the time we got home, I couldn't stand all the doubts in my head because of one phone call.

"Little one, I'm going to order some food for us, and then I'll help you take a shower..." Flavian started to say, but I interrupted him before he could finish and before my courage disappeared.

Her eyes held a fear I had never seen before, and I looked at him trying to comprehend everything I had heard. There was genuine concern in him and an uneasiness about something I didn't understand. He took a deep breath and pulled me into his embrace, resting his chin on top of my head.

"Were you worried that something worse had happened?" I asked, still processing everything he had said.

"Little one, I thought of the worst things possible. I almost lost my mind when Henry called and told me you had been hurt in a robbery. Even though he assured me you were okay and it was just a superficial wound, I only calmed down a bit when I saw you. It felt like an eternity between Henry's call and being able to see you. My heart nearly stopped beating." His voice was sincere, he seemed truly devastated, and it broke me. This was the kind of concern, the kind of feeling, that you only have for someone you truly love. If he felt this way about me, he couldn't have betrayed me - he loved me, and I had no reason to doubt that love.

"About the call, that was all there was to it, love," he stated with conviction.

I felt his sincerity, but I was now so moved by his concern for me that I hadn't noticed - the phone call didn't matter to me anymore at that moment.

"And now I'm going to give you a bath, then feed you, and then make love to you, nice and sweet, to make up for how much I've missed you." He was hugging me and suddenly picked me up in his arms.

He spoke of love while spreading kisses across my face, and it melted my defenses. I wasn't entirely convinced by what he said about the phone call he received, but I ended up putting it aside because it no longer mattered to me. Besides, I knew him well enough to know that even if I tortured him, he wouldn't say anything more. But he did exactly what he promised - he helped me bathe, fed me, and made love to me, in a different way, calm, slow, full of promises and declarations.