Naughty Ceo’s Secret
Chapter 86

"We can talk later. Right now, I think you deserve a reward for being such a good girl." Kenzo said as he placed his hands on my knees. "A reward?" I asked.

Kenzo parted my knees slowly as he stared up at me.

"I heard everything Opal. All the ways that you stood up for me. Telling Haru that you love me, that you wouldn't leave me for anything." He said.

Kenzo pressed a kiss to the side of my left knee.

"Even if it was all for the sake of playing along.. I loved hearing you say it. Loved hearing you stand up for me and yourself." He said.

Something tugged at my heart. The way that Kenzo said that.. He really thought I was just playing along..

I grabbed Kenzo's face with both of my hands. He stopped kissing me to look up at me. I just stared into his eyes.

Here goes nothing.

"I meant it all." I said softly.

Kenzo just stared back into my eyes.

"Listen, Kenzo, I have no idea what's going on. I'm so confused about his engagement thing. I don't understand why you pushed me away all week, or what that article was about, but.. I need to tell you how I feel. How I really feel about you and this whole.. situation." I said. Kenzo stared up at me as he patiently waited for me to continue.

"Kenzo Suzuki, I love you. I.. th-think I'm hopelessly in love with you. And that really scares me. Especially because I let you get away with a lot of things. Like pushing me away, and taking your word for things when I should question you more. These things are not okay, and I let them slide to avoid a fight with you, since I have no right to demand things from you. We aren't together, you owe me nothing." I started.

"I know that that part was my fault. I was the one that wanted to wait to make things official until I got a taste of what being with you would be like. It took me a while to come to terms with the fact that I wanted a deeper relationship with you. Even longer to realize how deep my feelings go for you." I admitted.

Then I smiled sadly down at Kenzo.

"But.. I don't think I can pretend to be engaged to you." I admitted.

Tears filled my eyes.

"I just.. can't." I whispered as my tears started to slowly fall. "I can't be pushed away again. I can't be in the dark while you figure things out on your own. I can't fake being your fiance. It's going to hurt me too much in the end. Knowing that.. that this is all fake.. Not knowing if the things you say are real or just for show.. Prentending to have the life with you that I really want.. I just can't do it to myself. I won't." I finished.

Kenzo reached up to wipe my tears away. I feel so drained. All I've done all day is cry. All I've wanted to do is be in Kenzo's arms. Even if he's the reason for my tears.

"Opal, baby, I meant it when I told you we were in a relationship. I-"

"That just makes it more confusing. You're my boyfriend, but pretending to be my fiance?" I said. Kenzo shook his head.

"I don't want to pretend anything with you, Opal. Nothing. I'm sorry that I've been pushing you away. I'm sorry that I didn't tell you the whole truth right away. And I'm extremely sorry for pulling you in here today, and dropping this on you so suddenly." He said. I sniffled.

"I admit that I didn't plan to propose to you until today. I thought it would come much further in the future for us." He mumbled.

Does that mean he could really see himself marrying me some day?

"Opal, I had no idea about that article. I was having dinner with Haru that night. It was the first time I had met up with him since he started to harrass me. After the two of us went back and forth and getting nowhere, I decided to leave. He must have set me up. There were tons of reporters outside that immediately started to take pictures of me. Then Natasha came out of the restaurant, and threw herself in my arms. Of course, the media only reported a relationship, and not the fact that I dropped her on her a.ss a second later." Kenzo said.

I chuckled at that.

"You dropped her?" I asked.

Kenzo nodded.

"After the shock wore off. It was maybe a few seconds. Then I stormed to my car, and drove home. If I wasn't so furious I would have come to you. I should have done it anyway. At least you would have been with me when you found out. I could have explained right away. I didn't even know about the article until you told me over the phone." He said.

"Really?" I asked.

Kenzo reached up and started to wipe my tears away.

"Yes baby really. I would never cheat on you. I don't want anyone else. You are the one I love." He told me.

I sniffled again as I stared down at him.

"You.. love me?" I asked.

Kenzo smiled up at me. He leaned up on his knees, bringing him almost to my face level. Kenzo leaned in to start placing kisses all over my face.

"Yes Opal. I am deeply, madly, hopelessly in love with you. I have been from the very beginning." He told me between kisses.

Then Kenzo pulled back to look at me.

"That might be why I've been handling things so shi.tty. I've never cared for another person the way I do for you." He said.

I smiled as I leaned into his palm.

"Is this the part where you explain things to me now? And we talk about this fake engagement?" I asked.

Kenzo sighed. He stood to his feet, letting go of my face. Then he held his hand out for me to take.

"I think we should go somewhere else and talk."

*******

Kenzo ended up having Ben drive us to Kenzo's apartment. When we walked in, Kenzo grabbed my hand, and led me to the balcony. It's much larger than I would have thought. There is tons of space, and he even has an outside sitting area. I sat down on the long lounge chair. I leaned back and sighed. This would be heaven if things weren't so strange in my life right now.

Kenzo came to sit on the chair with me. He handed me a bottle of water. Then he pulled my legs into his lap, and scooted as close to me as he could get.

"I didn't mean to hurt you so much by pushing you away. I didn't do it because I wanted to. Trust me Opal, I want to be around you. All the time. I like having you close, and keeping my eyes on you. That's why my office door is always open." He told me. That's why he always keeps his door open? I did think it was strange. Ted didn't even do that. I just assumed that because we were kind of secluded, Kenzo didn't mind. I didn't realize it was because he likes to see me throughtout the day.

"Then why have you been doing it? Is it really just because you're feeling pressured, or stressed? I can help with that. I can help you destress, o-or I can take on more work to help you." I suggested.

Kenzo gave me a small smile.

"I know that you could kitten. Just seeing your face light up when you look at me destresses me." He told me.

I smiled back at him.

"Unfortunately, this was a different sitation." Kenzo said.

The smile fell off of his face. Kenzo is looking at me, but it's more like he's looking through me. I can tell his mind is somewhere else.

"My parents died when I was very young. I had never even met my grandfather before my parents' funeral. None of our other relatives wanted us, so Akane and I were taken by Haru." He told me. Kenzo's parents are dead..? That's so sad..

"At first, things were as normal as they could be for us. I spent a lot of that time wondering why we had never met our fathers father. It didn't take me long to replace out though." He continued.

I have a feeling I'm not going to like what Kenzo has to say next.

"At first, Haru would only mutter things under his breath when I had failed him in some way. Always something about my wh.ore mother, or my deadbeat father. Eventually, things got much worse." Kenzo said.

I waited patiently for him to continue.

"I thought that I could fight back against him. That one day I would be able to escape. All I had to do, was take his beatings until I could save up enough money to get Akane and me out. But then Haru found out. Not only did he beat me again, but he found a true weakness of mine. Akane." He said.

I brought my hand up to cover my mouth.

"Did he..?" I asked.

Kenzo shook his head.

"No. He never hit Akane. As long as I stayed in line, she would stay safe." He told me.

Thank goodness.. well, sort of.

"I vowed to do exactly what Haru wanted. I took over the company, and at a very young age. Then I turned things around. Haru ran this company with an iron fist. Everyone feared and hated him. He favored tradition, and only promoted men. Haru surrounded himself with people of his choosing. He had everything he ever wanted. Including a sucessor." Kenzo said.

I knew Haru was an awful man from the start.

"And then I took it all from him," Kenzo said. "I changed the dynamic of the company. I made business deals with other companies that Haru didn't approve of. I promoted women, and even made a business deal with a makeup company. I put people in the director's chairs that were on my side. I destroyed the empire that Haru built by building my own on his broken foundation." He continued.

There is intensity in his black orbs.

"I had finally won. Finally, I took what Haru loved most, and made it mine. I thought that things would be fine. Our numbers have skyrocketed since I took over, and keep climbing. The board would have to be stupid to side with Haru in kicking me out." He said. "But.." I said.

Kenzo smiled as he looked into my eyes.

"But then he found another weakness of mine. One that none of us were expecting me to ever have." He told me.

"What weakness?" I asked.

Kenzo reached up to cup my cheek.

"You."