Chapter 670: Crossed Lines

***𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒈𝒈𝒆𝒓 𝑾𝒂𝒓𝒏𝒊𝒏𝒈***

Nael awoke with a massive headache. It had been a long time since he drank top shelf liquor, and finishing the bottle was not a good idea. The only good thing about the night before was that he was going to finally get his chance with Ami, who promised they would speak about a possible relationship between them.

Realizing that he still reeked of sex with the woman he called to temporarily take Ami's place, Nael climbed into a shower and actually took his time getting ready. He felt guilty for having had sex with someone else despite claiming that he was ready to settle down just hours before, but Ami did not have to know that. He genuinely wished that she looked like the Ami he drunkenly imagined because he would have attempted to be with her much sooner, but sadly she did not have that sort of body.

What Ami did have was a good personality; she had a sweet voice and more importantly she made him feel as though she could save him from anything. Nael had never been emotionally invested in a woman before. It was always physical for him, even with Mills. His attraction to her was more lust based than emotional and the only thing he wanted to do was possess her, but with Ami, he wanted to be with her.

Nael knew it was going to be difficult to remain faithful when there were now several women who were now a part of his crew. They had come in through Bal and Sani and most of them were prettier than Ami, who was badly scarred and misshapen.

Shaking away his negative thoughts of the woman he believed he wanted to be with, Nael prepared for their meeting. He did not know how to cook, still he tried to make breakfast for them, but after failing, he decided he would just wake Ami to cook for them instead. He would help her, they could discuss the potential for a future while cooking together, and he hoped that it would show her that he planned to be a supportive person in her life, not like whatever man had used, abused, and abandoned her.

Nael knocked on Ami's room door, but she did not answer, so like he would any other day, he pushed it open, only to see that she was not in bed. Scratching his head, he wondered if he had dreamed about their encounter, but he could remember how soft her lips had been against his, and there was no way he could have imagined the kind of kissing they did.

Choosing to ignore his worry, Nael left his suite and was shocked to see Ami getting ready to leave the ship. He called out to her, and when she turned around, she was wearing a pained expression. It was clear she did not want to be seen by him, and Nael started to feel as though she never actually intended to speak to him; she just wanted him to leave her alone.

A little put off by her reaction, Nael gestured for Ami to follow him back into his suite. The woman obliged, although she did so at an agonizingly slow pace. As soon as they were behind closed doors, Nael grabbed Ami's waist and turned her back to his chest before pulling her into a tight hug

"I thought you said we would talk about us this morning."

"That was before you decided to take someone else to bed." Nael stiffened. He had not expected to be confronted for his actions and truthfully, even if he were, he did not expect it to actually bother him.

"Ami I'm a man, and you left me in a state that needed correction; it won't happen again," he said, but he could tell by the woman's continued stiffness that she was unconvinced.

"Honestly, I think that your actions last night were proof enough that you don't want to be with me. You were drinking and you're probably still a little drunk. I don't want to be in a relationship with a person who sees me as a part of a collection."

"I don't see you that way," Nael shouted. He released Ami and turned her body to face him. "I want to be with you. Last night was a small mistake. We had come so close; what did you expect me to do?"

"I didn't expect you to do that," Ami retorted. "I didn't ask you to wait months Nael. I asked you to wait a few hours and you could not do that. What makes you think that you can give me anything more than a single night of pleasure?" Nael felt his anger boil over, so he roughly grabbed Ami's shoulders and pressed a kiss onto her lips. He pinned her arms to her sides and walked her back to his room, where he pushed her into his bed. Ami struggled against him, but he was stronger and heavier than her, so her efforts, while recognized, were unsuccessful.

"I know that you aren't ready," Nael said, "but that's just because you haven't given me a chance. I can make you forget all about him. I can make you want me." Once again, Nael tried to seal Ami's lips with his, but the woman turned her face away from him. Angry, he pinched her chin and turned her face back to where he could reach her lips, using his knees to keep her hands pinned to her sides.

"Nael, please stop this," Ami said sternly. There was no fear in her tone, and Nael took that to mean that she was not actually saying no, she was simply angry with him. However just as his hand made its way under her shirt, the woman doused his mood in ice. "Is this what you did to Mills?" she questioned, and Nael jumped off her body as if it were made of fire.

"No," he said in more of a whimper than anything else. "I wouldn't have hurt you," he continued, but Mina had a feeling that he didn't mean he wouldn't have gone through with his actions. He just meant that he would have been 'gentle' while doing it.

"You know you've crossed the line," Ami replied. "I don't know if I can trust you anymore."

"No, it won't happen again. You can trust me; you can trust me. I'm sorry; you were right. I was drinking and I'm still a little drunk. Let's just make breakfast and have a conversation about this. I don't want to lose you this way." Nael had never allowed himself to be so vulnerable for a woman, but there was no sympathy in Ami's expresion; she was really done with him.

Mina could hear the panic in Nael's tone, but he had inadvertently pushed to the surface thoughts of a night she could not remember. He may have seen his actions as those of a desperate man trying to show how badly he wanted to be with her, but to Mina Nael forcing her to do anything was another indication that he did not respect her and would never respect her. He knew she had already experienced brutality at the hands of someone else, but he obviously did not care.

When Mina brought up Mills, she did so with the purpose of showing the man that he had not changed much, and the look on his face told her that he received the message loud and clear. She could see his face warp into a sinister expression before he threw his body over hers again, but this time, she fought back in earnest. As he lifted her clothing, his brow furrowed, and Mina knew it was because he was noticing the amount of padding she had on.

Mina used Nael's distracted state to push her knee against his groin, but after screaming for just a second, the man backhanded her hard across the face. He kept telling her that she was his, and that he was not going to let her go. He told her that she would get used to being with him, and Mina found herself chuckling self-deprecatingly. She allowed her sexual desire to override her logical mind and she knew it had landed her in a situation where she would once again be useless and pathetic.

Even if Nael stopped what he was doing right now, Mina knew she could not give him what he wanted. Simply put she was no longer interested in a possible relationship between them. He had taken the small amount of intimate trust she had for him and destroyed it. Not just because of what he was doing or what he had done, but because she was almost positive that, just like with President Lee, he would get bored of her, and throw her away like trash.

Mina struggled furiously against the man, screaming loudly in protest of his actions, but he just ignored her as he tried to keep her hands still. When he grew frustrated again, He repeatedly smacked her, and eventually, Mina lost the strength to fight back. She breathed heavily as Nael kissed the side of her face, whispering that he would be 'gentle' with her, and Mina's mind could only go one place. She cared about Nael, but he clearly held no real emotion toward her, otherwise, he would not have been able to hurt her the way he was.

With a heavy heart, Mina slowly reached for the knife at the side of her. If she did not at least stab him, he was going to have his way, and despite his 'kind' words, she did not know if she would survive what he was doing.

----

Leal had been waiting for Ami on the deck for too long, and he wondered what the woman and his brother could be discussing that would interfere with the important plans they had. He headed back to the suite and his heart began to thump in his chest when he could hear a loud commotion inside. He pushed open the door and rushed into his brother's room, where Nael was strangling a barely able to remain conscious Ami. Leal pulled Nael off, asking the man what happened.

"She tried to f*cking stab me," Nael shouted, trying to force his way back to Ami, whose clothing was disheveled and torn, so Leal could see it was not as simple as his brother had said.

"And what did you do to her?" Leal questioned, tired of Nael thinking he could treat Ami any way he wanted without consequence.

"Does it f*cking matter?"

"Of course it does." As Leal and his brother argued, Ami managed to get up and run out of the room. Nael tried to go after her, but Leal stopped him.

"You'd pick that scarred b*tch over your own blood?" Leal shook his head at his brother, who was broken beyond repair. The same man who had been whining about Ami not taking him seriously or seeing how much he changed for her was right back to where they started.

"No Nael, I'm stopping you from doing something I know you will later regret." Leal never told his brother that Ami padded her body, nor did he mention the contacts or the fact that he believed her scars were fake. He had a feeling that the woman did those things to protect herself from men like his brother, who was used to getting what he wanted and taking it if he could not have it.

"The only regret I'll have is letting that b*tch onto my ship where she brainwashed me and practically took over. Most of these people don't even listen to me without checking with her first." Nael ordered his brother to move, pushing past him as he headed to Ami's room, but much to Leal's relief, the woman was already gone.