Chapter Forty-Three
Zane
Lounging on the leather couch, I watched Arianna drop her purse on my desk and then strut over to me. Each click of her heels against the hardwood made my teeth grit.
“So?” I hurried her, feeling the impatience bubbling.
She had the worst fucking timing. Just when I was making sure Chloe didn’t pull some stubborn act with the doctor and didn’t refuse the damn treatment, Arianna had to make an appearance.
Making a scene at the gate, refusing to leave until she spoke with me, claiming she had urgent information that couldn’t wait.
As much as I wanted to grab her by the hair and drag her ass out kicking and screaming for interrupting my time with Chloe, I couldn’t ignore that this could be about her too.
“You haven’t been answering your phone,” she started, adjusting her leather skirt before lowering herself into the armchair beside me.
“If it was that important, you should’ve texted. Or better yet, run it by Ivar,” I grumbled, not even trying to hide my irritation.
“I have been your informant for years, Zane. It was always just you and me. What’s changed?”
“Years indeed. And yet, you still forget who’s in charge of the fucking chessboard here, Arianna.”
Her eyes seemed to be cultivating anger with my every word, but I didn’t stop. “There was never an ‘us’, and your piece just got moved. Don’t show up at my house unannounced again.”
She leaned forward dramatically, her tits nearly spilling out of her low neckline, looking like she was about to stand and storm out in that dramatic way of hers.
But instead, she dropped to her knees between my legs, her hands sliding up my thighs.
“You look stressed,” she purred, batting her long lashes so fast it looked like she was having a seizure and I didn’t know how I’d ever find that attractive. “And you know I can help.”
A couple of weeks ago, I might’ve let her.
Hell, I’d probably already have her choking on my dick.
But now? All I could think about was Chloe upstairs, in that cute floral top that made her waist look like it was made for my hands to land on.
Or the way her lips were still swollen from our kiss this morning. Or how her cheeks flushed just a little every time I caught her staring at me.
And the sex—fuck.
I’d never fucked without a condom before her. Ever. And now, I didn’t want it any other way. The second I felt her, bare and dripping, there was no stopping—hence the doctor’s visit.
I was planning to ruin that cunt bareback a lot, and I couldn’t keep gambling on luck. The last thing I needed was that kind of surprise.
I’d played Russian roulette with better odds than that, but fuck, nothing had ever felt that good.
I couldn’t get enough of her. Nothing compared to her anymore.
So, when Arianna’s hands went for my belt, I caught her wrists in a tight grip, my patience hanging by a fucking thread.
“Arianna—” I began, my tone a clear warning, but before I could finish, the door burst open.
Fuckkkk.
Chloe’s gaze darted between Arianna and me, her expression crumbling as though I’d reached inside her chest and squeezed the air from her lungs, as if all life was being physically drained out of her.
The look in her eyes hit harder than any bullet, digging deeper in my stomach with an unfamiliar feeling of guilt, although I’d done nothing wrong.
She felt betrayed. It was all over her. And it annoyed the shit out of me that she didn’t know better, that she didn’t fucking know I’d never do that to her.
“We’re done here,” I bit out, ignoring the gnawing feeling in my chest that wasn’t mine but hers, yet seemed to keep turning into my own.
Arianna stood slowly, brushing herself off as if it was usual business.
Then she smirked as she walked past Chloe, an infuriating little curve meant to poison. If snakes could smirk, it would look exactly like that.
Despite the tears threatening to spill, Chloe didn’t back down. She held Arianna’s gaze firmly.
Then she turned that look on me and it was worse than any slap. Because it wasn’t anger. It wasn’t rage. With that, I could’ve dealt well.
It was disappointment, the kind I hadn’t seen before in her, not even when she’d found out who I was, or when I’d dragged her here against her will. Not even when I’d hung her life over the edge of a balcony.
To her, this was worse and I knew exactly why.
She stormed out, and I didn’t move until I heard her bedroom door slam with a loud bang upstairs. I stayed rooted in my seat for a moment, letting the anger boil over, before shooting up and heading down the hallway to catch Arianna before she could leave.
I caught her wrist, yanking her to a stop so hard she stumbled. “I don’t want you here. Anywhere. We’re done.”
“What—”
“Let me be clear, Arianna,” I growled, my voice so low, seething, barely restrained. “I don’t need your services anymore, and this was your last day stepping foot in this house.”
I leaned in, my grip tightening on her wrist.
“Now get the fuck out of my sight before I turn it also into your last day on fucking earth.”
Her mouth almost fell to the ground, confusion spreading across her face.
Arianna had always carried herself around like she owned the place, as if she was irreplaceable.
Sure, she was good at her job, always keeping me a step ahead and out of trouble more times than I cared to count. And that was the only reason she wasn’t leaving in a body bag.
She squared her shoulders, her expression hardening as she scoffed. “You’re cutting me off because of her?” The disbelief in her voice was almost comical.
I leaned in, my grip tightening. “I’m cutting you off before I have to fucking kill you.”
She stared at me, her eyes burning with venomous wrath, as if she was already plotting.
“Don’t test me, Arianna.” My lips curled into something that wasn’t a smile. “Your grave would make a nice koi pond out there and I have no problem digging it.”
Her nostrils flared. “You’ll regret this, Zane. Not everyone is as loyal as I’ve been.”
“I’ll take my chances,” I said icily, shoving her toward the door and turning to head upstairs.
Ivar appeared, stepping into her path as she spun around.
He crossed his arms, blocking her way. “You heard him, Barbie. He doesn’t want to fuck you anymore. Now, vite, vite before I make you.”