Chapter Fifteen
Nathan
Fooling the world is very easy because people care only about the surface. Paint them a pretty picture or a bad scenario, they’ll believe it blindly instead of using half their brains and peeking harder behind the curtain.
Over the years, I’ve perfected the image of being the perfect man who has it all.
Good looks. Charming. Swimming in money.
The white picket fence is where I messed up.
Then I became distracted by Iris from the day she came into my life, which was four years ago.
Her optimism and pure-heartedness rubbed off on me, derailing me from my ultimate goal.
I began to see the world through rose-colored glasses, forgetting the wretchedness it truly embodies.
Now, I’m back in the trenches. However, this time, I won’t let anything or anyone derail me.
Certainly not a pesky scandal.
It’s crucial to play all my cards right because a lot is at stake.
Stepping into the gates of The Mirage, I’m swarmed with the scent of expensive liquor, old money, and leather. An exclusive gentleman’s club owned by my older brother, Kian.
Everyone believes we’re estranged and loathe each other, but that changed last year. Revenge against the man who hurt Iris brought us together.
All my life, I thought of him as the villain who walked out on his family, cruelly leaving behind his younger brother and pretending he didn’t exist when I reached out.
Little did I know the real malefactor was my father.
He put the divide between us, ruthlessly cutting Kian off from me.
My mother didn’t care, despite my running to her crying and asking for an explanation.
I was fifteen years old[RK9] when it happened.
I was heartbroken and confused, losing the one person who understood me and mattered the most to me, unlike the rest of my family members.
She had no answer or words of comfort to ease my pain.
Why didn’t she care that her oldest son was no longer with us? The question ate away at me for years. The truth was right before my eyes.
Kian isn’t her biological son.
He was the result of an affair my father had with his secretary. As soon as my dadu passed away, my dad didn’t wait for his body to get cold before he kicked my brother out of the house.
Kian thought he was doing me a favor by hiding the sordid truth.
If only he knew he had left me behind in the most blazing pits of hell.
With no one in my corner.
Alone and abandoned. They are the two emotions I’ve grown up feeling. Nobody knows the toll living with them takes on your psyche. Using a facade is all I’ve ever known to the extent that it’s become second nature.
Low classical music hums in the background over the chuckles and murmurs of the members of the club. I walk past the social room and glide through the maze that is Kian’s club to his office in the back.
The bodyguard stationed outside the red door scans his hand to let me through. Inside, one entire wall is lit up with security cameras, playing live footage of every nook and cranny of the establishment.
In front of it stands my brother like a king regarding his kingdom.
A glance at the second corner office reveals Zain, his business partner, isn’t in the house tonight.
“You waiting for a brawl to start?”
“Happens more often than you think,” Kian answers without taking his eyes off the screens. After a moment, he turns around. “You’re late.”
“Traffic.” Following him to his office, I comment, “And I’m only five minutes late.”
“Seven minutes,” he corrects grouchily as he rounds to his seat behind the desk. “I’ll be late for dinner at home.”
“Are you that hungry?”
“I don’t like to keep Iris waiting after she spends hours cooking me delicious food.”
Ahh. That explains his mood. “Break all the signals. You’ll make it on time.”
“What brings you by?” he asks impatiently.
Rather than going straight to the point, something else spills from my mouth. “How is she doing?”
“You could call her and ask for yourself.”
“I’m asking you.”
Leaning back in his chair, he steeples his fingers across his stomach. “She’s stronger than before, Nathan. Online gossip doesn’t ruffle her.”
After everything they’ve suffered last year, something as small as this won’t bother her. Still, I wanted to make sure to ease my conscience. She wouldn’t be in this predicament if it weren’t for me.
“Don’t worry about her, Nathan,” assures Kian, reading the concern written all over my face. “I’m not letting anything or anyone upset her ever again. Besides, scandals only last for a season. This’ll boil over soon.”
I say nothing.
He picks up on it, narrowing his eyes. “Unless it won’t? Is that why you hired a publicist?”
“Keeping tabs on me?”
“If it concerns Iris, yes.” Almost awkwardly, he admits, “And because you’re my brother and I worry about you too.”
A flashback rises to the center from our childhood.
We were playing on the street when one of the neighbors’ kids wrongly accused me of hitting him to his father.
The man came barreling down, ready to slap me without hearing my side.
He had barely raised his hand when Kian shoved him back and stood fearlessly in front of me like a shield.
Even though he himself hardly reached the man’s waist, Kian roared, “Don’t you dare come closer to my little brother. ”
The man was shaken and stumbled back a step. The other kids piped in and outed his son as the liar, making both scamper away.
In that moment, I had felt the most loved and protected. Like nothing could harm me as long as I had my big brother. To have lost that security years later without an explanation had destroyed my trust in people. If your own blood could discard you, what could you expect from a stranger?
As I digest Kian’s words, an inkling of the same safety and pride from back then surges in my veins. Unlike then, I can fight my battles now.
“I appreciate your concern.” It’s new territory for us, especially for me, because of our rocky history. After he confessed the truth and explained his side of the story, it took me a while to let go of the anger. God knows I have a lot to make amends for.
I almost tore him and Iris apart. As much as it pains me to admit and watch them be in love, I know they’re soulmates.
“I can handle whatever comes my way.”
“I know that, Nathan. But if you ever need my help, you only have to ask. I no longer care about what happened between us in the past. I’d like to start fresh,” he confesses, his gaze warm.
“It also means you need to fix your friendship with Iris. I will not meet you behind her back. Tonight is the first and the last time. Stop letting her think you’re the bad guy. Apologize and be her friend again.”
“Will you be okay with that?” I raise a brow in disbelief. “I admitted to being in love with her. Aren’t you worried I’ll try to win her over?”
“You also gave your word to never come between us.” Tilting his head, he boasts, “Besides, we both know you’ll fail.”
“She’s better off without me, Kian.”
“You’d rather have her hate you than be her friend? If that’s your way of punishing yourself, you’re a fucking idiot.”
“I’ve made my decision.”
He scrutinizes me silently before sighing. “We’ll go back to being strangers. It’s the only outcome.”
“I know.”
“I’ll respect your decision.” Back to business, he asks, “Tell me what you need.”
“I need your mother’s contact information.” My father is unaware that the woman he used and kicked out is back in the city and has been living right under his nose.
“Are you thinking of confronting Rakesh?”
“I’m just getting all my ducks in a row when the time comes.” Tapping my fingers on the desk, I share, “Father will use the news of the fake engagement to sidle the remaining two board members to his side and take me down in the next shareholders’ meeting.”
“Don’t take offense, but do you really want to lead Singhania and Sons?
” Caressing his jaw thoughtfully, he elaborates, “Rakesh will never stop backstabbing you until he wins even at the expense of running the legacy into the ground. Dash and I are discussing expanding our company. Invest and join us. Be an equal partner.”
“It’s a generous offer.” I know Kian isn’t inviting me as a pity gesture.
“But I’ll decline. I owe it to our grandfather to save the company.
Joining you and Dash will be akin to running from my problems. It’s also better if I keep my name as far away from you and Iris as possible.
You’d do the same if you were in my position. ”
“True.” His lips tilt up. “My offer has no end date, if you ever change your mind in the future.”
“You’re looking for a sneaky way to have me in your life, brother.”
“Never said I didn’t have an ulterior motive.”
I chuckle, shaking my head.
Smirking, he pulls out his phone and types. A second later, my phone pings with a text.
“It’s her number,” he says. “I’ll let her know you’ll reach out.”
“Thanks.” I push up from my seat, buttoning up my jacket and checking my watch. “I’ll let you run to your fiancée. You’ll make it early.”
“She misses you, Nathan,” Kian utters sadly.
An invisible fist squeezes my heart. “I miss her too.”
Strangely, it’s being her friend that I miss more than pretending to be her fake boyfriend.
***
I stop for a drink at the bar instead of driving to an empty house, whose walls close in on me on the first step inside.
The crowd isn’t as thick as it is on party or event nights. I never partake in any of them, even though discretion is the top of the offerings. Most men who visit the club are married and they don’t even bother removing their rings.
None of them would’ve batted an eye had I fucked the women who frequent the establishment. I never had the urge to participate before. So, I watched all the debauchery. The last one and a half years I was with Iris, I didn’t even do that.
Tonight, I have the freedom. Yet no women out of the few lingering are intriguing me. Immediately, my mind travels to Arya.
She hasn’t stopped plaguing my head since our last meeting a week ago.
The woman is a tempting conundrum.
On one hand, she can be shy as a mouse. On the other, she’s a sexy minx with claws.
As hard as I try to be distant and keep my hands off her, I end up doing the opposite. Her reaction makes it worse when she melts like butter under my touch.
When she boldly told me she wakes up horny in the middle of the night and touches herself, I craved to spread her on my desk and demand she masturbate for me. Glad it didn’t escalate to that because it would’ve ended up with my mouth on her pussy.
It’s all her fault for threatening my control.
Why couldn’t she hate me strongly enough not to let me come near her? Why am I attracted to her? She’s no longer the broken girl from over two months ago. There’s a fire in her eyes, a need to soar out of the darkness with unflappable wings.
Me? I’ve succumbed to the dark void living inside me.
I’ll drag her back down into it if I give in to the pull between us.
History knows that I’m only capable of ruining people.
Arya cannot be another victim. I need to learn to resist her submissive innocence and vulnerability.
As much as she speaks about boundaries, her eyes tell a filthy story.
They linger too long on my body, almost pleading with me to kiss and fuck her again.
It’s why she needs us to be professional, because her willpower is as weak as mine.
Maybe inviting her to my place was a terrible idea.
I’m setting us up for failure.
Taking out my phone, I shoot her a text.
ME: We’ll meet at Golden Elm.
Finishing my drink in one gulp, I pay my tab and return to my purgatory of one. Not even alcohol is numbing the demons running amok in my brain. Their hold has become stronger. A few more months, and I’ll put them to rest.