Chapter Twenty-Three
Nathan
I slap the emergency button before rounding on Arya.
She is the last person I expected to see at my company, much less on my father’s floor. I snatch the business card from her hand after reading his name at the top.
“Meeting my father behind my back, angel?” I bark coldly. “What for?”
“Don’t jump to the wrong conclusions,” she sasses, unperturbed by the menacing energy rolling off me. “I was tricked into a meeting with him set up by your assistant Erika.”
I arch one eyebrow, demanding an explanation.
With an irritated sigh, she replies, “I received a text from her saying Mr. Singhania would like to meet with me at eleven o’clock. I automatically assumed it was you. It wasn’t until I got here that I learned the Mr. Singhania she was talking about was your father.”
“And it didn’t make you suspicious after I’ve told you numerous times that we will never meet here?”
“I… um… didn’t know where we stood after last night.” A tiny shrug. “I thought you were distancing yourself.”
A sexual revert is on the tip of my tongue, but this isn’t the time for that. “Call or text me next time.”
“I was coming to tell you what happened.”
“Don’t worry, we will discuss everything.”
Her brown eyes go round at the dark note in my voice. I use her nervous silence to admire her slim figure from the top of her head to the tip of her red-painted toenails peeking from her heels.
Last night, she was in a bold gown that left a little to the imagination. I had to fight a hard-on every time I caught a glimpse of her thigh through the daring slit. It was a shock to my system to learn she didn’t have any panties on underneath.
A sexy little minx hides beneath her good girl demeanor.
Today, she’s dressed conservatively in a burgundy blouse and a long pencil skirt. Her shoulder-length hair frames her round face and cherry pink lips. Shiny and wavy with dark brown highlights.
I like how she isn’t wearing heavy makeup, just enough to accentuate her natural beauty. Will I ever see what she looks like without it? With her pouty lips pink and swollen from my harsh kisses? A blush brought on by my filthy words in her ear?
With her hair messy from my fingers pulling at it or fanned out on my pillow while I fuck her missionary?
Fuck! Stop.
Dangerous wishes to dream.
As I dial back on my thoughts, I notice her breathing has gone shallow. The uneven rise and fall of her lush breasts are unmistakable. Biting the corner of her lip, she stares hard at my chest. Highlighting how close we’re standing.
I remind myself to focus on the matter at hand, not on whether or not she’s wearing panties under her skirt. It’s tight and fitted to her subtle curves. She did mention she hates wearing a thong. Since I can’t make out any panty lines, does that mean…
Don’t go there.
Running a hand over my mouth, I take a step back. Immediately hating it when her perfume becomes a little fainter. For some odd reason, it keeps me calm. The itch to crawl out of my skin lessens.
She slowly raises her head, meeting my gaze. Mistaking my hard expression for disbelief, she scowls.
“Do you not believe me?” Raising her phone, she stabs it in front of my face. “Look, I was in the middle of texting you.”
I lower it with my fingertip. “I believe you. It’s him I don’t trust to be alone with you.”
“Why?”
Because he lacks sanity. Empathy for anyone whom he perceives as an obstacle. Because he’s the king of manipulation. He’ll rope you in with pretty words and praises before turning them into a noose around your neck.
I don’t say any of it to avoid scaring her.
“Did he try to coerce information out of you about our business?” Her face falls, giving me my answer. “There you go.”
“I didn’t tell him anything.” Inching closer, she tips her head back. “I would never betray your trust. You know that, right?”
“Even if I make you mad?”
“No matter what,” she promises. “I might have to side with him for pretenses, but my loyalty is always with you.”
I say nothing, not trusting my father not to have every square of this place bugged.
Half of me is also hesitant to trust her. We’ve just met. More than half of that time, she’s spent hating my guts.
Loyalty is a novel concept.
It can be bought easily.
“Nathan,” Arya urges.
Twisting away, I press the button for the underground parking. “We’re going to my place to talk.”
“W-what? Hold on,” she stutters with a hitch in her breath. “I can’t.”
“Didn’t you come here to meet me?”
“I did, but it’s almost break time. I need to have lunch and go back to the office.”
I glance over at her, and quip, “I have food at my place, angel.”
“I still can’t,” she argues, her tongue sweeping over her bottom lip and making it glisten temptingly. “You live too far. I’ll be late for the office. You’re not my only client, you know.”
I shove my hands inside my pockets to stop from reaching for her. “Clearly, not a priority either.”
“Untrue.”
“Are you avoiding being alone with me then?” I hum low, unable to stop teasing her, even at the cost of anyone eavesdropping through the cameras.
“Afraid I won’t be able to keep my hands off you or more specifically, my fingers from being inside of your tight pussy?
Afraid you won’t be able to resist me like last night? ”
Lips parting in a wide ‘O’, she stares unblinking and blushes harder.
I close my fingers into fists. “Which one is it?”
“I have to drive home to feed Pihu,” she answers in a rapid tone.
I’m taken aback. “Pihu?”
“My kitten.” Never pegged her for a cat girlie. Sheepishly, she explains, “I will go home first, before going out for lunch. It’s why I can’t come with you. Okay?”
“Still answers only half my question.” Confusion dots her lovely face. “You wouldn’t mind if I touched you again?”
“Do you wish to?” A breathless purr.
Her eyes beg for me to say ‘yes’. “You’ll have to wait and see.”
A swallow works its way down her throat in anticipation, flashing the memory of how perfectly it fit around my palm. Delicate and soft.
A magnificent spot for giving her a hand and a pearl necklace. After experiencing what it does to her cunt when I do the former, I know she’ll love the latter as much.
“We’ll drive to your place,” I say.
“M-my place?”
“We’re having our meeting today. If not my place, then yours.” Her mouth opens to protest. I turn my head away just as the elevator doors open. “No more arguments.”
***
I follow her in my car, arriving at the Roseville society in an affluent part of the city one hour later. Offhandedly, I calculate the distance between her building and my mansion in the suburbs.
Less than an hour away. Lesser if there’s no traffic.
Why does it matter how far away she lives?
Yeah. It doesn’t matter at all.
She’s jittery with nerves all the way up to her door, keeping her eyes away from me yet hyperaware of my presence in every step. Her long and slim fingers tremble as she pushes the key into the lock. Unlocking her flat, she waves an arm toward the hallway. “Come in.”
Hiding my amusement at her faux cordial invitation, I purposely brush my chest against hers as I walk inside.
Her long eyelashes flutter before she flashes me a fiery glance.
The door has barely clicked shut before a tiny dark gray furry ball comes rolling down the short hallway. At first glance, it resembles a baby raccoon. It comes into danger of colliding with my shoes. I widen my feet to let it race past me and to its owner.
Over my shoulder, I see Arya laugh happily as the baby kitten climbs up her right leg with her tiny claws. She doesn’t give two shits about the wrinkles in her skirt or the risk of the fabric ripping.
Dropping her purse to the marble floor, she cradles the kitten with one hand against her chest. Petting her back with the other palm, she speaks in a baby voice, “Hii, cutie-pie. Did you miss me?”
A low, soft purr fills the space.
“Aww, me too.”
A louder purr comes in response.
“You were waiting for me, huh?” Arya nuzzles the back of her ear, eliciting softer mewls.
I watch the wholesome exchange, transfixed. The bond between them is tight-knit and adorable. When she told me she had a kitten, I didn’t think she’d be so young. Arya also didn’t mention whether or not she has a roommate.
Is that why she got a pet? To cure the loneliness due to her broken engagement?
I have the urge to ask, does having Pihu come home to fix it or not?
“Yes, you were.” Arya chuckles, then waves a finger at me. “Look, I brought a friend. He did invite himself. But we’re not mad.”
Is that right?
I back up a step when she strides closer. “No, thank you.”
She does a double take. “You serious?”
“Deadly.” She arches one amused brow. “People’s pets and I don’t really get along. It’s safe to keep my distance.”
A shudder rolls through me as I recall the two incidents.
One time, Rosalie’s pit bull tried to attack me.
Nova was okay with sacrificing me as long as the dog ended up liking him.
Thus, earning his wife’s affection. The second was at my house, when my best friend yet again let Fire, another one of his wife’s dogs, dry hump me.
Let’s just say both have left me traumatized.
“Oh, come on, she doesn’t bite,” she teases, bridging the gap between us. Both of them gaze at me earnestly. “Pretty sure she hasn’t grown teeth yet. Pihu is super friendly.”
I eye the creature, who has moved on to burying her face between her breasts. “She looks content where she is.”
“Stop acting like a baby.” Lifting the kitten off her, who makes a noise of displeasure, Arya holds her out for me. “Gently. Don’t squeeze her too hard.”
“I think I can manage to hold a cat, Ari.”
“You have big hands, Nathan,” she retorts. “You could crush her.”
“Noticed, did you?”
“You always have a sexual response ready, don’t you?”
I graze my knuckle across her left cheekbone, dark in a pretty shade of pink. “I can’t resist when you blush like this.”
Staring into my eyes for a beat with mischief glittering in her brown eyes, she lowers it to her cat twisting and turning in my hand. “See, she likes you.”
I peer down, meeting the kitten’s piercing gaze. I caress behind her ear, making her mewl in delight and lean her face into my palm.
“Say hi.”
“Not gonna happen, angel,” I utter dryly. The kitten flicks the row of buttons on my silk shirt.
“You hurt her feelings.”
“Funny.” Tightening my hold when she tries to slip from my grasp, I ask, “How many months old is she?”
She’s too freaking small and lightweight as a cotton ball.
“Three,” Arya answers, her voice taking a sad quality. “I almost ran her over with my car in my office parking lot. I think she was meant to come into my life.”
She adopted a stray cat.
Just when I think she couldn’t have a purer soul.
“Is she your first pet?”
“Yeah.” Caressing Pihu, she shares, “I always thought I’d get a dog. My parents definitely wouldn’t have allowed a cat.”
“Why?”
“It’s said that a dog keeps the family together, while raising a cat causes fights, and would love watching the family tear apart because they’re selfish and want all the attention on them.
It’s a silly superstition my mother wholeheartedly believes in.
” Huffing a pained laugh, she says almost to herself, “In the end, it didn’t matter since our family is broken. ”
“People always look for others to blame rather than accept their faults.”
Her soft eyes clash with mine, searching for a deeper meaning behind my statement.
It’s futile.
My closest friends haven’t seen the demons I hide.
Neither will she.
“Didn’t you have to feed her?” I remind her, severing the tension.
She clears her throat, inching back slightly. “Yeah. Let me take her.”
I follow her into the kitchen after passing Pihu to her. My eyes run all over her open-plan apartment. Her home is spacious, lively, and full of natural light pouring in from the glass walls and the wide windows.
Taking a seat on the stool against the island, I study the wall of framed pictures in the living room.
They show all stages of her childhood. In all of them, she’s smiling brightly and happily.
There are some with Bianca, her parents, and friends.
Two of them are the ones I met at the club the first time we met.
That night feels like a lifetime ago. I don’t allow myself to think about it.
“You can sit in the living room, Nathan,” says Arya. “It’s more comfortable.”
I turn to her. “I’m good here.”
“Okay.”
Without lowering Pihu to the floor, she walks to the countertop and grabs a steel bowl placed beside the sink. Shifting sideways, she opens the fridge and plucks out the opened can of kitten food.
Instead of asking for help, she juggles all of it to carry to the island. There is a nervousness in her movements from having my rapt attention on her.
I can’t seem to look away whenever she’s in the room.
The bowl begins to slip when I sigh and lean over. “Give Pihu back to me.”
“No, I can…”
“Ari,” I order.
The kitten is in my arms in the next second. I place her on the island, keeping her in a makeshift box of my forearms. Attention falling on my diamond cuff link, she starts to tap it with her little paw.
The tiny thing is cute.
Friendlier than Rosalie’s army of dogs.
Arya quickly readies her bowl. Grabbing it and Pihu, she puts them both on the floor. Purring in delight, Pihu dives into her lunch. Eating fast for someone her size.
“Do you travel home daily to feed her?” I ask curiously.
Standing up, she replies, “Yeah. The vet told me she needs to be fed four times a day. So, I drive twice a day. Sometimes, I ask Anaya to come whenever I’m busy or stuck in meetings.”
“Is she the one you talked to about me?”
“It was only one time!”
“Liar. I bet you ran home yesterday and called her to tell what happened between us.” Smirking, I boast, “I had a fiancée who told her best friends everything as soon as it happened.”
Curiosity piqued at my mention of Iris, she softly probes, “Were you two close?”
“No,” I lie. “I’m a good observer.”
Taking the hint, she switches the topic to a more pertinent one. “Should we talk about yesterday?”
“Have lunch first.”
“It’s all right. I can have it after you leave.”
“It wasn’t a suggestion.”
Her lips purse into a scowl. “I haven’t given you the right to boss me around.”
“It’s in my nature. Get used to it.” Taking out my phone, I open Swiggy. “We’ll order in. What do you wanna have?”
“Oh, you’re asking my opinion now?”
My lips twitch. “Suit yourself. I’ll order for you. Hope you like Chinese.”
The way she licks her mouth tells me she does.