Chapter Seventeen
Iris
My phone starts blowing up when I turn on the notifications the next morning. A long stream of text messages in the group chat with my best friends. I’m talking more than a hundred—not including the several missed calls.
Jeez! Were they up all night typing on their phones?
I mean, I expected a crazy reaction. But I’m still taken by surprise.
My eyes bug out as I read through them. I don’t know whether to laugh or be scared. They go from shell-shocked to downright unhinged.
BEE: What.
BEE: The.
BEE: Fuck.
ROSA: Kian the captor?
ROSA: Kian!! Seriously!
ROSA: Kian??????
BEE: You and Kian???? How did THAT happen?
ROSA: He Stockholm-syndromed you, didn’t he?
ROSA: Send a winking emoji. I’ll come save you.
BEE: REPLY!!!!!!!!!!
ROSA: We. Need. Answers! *face with steam from nose emoji*
The texts pause to turn into calls that I missed.
BEE: Iris!
BEE: Pick. Up. Your. Phone. Now.
ROSA: That’s it. I’m coming to your place.
BEE: I’ll meet you there.
Almost an hour later, there were a few more missed calls before they called.
ROSA: Why are neither of you home?
ROSA: Where the hell are you two?
BEE: This isn’t funny, Iris.
ROSA: I knew he’d kidnap you.
ROSA: Don’t fall for the kidnapper, Iris.
BEE: At least, let us know you’re safe.
ROSA: You have till morning, then I’m starting to tear the city apart.
ROSA: Bring her back, Kian. Or I swear I will plaster posters of you on every street with the tag kidnapper. In caps. With the ugliest picture of you that I can find.
“Crap,” I curse, reading the last message.
“What?” murmurs Kian, his breath ruffling my hair. “What crime did your friend downgrade me to now?”
“None.” I chuckle. “She has ruled on your punishment though.”
“Should I be worried?”
“See for yourself.” I pass him the phone.
He quietly reads the messages, scrolling to the end. “I guess technically I did kidnap you.”
“Is it kidnapping if I’m a willing captive?”
“Then I’m safe.” Returning my phone, he says, “Let them know you’re fine. Your family too.”
Sliding off Kian’s lap, where we’re sitting in the back of the moving limousine, I dial Rosalie’s number.
Her screeching voice bleeds into my ear after she picks up on the first ring. “I’m going to kill you. Where the hell have you been, Iris?”
“Wait a sec. Let me add Bianca too.”
“She’s with me,” she informs. “You’re on speaker.”
“Jesus! Iris. You had us scared!” yells Bianca. “You don’t just kiss your fiancé’s older brother and disappear on us.”
“FYI,” grumbles Rosalie. “I only like plot twists in my books. Not in real life, certainly not from my best friend.”
They haven’t heard the major twist.
I am so fucked.
“You better start talking, Miss Runaway,” orders Bianca.
“Well,” I clear my throat and confess past the boulder in my throat, “Kian and I are together.”
“Stockholm syndrome confirmed,” Rosalie says dryly.
“Well, duh,” says Bianca. “No one kisses like that unless they’re in love. Before you tell us how you won that grump’s stone-cold heart, tell us where you are. Dash said he couldn’t get in touch with Kian either. You’re both together, right?”
“He and I are in Seattle.”
“Seattle?” I hear Rosalie shout. “You fled the country?”
“Kind of,” I sheepishly reply, absently tracing Kian’s fingers curled around my thigh.
In a butthurt tone, she accuses, “But that was our thing, traitor. You, me, and Bianca.”
I can’t help but smile at her reaction. Last year, the three of us had skipped town and traveled to Vegas without telling any of our men.
Rosalie had recently got married to Nova, her nemesis back then, and was developing real feelings for him.
It seemed like the perfect idea until it blew up in our faces.
“You’re being silly, Ro,” I reply. “And I’ll be coming back.”
Honestly, I thought Nathan would’ve filled their ears and turned them against me. So, this is a good sign.
“You better or else I’ll fly there.”
“I’ll explain everything to you guys when I’m back. It’s a very long story, and I don’t want to do it over the phone,” I explain. “I called to let you know that I’m safe.”
“You’re killing us here!” complains Bianca. “We need answers.”
“Like right now!” demands Rosalie.
“I will, once I’m back. Trust me, I desperately need to talk to you guys. I hate keeping secrets from you.”
“Okay.” They both sigh.
“How’s Nathan?” I cautiously ask. Kian goes rigid next to me.
A silent beat passes before Bianca replies, “No clue. But he stormed out right after both you and Kian left.”
“Did Nova mention anything?”
“He went after Nathan,” shares Rosalie in a somber voice. “But Nathan asked for privacy. How did this happen, babe? I thought you were in love with him. Nobody falls out of it in less than two months.”
“You’re right. Once I tell you the whole story, you’ll understand. Just promise me one thing.”
“Anything,” they utter in unison.
“Don’t believe anything Nathan tells you. Not until you hear my side. Promise me.”
“Of course, Iris,” Bianca says.
“That goes without saying,” adds Rosalie. “Don’t worry about anything here.”
“I love you both. Bye.”
After hanging up, I twist toward Kian. He pulls both my legs onto his lap so I’m sitting sideways against the plush leather seats. Stroking up and down my thighs, he says, “I told you he wouldn’t mention the truth.”
“He won’t back down so easily, Kian.” Not with the leverage he still has over me. He will wait for the perfect moment to strike, and not before he tries to steal me back by blackmailing me.
If there’s anything I’ve learned, it’s that Nathan always has an ace up his sleeve. He’s not a weak opponent we can defeat so easily. He seems laid-back on the surface, but he’s just like his brother. Cunning and tenacious.
As much as I want to tell Kian about the investigation and my role at his company, I can’t.
It’s too risky. I need to coax the information about the progress he’s made, so I can catch the guy first and save him from doing something reckless that could cost him his career.
I also won’t let Harshita publish the article until I’ve told him everything.
If she wants to rescind the job offer, she can. I no longer care about it.
“I know,” Kian grimly agrees. “It’s why I’m going to tell him the truth.”
“About your father?”
“Yes. I don’t want to fight with him anymore, Iris,” he admits wearily. “I’m going to make him listen to me and show him proof so he believes me. It’s the only way he will let you go and realize I will never come after his legacy.”
The emotional heaviness in his voice breaks my heart. Climbing into his lap, I massage the tension away from his shoulders. “It’s the right thing to do. You both need closure. But how will you prove you’re not lying to him?”
“I’m searching for my mother.”
I go still in shock. “You finished reading the diary?”
“No.” His hands run down my arms. “I’d rather hear it from her in person. It’s been over three decades. People change. She may not want anything to do with either me or my father.”
“What if she isn’t willing to help you? You want her there when you talk to Nathan, right?”
“Yes. Let’s hope he believes me.”
“He will,” I reply confidently. “If there’s one person he despises the most in the world, it’s his father.”
“None of this can happen unless I find my mother and convince her to speak against Rakesh.”
“Yeah,” I heave. We sit in silence before I say, “I should call my mom before she hears about what happened from someone else.”
As terrified as I am to talk to her, I need to confess the reality of my relationship with Nathan. She will be upset, but she will be on my side when I tell my dad and dadu .
“Hey,” Kian murmurs, tapping my cheek where I’m biting it on the inside until I let go. “It’s going to be okay. Don’t be nervous.”
Nodding, I prepare myself before dialing her number. With each ring, my heart travels up to my throat. I don’t climb down from Kian’s lap, needing the connection.
Just before it can go to voicemail, she picks up.
Her breathless voice trickles into my ear. “Hey, bacha . I was in the kitchen.”
“Ma,” I whisper.
“What’s wrong?” she demands, instantly noticing the tension in my voice. “Are you okay?”
I release a breath, relieved she hasn’t yet heard the news. She’s hardly active on social media, so it makes sense.
“I am fine,” I assure her. “I need to tell you something important.”
“Okay.”
I hesitate, nervous cramps tightening my stomach. Kian squeezes my waist, silently giving me courage. Swallowing past the dryness in my throat, I share, “I ended the engagement with Nathan last night.”
Total pin-drop silence.
My nerves go through the roof.
“Ma?”
“Why? Did you guys have a fight?” she questions, in utter disbelief. “What happened?”
“I am not in love with him.”
“What do you mean? You’ve both been together for more than three years, Iris.”
“I know it’s confusing. But he isn’t the one.”
“How do you know?” she huffs. “Maybe you’re just panicking since it’s a very big step, which is fine.”
“No, I’m not having wedding jitters. I was marrying him for the wrong reasons,” I reply in a firm voice. “And I know Nathan isn’t the one because I… I’m in love with Kian, Ma.”
My palm resting over Kian’s chest, I feel his heart race as he hears my love confession.
For long seconds, I only hear heavy breathing on the other end, before my mom finally speaks, “This is a lot to take in, Iris.”
“I know.”
“How long have you felt this way toward Kian? More importantly, does he feel the same? Because you need to be really sure if you’re going to take such a drastic step.”
“I haven’t made this decision lightly or on a whim. I love Kian and I want to spend the rest of my life with him. I know all of this is shocking, but I’ve never been more sure of anything in my life than this.”
“Your happiness is all that matters to me, Iris. We’ll never force you into a marriage,” she says softly. “I will talk to your father tonight and we’ll decide on how to handle this with Nathan’s family. Come visit us tomorrow.”
“I can’t.”
“Why?”
“I’m on a work trip.”
“With Kian, I presume?” Her sweet voice takes on a stern note, like she knows it’s not just a work trip. “When are you coming back?”
“In a week.”
“Fine. Once you return, both of you will come to the house. Your father and I will have questions that we’d like answered in person.”
“Yes, Ma.” I hang up and smile at Kian. “It went better than I hoped.”
“I told you.”
Straightening his tie, I relay my mom’s order. “We are both invited for an interrogatory dinner with my family as soon as we’re back.”
“I can handle anything they throw at me.”
“You better.”
His mouth tips into a sexy grin. “You can finally introduce me as your boyfriend.”
A giddy laugh leaves my lips, betraying my elation. “I’ve been dying for the day to come when I can call you mine. I can’t believe it’s happening. You made it happen.”
“I didn’t want to wait any longer.” His eyes growing intense, he says, “There was never going to be a perfect time. I wanted to reveal our relationship on our terms, not someone else’s.”
“I know, Kian.” Our love is too scandalous to avoid gossip. I’ll always be the girl who left one brother for another. “I just wish you hadn’t kept from me that you were going to do that. It was torture being at that party without you.”
“I didn’t want to spook Nathan.”
“Right before you showed up, I had made up my mind to tell the girls about my past.” Looping my arms around his shoulder as my mind replays last night, I murmur, “And when I saw you across the room, I just realized I couldn’t be with Nathan anymore.
I was done. Another second and I would’ve run to you. ”
A rough exhale lifts his chest and his grip becomes crushing. “Even if I hadn’t planned it for weeks, I would’ve claimed you still after seeing his hands on you. You’re my property, Iris. My woman.”
“Yes,” I rasp, inching closer to his mouth. “No more hiding.”
“No more hiding, Rainbow,” he whispers back, brushing a wayward tear away. “You belong to me now. The world knows it too.”
A tilt of his chin and his lips crush against mine in a savage kiss.
Claiming me all over again.