Chapter 20
Hem was exhausted by the time he got to the city. He went straight to Mina’s apartment building, and after a brief stare- down with the security guard, took the elevator to her floor. He hadn’t texted her, because he wanted to grovel in person.
When he approached her front door, ready for a confrontation, he heard laughter.
Male laughter.
Mina’s voice followed. Even though her words were muffled, Hem could tell that she was happy. He’d expected her to be angry or upset, but happy? Not on his radar.
It was obvious that her joy was coming from another man, and that was .
. . painful to realize. His breath exploded from his body.
He’d hurt her, and he’d regretted it the moment his stupidity cleared.
Would Mina turn her back on him so quickly?
He’d treated Mina poorly because he’d expected her to react like his ex. Was it too late?
No. No way. He couldn’t go there. There had to be an explanation, damn it.
His hands fisted when that male laughter echoed again, and he pounded on the door. The noise inside silenced, and he heard approaching footsteps. He knew the moment Mina looked through the peephole, because he heard her soft gasp.
The rattle of the chain and the dead bolt had him gritting his teeth. He fought back the urge to throttle the man, until Mina opened the door. She had a pen sticking out of her messy topknot, and she wore those skimpy yoga pants she preferred when she was working from home.
Hem slammed the door behind him, dragged Mina against his chest, and crushed his mouth against hers.
She let out a small yelp and struggled for half a second before her fingers dove into his hair and she melted into the kiss.
Her soft body against his, her supple lips, and the smell of passionfruit in her hair helped soften some of his edginess.
He stepped back and tugged Mina to his side before facing the other man. It took him a minute to recognize him. “Virat?”
“Hi Hem,” he said with a chuckle.
Hem looked down at Mina, then back at Virat.
He wasn’t exactly sure how to tell Virat that their deal was off since he hadn’t told Mina that he’d offered Virat a deal in the first place.
When he looked down at the woman at his side, he realized that she already knew with the way she was glaring at him.
“Is there something you have to say to me?” she said sweetly.
“Yes. Virat, our deal is off since you obviously can’t stay away.”
“Hem!” Mina snapped. Hem ignored her subtle attempt at extracting herself.
Virat had obviously made himself comfortable in her living room since he’d removed his suitcoat, rolled up his sleeves, and loosened his tie. His socks were striped blue. He looked like a soft pretty boy with too much money.
“I’m not here to poach so I’d appreciate it if you’d refrain from hitting me,” Virat said.
Mina finally wrenched herself away from Hem and nearly backed into the counter that separated the compact kitchen and living room. “Shouldn’t you be with your family? Your father?”
The unspoken question of how he was doing lie beneath her words. “I was with part of my family. They’re fine. Everyone’s…fine. I came to get the rest of those who are important to me. Virat, I’m going to assume you were working on something strictly business before you say your final goodbyes.”
Mina shoved at Hem’s shoulder. “Get out! You can’t talk to my guests like that.”
“No, I’ll leave,” Virat said. “And yes, it was business. Yours. I’ll let Mina explain.”
He grabbed his things and slipped into his shoes near the entrance. He looked like he was going to step around Hem and approach Mina for god knows what, but that wasn’t going to happen.
“Thanks for the pizza, Mina,” he said when he realized that hugging her was out of the question. “Hope you and Josette can work things out for next week.”
“Virat, you really don’t have to go. Ignore Hem.”
Virat laughed. “He doesn’t look like he’s budging. Looking forward to doing business with you, Hem.”
With one last salute, he slipped out the door and left Hem and Mina in silence.
Silence that didn’t last long.
“How dare you come barging into my home, Hem!”
“I didn’t barge in. I walked in. What was Virat Aulakh doing in your house?”
“What, not only am I not good enough to be with your family, but you also think I’m cheating on you, too?”
“No, damn it, that’s not what I mean.”
“You have no right,” Mina said. She stepped forward and jabbed a finger against Hem’s chest. It was hard enough to push him back a full step.
“To want you safe? To want to protect you from other men? I have every right!”
“So you can tell me again how I’m not welcome or wanted?”
That was when he knew how much he’d hurt her with his sharp words. How could he harm this beautiful woman who bought him so much joy? He should be nut- punched for it.
“Mina Kohli, I’ll never stop wanting you.
” He reached out, and when she shrugged off his touch, Hem shoved his hands in his pockets.
“I pushed my father for answers. You saw that. And he reacted poorly to you, which only made me angrier. Then the anger was replaced by fear and shock. When he keeled over like that, I didn’t know what to do.
I’ve never seen my father weak or vulnerable like that.
I panicked, and with you, I— shit, Mina. I’m so, so sorry.”
She rubbed her arms, her face turned away from him. “Why? Why didn’t you want me to be with your family?”
“Because I didn’t want you to see my family that way, and then chance losing you because it was all…too much.”
“You were pushing me away all on your own, Hem.”
“And I regret it. I— I’m not good at this. All I know is that I’m willing to do whatever it takes to make it right again.” He scrubbed a hand over his beard, and when he looked back at her, he thought he saw a flicker of acceptance.
“Okay.”
“Okay?”
“Yeah. Just . . . don’t do that again, Hem. You used my biggest fear of not belonging against me.”
“Oh, hiriye.” He opened his arms, but she held him off, increasing the space between them. “No. I forgive you. I do. I can see that you’re sorry, but if you treat me like that again, you won’t have a second chance. After today, you’re on thin ice.”
He smiled, and hope bloomed in his chest. “Noted.”
“And the only reason I’m going easy on you is because you helped Virat and did something that brought you bad memories so you could protect me.”
He swallowed hard at that one. “I wasn’t sure if you’d like it when you found out…”
She waved a hand at Hem. “Billionaires are inherently evil, but you’re like some fictional hero since you give so much of it away, pay taxes, restore the environment, and pay your team fairly. You can spend your money however else you want.”
“Oh…ah, good?”
She shoved a finger in the center of his chest hard enough for him to rock back on his heels. “But even though we’re okay, we still need some space, Hem. If you stay here, we both know what can happen. Sex is going to cloud things.”
“Wait, you’re sending me away because we may have sex? That’s the best part of making up after a fight!”
She didn’t even crack a smile at his joke. “Neither of us got a lot of sleep last night. We can’t have a repeat performance until we get some space from each other so we can focus on work. Then maybe we’ll have time to focus on each other.”
“Maybe?”
“I can meet you in the morning,” she continued.
He stepped forward, radiating tension. “First, you are under no obligation to have sex with me. I want to make that clear. Second, just to clarify, are you sending me away because you want to focus on work, or because you’re worried I’m going to hurt you again and you’re trying to create distance?
Was that forgiveness you dished out just a way to brush me off? ”
Her eyes widened, her lips forming a perfect O. “That’s ridiculous.”
Hem tucked his finger under her chin and nudged her mouth closed.
“I’ll say it again. I’m sorry. You deserved better after all that you’ve done to help me and my family.
Sometimes, I’m going to do and say things, but each time I’ll learn from my mistakes, and I promise you, I’ll be better. Just don’t push me away, baby.”
Mina crossed her arms over her chest. “Maybe you should grovel.”
“I came prepared to. You let me off the hook pretty fast there.”
He watched her carefully as she processed his promise.
Her eyes shimmered with tears for the briefest moment. “Sex is easier than feelings, you know.” She sniffled, and Hem panicked. Dread pumped through his bloodstream and his knees went weak when her bottom lip trembled.
Nope, there was no way in hell she was going to cry because of him. He’d lose his shit if he did that to her. Goddamnit, he knew he’d fuck this up.
“Okay, we’re a go for makeup sex,” he said in a rush.
Hem bent forward and charged like a linebacker.
He had Mina slung over one shoulder before she could get out the first protest. When she swore at him, he slapped her lush bottom and enjoyed her yelp, and the moan she tried to bite off and hide from him.
He rushed into the bedroom that was a few short steps down a narrow hallway and tossed her on the bed.
She scrambled up on her knees, and he could see the fire in her eyes thanks to the bright lights from the open windows. Mina didn’t protest, though.
He ripped his shirt over his head. He needed to touch her, to claim her as his so that she knew he meant every word of his apology, and that even if she tried to dismiss him, he’d never leave her. When her eyes drifted down his chest to his unbuckled belt, he knew he had her.
“Take off your clothes before I tear them off you.”
“You bought me these, you jerk,” she said. “You tear them, you replace them.”