Chapter 30
Chapter
Thirty
ARIANA
S ince we returned from the Bahamas, Obsidian has insisted that I eat in the dining room with everyone else, which has been nice. It’s allowed me to get to know his brothers a little better, but more than that, it’s helped me form friendships with the ladies.
So I’m disappointed when they ask me if I’d like to have a girls’ night on Saturday, and I have to put them off because I’m supposed to meet my brother. I’m meeting him even though I’ll be showing up empty-handed again.
I haven’t been able to think of anything we can do to pay off the remaining part of the loan, but I’m hopeful that my brother will have figured something out. Though I look forward to seeing Bastion, I hate the reason we’re getting together.
The weight of my guilt is dragging me down like cement shoes pulling me to the bottom of the dark ocean. I’m thinking about that guilt when Obsidian’s voice pulls me from my thoughts.
“Maybe one of these weeks I can tag along? I’d love to meet your brother under better circumstances.” He arches an eyebrow.
I try to keep a natural smile on my face when I answer. “Of course. But he doesn’t know anything about us yet… I’m not sure how he’ll feel about it, since you’re my boss and all.”
Obsidian frowns, but nods in understanding. I hate this.
“You know how it is… big brothers can be overbearing at times. Give me some time to ease him into the idea of us.”
He pulls me into him and places a chaste kiss on my lips. “Makes sense. You let me know when you think it’s a good time for us to meet. I want to make a better impression than I did.”
His words, as well as the heartfelt emotion behind them, make my chest ache. I hate that Obsidian still questions whether he’s good enough for me, when I’m the liar and the cheat.
We say our goodbyes, and I promise to come find him when I return later. The manor feels darker and more ominous than usual as I walk toward the front door to meet the driver. I have no doubt it’s probably my subconscious making me feel that way. Though this place is creepy as hell sometimes.
I’m dropped off in front of Black Magic Bar as usual, but when I go inside, I don’t find Bastion waiting for me at our usual table. Figuring he’s probably running late, I walk over to the bar and order myself a beer, then sit at our usual table to wait.
By the time I’m halfway through my beer, worry sets in. He’s never been late before. Maybe there was an issue with his flight? The weather is fine here, but maybe there are storms on the West Coast.
I didn’t have time to go to my room and check the phone I use to communicate with him. Maybe he sent me a message to say that he couldn’t come.
Once I’m finished with my beer, I decide to wait another half hour before I text the driver to pick me up. But a half hour later, he still hasn’t shown.
Before I leave, I go back up to the bar to speak with the bartender. “Hey, you didn’t see my brother at all tonight, did you?”
She smiles at me. “That handsome guy who always flirts?”
I return her smile, though it’s forced. “That’s the one.”
She shakes her head. “No, he hasn’t been in here.”
My muscles grow a little more tense. “If he does come in, can you please tell him to text me?”
“Sure thing. Everything okay?” She tilts her head.
“I’m sure it’s fine.” I give her my thanks and walk outside to meet the driver.
As soon as I get back to Midnight Manor, rather than going straight to Obsidian’s room, I head to my bedroom to pull out the phone I hide there. When I pull it out from under the mattress, I see that there’s no message from Bastion, so I type one out to him.
Everything all right? Where were you tonight?
I wait a few minutes and don’t receive a reply, so I slide it back under the mattress, tension lacing my body.
Where the hell is my brother?
By Monday morning, Bastion still hasn’t returned my text, and I’m so worried that I make an excuse to leave Obsidian’s office and sneak off to call my father, even though I’m still pissed at him. My heart goes into full panic when he doesn’t answer either.
I return to Obsidian’s office, not wanting to give him any cause for alarm. I stop in his doorway, seeing someone sitting across from him at his desk.
In the months I’ve worked here, I’ve never seen anyone else from the outside at the manor, let alone in Obsidian’s office. She must be someone high up in Voss Enterprises, but Obsidian never said anything to me about a visitor today.
Obsidian looks away from the person and smiles, but there’s a tension to his face I haven’t seen in weeks. “Ariana, I’d like you to meet someone. This is Leah.”
With a smile, I walk around to the side of the desk and turn to greet the woman but freeze when I see who sits in the chair.
Uma.
Air whooshes from my lungs in a rush, and my right hand falls to the edge of the desk to stay upright. She grins at me as though she gets pleasure from my reaction.
“Are you okay?” Obsidian says, rolling his chair closer to me.
I place my hand over my stomach because bile runs up my throat. I have no idea what’s going on here, why she’s here and calling herself Leah, but I know for certain it is not good. My heart pounds, and my pulse sounds like a freight train in my ears.
“Yes, sorry. I didn’t eat enough at breakfast.” Recovering enough to give her a smile, I say, “It’s good to meet you, Leah.”
Her hand rises, and I follow the movement to see her rub my necklace just as I always did. My mother’s necklace, the one Uma made me give her for collateral, is snug on her neck and the bile sours, making me cough.
“Leah, this is my assistant, Ariana.”
“Wonderful to meet you, Ariana. I’m sure you must count yourself lucky to be working for a man like Mr. Voss.”
She knows.
My hands form fists at my sides, but I attempt to keep my voice casual. “I’m very lucky indeed.”
Is that why she’s here? To blow my cover and rat me out to Obsidian? Or just to make me sweat?
I turn to Obsidian. “How do you know Leah?”
He shifts in his seat. “We met briefly when I was on the West Coast a few months ago.”
Wait—what?
My heart riots. I need to sit down. “Well, it was good to meet you, Leah. I’ll leave you both to it.” I walk on wooden legs over to my desk and sit, taking a moment to gather myself.
I need to contact Bastion and find out what the hell is going on, but the phone I use to communicate with him is hidden in my bedroom.
So instead, I pretend to work, catching snippets of their conversation. I can’t hear much, but Uma laughs as though whatever Obsidian says is the most humorous thing she’s ever heard.
Eventually he picks up the phone on his desk, and I hear him say, “Marcel, we’re going to have a new guest staying with us for a while. Please have one of the rooms in my wing set up.”
I blanch and try not to show my reaction, my fingers typing gibberish in a Word doc. She’s going to stay here? Jesus, this is so much worse than I thought.
They talk for another couple minutes, then Obsidian stands and sees her to the door of his office.
“Bye, Ariana. It was great to meet you,” she says as she strides confidently across the room, waving and never giving away that we know one another.
I turn in my chair and give her a small smile, then face my computer again. When I hear the office door close, I finally turn to face Obsidian, trying to school my features. “She’s staying here?”
He walks over and takes my hands, pulling me up out of my chair and into an embrace. “It’s not like that.”
“What is it like then?”
He pulls back and looks at me with something akin to amusement. “I like this jealous side of you.”
In an attempt to calm my racing heart, I draw in a deep breath. “Who is she, Obsidian?” I need to figure out how they know each other before I blurt my entire truth to him.
His lips dip. Then he tugs me by the hand over to the sitting area, takes a seat on the couch, and pulls me into his lap. I brace myself for him to tell me she’s his former lover or something.
“Before we met… I was so fucked up. My head was a mess. You know very well the issues I have.”
Despite the dire situation, my heart squeezes, and I place a hand on his cheek. “We’ve talked about this.”
“I know.” He kisses my palm. “But back then, all my brothers had just found love themselves, and I didn’t see where I fit. Didn’t feel loveable.” He presses his face into my neck. “You’re the only one who’s ever made me feel differently, made me see myself differently.” He pulls back and tucks my hair behind my ear.
“I feel the same way, Obsidian.”
He gives me a sad sort of smile. “I know.” He sighs. “I was staying by the ocean, and a storm rolled in. I’d been learning to surf for a couple weeks and wasn’t half bad, I suppose, but that particular day, I was feeling forlorn, and I risked my life by going out into the ocean to try to surf during the storm.”
Tears prick my eyes as I look at him and ask the question I’ve been wondering since the day I pulled him out of that water. “Did you do it because you knew it would end your life?”
He shakes his head. “I honestly don’t know. Ten years ago… that was an explicit attempt. This was more… let fate decide.”
I frown, his face becoming blurry as the unshed tears in my eyes thicken.
“Long story short, I went under and would have drowned if someone hadn’t pulled me from the water and given me CPR. I tried to find out who saved me, but she took off right after. I even had an investigator try to find her for me.”
“What does that have to do with Leah?”
“She’s her.” He kisses the hollow of my neck.
“You think Leah is the one who saved you?” I bite my cheek to prevent the truth from escaping.
“I know she is. All I could remember was a voice, a melody and one other thing. A necklace. Did you see the one she was wearing?”
I stiffen at the mention of my mother’s necklace, but Obsidian doesn’t seem to notice. “Yes, it was quite nice.”
“I remember that locket and the pearls hanging in front of me. That’s how I know it was her.”
“What does she want?”
His forehead creases. “What do you mean?”
My head tilts. “You’re a billionaire. She must be here because she wants something. Has she told you what it is?”
His hand rubs my hip then squeezes. “She just recently went back to the beach. She was so shaken up over what happened it took her that long to want to go in the water again. Someone there mentioned how a guy I’d hired had been asking around about who saved me, so she called me, and I asked her to come here. She hasn’t asked for money, but I’m going to offer her some in the hopes that she’ll take it.”
My hand runs down his shoulder, and my fingers flex, grabbing his shirt for a second before I smooth the fabric back out. “You can’t do that.”
My reaction must come across with the panic I feel because he looks at me strangely and removes my hand from his shirt. “Why not?”
Because once Uma knows she can get money out of you, she’ll never stop trying to siphon you dry. She’ll never go away and leave us alone.
I shrug, trying to temper my reaction. “I just think it sets a dangerous precedent. What if she comes back for more?”
Obsidian slides his hand into the hair at the back of my head and draws my face forward. “I owe her. If it weren’t for my accident, my brothers likely never would have hired me an assistant, and I never would have met you. I have her to thank for saving me and setting me on this new course in my life—you.”
He’s not wrong, only he doesn’t know the twisted truth behind his words.
“I heard you tell Marcel to make up a room for her. Why is she staying here?”
“She didn’t make any arrangements for herself before she came into town. She’s between jobs at the moment, so I told her she can stay as long as she likes.” He shrugs as though it’s no big deal. “I owe her everything I have, Ariana.”
I nod and place a chaste kiss on his mouth. “Okay, I just wasn’t sure what was going on. Sorry if I came on strong.”
He grins. “No apology necessary. Be jealous anytime.” He gives me a kiss that leaves little doubt as to whether I should be concerned that Leah’s caught his eye or not.
But that’s not what I’m worried about at all. I want to know the real reason Leah’s here.
That night, I tell Obsidian I’m not feeling well and that I’m going to sleep in my own bed.
I’m awoken in the middle of the night by him pushing into me from above. I don’t know how I never hear him open the heavy bedroom door that creaks on its hinges. It takes me a moment to get my bearings, as it always does, but the delicious stretch around his girth makes me hum in approval.
I forget that a snake is sleeping under the same roof as us. Then again, maybe I’m the snake.
We never speak when he comes to me like this. At least nothing more than the soft, murmured words of desperation when we’re close to climaxing.
He rocks into me, black eyes glittering down at me with so much love and adoration that it makes me want to weep. This may be the last time we get to experience something like this together. I’ve betrayed him, and I have no doubt that he’s close to finding out. He’ll know what a liar I am and how I’m the one who’s not good enough for him.
My hands go into his hair, and he bends down and kisses me. Our mouths part, and our tongues meet, slowly circling in a dance of their own.
My orgasm builds inside me, and when my walls clamp down around him, he spills into me, and I will myself to commit this feeling to memory, wishing I could bottle it up like that jar of sand Obsidian has from the beach. So that I can always remember what it feels like to be loved by a man like Obsidian, because it’s moments from ending, I know it.