Sunlight trickles in through the blinds, the rays hitting my face making a groan to escape my lips. I force my eyelids open and sit up on the bed, letting out a loud yawn.
I haven’t slept well in so long. It could be the soft comfortable bed or the fact that my nightmares are gone or the fact that I was wearing Aran's sweatshirt and the smell of him chased away the negativity.
Who knows?
Running my fingers through my tangled mess of a hair, I got down from the bed and walked into the bathroom to brush my teeth and take a nice long refreshing shower. Just as I dry myself off and tie the towel around my body, a knock resounds on the door.
I let out a sigh and make my way towards the door, opening it and expecting to see Aran standing behind it with a frown on his face but instead, I see a middle aged woman with a warm inviting smile on her face.
"Um....I'm sorry.....Who are you?" I ask.
"I'm Laura. The housekeeper. Nice to meet you Ms. Horton. My boss informed me that you would be staying here for a while and insisted that I bring you some clothes to wear." She says, handing me a couple of shopping bags that contained several outfit in them. "I hope they are to your liking. The boss sent a few men out this morning to get them so I'm not sure if they picked right."
I stare at the clothes with wide eyes and shook my head. "No, it's okay. This is just....too much. I think I will just wear my clothes instead."
"I'm afraid I can't take it back, Ms. Horton." She says with an apologetic smile. "The boss told me you would likely say that and I should tell you to wear it or else he may just have to come up here and put it on you himself."
Damn him! I let out a few curses under my breath and force a smile on my lips. "Thanks, Laura."
She nods, "He also said you should come down for breakfast in the next five minutes." With that being said, she walks away.
Why does that man keep frustrating me? Why can't he just leave me alone?
I slam the door and march over to the huge bed, dumping the whole content of the bag on the soft mattress. I decide to put on Jean shorts and a black T-shirt after several minutes of contemplation. I brush my hair, leaving it to fall on my shoulders to dry on its own and walked out of the room to the elevator.
When the doors slid open to reveal the spacious living room, I scan the place in search of the kitchen and decide to follow the scent of French toast and Pancakes.
My mouth waters instantly at the different food that fills the dining table. Some I've eaten before and some I haven't even heard of. My stomach growls at the delicious sight.
Aran, who's seated at the head of the table, gestures for me to sit at his right hand. That's when I finally notice the two boys seated by the table as well.
They don't look old enough to be Aran's soldiers and even if they are, I doubt Aran would allow his men to join him at the table. So I guess they are his sons.
I take a few hesitant step towards the table and sat down on the chair Aran gestured for me to sit. I felt a bit awkward to be intruding on family breakfast or to be here at all.
Both sons casts me surprised glances and looked at each other before focusing back on the food before them.
I ignore the man who's seated not quite far from me and took a plate and a fork, dishing some of the food onto the plate.
I could feel the heat of his stare, searing through my skin and torching my soul. No matter how tempted I am to look at him, I don't. I'm still a bit upset about the way he dismissed me last night. Something changed between us that night. I knew deep down that I would have willing given myself to him if he went along with whatever was passing through his head that very moment.
But he didn't.
God! What is wrong with me?
I need to stop feeling this way about a man whose sole purpose is to torment me for the rest of my life.
"Did you sleep well?" The huskiness of his voice sends a vibration through my body and all the way down to my core.
My grip on the fork tightened as I cut a piece of the French toast accompanied with scrambled eggs and slip it into my mouth. I chew on it for a while, relishing on the delicious taste before swallowing it and turning my head to him.
My brows went up to my forehead in surprise. I expected to stare into the blueness of his eyes, the very one I saw last night but instead, I'm met with that same black eyes I was familiar with.
"Yes I did." I answer, taking a sip of the fruit smoothie not once taking my eyes off him. "Why do you wear contact lense to hide the true colour of your eyes?"
He drops the utensils down on the plate quite harshly, his jaw hardening and his face contorting in anger. Both of his sons freeze probably expecting their father to explode in a fit of rage while keeping their eyes glued to their food.
Shockingly, he takes in a deep breath and picks his utensils back up, speaking with an hard edge to his tone. "I don't see how that is any of your concern. Just a piece of advice, Rayne, don't ask me such questions next time." I let out a scoff and slip another bite of toast into my mouth. After a moment of silence, he clears his throat and speaks, "Anyway, Rayne meet my sons, Kamol and Van. I'm sure you know which one is the oldest of the two. And boys meet Rayne Horton. She will be staying here for a while until I've got things settled for her."
"Nice to meet you both." I offer a small awkward wave and they both nod their head in acknowledgement. Great. First it's their father and now it's them. Men of this family seem to not to like me very much.
We hear the sound of the front door slam shut followed by footsteps before Kane appears by the doorway. "Good morning to you sir." He greets his boss who waves dismissively at him before he diverts his attention to Van. "Alright, kid. Let's go."
"Relax, Kane. We're taking my dad's jet so there's no need to hurry." Van says with a tiny smirk.
Kane rolls his eyes. "We've got to hurry, Van, if we want to get to the airport on time and beat the traffic. The vice Chancellor wants you to be at the school before 11am. Come on, let's go. Be lucky your dad is respected and feared for her to allow this."
"Fine." He grumbles and stands to pick up his suitcase by the doorway.
"Remember what I said, Van. Do not mess up." Aran says in a warning tone, a frown marring his features.
Van doesn't reply but he got the message alright. He tosses his suitcase to Kane and walks out, slipping on his dark shades.
Kane was fortunate enough to catch it before it hit his head. "Get your ass back here, Van. You carry your own shit yourself." He groans but takes the suitcase with him nonetheless.
Before he can walk away, Aran's voice stops him. "Take care of my son, Kane. I'm trusting you with him. Do not take your eyes off him until you safely reach the school. I swear if any harm comes to my son, you won't live to regret it. Understand?"
"Yes, boss. You have my word." Kane says in a serious tone and turns around to leave but Aran's voice stops him again.
"Reschedule my meeting with Salvatore for later this evening. I've got more important things to do." Aran tells him.
"But boss, he —"
"Make it happen, Kane. He will understand. Got it?" Aran's grip tightens on the coffee mug as he takes a few sips from it.
"Got it, boss." He nods and finally leaves without any interruption this time.
A couple of minutes later, Aran gets a call and leaves, walking towards the direction of his office. I pour myself a glass of water and drink it all in one go. My eyebrows furrow when Kamol stands up and prepares to take his leave.
“Kamol?” I call out to him and he halts in his footsteps, turning around to regard me with a confused look.
“What can I help you with Ms. Horton?” He asks, sounding so much like his father.
“Please don’t be so formal. Just call me Rayne.” I chuckle nervously. When he doesn’t say anything, I take it as my cue to continue. “I know you don’t like me at all and you’re probably wondering why I’m here but I can assure you it’s not what you think. I’m not your father’s —”
“Slut?” That is not the way I would have put it but he didn’t seem upset at it. He tilts his head and smirks. As quickly as it came, it disappears and his face no longer holds any emotion. “You don’t have to explain yourself to me, Rayne. You don’t seem like that type of woman. And besides, I know my dad very well. He never and I mean never, brings any woman to our home. He mostly takes them to an hotel and that’s that. It’s been years anyway. Dad don’t do sluts anymore.” He replies and turns to leaves, speaking over his shoulder before he’s completely out of sight. “You’re in his mansion. A place where no one steps foot in unless you have a death wish but you’re here anyway and that means you are special to him.”
I stand there, unblinking, not sure what to think or say but he’s already gone before my mouth could form any coherent words.
Special to him? Yeah right. That man is not capable of any human emotion except anger, hatred and all things evil.
“Let me help.” I say to Laura as she starts to pack up the dirty dishes.
She grabs onto my wrist to stop me and offers me a smile of gratitude. “It’s no problem, Ms. Horton. I can do it myself.”
I slowly pull my hand out of her grasp and begin to pick up the empty glasses. “I know you can but I just wanna help. Please let me. I’ll feel extremely terrible if I don’t.”
I follow behind her as she balances a couple of the dirty dishes on her arm not once showing any sign of struggle. Damn! She’s good. I help her with putting them into the dishwasher.
“I understand, Ms. Horton, but my boss won’t like that. I do not want to get on his bad side.” She tells me, her face contorting in fear before it morphs into a full blown panic as she quickly takes the rag from my hand and continues to wipe off the kitchen counter.
I let a frown slip on my lips and turn around to see the reason for her sudden change in expression. It’s none other than Aran. Of course it’s him. It’s always him.
“What were you doing?” He asks, glaring heatedly at me.
I place both hand on my hips and sigh, rolling my eyes at his annoying attitude. “I was helping Laura in cleaning up the kitchen. Now tell me, is that wrong?”
He continues to glare at me, his eyes burning holes in every inch of my body. He doesn’t look away from me when he speaks to Laura. “I told you not to let her help you in any chores at all. I mean that’s why you’re getting paid handsomely for it.” He slowly stalks towards my direction, not taking his eyes off me one bit. “Why did you defy me, Laura?”
She visibly shakes, struggling to offer him a reasonable reply. “I–I d–didn’t defy you sir. I would never. I–I honestly —”
“Laura didn’t do anything wrong, Aran. She didn’t want me to help but I insisted on helping her so don’t get mad at her. Get mad at me.” I cross my hand over my chest and immediately regret it when his eyes darts down to my pushed up breast. They darken instantly. My nipples harden under his intense stare. I didn’t exactly wear a bra so the outline of those hardened pebbles didn’t go unnoticed by him.
“Leave us, Laura.” He speaks in a grave tone, stopping directly in front of me. I don’t see her leave but I hear her receding footsteps.
And that just leaves us.
I turn to walk away from him but he grabs my arm and whips me around so hard that I loose my balance and collide against his body. He grasps my hips to steady me, his breath hitting my flushed face, goosebumps arising on my skin so fast.
I look up at him, feeling the breath whoosh out of my lungs in an instant at the immense hunger in his eyes. I slowly speak despite my inability to breathe. “Let me go, Aran. I’m not doing this with you.”
“Doing what?” He asks, hoarsely, walking me backwards until my back hits the kitchen counter. He places his hands on both side, caging me in and looking down at me with genuine curiosity.
“This.” I wave my hand in the space between us and slowly pushed on his chest to back off but he didn’t. I feel the anger gradually growing in my chest. “I don’t want any part of it. I’m not some toy that you can just use and mess around with. I’m better than that. Now would you please get out of my way and leave me the hell alone.”
“If only it was that easy.” He whispers. “Now tell me, love, are you upset about that?” When I don’t answer, he grips my chin and forces me to meet his eyes but all I could stare at was his lips. It is so close to mine. It would take a leap of confidence for me to close that gap. I’m yearning to. I wonder how it would feel like to have him kiss me even if it’s just for a few minutes.
It’s sad though. I can only fantasize about it.
Aran jerks my chin up high so I’m left with no other choice but to look him dead in the eyes. “Answer me, Rayne.” He says.
“I–I —”
“Dad, I’m going to mom’s for— What the hell is going on here?” I flinch at the sound of Kamol’s voice. It didn’t sound like he was angry but he sounded curious and….amused? I push Aran away from me with all my strength and walked away from there as quickly as I can without sparing any of them a glance.
I get into the elevator and paced back and forth impatiently, digging my nails into my palm to get my mind away from what just happened and what could have happened if Aran’s son didn’t interrupt us.
The elevator arrives at the designated floor. I rush out of it and hurry into my new bedroom, locking the door behind me and pressing my back to it. I run my fingers through my hair and squeeze my eyes shut. What will Kamol think of me now? Nothing happened between me and his father but seeing us in that position could change his perspective about me.
I do not like Aran but I care what his son thinks of me.
Ughh! I let out a frustrated sigh.
I take off my clothes and enter into the bathroom to take my second bath for the day, muttering under my breath about how much I hate Aran.
That’s how stressed out I am when it comes to him.
—————
AUTHOR'S NOTE
Aran is reallyyy holding back. Nothing has happened yet between them. I'm trying to make it happen but both characters aren't ready to cooperate. Lol.
I'm helpless😂
But.....I love the steady pace of this story. I don't want to rush things between them. It will happen gradually, trust me.
Anywayyy, I've started writing a new story behind the scenes and it's quite darker than anything I've ever written. The first chapter gave me mega chills. Can't wait to finish this story and post it.
Don't forget to VOTE, COMMENT and SHARE.
See you next update.