ARAWN
Jensen: You have to be fucking kidding me!
Jensen: I heard her calling you Parker, Parker!
Jensen: How much of your brain have you fucked out for her already?
Jensen: We can’t endanger our territory like this.
Jensen: Kick her out! I’ll get you a new one.
He is not wrong.
I’m fucked up.
But he should stop.
Or I’ll definitely kill him.
I knew that not kicking her out of my penthouse the night I found her in it would be problematic.
But I couldn’t let her leave. Something in me was telling me that I had to have her, for my ego. Just for the night would surely be enough.
I tried to convince myself that it was just some kind of stupid infatuation that I had because of my young age back then. Kind of a teenage crush if you want.
But I knew what it really was. I couldn’t lose her again.
As she left after our first night, I thought I would just get over it, and still, I had her booked again.
And as I felt the tug at my heart as I saw her coming out of that old man’s house, I knew exactly that I couldn’t let her go.
She had to be mine.
Only mine.
And I had no say in it. Jensen could go feral all he wants, but I was already fucked up for her.
Mental.
I hacked into her phone and had her lose every client.
That’s nothing I would have ever done before.
No woman was worth the trouble, worth even a second thought. And there she was, haunting me since I first saw her.
I had also never cared if a woman who slept with me would have another man the same night.
God, it was simply something technical.
I just needed to get off.
But not with her.
Damn it!
And even tonight, as I felt jealousy taking my chest hostage to squeeze it painfully, I didn’t even have the guts to ask her about her encounter with Jensen.
As if I feared that she couldn’t resist him.
In the end, what could I offer her, more than a big cock, a shitload of money, and a broken soul?
Jensen was right. I had to kick her out.
And I have been awful to her last night. Not talking about the poor excuse for sex that I showed this morning.
She tried to hide it, but I could see how hurt she was.
So, this would be the perfect moment.
The moment to get rid of her.
Only as a knock resounds at the door, do I realize that I had not moved since I saw her leaving the room.
Sighing, I pass my hand over my face and go to open the door.
“Good morning!” Harvey and Emily shout in unison and I groan.
You have to be kidding me.
“Morning,” I murmur and walk back into my room.
Emily follows me with curious eyes, holding a bottle of champagne as Harvey closes the door behind us.
“Where is Amber?” She asks shyly, and I shrug.
“She left.”
“Oh,” She reacts by letting her shoulders slump, clenching the bottle.
“You are just a cruel man!” Harvey mocks as he comes into the room as well, rubbing his hands. “Want to get us some glasses, my love? I’ll open it.”
Emily hands the bottle over to him with a crushed expression and I groan. As I sit down on the bed, Harvey is already pulling at the wrapping around the bottle head.
“Jensen has always been good at manipulating people.” He points his finger at me before he continues to open the bottle. “Especially you, as you feel like a big brother to him. Is it because you grew up in the same dumpster?” He asks, lifting his eyebrow at me.
“Probably,” I answer annoyed, just as Emily comes back with three glasses.
“Well, it’s a shame that she had to leave this early.” Emily smiles at us and I chuckle.
Is there anybody more innocent?
“Yeah,” I say, tapping my finger on my phone. “Didn’t she annoy you?”
“What? No.” Emily giggles, moving her hand as if forming a rainbow. “She was so funny. Oh, and as we went to the restroom, there were a few ladies who said something mean to me, and she put her in her place. I felt like I was in high school again and I was one of the mean girls.”
I shake my head as Harvey looks down at her shocked. “You didn’t tell me about that.”
“Well, I told you now. And Amber had taken care of it!” She says, gesturing with her hands.
Yeah, like a queen.
Taking a glass of the ugliest beverage ever, I don’t interrupt their cute bickering.
I know that Jensen often feels too comfortable around me because we grew up together. But we have this bond like brothers, and I will be damned if I break that over a woman who cheats and lies.
I would like to cut the aching spot in my chest out as Emily goes on telling us about her night and gushes over Amber.
I guess she has that effect.
Because she is good at selling herself.
“So, what are you going to do?” Harvey’s voice tears me out of my thoughts, making me look up at him.
“What do you mean?”
“With Amber. Are you listening to your narcissistic counselor and dropping her?”
Distorting my face, I click my tongue. “There is a reason why he is in his position. I don’t think I should mingle with some sketchy woman.”
“Do you want to become a priest, Arawn?” He laughs and fills up his wife’s glass. “I recognized her, she is that Nerthus girl, right? The one I had to take care of?”
I nod, taking a sip from my glass reluctantly. “Yeah. See, stupid idea.”
“I guess, but still. You can’t deny that you have an interest in her. Don’t let the moron ruin that for you.” He puts his arm around Emily’s shoulders. “Let’s go. We were here for Amber anyway. Not for this grumbly dude.”
I scoff as he winks at me, and Emily laughs.