Chapter 28

DORIAN'S POV***

The car stopped at the valet. I stepped around to open the car for Amara. I reached out, offered my arm.

She took it softly. She was a natural.

Inside, the room hummed with quiet conversations and clinking glasses. People noticed us before I did. Heads turned. Someone greeted me by name but the eyes didn't leave her.

I watched them notice her. She smiled genuinely at them, her head held high like she owned the room. I placed my hand lightly on her lower back as we approached the table.

The table was circular. Intentional. Power liked to sit where everyone could see everyone. I pulled out a chair for Amara and poured her a drink. She nodded towards me. I took my seat right beside her.

Then it started.

“Dorian, good to see you,” a man said.

“Good to see you too,” 

They all smiled towards me. Conversations flowed easily, numbers, contracts, laughs that meant nothing. People who wanted something from me always laughed too hard.

“So, who might this beautiful lady beside you be?” Another asked.

“This is Amara,” I said.

“Lovely meeting you,” she smiled at them.

“You're gorgeous,” a woman complimented. 

A man across the table leaned forward. “So,” he said casually, eyes flicking to Amara like a predator “Might I assume that she's your girlfriend?”

I hesitated. “No, she's not,” I answered. “She's my date.”

The man smiled. “Lucky me, then.”

I ignored him.

Wine was poured. Plates came and went. I spoke when necessary, nodded when required. I turned to look at Amara but she was typing away on her phone. Grinning so hard.

“Everything alright?” I asked quietly.

She looked up. “Yes.”

“Who are you texting?” 

“Jack.”

“Jack?” I asked. “Have I met him?”

She nodded. “The guy you saw me with at the restaurant.”

I remembered him instantly. The way he made her laugh. The way he looked at her.

“Oh,” I said. Nothing else.

The rest of the night blurred. I caught men staring. One too long. Another openly. They didn't bother to hiding it. Why would they? I'd told them she was just my date.

I watched her without meaning to. The way she listened. The way she laughed too softly when someone said something amusing. She wasn't trying to impress anyone. That made it worse.

The man from earlier walked over to her. I didn't move. I should have. He bent slightly, and whispered something to her ear. She smiled, politely. Then he took out his phone shoving it in her hands. I was sure he was asking for her number.

She shook her head slightly, said something. He laughed, undeterred. He stretched his hands towards her, she took it and they went to the dance floor.

My hands curled into fists under the table. My jaw locked. She leaned in just enough to move with him. His hands gripped her waist lightly. He whispered things to her ear that made her smile, laughed… and I felt my control slipping.

I couldn't stop staring. Every glance, every move— it was unbearable. My anger built quietly, boiling under a thin layer of civility.

The dance ended. I stood abruptly. Excused myself from the table. Walked over, placed a hand on her elbow. “Time to go,” I said low.

She frowned. “But the party just started.”

“I'm not asking you, Amara.”

“Dorian—”

“I'm your boss, you'll listen to me,” I stated.

The words came out colder than I intended. Her expression changed. Hurt flashed across her face, I saw it and I ignored it.

We left.

The elevator doors closed. Silence rushed in. She turned away from me. I stared straight ahead, feeling the weight of it – the jealousy, the possessiveness. This wasn't control anymore. This was attachment.

We arrived at the hotel, I swiped my card and held the door for her. I knew I had hurt her.

She moved straight to her room but I stopped her.

“Amara, wait.”

She stopped but didn't turn. The lights weren't on so I couldn't see her clearly.

“What can I do for you, sir?” she aaked. My chest tightened.

“I didn't mean what I said earlier. I shouldn't have.”

“You don't have to apologize, you were right,” she continued. “I'm sorry I got carried away, forgetting where I truly belonged.”

I lost it. I couldn't hold the anger in. I moved closer and turned her around to face me. We were an inch apart. Too close.

“Don't do that,” I said. “ First, you text with a man while sitting beside me. Then you let other men touch you, handing them your number like I wasn't there.”

“You said I was just your date.”

“Right, you were. That shouldn't have given you the permission to go with other men, laughing at everything they whisper to you,” I continued. “They were eye fucking you.”

“Who cares?” she yelled. “Should I have sat around like some obedient puppy waiting for you to finish your boring business discussions?”

“You shouldn't have let him touch you. You shouldn't have given him your number,” I said, trying not to yell at her.

“I didn't give him my number, Dorian,” she continued. “You know what, I wish I did. I wish I had followed him. I wish I had taken up his offer to fuck me in places I yearn for you!”

I was taken aback. Too shocked.

“You confuse me. You buy me this expensive dress, take me on this trip… do things for me,” she sniffed. “One minute I'm just Amara to you, the next I'm just your P.A. Just a date.”

She sobbed. Looking me in the eye, caressing my lips. “ What do you want from me? What exactly am I to you? I'm a human with feelings, you know.”

She turned and left to her bedroom, clicking the door shut. 

I was too stunned to go after her. I stood there gathering my thoughts. Processing what just happened.