Chapter six

Audrey's POV

It's been weeks since the ‘Mason incident’, and things have been different. It wasn't very obvious, but I could tell it.

Asher's been extra protective of me in more ways than one. He's employed a ton of maids around the house to ensure I didn't lift a finger.

He personally assigned a security detail that followed me everywhere outside the house, be it the mall, or my pilates class.

He's also amped up security around the mansion, which did nothing but amplify my anxiety. It seemed like he was preparing for some type of war, and it made me really anxious.

It was really getting on my nerves, and I made up my mind to question him about it. 

Away from that, my life has been pretty bland since the marriage. It's been a vicious cycle of me waking up to breakfast by my bedside, going on lonely walks in the garden, blinking at the large TV in the living room, and occasional pilates classes.

I missed my old life of freedom, I missed my friends and endless parties, I missed my social-media-influencer life, and I missed vacationing.

All that had long since been halted since the marriage contract.

I couldn't up and leave the country to wherever I had in mind because I was married now. Same goes with clubbing and posting on my social media accounts. 

I sat on the window sill in my bedroom and pondered on how drastically my life had changed, as I saw Asher's luxury car pull into the driveway.

I waited silently to hear the thud of his footsteps on the stairs and the hallway before it finally stopped in front of my bedroom door. 

There were three quick raps on the door before he announced himself as he walked into my bedroom. I saw his gorgeous physique first as the bedroom was dark.

He turned on the light and immediately he filled the whole room. From his green eyes, to his well-chiseled jawline, to his perfect set of lips. I keep being reminded daily of why I had a one-night-stand with him in the first place. Even the devil couldn't deny it, the man was beautiful. 

In his arms were a beautiful bouquet of flowers. That was a new thing about Asher, he never failed to bring me flowers everyday.

“I brought you flowers. You okay?” He asked as his eyes swept over my being.

“Yeah,” I smiled small, “thank you.” 

Another new thing, he's randomly nice to me these days, just like right now. It's never a constant, I could never predict when it would happen. 

Asher nodded as he let his eyes roam my bedroom. 

“There's a dinner I've been invited to. We're leaving by 7pm. Be ready by then.” 

We're back to his asshole-ness again.

“Alright then.” 

“I'll get somebody to put these in a vase for you.” He gestured to the flowers before he finally turned around and walked out of the room.

I exhaled deeply as I stared out of the window again. I forgot to mention the formal dinner invitations that we honoured.

I slowly walked down the stairs holding the handrails to be careful not to slip, as I took notice of Asher already waiting for me at the bottom of the stairs.

His eyes followed my every move as I took my sweet time. In a blood-red, long, and sleeveless dress that made sure to accentuate my figure and show off my long legs, I knew I looked heavenly.

I held Asher's hand as I came to the final three steps and held his gaze. From the look on Asher's face, I knew I made the right choice with my dress. Plus the pair of gold-strapped heels I had on made me taller as I stood at eye-level with him.

He cleared his throat and I smiled inside. He was flustered, but he quickly recovered.

“Ready?” He asked.

“Of course,” I smirked. 

We arrived at the venue, stepped out of the elevator into a giant penthouse, and was welcomed by a birthday dinner that looked to be in full swing.

I looked around and noticed a couple of familiar faces I remember seeing during I and Asher's court wedding. 

So, it was a family thing.

I looked around and noticed Mason speaking to a much older woman, and almost panicked. I always forget that he is Asher's cousin. He seemed to have noticed that I saw him, because he immediately looked over to me and began staring at me. 

I immediately felt uncomfortable and broke the stare, right at the same time Asher took my hand and we began walking deeper into the crowd.

“I’d like a champagne please,” I looked to Asher expectantly immediately we stood at a corner. 

“Definitely non-alcoholic,” He said under his breath as he gestured for a waiter. 

A man who looked to be in his fifties, walked up to us and immediately barked out Asher's name.

“Asher! My man!” He guffawed as he aggressively slapped Asher on the back.

Asher who thought it to be normal, chuckled as he shook the man's hand. “Uncle Fredrick. Looking too good to be 60,” He said to the man.

“I've been telling these people that, but they don't see what I see.” He bellowed another round of laughter before he finally noticed me. 

“This must be Audrey, lovely finally meeting you.” He grasped my left hand and kissed it. “You must forgive me for not making it to your wedding.” 

“You don't have to worry, we received your gifts.” I smiled at Fredrick. “And a happy birthday to you, as well.”

“Ahh, a gorgeous lady who is well-spoken too, you hit gold, didn't you? He turned to Asher. 

“Uncle Fredrick, always the charmer,” Asher commented. 

“What can I say, the ladies love it,” He winked at me before finally giving all his attention to Asher as they talked something related to business. 

The waiter brought our drinks and I sipped on it as I looked around. I noticed Mason off to another side, speaking to another man. His eyes seemed to have never left me as he shamelessly let them wander over me.

I self-consciously gripped my champagne glass tighter as I looked away from him. 

Asher who looked to be in deep conversation with Fredrick, noticed and pulled me to him. He clutched my waist as he effortlessly continued his conversation. 

My mind reeled from the sudden gesture, and I steadied myself against his chest as his perfume immediately overtook my senses. I placed my hands on his chest and immediately felt a rock-hard surface.

Man sure does keep fit.

I let my mind be consumed of Asher and his being, and didn't notice when his conversation ended and Fredrick had walked away.

I cleared my throat and created a distance between him and myself and mentally smacked my forehead. I can't believe I almost let myself go.

I downed a large gulp of my champagne. Fuck, I forgot it wasn't alcoholic. 

Asher looked at me funny but decided to not say anything. 

I could still feel Mason's gaze on me, increasing my discomfort. And with the loud chatter and music that was starting to give me a headache, I was ten seconds away from telling Asher to take me home when he grabbed me by my waist again and pressed his body into mine. 

“What are you doing?” I stared suspiciously at Asher. 

He grabbed my champagne glass and dropped both mine and his with a passing waiter. 

I thought to move away from him, but he read my mind and placed his hands on my waist to bring us even closer. 

“Stay. Put.” He breathed into my ears and began swaying both of us to the music.

Two words. He only had to say two words and my entire body was screaming for him, my entire senses were scrambling to obey him. 

I didn't understand it. Why my desires for him were so strong, even stronger than it was on that first night. I quickly blamed the pregnancy hormones. 

I looked up at him and we locked eyes. I  watched as his eyes trailed down to my lips and stay there. I followed his lead and let my own eyes trace his lips, from top to bottom, in all it's red lusciousness. 

I heard him take in a ragged breath as his hands got progressively tighter around my waist. I felt the budge swell even more in his pants, and it felt like my body was about to jump him without my permission.

I had to break the silence that was amplifying the sexual tension between us. 

“How long are we going to keep this up for?” I finally found my words. My voice felt foreign to me.

He looked at me for another heartbeat, before looking away and at the party around us. 

“Just until that fucktard takes his eyes off you.” He finally said through gritted teeth.

I looked at Asher glare at something behind me. The expression on his face was new, and it was moments later I realized it was an emotion he had never showed. It was so surprising that I didn't realize when I laughed.

“Asher Pierre Lennox, is that jealousy I sense?” I teased him. 

He ignored me and continued to sway the both of us on the dance floor. 

It was an amusing sight to see. You would never expect that billionaire Asher, would ever be jealous of anything in his life. 

But right here, in this large penthouse, as he clutched my waist, he let all his raw emotions show. Emotions which also included possessiveness. 

It made my head swell that he didn't care that anybody saw us, that he wanted to show Mason and whoever, that I was his, and his only. 

It was very entertaining, to say the least.

The night ended on a very good note. At some point, Asher whispered that we needed to leave, and held my hands as he led the way to first greet some of his relatives. 

After that was done, he led me to the elevator. When we got to the ground floor, he stopped, put his hands behind my knees and my back, and lifted me into his arms, bridal style. 

I didn't protest, but just let the night perform whatever wonders it needed to perform as time went by. 

Asher sat me down in the front seat of his car and was putting my seatbelt on when his phone started to ring. He took it out, glanced at the caller id, and excused himself as he closed the car door. 

He walked a few feet away from the car before he finally put the phone to his ear. That simple gesture alone made warning bells begin to sound off in my head.

I've known the man for over a month now, and he had never taken a call away from my presence before. I always admired him for that because he never seemed to be engaged in any suspicious activity that he would hide it from me.

I remember glancing at his phone screen for a split-second, and the caller id was a female name. 

I didn't want to harbour any doubts or questions in my mind, but as the call progressed, I couldn't help but wonder, what was he up to?

What was Asher Lennox hiding from me?