Chapter 3

  Aries’s POV

  I knew that scent anywhere.

  While heading towards my meeting with Matthew, she had brushed past me, heading upstairs, almost seemingly in a hurry, the whispers following suit.

  Selene Andrews.

  The last time I had seen her was at her fathers burial before I heard she had handed the company over to her husband.

  Staring at her hurrying figure, I found myself wondering why she had given all the Andrew’s name had stood for.

  Selene had always seemed passionate about the company when Mr. Andrew was alive. 

  I could remember the way she used to walk through those halls with a smile on her face and that spark in her eyes wherever she discussed business.

  It was almost as though that version of herself had disappeared after marriage.

  A frown slowly formed on my face as the realization settled in.

  Matthew was her husband?

  The door to the elevator opened on Matthew's floor and at the same time, the door to Matthew’s office was slammed shut behind her.

  Matthew… that manwhore?

  A slow burn of anger slipped through my chest as I had seen Matthew far too many times at my club, swaggering in with that smug confident grin of his, while throwing money around with all shapes of women all over him. 

  I had watched him leave with different girls more times than I could count, all while she must have been waiting at home for him.

  My jaw tightened at that thought,

  Idiots like him would never be able to recognize what they had until it was too late… they didn’t even deserve a glance from her.

  Even now, as she was taking her time to walk back into the elevator, she looked like an artwork… a broken doll.

  Slowly, the gossiping onlookers went back to their respective offices while I watched her try to maintain her composure. 

  As she entered the elevator, I followed suit and before I could calm her, she had fallen to the ground and bursted into tears. 

  I should have intervened from the moment I had seen the door being shut in her face but I was in no mood to deal with Vera’s bullshit.

  Her auburn hair fell down her back in soft waves as she fell to her knees… and the memory of the first time I had seen it years ago flashed in my subconscious… except now it looked dimmed.

  Her soft sobs slowly filled the elevator and the fact  that Mattew had reduced the fiery Selene I had known to a crying mess pissed me off even more.

  As the elevator stopped at the last floor, I pressed it to go up again, giving her enough time to get a grip of herself.

  There was something about her that made emotions I had always lacked resurface… anger was something I barely felt and so was jealousy, I couldn’t remember the last time I had felt jealous that a man had a woman I was looking at entirely but she stirred that toxic emotion up.

  When it seemed like she was getting herself, I looked away.

  Her eyes however stayed on me and I turned to hold it in place.

  There wasn’t a flicker of recognition in them like I had hoped to see.

  She finally broke the tension silence as she looked away, “I’m sorry you had to see that but I’m fine.” 

  I lied through my teeth, hoping it would give her a false sense of security, “I can see that and if it makes you feel any better, I didn’t see anything.” 

  Finally the elevator stopped and just as she was about to leave, I pulled her back into my arms, she immediately started to protest, “What are…” and as I lifted her up, the words died in her mouth.

  I didn’t know what I was thinking but I was glad I did it.

  Just like I thought, the employees had gathered to watch her supposed walk of shame, I took note of the people that somehow looked happy to see her and those that were happily wallowing in her pain. 

  She suddenly leaned into my jacket, and a smirk filled my face.

  I didn’t enjoy the feeling like I should because I soon reached the front of my car and placed her in.

   “I think you are too pretty to be crying on the elevator floor for loser boys!” I leaned in to whisper before closing the door.

  As I watched the car pull out of the driveway, I received a call.

  Speaking of the devil.

  “Mr. Dimitrios, we are still expecting you” Mattew had said and a slowly frown filled my face.

  Thoughts of how much I could make him pay filled my head but decided to just cancel the meeting for now.

  Selene herself was going to deal with him, with my help of course!

  “I won’t be able to meet up,” I had managed to say calmly as I entered the cab that had just pulled up, pointing to my car that hadn’t gone far, I leaned back and continued, “It seems like we’d have to revisit the basics of our relationship.”

  “What?! Mr. A…” not bothering to entertain his cries, I hung up.

  I didn’t know why I was worried nor could I understand why the sight of her so broken gnawed at me. 

  In ten years of being in business, never have I used emotion to work… that had been my secret to staying on the top, I couldn’t remember I was cancelling potential beneficial collaboration.

  Alex stopped outside her house and I texted him to wait around the corner while I lingered, taking in what she had called home.

  A call pulled my attention away, “Mr. Dimitri, you have to come to the office!”

  “Which?” I asked, looking at the known caller ID.

  He immediately muttered apologies  as he introduced himself before explaining that a client had tried causing trouble but it had been dealt with.

  I paid the cab man off before heading back to the club.

  After tidying up a few paper trails, I ended up in the VIP section.

  And then, she appeared.

  Selene.

  The atmosphere in the club shifted in an instant, as everything slowly faded into the background leaving her.

  Soon she was laughing with the bartender before she moved to the dance floor, my eyes never leaving hers.

   I didn’t allow myself to blink nor did I let my gaze falter. It was almost like I was entirely hopelessly drawn to her.

  The need to keep her close and shield her from the world that was trying to break her spirit threw as I watched her.

  As she danced, moving her hips to the music, I could see the way she tried to hold herself together.

  My eyes never left her until she finally noticed me, the recognition I had hoped to see in the elevator filled her face. 

  And as though she saw my look as a challenge she slowly made her way to me before falling into my lap.

  She was drunk and the spark that had seemed almost inexistent filled her eyes.

   It was hard to maintain control when she was this close… teasing and rubbing on me, every logical part of my brain screamed.

  She finally leaned in, her lips slightly touching my lips as she said, “We should get out of here.”

  She was drunk, I reminded myself.

  I didn’t want the first time I claimed her to be like this! 

  I wanted her to remember every single second I spent teasing her eyelobe and would love to see the look in her eyes when I slid into her wetness.

  “Dimitri,” she whined as my attention shifted temporarily, “I… I really want… you know what, I'd just find another man to make me…”

  Her words died out as I claimed her lips.

  “You wouldn’t dare!”

   I carried her to my car and ordered him to take us home.

  Selene however was making my restraint harder.

  “You’re ignoring me after kissing me senseless!” she murmured, and she slowly climbed onto my lap.

  I said nothing but that only seemed to encourage her.

  She shifted on my laps, deliberately pressing closer until her body fit so perfectly against mine in a way that made my jaw tighten. 

  Her auburn hair fell forward, the soft strands brushing against my chin and then she tilted her head.

  Her lips brushed against a sensitive spot just beneath my ear.

  My grip on her waist tightened instinctively as a groan left my chest, encouraging her.

  “So you do want me,” she whispered teasingly, and I shot her a warning look, but she only laughed.

  Instead of behaving, she took my hand and slowly guided it to her wetness, ignoring my protest.

  “Dimitrios, see what you are doing to me.” she murmured again.

  She was too drunk to know what she was doing to me.

  “I thought men liked it when women threw themselves at them.”

  My eyes darkened, how could she see herself like that?

  And she shifted again this time, it was obvious she was testing how far she could push me.

  Every little motion brought my restraint closer to breaking.

  “Fuck… you are so wet!” I said to myself as she rubbed against my fingers she had placed there.

  She looked pleased at the loss of composure causing me to immediately remove my hand.

  “Selene,” I warned quietly but she only giggled.

  “You’re very cruel, you know that?”

  I stared down at her.

  From the playful glint in her eyes to her flushed cheeks down to the way her lips curved like she knew exactly how much trouble she was stirring.

  If I didn’t get her home soon… I was going to lose it.

  As we got home, I placed her down and she must have thought that I wanted to have my way with her, she immediately threw her pants.

  “Stop! You need sleep!” I scolded her and she got up as though I had slapped her.

  Ignoring her tantrum,  I undressed down to my singlet and shorts before beckoning her, “Come here.” 

  As she laid down beside me, her playfulness suddenly dispersed as though reality hit her.

  The feeling of the body resting againg mine was electric.

  Just when I thought she was going to sleep, she suddenly started murmuring incoherently at first, but slowly her voice became clearer.

  She complained about how unfair the world was, about Matthew and his betrayal and  I let her, running a hand down her back.

  Eventually, her words slowed as exhaustion fell over her features.

   I finally stepped back to check on the kids, and when I returned she snuggled closer, closing the gap between us.

  In just a few minutes here, her scent had enveloped my senses and filled my room.

  Whilst laying there, I came to the realization that I didn’t want to let her go this time.

  It doesn’t matter what I’d do to make her stay under my roof, I’d do it and they… everyone who had dared causing a tear to slip out her eyes would pay.