Chapter 17

LORETTA

The car smelled like him

That was the first problem. The second was that the drive back to the penthouse was over sixteen minutes and eight seconds long

Yeah, I know because I'm counting

It's hard to do anything else but that when I'm seated right next to my archenemy. Said Arch enemy and I haven't spoken since the meeting ended, since he admitted that he underestimated me

It shouldn't feel this way, this.... pressure in my chest shouldn't be here. I have been called many things by men who looked down on me.

I've been told to sit down, quiet down, step back, not speak, remain silent, same things different sentences

My father had spent years making me feel like I was less, that I would not amount to anything, so why did it feel... different with Elion

Why does my eye fill up with fluids just at the prospect of him seeing my weak points?

I pressed my face against the window of his Aston Martin, trying not to breathe in the scent of leather, spice, and sandalwood mixed with something else that was exclusively his

The city moved past the windows, gold, white, and neon lights blurring past my vision. The silence in the dim car stretched loud between both of us.

I kept my eyes on the window.

He kept his on the road

Elion approached a red traffic light and slowed the car to a stop, my heart pounded behind my ribcage, and I dared to steal a look at him, but when I slowly turned my head, the devil was already glaring at me

“What?" I hissed, hating the way my breath always slows down when I'm met with his devastating face

Why didn't he have to be a pot-bellied, balding man instead, whey is the Devil so impossibly captivating?

His coal-black eyes were like an abyss this time of the night, I caught the faintest fleck of gold flickering in them and instinctively, my lips parted

He looked like he was about to say something to me, and I braced myself up for the attack, I was getting used to him using words to hurt me, so I learnt to build defences of my own

I lifted my chin and narrowed my eyes, daring him to say whatever was on his wicked mind, but Elion saw through my defense, his eyes flickered again with some unreadable emotion, and then he glanced away

The red light turned green

He wrapped his hand around the gear stick between us. I looked without meaning to, and once again my breath was caught between my lungs and my throat at the sight of his veins, long fingers, the tendons shifting as he gripped and released the leather.

I looked back at the window, my heart was beating so fast and my cheeks were smudged with color

“You didn't have to end the meeting,” I said quietly, because the silence and tension were killing me

A pause from Elion and then the deep timber of his voice wrapped around me like a cloak. “The session had run its course.”

"Were you scared I would best you at your game?" Inside of me, the voice of reasoning warned me not to start a conversation that would indefinitely hurt me

But if there's any chance that I might upset him too, then that was a small price to pay

A low growl echoed from deep in his chest, somewhat animalistic, I felt my thighs clenching together

“Do not make it a habit to argue with me, Rea” Elion advised, the leather underneath the steering wheel crickling

“But you can make it a habit to try to humiliate me and push me down?” My nose scrunched up in disbelief

Elion slid his eyes towards me, the weight of his stare so heavy that it took all my willpower not to look away

“Push you down?" A sardonic glint entered his tone. “If I wanted to push you down Rea, I would have done so over the dining table yesterday”

He chuckled darkly when my jaw detached from my face, I could feel the heat crawling all the way from my neck to my cheeks, but worse of all was the way my body reacted

The way my breasts felt heavier and tighter inside my dress and the small flutter in the lowest part of my belly

“You are... despicable" I spat out, making him chuckle out more, the sound of his mocking laugh felt like sawdust being poured on my skin

I tore my gaze away from him, counting down the seconds still I was out of this dammed car so I could breathe in air that wasn't tainted by his scent. “Asshole" I muttered under my breath, uncaring whether he heard me or not