Chapter Seven - Staking Claims

I stood beneath the chandeliers in the grand banquet hall with my back to the entrance as I dialed Sage again.

I had specifically told her my driver, Lucas, would be picking her up for the banquet at 8 pm. It was 8:30 pm by my watch, and she was nowhere in sight. What was worse, she had simply picked up my phone on the first ring and told me she was getting ready and would be here soon.

And now, she wasn’t picking up my calls.

I was getting livid. She sure knew how to get under my skin with all that stubborn fire.

Damn! She didn’t know how that made me hard every time.

She was a tease—a fucking seductress.

She was desperate, yet she acted like she called the shots. I had no reason to like her. I wasn’t in this for feelings but for my revenge against her father. He had killed my mother and my sister in his bid to hide the truth about his dubious ways at the company he and my father had jointly built from scratch.

She probably thinks that the contract was a way out to save her father’s bankrupt company. That was what I made her believe. But in truth, his company would eventually go under, and his evil deeds and schemes would be made public before he would be handed over to the authorities so he could pay for his crimes.

As for Sage, I would let her see the implications of playing victim, acting ignorant when she watched her father’s dubious ways, and enabling him without saying a word. She had known about his atrocities against the company, and yet, she kept quiet despite her position as the deputy manager. She ought to have known.

So, this game she was playing, I could play it as well. If not better…

“Where is she?” My voice was icy cold as I spoke with Lucas over the phone.

“Sir, Mrs. Greyson is yet to come out of the house. She did say she was getting ready, though. So, we’re still at the house.” Came his reply.

Furious at her blatant level of disrespect, I ended the call and schooled my expression to avoid mindless whispers.

“I would have to teach her a lesson,” I muttered under my breath as my mind travelled to the incident this morning, where she stared at me with such defiance. Yet, her green eyes betrayed her emotion.

She could play tough, but she forgets that I always know when she’s pretending.

Her eyes had told a different story today.

It was as though she panicked about something. She looked worried and tired. She looked sick and had barely even taken breakfast.

Was she truly ill, or was this another ploy of hers to act like a damsel in distress when she was just like her father?

Yet, why was she going under my skin way more than I cared to admit? I had barely been able to concentrate on my meetings today without thinking about how her body felt against mine earlier in the day.

It had taken me a whole lot of self-control to walk out at the time I did. She knew what she was doing.

Trying to burn me and strip me bare, but I will be damned if I let her.

She was mine to do as I pleased. So, I call the shots.

My eyes flickered to my watch for the umpteenth time; 8:45 pm.

Then a voice spoke behind me. Charming and sweet, it brought a smile to my face.

Vivian.

She was a pleasant sight to behold, and I watched her, admiring the sway of her hips as she walked over to kiss me on the cheeks.

“Kaid,” She murmured, giving me the look. Her eyes half closed and her lips slightly apart like a promise.

“Vivian,” I smiled again, pulling her away slightly while my eyes scanned the entrance of the hall.

“Looking for your wife? I don’t see her anywhere.” Her voice sounded silky in my ears as she angled her body closer to mine, pressing her curves against me like a promise.

My eyes moved to her, and I took in her sight again. She was wearing that smoky eye look that made her look very alluring with red lipstick and a gold dress that matched the color of her blond curls.

She was beautiful as always, and she knew it.

But not tonight, at least.

We were in public, and I had just recently married my step-sister for love.

“Didn’t expect seeing you here.” I finally spoke as I needed a distraction.

“I was invited,” she answered, snaking her hands through mine, making me bring my attention back to her. “You forget I’m friends with the wife of the host.”

“Don’t you miss me?” She smiled seductively, lips dangerously close. However, the craziest thing happened.

I suddenly felt her smile too wide to be real and her eyes too calculating. It was something I had never thought of before, so why did I suddenly feel this way?

Sage…

It had to be her.

My quest for revenge had suddenly made me start to see other women like her. Vivian was nothing like that pretentious wife of mine.

She leaned in, her perfume intoxicating. “You look tense. Is everything Okay?”

I turned to answer but couldn’t find the words. How could I say Sage had been hunting my thoughts, rendering me totally useless all day at work?

Her fingers brushed my arm, lingering. “You know you can always confide in me. You and I—we go a long way, and nobody can come between us. Not even your wife. I know you better than anyone, and you know, we both know she cannot give you what you want.” Her lips moved closer to my ear, and I could feel her boobs pressing against my arm. Her perfume scent wafted around me like a cloak, and I turned to face her.

“Careful, Vivian. You don’t want to unleash a tiger. We’re in public.” I smile, watching as her eyes sparkled in delight.

“That’s what makes it fun. Don’t you think?” She laughed softly, then leaned closer. This time her lips grazed my ear. “I’m just saying — you deserve someone who understands true power. Someone who knows how to submit completely.”

My lips curved into a smile as she spoke, and I gave her my full attention. But the vision that greeted me wasn’t that of the times I had shared with Vivian—it was of a green-eyed beauty who was beginning to make me question my sanity.

I blinked once, looking at Vivin with the usual schooled expression of mine that never gave anything away when we suddenly heard the excitement from the entrance of the door. The buzz was on high; it was as if the banquet had been graced with a celebrity of some sort.

I frowned.

Every one of notable influence was already here, in this very hall. So, who—

The room shifted, and all eyes turned.

That was when I saw her.

Sage

She was looking divine in a simple emerald dress that hugged her curves. Her skin glowed under the moon crescent light from the chandelier, and she walked into the room like she owned it. She had styled her hair up in a sophisticated bun with curls that cascaded on the sides of her face, exposing the slender curve of her neck.

One of the board of directors had stopped to speak with her and another. Then a few of the ladies had come over to her, and she had turned to hug a couple of them, and blow an air kiss, giving me a view of her back.

My breath caught at the slender curve of her exposed back. The detailing of the dress was elegant and perfect, and all I wanted to do was to trail my hands on those curves.

She looked absolutely stunning, and no one could compare to her elegant beauty.

I felt proud to have her as my wife. Then she turned and saw me. However, before she could make a move towards where I stood, another young man had stopped her in her tracks to shake hands, and the paparazzi were having a field day taking pictures of her, all smiles and charm.

Something stirred in my heart seeing her with all those men suddenly made me feel some type of way I couldn’t explain.

I barely registered the subtle shift in Vivian’s expression when she saw my attention had drifted from her.

She said something that I barely registered because my feet had moved towards her even before I could stop myself.

She was mine, and I wasn’t about to let her forget who she belonged to.