Chapter 16 Night
Verena
To think that I was starting to believe that Kian had moved on from me and as if that wasn't worse, he had been with Zita for a long time?
Fresh anger coursed through me and it wasn't because I gave a hoot about him, it was because I felt so stupid for not knowing that he had been cheating on me.
I mean, I had thought that we drifted apart naturally…
Gosh!
It was because he was seeing someone else. And after he had decided that he was done with their sneaky links, he dared to bring her to me with the request of an open marriage.
“That sly fox…” I muttered through gritted teeth, fingers curling into fists as my blood boiled over and over again.
Then, the image of Daxton flashed through my mind and my heart slowed— almost to a stop. The way I took him in my mouth, staring straight into his eyes like he was some sort of a demi-god. Maybe he was. He made me feel so powerful in that moment.
It made me feel like I could crush Kian underneath my feet as he blabbed about how I was going to come back to him.
What Kian wanted from me was something I would never understand. He wanted freedom from me and I served it to him on a platter of Gold, yet he refused to let me go.
Or could it be that the reason he was searching for me persistently was because of the money I took from our joint account? The last time I checked, eighty percent of the money was his.
It had to be the money because why he was going through such lengths made no sense to me.
If it wasn't about the money that I had drained from our joint account, then was he scared that I could get a half share of his properties once the divorce was finalized? And since he didn't want that, he planned to intentionally stall time by not signing those papers, and manipulate me into stopping the divorce.
I scoffed, threading my hands through my hair as I pressed my phone to my ear and the moment the lawyer answered, I said. “What was the reason I gave when I first filed for divorce?”
The lawyer cleared his throat and instead of asking questions, he answered. “Incompatibility and irreconcilable differences”
A smile crept through the corners of my mouth. “Change that and file for adultery!”
His voice shook over the phone. “W-what…what…”
I smiled. “I’m sure I didn't stutter”
He sucked in a deep breath and was about to speak when my name echoed down the hallway. That was Mandy’s voice.
A silent groan ripped from my mouth as I disconnected the call but not without muttering ‘we should meet over coffee and talk.’
I turned on my heel, fixing my eyes on Mandy who waltzed to me as she casually glanced at her wristwatch before her eyes narrowed to me. “Hello, what—”
She cut in, tapping her hairpin slowly. “Mr.Daxton left the office without returning my greeting which is weird because he has never done that before. He does that to other people but to me, no!”
My face screwed up in confusion for a second. What has this got to do with me?
Mandy clicked her tongue in her mouth. “I am sure that you pissed him off by messing up your work. Anyway, he wants you to get a gift for Tom Van Doren and his secretary is waiting at the parking lot. So, get moving!”
I now arrived at the parking lot, brows furrowing in confusion as my knuckles rapped on the tinted window of the car. Hello?” I called.
No answer?
“But, Mandy said that he should be…” I bent slightly, trying to peer into the dark haze of the window when a finger slid over my waist as my heart almost jumped out of my chest.
Before I could jolt apart, I was pulled into a broad chest—Daxton’s.
A wave of relief crashed over me as he wrapped his other hand around me, staring down at me like those ocean eyes just struck gold. “Looking for me?” His lips lifted in a smile.
Despite the eagerness that swirled inside of me, anxiety clawed at the back of my neck as I flitted my eyes around the parking lot, heart beating in trepidation. We were in a public place and in the next few minutes, some staff would use the parking lot since they were going on a lunch break and then they would see us in this position and…
No.
I needed to stop this. The last thing I wanted was for others to know that we had something going on between us.
I fixed my eyes back on him, trying to push him away from me but his grip around me was firm, unyielding as he stared at me with eyes that shone like stars danced in them—a total contrast to the surge of panic inside of me.
“What are you doing? No one can see us like this”
A rich laughter rumbled out of his mouth and before I knew what was happening, my heart rate shot up when he leaned over and planted a soft kiss on my lips before his eyes locked into mine. “Can they see us like this?” A mischievous smile graced his mouth and for a second, I was stunned to silence before I was laughing with him like nothing else mattered in the world.
Apparently, I was supposed to leave with his secretary to the jewelry store but Daxton had a change of mind and here we were in the car, my hand raised to his mouth as he pressed soft kisses to the back of my palm while my favorite 90s classic blues played in the background.
Surprisingly, it was his too.
I hummed along to the song, bobbing my head to the rhythm when my mind drifted back to Kian. “So, about Kian”
With a soft smile on his face, he cast a glance at me. “What about him…” He trailed. “If this is about the scene he caused, I have given the instruction for him not to be allowed into the hotel’s premises anymore. You don't have to worry about bumping into him one day,”
I exhaled sharply. “Thank you and I am sorry for what happened with Kian earlier. I heard it isn't his first too and all of this is my fault…”
Daxton’s eyes narrowed in slits, the smile on his face now long gone. “None of this is your fault, Miss Kitty ears. Kian is my nephew and I know to handle him,”
Soon, we were at the jewelry store and while I went through the wrist-watches, Daxton strolled behind me with his hands folded behind him and I could feel his eyes on the back of my neck, my ass—
It was almost as if he came to watch me instead.
“You sure that you don't want to check?” I turned my head to him.
Daxton simply shrugged. “I trust your judgment, Verena. You have a peculiar taste and you would know what would fit him better”
I crossed my arms over my chest. “I thought you came here to help me, Mr Daxton?”
“And I am, just in ways you don't see yet” He now leaned against the counter, eyes fixed on a catalogue as he flipped through the pages with keen interest.
A chuckle almost bubbled from my throat. “Staring at me all day long isn't helping and…” I trailed when my gaze landed on one particular wristwatch displayed alongside other luxurious ones.
A silent gasp escaped me as I carefully picked the silver wristwatch, twirled it between my fingers. I wanted it.
It felt like it was made for me.
But the moment my eyes fell on the price tag, the excitement inside of me completely disappeared. Thirty thousand dollars?!
When I was financially stable, splurging such a huge amount on jewelry wasn't an issue for me but right now, I couldn't afford to do that.
A weird feeling tugged at the corner of my heart as I dropped the wristwatch back into the case when Daxton’s words filled my ears. I hadn't realized that he was now standing so close to me.
“You like it?” He reiterated.
Of course, I did. LIKE was an understatement. I loved it.
“No,” I lied, swallowing the lump lodged at the base of my throat before turning away.
We finally settled on a golden wristwatch for Mr. Tom Van Doren while my mind kept drifting back to that wristwatch I wanted for myself. I was only able to snap out of it when Daxton pulled up at the driveway of my apartment.
“Thank you…” I said as we both walked to my apartment block and now that I thought about it, Daxton never asked for the direction to my house but he seemed to know where exactly I lived.
“Going to the first floor now?”
That was it. I lived in one of the apartments on the first floor and have never mentioned anything about my house to Daxt…
Oh!
Silly me.
Josh must have told him.
The cool breeze whipped some strands of my hair to the back while I turned to look at him. “Well, it is already the weekend already. Almost…” The air between us tightened and crackled with budding tension.
“So, good night. Daxton”
I watched the way his eyes slid up to my apartment. “Let me up there,”
“No way”
He cast a glance at me. “Why? Is it a horrible thing that I am trying to know where my assistant lives?”
“But you know already? I mean that is how you are standing here”
He huffed, dipping his hand into his coat pocket as he stretched a box to me—a gesture that made my face scrunch in confusion.
“What is this for?”
His eyes nudged at me to take it and that was what I did. I stared at him suspiciously, unwrapping the box just to find something that I had never expected nestled in it.
It was the same wristwatch I wanted.