Chapter 29 Monaco
Verena
The media buzzed with news of—
Couldn't even believe this for the life of me!
In an amazing twist of things, Kian and Zita got engaged. Their engagement pictures flooded the media and it was nothing short of élégante. One picture stood out to me the most—in the middle of an emerald-padded staircase stood Kian wearing a plain white shirt, black pants, and Zita—neck mini black dress with tulle skirt—as she was hoisted over his shoulder while she flashed her ring to the camera.
Nice.
The moment we stepped out of the elevator, Emily yanked her ID card off her neck. “As if breaking my heart by engaging Zita wasn't enough. He unfollowed me on Instagram, deleted his comment on my post, and removed his like from that picture of us”
I simply laughed as she continued. “Guess I have to yank him off my crush list. Anyways, we are having lunch together, right?”
“No, I have to meet with someone. Another time, maybe”
As if the whole engagement thing with Zita hadn't hit me by surprise, Kian had sent a lengthy text apologizing for the emotional stress that he put me through over the months. Words about Zita being his peace and how he would love to focus on only her were highlighted.
It sounded performative. Almost unlike him but the best part of this was that he moved on.
What was more important now was signing the divorce papers!
And now, Zita and Kian had pleaded for me to spare them time out of my schedule. Gripping the bag slung over my shoulders, my eyes swept around the place for—
Zita waved at me with that fake smile on her face while Kian sat next to her, wearing sunglasses indoors which was weird. But, what has it got to do with me? All I had to do was listen to the reason they asked to see me, return to the office before Daxton freaks out if I don't make it back after lunch.
Even after I sat, the extremely bright smile didn't leave her face as she looped her arm into that of Kian’s, their fingers entangling as she snuck up close to him.
“We were waiting for you before we made our order”
I fixed her with a straight stare. “I don't have all the time in the world. To the point, please”
She flashed an awkward smile at me, glancing at Kian who stared straight ahead—like he was physically detached from this place. His body language screamed ‘Get Me Out Of Here’. Kian hadn't even uttered a single word since I arrived:
“Since Kian and I will be getting married soon. I thought that it was best to apologize to you face-to-face. Also, we would like for the divorce to be kept away from the public, we don't want to suffer more blows after what happened last week”
Only chaos followed their engagement announcement. People had dug up pictures of Zita as an OnlyFans model, bashing Kian for ever settling with a woman like her. Kian on the other hand had released a statement defending Zita. While it had scored him some cheap points in the media, the relentless backlash didn't stop.
I leaned back in my chair, tucking an errant strand of hair behind my ear before folding my arms above my chest. “Let me get this straight, you don't want the public to find out that Kian has ever been married or is going through a divorce?”
Zita moved to kiss Kian on the cheeks before she nodded. “Exactly”
“You know—” She turned her head to the side, flashing the huge diamond ring sitting on her finger before she whipped her head back to me. “I heard that you have never made a public appearance because of the unfortunate string of events that happened to your family”
“Someone told me that news of your family always gave you panic attacks—”
The weird feeling unfurling in my chest coiled tighter as I cast an angry glance at Kian in disbelief. He told her about my panic attacks. The fuck!
How much more did he tell her? When I struggled to suck air into my lungs? Those vulnerable times when my body trembled whenever I read the defamatory articles written about my dad? Or the time I almost had a heart attack.
I knew that Kian and I were going our separate ways but shouldn't he have the decency to keep private things private?
Kian turned to look at her and she raised both brows. “What?” Her voice was barely a whisper as she eyed him. “If you didn't want me to mention it, you shouldn't have told me…”
This had to be a joke.
She fixed her eyes back on me. “As I was saying, if news about being married to Kian ever hits the public, people would dig into your background and discover that you are the daughter of the Carsons’ family. Old wounds would be reopened and I don't want that for you, Verena”
I barked out a small scoff. “Did you invite me to threaten me, Zita?”
She shook her head, waving a hand at me frantically. “Did that sound like a threat? I just don't want you to be put in a tight spot”
I scoffed again. “I also have no plans of ever being in the public’s eyes so the most important thing is that when the fuck is your fiancè signing the divorce papers?”
Zita dipped her hands into her bag, smiling. “Oh, I brought it along. My Kian wanted to sign it at home but I believed that the best closure is you watching him sign the papers—” She was still searching through her bag before the smile on her face dropped and she turned to look at Kian.
“I thought I put it in my bag?”
Kian, who had been silent all along, spoke. “It must be the pregnancy hormones”
Oh. She was pregnant. Nice. I was sure that Kian’s mum was over the moon now.
With the sunglasses still sitting on his eyes, he finally fixed his eyes on me. “Umm, Verena—” His voice was soft.
“I am deeply sorry about the things that I have done and I am here to promise you that I won't disturb or stress you anymore. I have blocked and deleted your contact, blocked your social media accounts and if you have any sort of information you would like to pass to me, you can meet with my lawyer instead. I would meet with Mikaelson too” His voice was a bit shaky at the end.
“I will be focusing on my family now so it is imperative to close every loose end”
My eyes landed on Zita’s stomach. “Congratulations”
She smiled. “Thank you. Would you like to come to our wedding? I could add you to my list of bridesmaids”
I rose to my feet, laughing it off. “No, I wish you two the best and I hope that I don't have to see either of you again”
Zita responded. “Sure and my future husband here would stick to his promise about leaving you alone…”
A slow smirk that faltered crept at the corner of my mouth. I nodded and turned.
I had to walk a huge distance away from the fine dining before I let out the breath that I had been holding for a long time.
Kian had promised to leave me alone. He would sign the divorce papers and the process would sail smoothly.
It was over. It was indeed over.
I ripped my hands through my hair, a smile stretching my lips and the honk of a car broke my train of thought. I pivoted sharply, only to find Daxton driving slowly behind me, his head peeking out of the car.
God! He looked hot.
“Get in the car!”
Amusement tilted my lips and without hesitation, I entered the car, and this time, I didn't sit—instead, I climbed onto his lap as he adjusted to accommodate me better.
His fingers rested on my hips as he stared up at me with something dark burning in his eyes. “Verena…” His voice was low and velvety as those big hands moved up my stomach and I stilled.
My breathing hitched.
“If you keep grinding against me like that, I might just fuck you here”
I laughed, tipped my head against his while grinding harder against him until a low growl rumbled from his throat and his eyes sparked with amusement. “You look extra excited”
I leaned back, nodding. “Yes but before I get to that. I want you to be honest with me about something. You keep tabs on me, right?”
For a heartbeat of silence, all he did was just stare at me before his finger brushed through my lips. “If you find out that I know the small details about you. Where are you? Who you meet and the things that you do, would you leave?”
He leaned closer to me, nose brushing through mine as his eyes dropped to my lips. “Tell me, Verena?”
I stared into his eyes. “The thing is I like the idea of you being obsessed with me. I like it so much that I find it thrilling. And back to your first question, Kian is ready to divorce”
There was this uncertainty in his eyes before he shrugged it off and as much as I wanted to ask questions, I didn't.
What mattered the most was that I was now free from Kian.
“Since you are my assistant, you are obligated to follow me wherever I go”
“Even to Hell?”
He laughed. A soft rich one. “Even to Hell. You are coming to Monaco with me. Two Weeks. No questions. No protests. Just you and me.”