Sweet Hatred
Chapter 206: Aria, did you really say that?

Chapter 206: Aria, did you really say that?

Niko tensed, nodding toward me once before quickly finishing up and collecting the envelope. "I’ll update you later," he muttered.

I didn’t look at him.

My eyes were locked on Ash.

Because I wasn’t in the mood to play anymore.

Especially not with her.

Not now that I knew she was toying with Aria.

Not when my woman was somewhere out there, unraveling, and I could feel it.

Ash tilted her head at me, lips curling. "Was I interrupting something?"

I leaned back in my chair, eyes narrowing, voice calm but lethal.

"That depends," I said. "Are you planning on wasting my time today?"

Ash crossed the room like she belonged in it. Like we belonged together.

"I’m just here to say hi," she said sweetly, like poison dressed in lace. "Thought it’d be nice for us to spend a little time together. You know, since we’ll be wedded soon."

That word. Wedded.

It slammed through my brain like a fucking migraine.

I didn’t flinch. I didn’t blink. I’d learned early that people like Ash feed off reactions. And I wouldn’t give her the pleasure.

Instead, I leaned back in my chair, arms folded across my chest, gaze cold and fixed on her as she sat down across from me... her legs crossing with that same smug self-assurance I’d seen a thousand times in women raised to believe their last name was their only real currency.

She leaned forward, fingertips drumming against the edge of my desk. "I met with your executive assistant today," she said lightly. "Aria Thorne."

I said nothing.

Her eyes flicked up to meet mine, full of games. "We had quite the time... I like her."

Still nothing.

Her smile grew tighter. "You don’t look surprised."

Because I wasn’t. I already knew. But I didn’t feel like giving her that victory either.

She tilted her head, eyes gleaming. "Does Aria know her boss likes to keep tabs on his favorite toy?"

That made something in me twitch.

The way she said it, like I was some obsessed voyeur. Like I was tracking Aria out of sick curiosity instead of a constant, gnawing need to know she was safe. Breathing. Untouched.

I exhaled slowly through my nose and finally spoke, voice sharp as a blade. "Why was she at the venue?"

Ash’s expression flickered. Just for a second. Like she hadn’t expected me to cut straight through the bullshit.

I didn’t let her regroup.

"The suite you used for the gala committee meeting," I added. "Why was she there?"

I could see her deciding whether to lie.

She didn’t.

"She’s assisting me," Ash said with that same calm charm. "The gala needs fresh eyes. And there’s something about her... I’m sure you know it." She smiled to herself, like she was playing with a thought she wasn’t ready to share. "She’s intriguing."

I clenched my jaw.

Of course she was. Aria shone. Even when she was pissed. Even when she hated me. Especially when she hated me.

Ash saw that too. And it made my fucking skin crawl.

I didn’t trust her intentions. Not with Aria. Not with anyone.

"I don’t care what you’re playing at," I said quietly, menace lacing every syllable. "But you keep your games away from her."

She leaned back, finally, letting her hands fall into her lap like a queen stepping off her throne. "Protective," she mused. "Cute."

I didn’t answer.

The silence between us stretched so thick I could hear my own pulse, thudding in my ears like a war drum.

I was seconds away from telling her to get the fuck out when she exhaled softly, like she’d been waiting for the perfect moment to twist the knife.

"But you know..." she said, "... in our little chat..." Her nails tapped against the desk as she smiled up at me, slow and deliberate. "She mentioned that your relationship is nothing but physical. Just pure sex."

My eyes narrowed.

Ash’s smile grew.

"She said, and I quote: ’We get off. That’s it. No deeper meaning. No twisted love story. No heartstrings.’"

The words slammed into my skull like bullets.

One by one.

Each one louder than the last.

Aria did you really say that?

We get off. That’s it. No deeper meaning. No twisted love story. No heartstrings.

No fucking heartstrings?

I stared at her, but I wasn’t seeing her anymore.

My mind spiraled, in a violent, loud, spinning with that one fucking kiss I gave Aria. The one where she looked at me like I was more than just her boss. The one where she held onto my jacket like she needed me to stay. The way her breath trembled when I pressed my forehead to hers. The way she kissed me back.

And she said there was nothing?

That it was just sex?

My jaw clenched. Something in me cracked, some ugly, primal part of me that hated the idea of being discarded. Replaced. Unwanted.

I stood up slowly, the scrape of my chair echoing too loud in the room.

Ash froze.

She didn’t move, but I saw the flicker in her eyes, the way the air shifted when my anger filled it. My voice dropped, low and quiet, but no less lethal.

"You should watch your own back, Ash."

Her smile twitched.

"Excuse me?"

I stepped around the desk, slow and calm, every inch of me vibrating with a heat that wasn’t rage, it was something else. Older. Hungrier.

"I’m sure you think you’re clever," I said. "Stirring shit you don’t understand. Playing your little games." My eyes dropped to her hand where it rested too comfortably on the desk, before flicking back to her face. "But you might want to be careful before you start throwing lies around."

Ash’s posture stiffened. But she didn’t back down. Of course she didn’t.

Instead, she stood up too, head tilted, lips curved in that smug little smile again, though it didn’t quite reach her eyes this time.

"Lies?" she echoed. "It’s almost sad that you think I’m lying." She gave a breathy chuckle, stepping just close enough to meet my gaze head-on. "Seems like I won’t even have to lift a finger before you and Aria burn each other to the ground."

I stared at her, unmoving. I didn’t blink. I didn’t twitch. But I felt my control hanging by a fucking thread.

I leaned in, just a little.

"Stay the fuck out of my business."

She didn’t flinch. "Aria’s not your business. Not exclusively, anyway."

"I’m not going to say it again."

Ash’s lashes fluttered, a slow blink. And then she turned, graceful as ever, like the moment hadn’t cracked her armor at all, even though it had. I saw it.

At the door, she paused.

"Oh, and Kael..." She looked over her shoulder with that same wicked smirk. "Aria’s sparked my interest. And I’m not letting go anytime soon."

The door shut behind her with a quiet click.

And I was left standing in the middle of my office, fists clenched so tight I could feel my nails digging into skin.

No heartstrings, huh?

Liar.

Fucking liar.

***

I shouldn’t be here.

I knew it the second my car rolled to a stop across the street from her apartment building, my grip tight on the steering wheel, the engine still humming beneath me like a restless heartbeat.

I shouldn’t be here.

But I couldn’t fucking help myself.

I sat there, unmoving. Watching the quiet windows. The drawn curtains. The faint amber glow of a lamp bleeding through the glass like the only warmth left in this world. I stared at it like it might reach through the windshield and pull me inside.

But I didn’t get out.

I couldn’t.

Because for the first time in a long damn while, I was terrified.

The last time I felt like this was with Ivan.

Our first real fight.

That night he walked out and didn’t look back.

I remembered the way the silence that followed felt like someone had dug a fist into my chest and ripped something out of me. I’d stood in the tent, hands frozen, trying to decide if I should chase him or let him go. I chose wrong. And he died.

And now I was here again.

Hand on the wheel.

Heart screaming for me to move.

But I didn’t.

Because Ash’s voice was still echoing in my head.

We get off. That’s it. No deeper meaning. No twisted love story. No heartstrings.

And fuck, what if it was true?

What if I was the only one spiraling? What if she didn’t feel the same? What if this whole time I’d been holding onto something that only existed in my head, some warped illusion that she looked at me like I was more than just the man who signed her checks?

What if it was just a leash I had on her?

The contract?

The cage?

What the fuck are we, Aria?

I leaned back against the seat, the leather sticking to my spine through my shirt. My hand slid into my back pocket, retrieving my wallet. I opened it with a flick and reached into the hidden sleeve at the very back, pulling out three tiny, folded photographs, edges already soft from how many times I’d touched them.

The memories came rushing back. The park. Her. Smiling. Hair a mess. Ice cream dripping down her wrist. The sun had hit her just right in that moment. She looked unreal.

Her dragging me into the rollercoaster line, talking like she was five seconds away from body-slamming me into a child. She’d insisted we do it. Even if almost killed her.

I looked at the pictures, the third... Her face pressed against mine. My smile awkward, small. Like I didn’t quite know what to do with the happiness she was forcing into my bloodstream.

It had been the best day of my life.

Not some fancy-ass yacht meeting. Not some record-breaking stock report. Just her. A cheap amusement park. And the feeling that—for once—no one was watching me like a product.

She gave me that.

She gave me that freedom.

And now...

Now all I had was this silence. And the words that refused to leave my head.

No twisted love story. No heartstrings.

My chest ached.

I ran a hand through my hair, dropping my head back against the headrest with a thud.

I should’ve told her.

Should’ve grabbed her face and made her see what she did to me. Should’ve kissed her until she felt it in her bones.

But I didn’t.

And maybe it was too fucking late.

I looked up again.

Her window was still lit.

Still warm.

Still... home.

But I didn’t belong there. Not tonight.

Not while doubt was still clawing at my insides.

With a sharp exhale, I started the car. The engine roared to life, loud and brutal in the quiet street.

I clenched the photo tighter in my hand, then tucked it back into my wallet like a prayer I couldn’t say out loud.

Then I drove away.

Not because I didn’t care.

But because I knew cared too fucking much.