Page 13 of Darkest Deception

And I have been going up and down hundreds of steps for two weeks?

Like a damn fool? In my own company?

“Hurry up, or I will leave you here.”

I blink, then quickly get into the elevator.

“You did this on purpose, didn’t you?” I say with a gasp, still unable to believe my own stupidity. And here I was, calling him stupid.

“Seems so to me.”

My eyes catch his in the mirroring elevator doors, and he is still in the same position, but the way his hands are in his pocket and his laid-back posture feels familiar.

“You did this to make my life more difficult. As if those useless tasks weren’t enough to make me go crazy, you did this, too? You’re doing this to make me quit, aren’t you?”

He raises his hand to his heart.

“What will you do if the answer is a yes?”

He keeps his eyes on me as he steps closer. My hands turn clammy, and my breathing stutters.

His hot breath fans my shoulder, the heat searing through my shirt, and my grasp on the iPad tightens. My nails on my other hand dig into my bag. My heartbeat drums in my ears at his close proximity, and nerves twist my stomach.

Will he choke me again and look at me in that same antagonising way?

“You can’t ruin me, Ambrose.” His tone is mocking.

My head snaps to face him, only to be met with the sight of lush lips that are too close for my comfort.

“Fuck you, Helia,” I spit.

His eyes narrow.

“You’re staring too much.” Helia’s voice wraps around me tightly like a hot blanket that leaves me sweating.

“Yeah, people tend to stare at strange things for prolonged periods of time.” I roll my eyes, trying to keep my cool.

I promised myself I wouldn’t snap. I step back, away from him, fixing a disgusted expression on my face so he knows I hate his close proximity.

“I am strange?” He chuckles, and, God, I tried, but my eyes still betray me and hook onto the wide stretch of his mouth, the faint smile line at the corner of his lips as he grins.

My stomach dips for a completely different reason. A reason too dangerous to contemplate.

“Yes. You are the literal definition of a strange, rude, arrogant, and unapologetic man,” I snap, my eyes narrowing at the way his cheeks lift higher and higher into a smile at each word I use to describe him.

And I notice it. I notice the shift in his eyes, like a sunrise behind the mass of a forest.

We don’t like each other.

End of story.

“And you have a disgusting personality and no respect for others. You are selfish and a spoiled little princess whose tower I will destroy.”

My mouth drops open, but I bite back my reply, and my hands clench into fists at my side.

Grabbing the front of his shirt in a tight hold, I lean towards him.

I ignore the masculine musk that fills the air around me and focus on extinguishing that light in his eyes.

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