Page 35 of Contention

“You tenacious little vixen,” he growls at her quite suddenly, teeth bared in a snarl. The vivid blue of his eyes is made all the more obvious by the shrinking of his pupils. “Of all the things you could have done, you came here. Get up.”

With her mouth wide open in shock, Kara is yanked to her feet roughly, staring at the man in horror. “What the f-?”

“I realize intelligence isn’t your strong suit,” he rasps, voice suddenly creeping into familiar territory. “But don’t play stupid with me. You used my name to get access to this floor, didn’t you? Smart enough for that, it seems.”

Oh.Oh. Kara feels like a fish out of water, staring at him in abject horror. Of all the terrible luck. “Havenwood-Calais,” she utters blankly before blinking up at him as he begins to drag her back inside. Kara comes back to herself, getting angry at his manhandling.He’s touching her. His touch feels like a fiery brand on her arm and she’s hyper aware of the sensation.Her throat feels like closing. “Okay, yes. I used your name. That doesn’t mean I actually wanted to run into you! How was I to know you would be here? Be realistic, you savage!”

The muscles in his neck are tense, his jaw clenched tightly. Kara can almost imagine him grinding his perfect teeth together. His hand on her upper arm is almost too much, actually hurts from the pressure. He shakes his head, growling under his breath. “I can’t believe I-” He cuts himself off, so Kara may never know what his thought process was with that.

Well, screw him. She can’t believe she even thought of him as the Defender of Women. Not in this life. Not in the next, asshole.

A few women cover their lips in shock as they pass by, likely displeased with his rough treatment of Kara. As if they actually care.

“I ought to file a complaint with Judge Canry,” he’s saying waspishly as heliterally marches herback to the elevators, hand now on the back of her neck as he guides her.

Kara feels like a child. Her father used to march her around like this when she was a little girl, in crowded places. Externally, it may have looked like a father keeping close watch on his daughter, rather than a lord and his leashed dog.

Bianca catches up with them, sounding irritated on Kara’s behalf. “Hey! Stop treating her so rough, you neanderthal! I don’t know who you are-”

“Good,” he snaps back, not even glancing in Bianca’s direction.

Bianca hisses, “Bastard!”

Kara just concentrates on not stumbling; the pace he sets is fast and angry, not allowing for any care that she’s wearing heels and he’s clearly not.

He’s still verbally berating her and Kara feels mortified; it isn’t like she came here to cause problems! “How low is Derrick willing to go?” He asks nastily. “Sending a junior associate to snoop around for the advantage. I guess I’ll have to give him a reminder about why he doesn’t screw around where I’m concerned.”

This is going sideways so fast and Kara feels dread pooling in her belly, dead sober. The alcohol in her belly wants to claw its way up her esophagus in a blaze of glory, she can feel it.

Kara tries to turn around in his iron grasp, but it’s difficult to do while being pushed forward. “This isn’t Derrick’s fault-”

“She didn’t even want to come here!” Bianca adds in the background, following close on their heels. “I made her. I’m sorry, I didn’t realize it would be a big deal. Is it about that case?”

The hostess with the grey mask comes towards them as they get closer to the elevator lobby, her eyes looking panicked through the eyeholes. “Mr. Havenwood-Calais, is something the matter-”

He holds up a hand to silence her, waving her off rather sharply, mouth set firmly in displeasure. Like a mouse, the girl scurries away quickly. He pushes Kara forward, so hard that she stumbles forward and has to catch herself with her hand on the elevator doors, least her face get imprinted there.

Sucking up her pride, Kara turns around to face him with her back against the elevator, feeling mortified for many, many reasons. Firstly, because she’d chatted him up like a buddy outside, with him sitting beside her. Secondly, because he’s her arch nemesis. Thirdly, because he thinks she’s here trying to snoop like a rat.

His opinion of her has never been high. It’s probably garbage now, if the look in his eyes is anything to go by.

“I swear. I wasn’t here looking for any dirt. Notreally,anyway. Just drinking. I don’t even know any of the people I spoke to.” She gestures to her mask, the one he shoved up to her forehead to expose her eyes. “Masks, yeah? Didn’t even recognize you.”

The lower half of his face is stony, unmoving aside from the curl in his lip. Kara has a momentary flashback, a blurry memory of those lips in a sneer as she knelt between strong thighs. Furious at herself, Kara blinks it away.

“The judge is going to hear about this; there will be repercussions for you,” he says darkly. “You botched your little spy mission up big. Derrick will be hearing from me.”

This is so bad. This is a career limiting mistake. Kara feels like vomiting, like her whole life is coming to an end. Her reputation as a professional will get shattered for this. “No! Don’t- I swear he doesn’t-”

Now, he leans forward and presses the down button, making the elevator doors open up behind Kara’s back, causing her to stumble backwards into the elevator, almost falling down. Kara manages to catch herself, but barely.

Embarrassing. He’d done it on purpose of course, to humiliate her further. Face red, Kara snaps, “What the hell, you loathsome beast? Wouldn’t it have been faster to throw me off the balcony?”

Calais remains unmoved by her sudden display of anger. In fact, he probably expects temper tantrums from her by now. Only, Kara has neverreallywitnessed this cruel side of him and it makes her hold back from getting more aggressive with him.

His eyes are burning holes into her face unpleasantly and Kara feels her hands shake. He’s like a snake, just standing still, staring at his victim, waiting to strike if she makes a wrong move.

“Kara, you’re finished,” he says flatly as Bianca joins her in the elevator. “Don’t let me catch you here again.” The threat is blatant.

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