Page 31 of Twisted Deceit
“Down here.” She was going down a dark spiral, and just hearing her husband call out to her shattered the worry that was wrapping around her. Her chest heaved as she processed her state of mind, and as if he had cast a spell on her with those words, she started to walk down the stairs.
The darkness that threatened to ruin the day vanished like it was never there. She picked up the beautiful scent of coffee mingled with his musky cologne, which relaxed her immediately. She stopped at the foot of the stairs, looking at him as he did something with his back to her.
She had mostly steadied her breathing when he turned to look in her direction two mugs in his hands. “Coffee?” He placed the mugs on the small round table closer to the kitchen and looked up at her. “We can head out right after for brunch at the city center and explore the city like you wanted.”
“Oh,” there was no other way to express her surprise and joy.
She silently sat at the table and sipped her coffee, processing her emotions in the last few minutes. It was the first time that she went from sinking into an abyss of sadness to surfing the waves of joy.
“You good with that plan?” She looked up at him and nodded, unable to find her voice. “Good, we can leave right after coffee.”
Moments of silence later, she felt like she needed to say something about how he had handled the situation with her uncle the previous day. She slowly looked up to find him looking at her. She hesitated momentarily, chewing on her lip nervously before finding her voice. “I-I don’t know what you were discussing with my uncle, but I did not like how you talked to him. Please be mindful of the tone.”
“Noted.” His tone was curt, and she couldn’t tell how he took her message. Nonetheless, she needed to get that message out.” She could not think of anything that warranted that tone with someone decades older.
Moments passed again in silence, and she wondered if their interaction would be awkward every time, they were alone. Based on the time they had spent before writing up the contract, she knew they would have a lot to talk to but at that moment, it felt like she had to endure an yearlong of the weird silence between them.
As if he had read her mind, he cleared his throat. “We are in the princely state of Ostlandet, a region in Norway.”
Her eyes widened and her excitement hit the max scale. “Oh, wow! That explains why I could not read anything on the map. She looked around and out at the window that had a lake view. “Are we on some island?”
He nodded. “We are here for a special event and it’s an invitation only from the Royal family.”
She thought her eyes would be bugged out at the rate at which she widened them again. “You know the royal family?”
He shrugged. “Through business connections.”
“That’s just-just crazy exciting.” She narrowed her eyes at him. “You couldn’t tell me this before?” She didn’t understand the secrecy. “I could have brought my clothes for the event.”
He looked at her for a long moment. “I don’t trust anyone. Especially not in the Kanwar mansion.” He paused like he picked up on the anger brewing in her eyes. “Until I establish that I can trust everyone, I must be over cautious.”
She wanted to tell him he was stupid and worrying about nothing, but he was not her problem. “Fine. Suit yourself. But I’m particular about how you speak about and to my aunt, uncle, and Meenabai. She’s like a grandmother to me.”
“Noted.” She hated the tone of his response but loved the accent with which he spoke. The authority in his voice was charming and hot at the same time. “We can go as soon as you are ready.”
She stood up from the table, feeling the awareness grow suddenly. “Ready.” He had to say a mundane word to get her worked up. She stood no chance if he decided he wanted to make her his wife. She would have no power to stop him.
Stay strong, Aadhya. The guy is a mercenary. All he wants is the oil from Singoor!
“I take it you liked what you ordered.” He smirked, watching her lick the last bit of the syrup off her plate. They were seated on a private patio overlooking the lake. It was a beautiful morning in spite of the chill in the breeze.
“Hated my breakfast. I can’t eat anything for the rest of the day.” She let out a laugh and looked out into the water. She was already having a great time, and it had barely been a couple of hours since they arrived. Not what she was expecting, considering she stayed on the plane without walking away because of a contract she had signed.
Why couldn’t she look him in the eye, especially when he was being nice to her? Scared about falling for him?
A sizzle ran through her. She would be swooning, begging to be his if he exercised a fraction of his charm. She could not risk it. He may be a ten, but he was there to ruin her region, and she needed to ensure that didn’t happen.
Charming her with trips to exotic locations and fantastic food might be his way to win favors. She told herself not to let down her guard. Whatever it was he was up to, she needed to stop him.
He was right to say that he didn’t trust anyone. Especially her, because she didn’t trust him either. “Why were we invited to the special event?” She wasn’t expecting an honest answer because she was convinced, he was up to no good.
“For our honeymoon, why else?” his tone, his sideways glance, told her he had no intention to share any details with her.
“Let’s go?” She was pissed again at him. She walked ahead of him as she processed how quickly her emotions swerved in the other direction with him.
She knew he was walking right behind her and she felt spiteful about him keeping her in the dark. She had a sudden need to rebel and do something unplanned, so she didn’t feel like he was controlling where she took her next breath. It suffocated her, and she didn’t trust him to have good intentions about moving to Singoor and tricking her into marrying him.
The very thought made her grit her teeth, and on impulse, she stepped toward what looked like a boutique with bright-colored clothing on the mannequins in the front window. “I want to check out the dresses here,” she said before he could say anything.
