Page 8 of She will Always be Mine

Her words, even though whispered softly, cut through the air and land like a punch, making me flinch. It makes me want to curl up into a ball and cry.

With each passing second, I become more and more scared of my mom because she’s making me feel every slash and burn of her anger. I’m beginning to believe she won’t be satisfied until I hate myself for falling for Riaan. She’ll push and scorn until it starts to feel like I made a mistake.

If that’s her plan, she will fail.

I want her forgiveness, but not at the expense of regretting my love for Riaan.

Straightening my spine, I search for the strength I don’t possess and pray I can just go through the day without losing my sanity. I’ll smile and nod until I have convinced my family—including myself—that my world is perfectly fine and standing strong against the storm that’s attempting to tear it down.

Though, as soon as we round the corner, I’m not prepared for thetornadothat is Riaan.

He’s more powerful than any storm ever could be.

My steps falter and my heartbeat picks up when I find him sitting causally, yet alert at the head of the dining table while wearing an expensive dark gray suit.

It molds to his broad and muscled physique, and appears as if it was personally tailored for him because there’s not a single pin or wrinkle out of place.

His sinful aura and presence is something I’ll never get used to because it has the power to render me speechless and trembling, even after all this time.

Riaan’s the kind of man whose impact only heightens each time you cross paths with him.

He skirts the fine line between a beast and a gentleman.

He toys with you and makes you wait while he decides to strike you or charm you. Riaan is the type to hold you at the edge of precipice with no choice but to be his willing captive.

My nervous eyes clash with his and I’m taken back to the flashbacks of last night on the terrace. The raw pain and betrayal on his face, the press of his lips against mine, and his hands pulling me closer.

It all comes flooding back and I have to tear my gaze away from his, unable to handle the simmering rage I sense in his now tensed shoulders, which reveals the fact that he’s stuck in the same turmoil as me.

To anybody else, he’s still calm and composed, but I know better. It’s all an act, meant to fool everyone.

He’s always been good at hiding his true intentions and always staying one step ahead. It’s one of the qualities that make him dominating and feared. The only difference is that I was never on the receiving end of it. But standing few feet from him… I finally am.

The shock of it rocks me to my core.

Only because I never saw it coming.

And that’sdangerousto both my heart and soul, as it means he doesn’t trust me anymore. In his mind, I’m the girl who stomped on his heart, didn’t believe in him, and ultimately broke the one vow I ever made to him: To never stop fighting forour love.

As if I’m possessed, my gaze raises back to his and find him already watching me. Only now, there are no shadows or tension in his body. I might as well have imagined it before. The intensity and intent behind his eyes have me spellbound yet high-strung.

Satisfied that he has my attention, he leans forward and steeples his fingers on the surface in front of him while his eyes assess me from head to toe.

They don’t merely see beneath the surface but penetrate deep into parts of my soul I desperately want to keep hidden.

His possessive yet icy gaze roams over every inch of my face and takes stock of even the slightest of emotions swirling in mine. Sorrow. Longing. Fear.Lust.There’s no denying our palpable chemistry is as all-consuming and commanding as ever.

It breathes a life of its own.

He lowers his eyes in a manner that is so painstakingly slow at my slight intake of breath and then moves his gaze down to my chest, which was heaving from both desire and nervousness.

I can lie about not wanting to be with him, letting him slip through my fingers, but not the craving I have for him, which he knows very well. Clearly, he’s playing and poking at my one and only weakness.

He’s not even hiding the fact that he’s blatantly checking me out while my mom seethes from beside me.

He’s unafraid and unapologetic.

His actions conveying without words that I have unleashed the beast. The one he tightly kept the reins on and only let out when I pushed him too far.

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