Page 80 of Tyrant (The Villetti Chronicles)

“Now, let’s see how long it takes you to do these and maybe I’ll take you to pick a door lock next.”

I grinned up at him, strangely excited about the challenge he’d set me. I didn’t know this man at all, but he’d been kind to me and had taken my mind off Zayn even if he’d hit on me in the process. Somehow, I didn’t think revealing that piece of information to Zayn wouldeverbe a good idea.

Over the next hour, Penn let me pick as many locks as I wanted to in the club. We snuck into the staff room, where he gave me a short lesson on how to deal with combination locks. We didn’t try to break into the lockers. I told him it would be an invasion of privacy. I didn’t think he cared much about that, but I did, so he hadn’t pushed it with me.

By the time we reached Zayn’s office door, I’d calmed down completely, knowing I needed to bite the bullet and talk to the damn man like an adult. I hadn’t allowed him to explain things to me, not that he’d even tried, but I was going to give him a chance to. I didn’t owe Zayn anything. However, my heart wouldn’t let me walk out of here without knowing the truth.

“Thank you for distracting me.”

Penn reached out and took my hand. He pressed his little leather lock pick case into it.

“You’re welcome. Take this. You never know when you might need it.”

“But it’s yours.”

He shrugged and backed away from me.

“I have a ton at home.”

I watched him stroll away towards the private rooms again. Then I turned and took a breath before raising my hand and knocking at Zayn’s office door. It was time to be brave. No matter my anger, my heart wanted what it wanted. And it was the man on the other side of the door from me.

Whether it made me foolish or not, I didn’t care. I couldn’t give him up.

Not yet.

Not… ever.

Twenty Seven

Zayn

It had been my intention to go in search of Ari after Arlo left. Instead, I’d had Remi in here demanding answers from me. The whole fucked up situation I’d got myself into came spilling out. Normally, I kept my private affairs to myself. I didn’t have it in me to hide it from her. My walls were down because a girl had ripped my chest open and forced me to take a good look at myself and my choices.

Of course, Remi had been less than impressed with my decision-making skills when it came to Ari. The words “you’re a fucking idiot” had left her mouth… twice. Along with “fix this with her” and my favourite one of all, “if you don’t make it right, I’ll punch you in the dick for being a cunt to her.”

Remi was known for being more bark than bite, so I wasn’t expecting her to carry out that threat. There was no need. I would make things right with Ari.

I need her.

The thought of losing her crippled me. I couldn’t let her leave. I just wanted to take care of her. It hadn’t changed because I’d let her get kidnapped. If anything, it intensified. Made it all the more imperative to show her she meant something to me.

Remi had noticed there was blood on my shirt cuff before she left the room. I was just beginning to button up a clean one when the knock at my door came. Leaving my shirt unbuttoned, I strode over to the door and ripped it open, utterly sick at the thought of having to handle more problems today.

Ari stood on the threshold, her chestnut eyes full of caution. My hands flexed at my sides, wanting to grab a hold of her and never let go. Her gaze flicked down to my open shirt. She swallowed at the sight of it. I didn’t bother covering up. She’d seen it all before, anyway. I’d had her in my bed every night for a week and bare-chested was how I always slept.

“We should talk,” she said in a determined voice that was rather at odds with her wary expression. “And by talk, I mean you have some explaining to do.”

“Okay.”

She blinked, her eyes meeting mine again. It was clear she wasn’t expecting me to acquiesce so readily without a fight. I stepped back to allow her entry. She didn’t immediately move, clearly caught off guard by my behaviour. Did she think I would be unreasonable? Maybe I had been in the past, but she’d made me stop and think about the way I treated her.

Ari steeled her shoulders and walked in. I closed the door behind her, subtly flipping the lock, as I didn’t need any further disturbances today. When I turned around, she’d seated herself on my sofa with her hands tucked under her knees.

I stepped over to her, coming to a halt just shy of her feet. Ari stared up at me, her cheeks flushing slightly.

“Are you going to sort your shirt out?”

I fought the urge to smile.

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