Page 9 of Just a Bit Captivated

What Zain said was true. This man could doanythingto him, even kill him and dump him in the ocean, and no one would be the wiser. No one would know or care.

Aiden said quietly, “I don’t know if there’s a concept of hell in Islam, but I hope you know you’re going to burn in it.”

Zain’s expression remained unmoved. “Noted. If that’s all, I’ll return to my work.” He turned toward the door.“Don’t bother me with temper tantrums anymore. Idon’t have time for them.”

Temper tantrums?

“You ruined my life!” Aiden snapped, stepping forward, his hands clenching into fists.“You stole my freedom! I’m going crazy in this room! But apparently, not wanting to be locked up in this room for a year is a temper tantrum—lookat me when I’m talking to you, you asshole!”He shoved hard at the taller man, forcing him to turn around.

For a long, charged moment, they just stared at each other, Aiden’s harsh, unsteady breathing the only sound in the room.

“I hate you,” Aiden said, his voice shaking with feeling. He might normally be a laid-back, good-natured person, but he felt nothing like that now. Hehated. That feeling was burning in his chest, eating his insides like acid, demanding an outlet.

Those dark, emotionless eyes just looked at him for what felt like an eternity before the bastard turned away and walked out of the room, the lock clicking shut after him.

Aiden deflated like a balloon, feeling so defeated he was close to crying.

But the next morning, the lock on the door was gone.

Chapter Five

Over the next few weeks, Aiden tested the limits of his freedom within the house.

It was a huge, T-shaped mansion that was a compelling amalgamation of Western and Arabic cultures. Some of the rooms wouldn’t have looked out of place in fancy five-star hotels back home, but some of them looked like something straight out of Aladdin. Aiden found the contrast fascinating. Bizarrely, the mix of cultures didn’t seem bizarre at all. It worked, creating a house that felt elegant, tasteful, slightly exotic, but homey, despite its size. Aiden would have loved this house—if he weren’t imprisoned in it.

There was a room on the first floor where the staff gathered for prayers five times a day. Aiden loiteredoutside the room a few times, curious whether Zain took part in the prayers too.He never did, as far as Aiden could tell. Whether it was because he preferred to pray by himself or wasn’t religious… who knew. Aiden wouldn’t have been surprised if it was the latter. Zain didn’t seem the type to pray to anything, too self-important to think there could be a higher judgment for his actions. Aiden honestly couldn’t imagine that arrogant dick showing any humility and prostrating himself on the floor.

Anyway,fuck him. Aiden refused to think about the asshole more than he had to. If he thought about Zain too much, he felt like his blood vessels were going to explode from sheer rage. It was a novel feeling for him. Aidendidn’thate people. He wasn’t that kind of person. But Zain Rahim made him feel like a different person altogether. That dick was—

Right, not thinking about him. Clearly he still needed to work on it.

Anyway.

There were a few computers around the house, but they were password-protected, to Aiden’s disappointment—not that he was surprised. Hishope of stealing someone’s phone to contact his family had been crushed as well: the staff didn’t seem to carry their phones on them. Aiden had gotten up very early yesterday and actually seen the staff hand over their phones to security guards upon entering the estate. Presumably they got their phones back when their work day was over.

Either way, that plan was a bust. The phones were locked up in the security room that was off limits to him. It was one of the few places in the house that was, actually.Aiden had discovered that he could go pretty much anywhereexcept for the security room and Zain’s office on the first floor. So he explored to his heart’s content, avoiding only the left wing of the house where Zain’s bedroom was apparently located.

The worst part was, he wasn’t allowed outside at all. The moment he attempted to step out into the gardens surrounding the house, security guards seemed to materialize out of nowhere, none too gently pushing him inside. It was annoying but not entirely unexpected.

What was a little unexpected was that thereweren’t any women around. All of the staff were men, and none of them said a single word to Aiden, their eyes downcast and their expressions blank. Despite their unsettling silence, they were incredibly efficient.

The house ran like clockwork, with meals served three times a day in the dining room. If Aiden missed a meal, no one bothered to feed him—Aiden had learned it the hard way the previous morning.

Despite being allowed out of the room for a few weeks now, he and Zain had rarely crossed paths. It seemed Zain might have been away on some business trip. But apparently he was now back home. Aiden had found out about it when he’d arrived for breakfast yesterday. He’d turned around and walked out. He had gone hungry for the rest of the day, hoping that he’d be brought food to his room if he refused to eat with the asshole.

He hadn’t been brought food.

Instead, a silent servant brought him a note from Zain after he missed breakfast again.

Stop being a child and eat. You were the one who wanted to be out of your roomso badly, so you won’t get room service anymore. You will eat in the dining room or you will starve if you’re so afraid of me. Your choice.

Aiden crumpled the note into a ball and threw it at the wall. Afraid? He wasn’t afraid of anything.

Screw it, he could stomach the dickhead’spresence. It wasn’t like they had to talk or anything. He wouldn’t evenlookat Zain.

But it was easier said than done.

Aiden’s determination to ignore Zain seemed to dissipate the moment he strode into the dining room and saw that asshole seated at the head of the table, drinking coffee and browsing on his phone, looking like the king of the world in his snow-white robe—it was called a thobe, if Aiden wasn’t mistaken. His headwear—Aiden wasn’t sure what that was called—was off, revealing thick, slightly wavy black hair that didn’t soften the man’s stony, cold exterior at all. His facial hair was in beard territory today, and Aiden felt a rush of envy—he could barely grow stubble, much less a beard.

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