Page 72 of Just a Bit Captivated

Damiano listened to his request without a hint of surprise.

“I wouldn’t even need to look into it,” he said with a rueful smile.“I’ve been keeping tabs on the man for months. Just in case.”

Jordan rolled his eyes with a laugh.“Of course you did. Okay, I guess your paranoid overprotectiveness can be useful. Spill.”

Damiano hummed, playing with Jordan’s fingers absentmindedly.“Rahim is a highly intelligent man. He’s a shark when it comes to business, and it’srumored that he isn’t any different in his personal life. Not that he has much of a personal life these days. He lives separately from his wife—he recently sent her to the UK, enrolling her in Cambridge. Apparently his father-in-law wasn’t pleased about it, but in the UAE the husband’s decision is law. Rahim has also been meeting with his lawyers a lot, and from the snatches of conversation my men overheard, they’re working on a divorce. Rahim intends to financially support his soon-to-be ex-wife, so that she wouldn’t need to return to her father upon the divorce, but otherwise he isn’t willing to give an inch to his father-in-law.” Damiano shook his head.“The man has balls of steel; I’ll give him that.”

Jordan frowned.“Do you think there might be a chance that he hasn’t forgotten Aiden?”

Damiano shrugged, stroking Jordan’s knuckles.“Who knows.As far as my men could tell, the man has been living like a monk.”

That didn’t necessarily mean anything, especially for a Muslim.

Jordan sighed.“Even if he gets divorced, my dad’s threat to expose him as a sodomite to the UAE authorities is still very much real. The most Aiden can hope for is to be his dirty little secret again.”Jordan grimaced.From his experience, he knew being a secret just made you miserable long-term. But unlike him, Aiden couldn’t take his happiness into his own hands. Zain Rahim wasn’t Damiano. The power imbalance between Rahim and Aiden was so vast their relationship would have been side-eyed even if there hadn’t been the sex slave issue—or the issue of the UAE government not allowing them to ever be openly together.

Some relationships just weren’t meant to be.

Maybe it was one of them.

Chapter Twenty-Four

They were about to sit down for dinner when the doorbell rang.

Aiden didn’t pay it much mind, his gaze on his phone. Although his mother had said it would just be close family tonight, it was probably one of his numerous aunts. He could only hope it wasn’t one of his parents’ friends with single daughters his age.

He cringed at the thought. One awkward date trying to make small talk was more than enough. And Aiden had tried. He had. He’d done his best to like Jenny and be fun and engaging, but he had felt absolutely nothing when he looked at her. No, not nothing—he had felt discomfort, as ifhe were doing something wrong.

“How dare you come here? Get out.”

Aiden frowned, lifting his head.From his place on the floor, all he could see was his father’svery stiff back.His dad was normally a nice, friendly guy who was never rude to people. The only person he’d ever been rude to was…

His heart beating faster and his palms suddenly clammy, Aiden got to his feet. Surely it wasn’t—

It was.

Aiden’s eyes locked with Zain’s over his dad’s shoulder, and just like that, there was nothing else in the room. There was no one else in the world. Everything else became muted, insignificant, as Aiden drank in the sight of him, feeling so damn thirsty after so many months apart.Zain washere. God, he looked magnificent in his stylish dark coat, his eyes so very dark, his long eyelashes glittering with snow, and his mouth—the firm curve of it so gorgeous Aiden needed to lick into it and glue their mouths together.

“Damiano, why did your men let him through?”

“They’re not there to stop unarmed visitors,” Damiano said.

Aiden didn’t even register the voices, unable to look away from Zain, whose gaze was fixed on him too.

He couldn’t stand it—he couldn’t stand seeing Zain and not touching him. There was a painful ache in his gut, his bodyneedingto be closer and every cell in his body pulling him toward Zain.So Aiden went, his feet moving forward without his conscious command, as if he were pulled by a cord.

Zain’s dark eyes were watching him approach, his nostrils flaring.

“Aiden, go to your room,” his dad barked out.

Aiden didn’t—couldn’t—even glance athim.Zain,his heart beat.Zain Zain Zain. He needed him closer, he needed to touch him, to make sure he really was there and it wasn’t just a dream. He’d had so many dreams like this, dreams from which he’d woken up feeling hollowed out and lonely, andmissinghim so badly.

Someone touched his arm, trying to stop him, but Aiden wrenched it free and kept moving until he collided with Zain’s chest andburied his face in his neck.

Oh god.

Hebreathed in, and he was lost, his senses going into overdrive. A whimper left his throat when strong, familiar arms wrapped around him and squeezed him tightly.Zain Zain Zain.

Someone was saying something in an angry voice, but Aiden couldn’t even hear it, clinging to Zain desperately, nuzzling his face against his neck. He wanted to swallow him, to consume him, and keep him inside him forever.

---