Page 19 of The Betrayal
“Something came up,” the words sound pained, her throat bobbing as she swallows. “How about you?” she asks me, her eyes bouncing between mine, but my phone rings in my pocket allowing me to break contact.
“I had a private client across town,” I sigh as I fish my phone from my pocket and take that as my cue to leave, walking past her and not looking back.
Once in the kitchen, I gently walk to the doorway and crane my neck around the doorway to see her still standing there.
“Yeah,” I say into the mouthpiece of my phone.
“Xavier wants a meeting tomorrow, does that work for you?” Kaleb asks and I can hear Connie singing in the background. I rub the tension from my temples, but it only moves it to the base of my neck before spreading towards my head.
“Sure, yeah,” honestly, I wasn’t paying attention. I was too busy trying to work out what was going on with Ari.
“Ten, Sarabeth’s?”
“Yeah cool,” and I cut him off mid-sentence. Leaving my phone on the countertop I pace slowly back towards the hallway, but she’s gone.
Resting my hand on the ball of the newel post, I look up the stairs wondering whether I should follow her up. Probably shouldn’t. My foot is already on the bottom step as I begin to climb and head for her room. I pause, lifting my hand to knock but retract it back.
Maybe I should just leave her.
Nah.
I knock on her door before I change my mind.
“Go away,” and I’m not sure why, but her little temper makes me smile.
I ignore her, of course I do.
Pushing the handle down I walk into her room and see her sitting on her bed whilst cradling a bottle of tequila in her hands.
“That’s my tequila,” I frown, but my tone is light and playful, but all I get in retaliation is a scorned look over her pretty face.
“Tough,” she shrugs her shoulders up and takes a swig, her nose scrunches as she winces.
Folding my hands into my suit pant pockets, I walk over to the bed. The oversized sweatshirt is loose and hanging off one of her shoulders and her leggings are nowhere to be seen.
It’s not until I am standing at the side of her bed, my eyes graze across her and I notice red blemishes and scratches on her neck. My back is immediately up, and I kneel on the bed. She stares at me, all wide-eyed and shit. Like a doe trapped in headlights. Gripping her chin, I lift her face up and look a little closer at the fucking marks on her skin.
My blood boils in an instant, my rage simmering at the thought of someone hurting her.
“Who did this to you?” and I fucking growl like a possessed demon, protective over what is his.
She snatches my hand away from her skin and shoves the palm of her hand into my face, pushing me away.
“Don’t worry about it,” she shakes her head and lifts the bottle to her lips, taking another gulp. “I just want to drink and forget about today… it’s not one I want to remember.” I don’t miss the stutter of her breath when she inhales. That’s when I notice her eyes are swollen and red.
Fuck, has she been crying?
“Look…” I sit on the edge of the bed; my eyes focus on just her. “You might not want to tell me what happened, but it’s clear that something has…” I pause for a moment and snatch the bottle of tequila out of her hand.
“Hey!” she lunges towards me and tries to grab it, but I stand, holding the bottle above my head and shake my head disapprovingly.
“But just know this,” my voice lowers, my eyes darken, “I’ll make sure whoever upset you never gets a chance to do it again, do you understand?”
She blinks at me.
“Ari…”
“Yes,” she drops her chin, her eyes cast down.