“I think you can handle things from here. Lita is probably already asleep. It’s half-past eleven after all.”
“Yes, she usually goes to bed at nine. Will you come in?” I suggested, dismissing all the fears and doubts in myself. “I’ll send the nanny home and...”
“Maybe we could go somewhere tomorrow? To the movies, to dinner, or something like that?” he asked instead of accepting my offer.
Such a sudden change of behavior shocked me. Xanor interpreted my silence in his own way.
“By something like that I meant a harmless hangout, not what you thought, Elenia.”
“Okay.” I nodded, turning more stunned by the second.
“Good.” He nodded back. Putting his hands in the pockets of his jeans, he added: “Good night, Elenia.” On that, he headed to the elevators.
“Good...” I muttered in confusion, and then added louder: “Lenny! Just call me Lenny.”
Already hiding in the transparent capsule of the elevator, he smiled.
“Glad to be honored by your grace again, baby.”
“About that part...”
But he didn’t hear me anymore, as the capsule quickly took him to the roof. Hanging my coat, I went to check on Lita. She was fast asleep, and Dina, too, dozed off on the bed with her phone in her hands. Sensing my approach, she woke up, tried to stifle a yawn, and, covering her mouth, whispered sleepily: “Oh, you’ve returned. How did it go?”
“Both good and bad.”
“What a detailed answer.” She chuckled. “Lenny, will you call me a cab? My boyfriend can’t pick me up today. He’s also preparing for the test.”
“For you, Dina, I’d even get a limousine.” I smiled, feeling relief take over me.
***
I saw Dina out and went to rake a shower. In order to call a cab for her, I had to turn on my phone, which I had completely forgotten about after this mess of an evening. But a good dozen missed calls from Horos the Terrible reminded me of what I had done.
He could fire me for this.
I immediately shook this thought out of my head. Not today. Today, I was too tired to worry, think, and worry again. I just wanted to take a shower and sleep. Everything else could wait until tomorrow.
I stood under the hot jets for a good half hour. I no longer had the strength to blow dry my hair. I fished out my pajamas from the stack of clean clothes I’d organize tomorrow, brushed my teeth, and froze when the doorbell rang.
Did Dina forget something? Or maybe Xanor changed his mind? Damn it!
I walked to the door, clutching my toothbrush like a weapon, when I realized that the sound wasn’t that of the parking lot bell. It was the sound of the bell of the front door.
I opened the door and saw Garanor standing there, gloomy and mad. I couldn’t think of anything better than to slam the door shut. Right in front of his nose.
“Elenia,” he growled menacingly.
I swore in my mind (I tried hard not to swear out loud) and, clenching the brush tightly in my fist, opened the door again.
Chapter 17
A few hours earlier
Garanor
“Another signature here...” Camila said, throwing another document to me.
I skimmed it, trying to concentrate on work, but my thoughts again ran to that damn fairy.
“Have you contacted Sonor Cruz?” I signed the report, without even actually reading it, although I usually didn’t tolerate negligence in my work, and turned off the computer.
I’d like to know what happened between Elenia and Xanor at Gallardo’s party. Why did my brother disappear so unexpectedly and flew back from Alicantar? She didn’t stay at the party either. Did she not like the performance? It wasn’t like it was her who was put in a cage.
Thinking about Elenia in a cage took me out of my work mood.
I seemed to be going crazy. A few weeks before my wedding. A few weeks before the most important event in my life — the elections. Instead of preparing for the first debate, I, like some teenager, thought of one thing only — what I’d like to do with the person who was in charge of my wedding.
It was probably all due to stress and chronic lack of sleep. Or maybe I just needed to relax? Maybe find me some fairy for the night? What if I liked it? I leaned back in my chair and looked at Camila. Or rather, through her. I could ask her to make some arrangements...
However, it wasn’t in my plan to cheat on Felicia. I didn’t want to be like Xanor who was drooling over every woman or fairy he met.
“Sonor Horos?” Gently coughing, Camila reminded me of her existence.
“Yes, please, continue.” I returned to a reality in which there was no place for thoughts about Elenia.
“Sonor Cruz will meet you tomorrow at any time convenient for you.” With these words, she put her tablet in front of me, and I skimmed through my schedule for tomorrow.
“Let’s make it nine.”
“Here in the office, or at your home?”
“In the office.”
Lino Cruz was a detective whose services I had used more than once. I always thoroughly checked each and every person I let near me, but with Elenia, I had once again acted negligently. Or rather, impulsively, even rashly. Spontaneous actions were more my brother’s thing. But I signed a contract with her and I wanted to know everything about her. The information that Camila had gathered in a hurry wasn’t enough.
I didn’t know where she came from, but she was clearly hiding something, and until I figured out who I was dealing with, I wouldn’t calm down.
“Sonorina Solt asked if you’d have dinner with her today.”
“No, I’m busy today.”
“But there’s nothing on your schedule...” She blinked in confusion.
“Just tell Felicia I’m busy tonight. We’ll have dinner tomorrow.”
Camila nodded, quickly moving her finger across the transparent screen, but she was in no hurry to leave.
“Anything else?”
Silence.
“Camila?” I stared at her.
She bit her lip. It was immediately obvious that she was nervous. She again put her tablet under my nose.
“Some of Gallardo’s guests posted these on social networks...”
My eyes almost popped out of my skull when I saw Elenia slapping my brother. Was that how she intended to get close to him? This video had gained several million views in just a couple of hours. Elenia was wearing a mask, which caused even more excitement among commenters who couldn’t wait to find out what idiot was reckless enough to hit a Dark One.
“That must be removed.” I got up and buttoned up my jacket. Pure self-control was what had managed to help me keep calm.
Apparently, I did the right thing by making an appointment with her at Atorra. No one would see or bother us in the most expensive restaurant in the city. She and I would have a serious talk and I’d remind her why I needed her in the first place.
“I’m on it.” Camila nodded and followed me out of the office.
I went up to the parking lot, let the driver go, and flew to the restaurant on my own. I tried hard to remain calm, but when I remembered that fucking video, I felt like screaming and cursing.
My brother certainly deserved to be punched in the face. I myself have wanted to do that more than once. But that wasn’t what I had asked Elenia to do. Not even remotely! She was supposed to keep him away from scandals, not drag him into one.
That damn girl!
Atorra, whose owner was a close friend of my father, had a separate entrance and a separate room for the Horoses. Everything was ready for our dinner there. Candles, however, were an unnecessary detail, just like the music. We weren’t on a date, but a business meeting.
I sat down at the table and waited. She was late, which pissed me off even more. To make it even worse, she didn’t respond to my calls. And then she turned her phone off, which brought me to the state of... I didn’t even know how to describe it. This had never happened to me before — to ha
ve some brat ignore me all evening.
Maybe something happened to her daughter again?
That was the only excuse that could help her.
After waiting almost two hours, I went to her apartment. If she really had problems with Marisel... That thought didn’t help me calm down. I became even angrier when I realized I was now concerned about her daughter, too.
I told her that she needed to hire a real nurse, not a dropout student, but she had her own opinion about everything.
And that was infuriating, too.
I went down to her apartment, rang, and waited. If I wanted to, I could open the door myself, but I hoped that she had enough brains to do it on her own. I knew she was home. Even standing here in the hallway, I could smell her.
If she doesn’t open this door immediately...
But she did. She looked at me with her big, incredibly blue eyes and, with a frightened squeak, slammed the door shut.
“Elenia,” I growled, ready not to open it, but to break it down.
After a couple of seconds, she opened the door slightly, and I went inside.
“Close your eyes!” She screamed in fright, as she wasn’t properly dressed, but I already managed to spot her wings. “No, better turn away!”
“Should I close my eyes or turn away?”
She disappeared, and I continued to stand there like an idiot, trying not to lose my composure. Wings... What was so special about them? I always wondered why the fairies hid them, like some kind of a sacred thing, and the Dark Ones reacted to them like I was now. She ran into the bedroom or devil knew where, but I could still clearly see her in front of me — reflections of silver on her fair skin, a barely visible pattern on her wings.
A minute or two later, she returned, nervously tightening her cardigan around herself.
“Why are you here? It’s late.” She lifted her chin, diligently pretending that she wasn’t afraid of either me or the punishment that may follow for ignoring me all evening and hitting my brother.
Apparently, she decided on “the best defense is offense”.
Fearless little fairy. She was still flushed after a shower, with damp, slightly curly hair. Her lips were bitten from nervousness (at least I hoped that no one else had bitten them). She seemed even sexier than usual.
“Sonor Horos...”
Sonor Horos is about to go crazy because of you.
I silently took off my coat and, hanging it on a hook, I went into the living room. She looked like she’d rather be anywhere but here.
I wondered if I was that scary or if she was afraid because she felt guilty.
“I believe we made an appointment, Sonorina Lei.”
She had whiskey here somewhere. I opened the kitchen cabinet silently and put a glass and a bottle on the bar counter. I needed to occupy my hands with something, otherwise, there was a risk that I, unable to hold back, would put them on her.
“Unexpected circumstances arose that prevented me from having dinner with you.”
“Did something happen with Marisel?” I filled the glass by a third, slowly turning to her.
It was better for me to focus on drinking than on her.
“No, everything is fine.”
“Then?!” My question sounded too harsh and, probably, even rude, but this time I couldn’t restrain myself.
I turned to her. She was standing with pursed lips, hugging her shoulders with her arms, and I, pulling myself together, repeated my question.
“What stopped you? Why did you ignore my calls?”
“Xanor and I...” Elenia bit her lip, and I wanted to do the same. And not just with her lips. “We quarreled in Alicantar, and today, I had the opportunity to make up with him. I followed him to a nightclub and when you called... I was with him.”
“Did you go there on your own?” I frowned at the thought that she had to crawl back to my brother to get his attention.
Now he’d definitely think that she was easy. It’s even strange that he wasn’t the one drinking whiskey with her tonight.
At this thought, I again became angry.
“So?”
The color faded from her face.
“No... I had company.”
“Whom exactly?”
She looked around as if she hoped someone would save her. But there was no one.
“I was there... with a friend.” Before I had time to say anything, she inhaled deeply and started talking. “Now you’ll reproach me for having violated one of the clauses. But this one is absolutely idiotic! I’ve already told you about this and I’ll say it again. Forbidding me to see my friends is absurd! I went there with Jamie so that Xanor would think that our meeting was accidental...”
I drank my whiskey in one gulp and went up to her. I remembered this Jamie very well, and I remembered the way he looked at her even better. Friends didn’t look at each other that way. With lust and desire.
I was getting angry again.
“You quarreled with Xanor. That’s the first offense. You met a friend. This is the second. You ignored me. The third.”
“I had to choose between you and your brother!”
“And you chose him,” I almost growled, feeling my inner brakes failing.
She stepped back, scared.
“In a short period, Sonorina Lei, you broke three rules.”
“And will you fire me now?” she asked quietly.
I came close to her. She stayed put. She looked humbled, staring at the floor.
I touched her chin, forcing her head up to look at me, and calmly said: “No, but I’ll have to punish you.”
She was bewildered, and only then did it dawn on me what I had just said. Punish her? I wondered how exactly I was going to do this. I did have a couple of ideas that could be implemented right here and now. All I needed to do was to pull her toward me, remove that cardigan, and then... And then my brain got foggy. I definitely wouldn’t be able to stop myself.
“Punish me?” she asked, nervously licking her lips, and then for some reason biting them.
Gods, she’s mocking me! Teasing me!
“For violating the terms of the contract, Sonorina Lei, particularly the point about friends, you’ll be fined,” I said the first thing that came to my mind, forcibly rejecting other ideas.
Although the only thing I wanted now was to push her onto the sofa and make her moan.
“You feel sorry for wasting money on me?” Her eyes sparkled like an angry cat’s. She even clenched her fists belligerently, leaning forward toward me.
Oh, I wanted to kiss her so badly...
“I’m sorry for the time you’re wasting with Lozano, giving him false hopes.”
“That doesn’t concern you!” she hissed.
I wanted to touch her, I wanted to know what she tasted like.
“During the election campaign, everything you do concerns me. As well as everything my brother does.”
“Well, from now on, I’ll spend my time exclusively with your brother!”
I’d praise her for her zeal, but instead, I wanted to growl something rude in response or threaten her with another punishment. A good spanking would do...
“Has anyone ever told you that you’re too cocky for a fairy?” I lost it. I ran my hand under her useless, completely superfluous cardigan, pulling up her T-shirt, and only then I realized that Elenia wasn’t trying to pull away, push me away, or break free. Her breaths became short, tense, and she bit her lip again, making me remember the counter and for what purposes we could use it. “And you smell insanely sweet, Elenia... Lenny...”
I never gave much importance to kissing. Sex was much more pleasant than any foreplay, but a kiss with a fairy, as it turned out, wasn’t foreplay or a waste of time. It was the strongest drug. One that immediately got to my head and spread through my entire body, knocking the air out of my lungs, and shutting off the last remnants of common sense.
She had small, perky breasts. I put my hands on them, slightly squeezing. She reacted with a lo
w moan, and a short sigh. I couldn’t get enough of her. Enough of these kisses.
Her nipples turned hard under my fingers. I gently pressed them, caressed them, and started lowering my hands. I traced my fingers around her flat stomach and started going even lower. She wanted me, too. There were excitement and tension in the air.
“Don’t... This is wrong...” she whispered, but it was hard for me to understand what she was saying. I pushed her to the sofa, kissing her greedily as if I had never kissed anyone before... And then everything abruptly ended.
“But, Felicia... Stop it!” She pushed me away. She was strong for such a petite woman.
There were tears in her eyes and a blush of shame on her cheeks.
I didn’t immediately notice the tears. My brain, or what was left of it, was still foggy.
“I… I…” Elenia gasped. “I’m in charge of your wedding, Sonor Horos. Yours and your future bride’s. Sonorina Solt, if you still remember, and...”
She awkwardly pulled the cardigan over her shoulders, but her fingers were trembling. I tried to approach her... I think I wanted to somehow calm her down, but she tensed up even more.
“No! Stay where you are! If you want to fine me, please do! But don’t you dare touch me anymore. Don’t you dare kiss me! Have you decided to use me just like your brother?”
“What does Xanor have to do with this?” I grimaced.
“You, Dark Ones, are all the same. You use people, subjugate them, break them. Go away, Sonor Horos, otherwise, I swear, I... I’ll quit this job myself!” She raised her chin in despair. “I just can’t...”
It seemed like she was about to burst into tears. I couldn’t just leave her like this. I caused this.
“Leave, please,” she wasn’t asking, she was begging.
Gods, I wanted to punch myself.
I buttoned my jacket and straightened the knot of my tie.
“Forgive me, Sonorina Lei. This will not happen again.”
In the hallway, I took my coat off the hanger, almost pulling the hook out of the wall, and left with a strange feeling that to do this — to leave, to leave her alone now — turned out to be much more difficult than I expected.
But that was the only right thing to do. I shouldn’t take part in her life, and she shouldn’t be a part of mine.
A Deal with the Dark Fae: Enemies-to-Lovers Standalone (Cruel Intentions Book 1) Page 15
