“Faiz,” I snap, knowing annoyance laces my tone. I am so tired of dancing to his tune and playing his games. I just want this to be over with for good, but we are so tied up in each other’s lives, I don’t know if that will ever be possible.
How can you fully move on from someone you love when they keep popping up in front of you?
His eyes open slowly, his long lashes fluttering before revealing irises I know better than my own. “Z.” He smiles, and it seems real, like the one he used to give me when he told me he loved me.
That was a lie too.
I’m not so easily fooled now.
“You pulled the contract for Jewel Quarter,” I bark, refusing to play into his hand.
“I did.” He sits up, but I don’t step back, and he stares up at me, saying nothing else.
“Why?” I demand. “This was agreed on before our breakup and confirmed after. You sold the land to us. It’s ours to build on?—”
“With my permission, which I rescinded,” he replies kindly, tilting his head as he runs his eyes down my body.
“Why?” I sneer. “Why would you do that? You know how important this is to me.”
“I craved your attention, and this was the only way to get it,” he replies as he stands, almost rubbing his body along mine, so I step back, putting some distance between us. This was a bad idea. I shouldn’t have come here. I don’t want him that way anymore, but his body is more familiar than my own.
It’s easy to fall into that habit, but I don’t.
“Don’t be so childish, Faiz,” I retort tiredly.
“Childish?” His eyebrow rises. “You have no idea what I will do to keep your eyes on me and get you back.”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I try to stave off the blooming headache and breathe slowly until I’m calm enough to look at himagain. He waits with that same smile in place. “There is no us, and there never will be. We are over, Faiz. Stop calling, stop texting, and don’t ever pull something like this again. Now, reinstate the contract.”
He leans toward me, his cheeks bunching with his smile. “No.”
“Construction begins today, Faiz. Each second we wait is costing me millions,” I hiss.
“And money is the way to get your attention. It worked, didn’t it?” He shrugs as he straightens. “But I’ll tell you what. If you want me to reinstate it, then ask me nicely,” he whispers, his lips almost touching mine. “Say, ‘Please, Faiz, reinstate the contract,’ and I will. Tell me you’ll come home, and you can have anything you want,” he promises, and then I remember why I fell for Faiz in the first place. He’s always been slick, love bombing and manipulating until I couldn’t see my way out, nor did I wish to.
I’m not that blind sixteen-year-old anymore, though, and he doesn’t get to control me.
When I place my hands on his chest, he sucks in a sudden breath, his eyes widening with hope and longing, and it’s in that moment I realize the true power I have over him. Faiz still desires me. It’s cruel, but he started this, and I will use everything in my power to win. Pushing him back a step, I advance on him. He trips over his robe and falls back into the lounge chair, his eyes wide as I place my arms on either side of his head and lean in.
“If you ever so much as even want to see me again, you will reinstate that contract and cover the delayed expenses for fucking us around. If you don’t, I will make sure that you never catch a glimpse of me again, do you understand?”
“You were never this mean,” he murmurs, but he doesn’t seem angry, more confused and turned on.
“And you were never this weak,” I retort. “Reinstate the contract. This is the last time I will ask. If I step outside and don’t see it in my inbox, I will follow through on that threat.”
Without another glance, I straighten and turn away. “Z! Zia!” he calls, but I ignore him as I head outside, nodding at the receptionists again. I realize they were watching us on the cameras. I ignore that andtheir guilty expressions as I open the front doors, pull down my sunglasses, and head toward Yuki, who is waiting with the door open. Just as I reach him, my phone pings.
Pulling it out, I see the confirmation in my email and almost smirk. I grin at Yuki as I slide into the car. “Begin construction.”
“Yes, sir.” He smiles widely and shuts the door, already on the phone as he rounds the car.
My eyes go back to the spa. Faiz won’t give up easily. I don’t know where he got it in his head that we should get back together, but he’s wrong. It’s for the best. I know that, and he does too.
He doesn’t get to love me now. It’s too late.
For some reason, Nikko pops into my head. I could tell he had something else to say to me today.
Has he been thinking about me the way I have been about him?
