I flush red, stumbling back.
The long train of my dress gets twisted around my heel, sending me backward. Nathan’s arm swoops down to break my fall, snatching me back into his personal space.
“You and your goddamn heels,” he huffs in exasperation.
I crane my neck to the side and see Bianca standing in a group with her husband protectively beside her. Dipping my head, I hide my face against Nathan’s chest as he holds me close.
“Arya, my body may have given you the wrong impression in my office, but I do not mix business with pleasure,” he grits out.
I can’t tell whether he’s mad at me or himself for uttering those words.
“It’s my sister,” I finally explain. “Bianca and Dash are right behind you. I don’t want either of them to see me. Okay?”
Untangling himself from me with a grip on my waist, his fingers grazing the tops of my hips in the process, he taunts, “Hate confrontations, do you?”
He says it like I’m being a coward.
The evidence is stacked against me.
It’s all he’s ever witnessed me do. Last time, it was Aryan. Tonight, it’s Bianca. Nonetheless, he has no right to judge me.
“I’m planning to meet her soon,” I defend myself. “This is neither the time nor the place.”
“Hmm, I thought you might disagree.”
Something in his tone irks me. “Pardon?”
“Did you think I wouldn’t find out that Kian and Iris will be here tonight?”
My jaw goes slack, making it difficult to hold his gaze.
A calculative smirk graces his mouth. “I thought you might like estranged siblings of your own too.”
“You invited Dash and Bianca?” I had a sneaking suspicion, but I didn’t want to believe it.
“Oh, I did it purely for the cause. The more people donate, the merrier.” Pushing his hands back in his pockets, he suggests, “Wanna go say hi? You can’t hide here forever.”
The blood in my veins boils at his revenge. In a split second, he went from being my savior to a villain. “I had good intentions.”
“So do I. I’m uniting two sisters.” Crowding me against the wall without touching, his proximity and whiskey voice awakenmy nerve endings. “What’s it going to be, Ari? Usually, I’d save you from situations like this. Too bad I’m not in the mood for it tonight.”
“Don’t fool yourself into thinking you’re anyone’s savior,” I retort, watching his expression darken. “You’ve never had good intentions.”
“Consider this a lesson in defying me.” With a knuckle under my chin, he tips my face up. His breath wafts on my lips, trembling them. “And you’re right. I’mno one’ssavior.”
He steps away in a flash, exposing me to the room.
Time freezes when my eyes connect with Bianca’s.
She jerks back in shock.
Chapter Nineteen
Arya
Nathan vanishes into the crowd like a thief in the night.
Meanwhile, I’m caught like a deer in the headlights in the same spot. Standing so rigidly that I could hear my bones crack if I moved an inch.
