Page 181 of Damsel in Disguise

“I don’t care who you are,” Asher says. “I don’t care what you do or which building you walk out of. If you touched her—”

“I did,” I cut in mildly.

Silence drops instantly. Even Adrian stills.

“In fact, I just fucked your sister,” the grin I’ve been suppressing till now finally breaks free.

“You son of a—” Asher gears back his other arm to throw a punch at my face with the certainty to fracture my cheekbone.

Ariella chooses that exact moment to emerge from the bedroom looking nothing short of a disaster waiting to happen—hair tousled, lips swollen, bite marks blooming across her shoulders and legs where the bed sheet wrapped around her body failed to conceal.

I mentally face-palm myself. I was so ready to tackle the blow.

“Who’s—” she freezes mid-sentence the second she spots not only her brother about to hit me but her cousin prepared to take his side.

“Asher, stop,” she rushes forward in a hurry.

I’m glad she hasn’t yet tumbled over the bed sheet that’s now trailing behind her.

“Ariella, get back inside,” he orders without looking at her.

“I said stop!” her voice cuts through the room like a blade.

Adrian glances between both of them, already reading the situation as unstable. Asher still hasn’t let go of me, but the tension in his arm shifts—he’s listening now, even if he doesn’t like it.

Ariella walks into the space between violence and intent like she belongs there.

“You’re going to let him go,” she says to Asher, calm but firm.

Asher finally looks at her. “He said he—”

“I know what he said and I’m standing here,” she adds, softer now, “which means nothing happened the way you think it did,” a blush creeps up her face.

He forces his instincts to stand down rather than agreeing with her. With much unwillingness, he finally lets me go with a deliberate push and puts the gun down.

“What are you doing here, Asher?” her wide-eyed gaze frantically darts between them. “And Adrian, what about you?”

She tightens her grip on the sheet gathered over her chest as though she might somehow disappear beneath it.

The names confirm they are exactly who I thought they were.

I’m dying to check the time. Since Asher decided to visit his sister first, I can already tell he’s running ahead of schedule.

“Jesus Christ, Ariella. What the absolute fuck?” Asher snaps at last, taking in how Ariella is standing before them.

Adrian merely shakes his head with a long-suffering sigh when Asher adds. “And who’s this motherfucker you’re defending?”

My eyes narrow slightly.

“Uhh… yes,” she attempts to sound normal but fails miserably. The color flooding on her cheeks is enough to betray her.

“Alistair, this is Asher, my brother, and” she points at Asher first then, “this is Adrian, our closest cousin, best friend actually,” at Adrian.

She offers me an awkward smile before turning back toward them. “This is Alistair. My EEE prof—well the one who freed me from HINR.”

“Wait—fuck.” Asher’s eyes widen. “This is Alistair? The one you told me about?”

I notice Adrian immediately snaps his head toward Ariella before looking back at Asher.