“I think I know enough.”
“Oh really?” his face darkened now and he took a threatening step towards her. “Did you know I had sex with Yasmin to get back at Hugo?”
Silence, thick and horrible and ugly, fell between them. Ari pinched the bridge of her nose, stunned and unsure of how to feel. “What?”
“I caught Nicki ha**ng s*x with Hugo behind my dad’s back.” He shrugged unhappily and Ari noted the tension around the corners of his mouth. She was relieved to realize it was shame. “It wasn’t honorable, it wasn’t gentlemanly, but Yasmin had been throwing herself at me for months so I did it, as payback. She treats me like crap, Ari. They all do. I thought they deserved it. If Hugo ever found out his precious girl had been defiled by me he’d lose it. I guess that was reason enough for me to screw with her.”
Eyes blazing Ari shoved him and he stumbled back, taking it. “Are you deliberately being crass?”
“I’m trying to show you who I am!”
Chest heaving with unexploded rage and hurt Ari shook her hands out to stop them from whacking him. “Did you care about her at all?”
“What would upset you more, Ari? That I did or I didn’t?”
“Just answer the question!”
“No!” he yelled. “I could give a rat’s ass about her. She thinks I’m scum and I think she’s worthless. Does that make you feel better? No. Don’t try to make me into someone I’m not,” he hissed. “I don’t do relationships, I don’t do love. I do my job and I do it well.”
Angry tears poked at the corners of her eyes and Ari fought to breathe, hating him and hating herself for feeling so much for him. She wanted to be numb! She’d promised herself she would be!
Seeing the tears Jai cursed and dragged a hand roughly over his face, looking exhausted. “Ari,” he sighed. “You and I, we’re friends OK. I don’t want to hurt you. I’m just being honest.”
Not able to say another word for fear of what those words might be, Ari silently slipped into her room, locking the door behind her. As soon as she was inside, the duvet on her bed turned down invitingly.
“Thanks, Ms. Maggie,” she breathed gratefully, kicking off her shoes and diving into the comfort of the bed. Her insides were a mess now. She at once felt fury at Jai for treating anyone as callously as he’d treated Yasmin, but then she remembered how stuck up the young woman had seemed and how crummy Hugo had acted towards him. It didn’t make what he did right. Ari didn’t know what she was madder at… Jai denying there was anything between Ari and him because he was afraid of what his father would think or the fact that another girl knew what it was like to be with him. Or…
… relief that there was no other girl he was in love with.
“That’s it, Ms. Maggie. I’m giving up on boys completely and concentrating on staying alive.”
If only her heart would listen to such exquisite sense.
14 - Sometimes I’m not myself. I Don’t Know Who I Like Better
Perhaps it was because of the restless sleep Ari had that night. She’d dreamed of the weird Jinn people again and still couldn’t work out what that was all about. Was it just her imagination? Or was there something meaningful to these little dives she kept taking into another world where a beautiful brother and sister seemed at constant loggerheads? And the dreams had only come when Ari had finally fallen asleep. She’d lain in bed for hours before that, thinking about her dad, about Charlie and of course about Jai.
Perhaps it had happened because she was sleep deprived, stressed and cranky.
Ari needed some explanation for her behavior that morning. Behavior that was beginning to freak her out.
It happened as she headed down towards the training room. She finally had a lay of the land as it were within the large mansion and was striding casually from the breakfast room where she’d breakfasted alone (no surprise there considering Jai was probably avoiding her and Charlie was desperate to use his powers all the time and would already be in the training room — she’d bet money on it), her footsteps echoing off the cold floor and high ceilings. Her soft footsteps were joined by a quick skitter behind her. Ari’s heart sped up and she turned, bracing herself just as Jai taught her. She relaxed at the sight of a border collie trotting towards her, his tongue hanging out of his mouth as he panted over to her. He was gorgeous. Ari smiled down at him. “Hey boy.” She stroked a hand over his black head as he nudged his white muzzle into her side. Where had he come from? She hadn’t seen him around the mansion before. “Where did you come from, boy?” Ari used both hands now to scrub his face affectionately.
All of sudden flames burst around the dog, their licks of fire like wisps of smoke on Ari’s skin as she stumbled back, heart racing in shock. Out of the flames a figure appeared.
The dog wasn’t a dog at all.
It was David.
“Ari Johnson,” David said, a soft drawl in his words as his eyes swept over her greedily. Ari had the sudden urge to cross her arms over her chest to shield herself. “Well, well… look at you.” He drew to a stop inches from her, trying to intimidate her. Ari refused to step back. “All alone. Finally.”
“Yeah well, if you’ll excuse me, I’m late for training.” She turned to go and uneasiness choked her when his large hand snapped out and grabbed her upper arm.
“Now, now, what’s the hurry?” he grinned. “You know, if Jai had turned down this assignment I was going to be your guardian.”
She let how distasteful she found that show on her face and David’s eyes narrowed.
“You’re a little ill-mannered you know that.” He pushed her now and she stumbled back into the wall in surprise, unable to believe that this jerk was actually accosting her. He pressed up against her before she could move, the smell of coffee on his breath turning her stomach.