What We Do in the Night (Day to Night #1) - Stylo Fantome Page 0,111

for a moment, then made his way up to the top floor. When he stepped out into the hallway, he saw that his front door was open, and he let out a sigh of relief.

“Please don't make this harder than it needs to be,” he groaned as he walked into the room, shutting the door behind him. “It's been a bitch of a morning.”

But it wasn't Valentine standing in the middle of his apartment.

It was Harper.

“Is it true?” she demanded, shaking something in her hand.

“Is what true? How the fuck did you get in here?” he asked, watching her with a wary eyes as he slid out of his overcoat.

“You asshole!” she shrieked, then she threw what she was holding at him. A scrap of white fabric bounced off his chest and fell to the floor. A pair of cotton panties unfurled at his feet.

“Okay,” he said, staring down at a pair of Valentine's underwear.

“Okay!?” Harper shrieked. “Is that all you have to say to me?”

“No,” he sighed, pulling apart his tie. “I suppose I should also say goodbye, because you have no reason to be here, and no reason to be upset.”

“How can you talk to me like this?” Harper demanded, her eyes glistening with unshed tears. It had no effect on him – Ari had seen Harper's crying act before, it had never bothered him.

“Because you're nothing to me,” he replied simply. “Just somebody I used to sleep with.”

“We were together for over a year!” she snapped. “I can't be nothing! I'm a Kittering, for god's sake.”

“Which also means nothing. How the fuck did you get in here, Harper? Breaking and Entering won't look cute on your resume,” he said, glancing around his apartment.

“I stopped at your office earlier today,” she said. Well, that certainly explained the shit storm he'd gone through that morning. “And after talking to your dad, we thought it would be a good idea to surprise you, so he gave me a key and I -”

Ari held up his hand.

“My father had a key to my apartment?” he asked, astounded.

The firm had purchased his loft, hence its close proximity to his office. But Ari had been the one to deal with the realtor, his father had never been a part of the process, as far as he'd known. How long had daddy dearest had a key?

“Of course he had a key,” Harper rolled her eyes. “Haven't you figured it out yet? Our fathers control everything. So I wanted to surprise you – cook you dinner here or something, prove to you I can be a good girlfriend. But instead I found all that shit in your closet!”

Ah. Valentine's club clothing. He peeled it off her at night and she left it behind in the morning, going home in her pajamas. Enough of a collection had started that he'd told his cleaning lady to just make a section for it in his closet.

“I see,” he said, taking a deep breath. “But again – it's not your concern. We're not together, Harper. I'm free to see other women, just like you're free to see other guys. Which you should start doing, immediately.”

“You know, it's not like I don't understand,” Harper babbled as she started to pace back and forth behind his couch. He moved to stand in front of it, wanting to keep some distance between them.

“That's ... good to hear.”

“I know we're not a perfect match,” she continued “I mean, are you kidding? You've never even been to Tulum.” Ari wasn't sure how to respond to that, so he just nodded his head. “You don't follow me on Instagram, you're mean, and you only want to have weird sex.”

“Then our break up should have come as a welcome relief,” he said. “And yet here you are, stalking me.”

“I'm not stalking you! It's just ... people do not break up with me! If you just wanted to fuck someone else, fine. Obviously I expected that to happen, I fuck other people all the time – but you didn't have to break up with me! And really, Ari, her? Of all people, you had to sleep with her!?” Harper shouted.

“You were sleeping with other people while we were together?” Ari backtracked. She snorted.

“Don't be so naive, of course I was. Derrick and I meet every Wednesday afternoon.”

Derrick, that little shit. I'm almost impressed at his balls.

“I don't like you, Harper. And you obviously don't like me. We've broken up. We've both been fucking other people. So why