Innocent Temptation

Chapter Three: Forbidden

Mac could still hear her sweet dulcet voice even as he went up to his room had slammed the door shut.

It was surreal, seeing her again after all this time, like he had stepped through a door and was transported back to the past. But as the memories of her in his mother’s kitchen, of her looking at him with those big blue eyes and standing at her bedroom window that had made him think like she was waiting for a glimpse of him rushed to his mind, more memories that pained him came at the heels of those.

He had always known that wanting her was forbidden. She was everything that he wasn’t. Innocent. Soft. Demure. And small, so fûcking small that she should walk around with a ‘FRAGILE’ tag on her forehead. While he was a big brute, more accurate would be Summer’s description for him: Hulking and a walking giant.

And as the reality crashed down on him like a ton of bricks, reminding him of why he had avoided her for so long, he sat down on his bed. Rubbing a hand down his face, he let out a sigh. He should avoid her like he had done all those years when she was here. He had always brushed off her smiles and shy glances that she sometimes had thrown his way. And more so when he realised that maybe he was mistaken and she only looked at him like that because he had saved her from the school bullies, he had become more annoyed with her. Looking back, he realized that he might’ve been a little jealous too, because when Zurich came she never needed Mac again.

But no matter how much Mac tried, he could not help but see her again in his mind. She had grown older. Her hair were longer. Her face was more angles than a chubby cheeked girl she used to be. And her eyes, even though they still shown with that innocent look there was a hint of something more in them like she had seen or gone through something that had changed her view of the world, made her a little hesitant to be herself the way she used to be.

His phone rang and he quickly pulled it out to answer it, glad that he had something else to think about. It was Gabriel. His best friend and the man he didn’t hesitate to do illegal things for. His parents didn’t know what kind of job Mac did, all they knew was that Mac worked Gabriel and his business back in New Orleans. They didn’t know that Gabriel owned New Orleans and the city itself was his business.

He answered, thinking to distract himself, “Yeah?”

“Your brother has gone mad.”

“What did he do now?” He asked. He had stopped questioning a long time ago if his brother could do anything wrong, now all he knew he could do was try to deal with it in a way that will not hurt Zurich.

“He agreed to be Katlyn’s bodyguard.”

“Okay…” He said the word slowly, not understanding why that would be an issue.

And then Gabe cleared it for him. “Barsetti made him sign a contract.” Okay, that can’t be good. And he was proven right when Gabe added, “To forfeit his own life if anything happened to her.”

“What in the actual fúck!” He gritted out, standing up. “I am on my way. We will talk to him together.”

He raked his fingers through his hair. He had known that his brother was drawn to Summer’s (Gabe’s wife) friend, Katlyn. And he had even taken great joy to tease him about it, but Mac didn’t know his brother could be this stupid.

He walked out of his room and made his way downstairs, his mind on his brother and the f****d up things he does that makes Mac worried for him. As he came downstairs, he stopped. He had almost forgotten about her. But now she was there at the door, his mother waving at her. And as if sensing him, she looked up at him and if he hoped for a smile, this time Aira didn’t give him one. She didn’t even spare him more than a glance before she turned around and left.

“You should’ve at least asked her how she was.” His mother came to stand beside him as they both watched her walking out of the house and closing the small door.

Before he could say anything, his niece, Cara said, “I like her.”

Of course, she does. There was rarely anyone who doesn’t like her.

Clearing his throat, he said, “I am going to Gabriel’s.”

His mother shook her head at him and then sighed. “One of these days you’ll regret for being this rude to that sweet girl.”

He walked out without answering and as he got into his car, he thought he saw the curtains moving in the window opposite his. But when he looked up there was no one there

Aira should’ve known. He will never change. He was still the same arsehöle he used to be

Same cold, hard man that she had left behind and all these years he was still that man. He wasn’t mountain like physically but also emotionally, made of rocks and stones. She wanted to scream in frustration, not that she wanted him like she used to. But it was a human decency to greet someone when you seem them years later. At least pass a smile when that someone is your next door neighbor and is there in your living room. But, no. That rude bastàrd didn’t see her worthy enough to even allow that.

But it didn’t matter to Aira. It didn’t. Because she had already decided that it won’t matter anymore. He doesn’t matter anymore. She had already left those feelings in the past, that little naïve girl who used to feel hurt and those silly dreams, all of those were the things of past. But as a human being she felt disrespected. Yes. Disrespected. Nothing more.

She dropped down on her bed and glared at Mr Grumpy. “Will you ever smile at me?”

“I don’t think he can answer that.” With a squeak she sat up and her brother laughed at her before adding, “And I don’t think he can even smile, his is not made that way.”

She sighed and plopped back down on the bed. Looking up at the ceiling, she said, “Maybe some people are like that too. They don’t know how to smile either.”

“Hey, what is it?” Jay asked, lying beside her. “Did Mac say anything?”

Of all people, Jay and Zurich knew about her feelings for Mac. And it wasn’t because she told them, it was because they both knew her too well and didn’t miss a thing or every time she cried because of that big brute.

She shook her head. “Nah. He didn’t say anything.”

“Then?”

She said, “Then, nothing. He didn’t say anything. He looked at me like he didn’t know why I was there to begin with and then he disappeared into his room without a word.” She looked at her brother and said, “But, it doesn’t matter. I already decided that I won’t let her influence my emotions. I have already moved on and this time I won’t let my childhood crush get in my way as I live my life.”

“Good for you. And, if next time I see you sad, I don’t care if it’s because of him or not, I’m just gonna punch him.”

“Jay!”

“What I don’t like this sad look on my big sis’s face. You look beautiful when you smile.”

“Thanks.”

“Also, like a drowned rabbit when you cry.” She gasped in outrage. He laughed and pointed at her face as he added, “And like a Chihuahua when you’re angry.”

She grabbed Mr Grumpy and hit him in the face. He howled with laughter and she couldn’t help but smiled too. It was good to be home.

.

A. Gupta