Innocent Temptation

Chapter Eighteen: How dare he?

THE Next day when Aira reached the shelter in the afternoon, she found Riya and Ginny whispering about something in hushed tones. When they saw her, Ginny rushed to her and asked, “So, do you know what happened exactly?”

Aira gave them a confused look. “About what?” She thought if they already knew about Greg coming to Mac’s house and meeting her parents because she wasn’t in the mood to explain that. They knew that she had gone on a coffee with Greg, and he walked her to her house in the evening but she didn’t want to elaborate on that yet.

Ginny and Riya shared a look before she said, “Well, it seems Greg won’t be joining us anymore in the shelter.”

Aira paused as she put her bag down and looked at her friend. “What do you mean?”

“He didn’t give us much details but the project he was part of…” Ginny shrugged. “He no longer is.”

“What? How can that be possible?” She asked, unzipping her bag to take out her phone from it.

“I don’t know the whole thing. But it seems Malory’s don’t want him to be the part of the project anymore.”

“So, he is not coming in today?” Aira asked, realising that she felt a little disappointed.

Ginny said, “No. But he said he’d drop by whenever possible after sorting things out and he’ll meet us this weekend.”

“I think I should call him,” Aira murmured. At Ginny’s nod, she made the call and took a few steps away from the girls for some privacy.

Greg picked up on the third ring and answered, “Hey, there.”

“Hi,” She said into the phone, “Ginny just told me what happened. I mean, do you know how did this happen? Were you having problems with the Malory’s?”

“No. Actually not. Even a few days ago, I showed them my plans and they were quite happy with them. Everything was fine until yesterday, but this morning out of nowhere I received a call…”

Aira had stopped listening after the fact that everything was fine until yesterday, because now her mind went to the brooding giant who had warned her of the consequences. The consequences she never thought will happen. Swallowing hard, she asked, “Did they tell you the reason? Can they do this to you?”

“No. But it’s fine. They might’ve changed their mind. It happens a lot in our line of business.”

She felt bad for him and more so thinking that she might be the reason that he lost this project. “I am sorry, Greg.”

“Hey, don’t be. I told you, it happens a lot.” It didn’t make her feel good. “This would’ve been a nice addition to my resume but things happens, at least I got to meet you before I was fired.”

“I am really sorry, I feel bad for this to happen to you.”

“Why? It wasn’t like you were responsible for them dropping me off the project.” He laughed. She didn’t. Because she felt like if not directly, but indirectly, she was the reason this happened to him if her hunch was right. “Want to cheer me up?”

“How?”

“The dinner date we missed, of course. And this time I want to go all out. Give you the date you deserve.”

She smiled. “And what will that be?”

“You’ll see, just say yes and I’ll arrange everything.”

“Okay. Yes.”

As she ended the call the smile dropped from her face and she was filled with the need to confront Mac and ask him if he was responsible for what happened to Greg.

It had to be Mac.

Because no matter how many times she think of it, in different ways, from different angles, her mind flashed back to their heated conversation the day before. Mac had threatened her—told her to break it off with Greg or there would be consequences. She thought he was just bluffing, but this… this was real.

How could he do this? How dare he?

He couldn’t just waltz in and ruin someone’s career. And he shouldn’t even be able to do this, but she knew… she knew, he was responsible for it.

Her fury kept simmering throughout the day and at the end of the day she was so angry when she left the shelter and made her way to her house that she didn’t pay attention to anything around her. Aira barely registered the cold air of the evening and feel the eyes following her as she normally does, her focus entirely on confronting him. And she was even surprised when she reached home in fewer minutes than usual. But she walked past her own home, straight to his house.

When she reached his house, she didn’t hesitate to pound on the door. Her knuckles stung, but she paid it no attention. “Mac! Open the door!” She didn’t care if his parents were home; she wanted answers.

The door swung open, and Aira found herself face to face with Mrs Colson. Her worried and surprised eyes took Aira in and instantly concern etched in the lines of her face. “Aira, dear, what’s the matter?” She stepped aside, gesturing for Aira to come inside. “Did Mac do something? Tell me, and I’ll pull his ear.”

Aira opened her mouth, the heat of her anger ready to spill out, but something stopped her. As much as she wanted to scream, to demand why Mac would do this, she didn't want to pull the elders into it. This was between her and Mac. And she had decided that she will deal with him on her own, and show that big brute that she was no longer a little girl who needed someone else to stand up for her. She was going to face him on her own, and give him a piece of her mind to pull him down a peg or two.

She forced a tight smile. “No, Ma. It’s nothing… I’ll handle it.”

Mrs Colson didn’t look convinced, but she nodded. “Alright, sweetie. If you ever need to talk, you know where to find me. And,” She patted her head as she said, “I hope you do handle him on your own, he needs that.” She ushered her inside then, “Now, come, sit down. I’ll make you something to eat.”

At night after having dinner with her family and dodging all the questions like ‘Why was she so quiet?’ and ‘Why was she yelling for Mac?’ and ‘Why did she look so angry?’, Aira finally made her way to her bedroom. And despite all her efforts she couldn’t stop thinking about Mac and his warning, which only resulted in her being restless. She didn’t even had enough patience to read her book, which was on a very interesting chapter that she was waiting for but she couldn’t focus.

With an irritating huff, she slipped out of her bed and walked to the window where she stopped and paced for long time as she waited for that highhanded giant to come home. When she got tired of her pacing, she sat by her window, staring into the darkened street, waiting for any sign of him. Hours seemed to drag by, the minutes crawling as she kept checking the time, her stomach twisting with anticipation.

But the street stayed empty, and his bedroom across from hers remained dark which didn't help her mounting anger. She was seething—both at Mac and at herself for letting him get to her like this.

He didn’t come home.

And at one point, Aira started to feel sleepy so she went to bed with a promise to herself that she will confront him tomorrow. She hadn’t thought about what she would do when she saw him, but she knew she couldn’t let this go.

How could he do this? How could he manipulate someone’s career, just because he didn’t like the idea of her being with Greg? It was too far, even for Mac. But then again, maybe she didn’t know him. Not much. She had always admired him from afar, and seen him loose his cool when someone bullied her or if his brother was in some kind of trouble, but he had always kept to himself. And the worst part was that all these things were the ones that made him endearing to her childish heart. She had always thought that once he fell for her, he’d start sharing things with her, that she will become his comfort zone. But it never happened and Aira doubted it ever will.

As her eyes started to droop, her mind took her back to the other day when she had seen those scars mattering his arms and shoulders. At first she hadn’t thought much of it, dismissing them as remnants of a rough life. But now… now she wasn’t so sure. What did they mean? How did he got those scars? And, a man who could just make someone lose their job in span of a few hours, what else that man could do?

And as her thoughts swirled, her mind supplied her with all the information she had once neglected and didn’t pay any attention to. She thought to herself that she was just overthinking, but a logical part of her mind insisted that there might be some truth to those tidbits she had gathered over the years.

The rumors she had overheard over the years suddenly seemed all too real. People had whispered that Mac’s job wasn’t a conventional one. That he worked for someone not so good, that he left his home to work for his friend who was involved in something dangerous.

She hadn’t ever believed it, because people gossiped in small towns. They made up stories to keep themselves entertained. But now... It made her wonder. It made her think. What if… With those thoughts crowding her mind, she slipped into slumber.

Aira was once again trapped in one of her nightmares. But this time it was her bedroom and she was sleeping in her bed, shrouded in dark. And a large figure was standing at the end of her bed. Her whole body trembled in fear and her heart beat like she was going to have a heart attack. She forced her mind to wake up, pleaded for it to come back to the reality and stop this nightmare. But it continued. And small fearful whimpers left her lips as she murmured the words that meant nothing for her attacker. “Please… d-don’t hurt me. P-please.”

Tears escaped her eyes, making her vision hazy and then a second later the shadow was rushing towards her. She opened her mouth and let out a scream.

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THE thirst for their kiss to happen is very real in the comments.... And I'm loving it!!♡

Reminded me of Married To The Duke, our Duke and Duchess!!

Hello to my new readers (if there are any), I hope you are enjoying my story. You can also check out my other books, all are complete but they are DARK, and come with TW.

And, to all my loyal BEAUTIES... you know the secret ingredient. Have patience, my darlings. It will happen. Hugs and hearts.

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A. Gupta