Page 140 of Embriagado

The thing is, he truly is a dangerous man.

“Anyway, I’ve got my bicycle, so I’m all set.”

“You and that damn bicycle.”

With a snort, I shook my head. “You’re the one who bought it for me.”

Not saying anything in response, he got on his bike.

I guess that’s good night.

“Next Saturday is Christmas Eve,” he said.

My heart paused, and my body tensed on the spot. Why did I react this way? Was he about to invite me⁠—

“I’ll have to be at the hotel, so see the fight as canceled.”

My brows immediately snapped together.

“What? Why?”

“As I said, I have to be at the hotel; therefore, I cannot escort you there.”

“Escort?” I scoffed. “I’m not some medieval maiden, yeah? I can go by myself.”

“I’m surprised you know what a maiden even is,” he muttered when I frowned at him.

“Asshole.”

“As I was saying, next week, you’re off the hook, so instead of calling me slurs, be grateful for the time off.”

I should have been grateful because it meant I’d be able to spend the holiday at home, only… I wasn’t. It would be a joke to admit I’d hoped to at least spend some time with Ariyan on Christmas, but I did. Especially after these last few weeks, where it actually felt like we were getting closer.

“I have a shift.”

“Pardon?”

“I have a shift at the hotel. Don’t you remember?” Walking closer to him, I stopped with my shoe nudging his. “You put me on Christmas Eve duty.”

That was a blunt lie because he hadn’t, in fact, put me on schedule. And yet, instead of calling me out, he glanced down at his helmet. I focused on the stray locks of white hair that fell over his brows until⁠—

“So you better not be late,” he said, put on the helmet, then kicked the bike into gear.

The beast roared to life, its lights illuminating the dark night. Getting the message, I took a step backward so he wouldn’t run me over when he sped out of here.

After he drove off, I didn’t immediately leave. Instead, I kept standing where I was and watched him ride away. And once he was gone, I rubbed my chest to ease some of the pressure created there. Every encounter with him left me with this odd feeling… like something was eating through me, nibbling its way deep into my heart. And the heat it ignited me with, as stifling as it was, was also addictive, to the point I stopped trying to make sense of it.

37

ARIYAN

With classic carols playing in the background, I walked the halls from the hotel restaurant back to my office. Not a fan of bold colors, I chose to decorate the hotel with thousands of white roses, golden lights, and the most immaculate handcrafted Christmas decorations I had shipped from Germany.

I might have gone overboard, considering this hotel was nothing but a decoy. Still, when Eduardo first handed me the keys, he said I had an unlimited budget to turn this brothel slash money-laundering business into the most believable facade one had ever seen. So, if for one night, the scent of a thousand roses mixed with the holiday smell of pine trees could overcome the stench of the underworld, who was I to hold back?

“Merry Christmas, Ariyan,” said the front desk clerk as I reached the lobby, where one of our Christmas trees was.

Turning away from the tree, which I had personally supervised the construction of, I greeted her with a warm smile that hurt my jaw.