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Pulling her flush against my chest, I lean until our lips are a breath away, so she doesn’t mistake my intentions. “This stopped being afake arrangementthe moment you kissed me, kitten. In fact, it was never about your sister. It was always about getting closer to you. You were never supposed to be Niall’s. You are meant to be mine. It’s seven years overdue.”
Her mouth opens, but I’m not done talking. “Just know this. I’m going to take you, make you mine in all the ways that exist, and if there isn’t one, then I’ll forge my own. Until you’re mine. My everything.”
Footsteps sound behind us before she can say another word and the voices of her friends cut through the air, breaking Bianca out of her trance. I reluctantly give her space when she pushes at my chest while I still hold on to her waist.
“Do you ever keep your hands off of her, lover boy?” mocks Rosa, making Bianca blush harder.
When we face her friends, Iris is biting her lip to stop from laughing while Rosa stands with her hands on her hips. They make a perfect duo: dark and light with one wearing a black gown and another in white.
“I can see you’re back, Rosalie,” I drawl in a dry tone. “Did the in-laws kick you out of the city?”
“Dash!” hisses Bianca while Iris snickers before instantly shutting up when Rosalie glares at her before aiming it my way.
“How about you worry aboutyourin-laws?”
“Stop, you two,” admonishes Bianca.
With a haughty expression, Rosa stomps to Bianca’s side and steers her toward the well-lit hallway, leading her away from the ballroom where I can see the guests mingling. Some even looking curiously in our direction.
“Where are you taking my wife?”
“You can have her back when it’s time for the new couple to walk to the stage,” Rosalie throws over their shoulder.
I don’t move until they disappear around the corner and like the lover boy she called me, I immediately miss Bianca. Thank God Justin isn’t here or he’d be laughing his ass off.
“I get it now,” a familiar voice speaks from behind me, startling me.
I twist just in time to see my new business partner, Kian Singhania, step out from the shadows, holding a glass of whiskey in his hand. As usual, his dark eyes hold no single emotion. They almost appear dead like a bottomless pit and calculative as though the world and everyone in it is a code he wants to crack.
No wonder the media calls him merciless and apathetic.
Steeling my spine, I reply to his remark, “What?”
“Why you ran out of the meeting like the hounds of hell were after you.” Taking a sip of his drink, his head tilts as he says in a remote voice, “You’re crazy about yourwife.”
The way he puts emphasis on ‘wife’ raises my suspicion immediately. The corner he was standing in is hidden and dark, which means he could have been standing there and listened to the whole conversation between Bianca and I while we remained oblivious. Probably even heard about our little secret.
Just another complication I didn’t need.
Pocketing my hands, I narrow my gaze while he remains steadfast and unfeeling. “How long have you been standing here?”
“Long enough.”
Fucking hell. It takes all my power to keep my mask in place because if there’s one thing I hate, it is having my back against the wall. However, before I can threaten him, he beats me to it.
“Don’t worry. Whatever you do outside of our company doesn’t interest me.” Stepping closer, he advises, “However, you should be more aware of your surroundings because secrets like that could be disastrous and scandalous in the wrong hands.”
“I’m well versed with scandals, and I don’t intend to have another.”
“If only we lived in a world where it was a possibility.”
With those ominous and true words, he disappears into the crowd while I’m left wondering if Bianca and I are fooling ourselves that we’ll survive this unscathed.
Chapter Forty-nine
BIANCA
“I think I have a crush on Dash,” I blurt out, leaving my best friends stunned as soon as we lock ourselves into one of the rooms upstairs. They stare at each other with a look I can’t decipher. Pacing back and forth, I push past the rising scary feeling in my throat. “Actually, no. I’m pretty sure I’mfallingfor him.”
