Chapter 19: The Devil’s Cold-blooded I stepped out of the revolving doors, coat on and shades concealing my eyes. Reed opened the car door for me, but I rounded it and entered the passenger’s side instead. Reed got in, hoping to voice something, but thankfully, he chose not to. He pushed the button to start the car and drove out. Along the way, he sneaked peeks at me, which was really obvious. "How was your day, Reed?" He shifted his eyes back to the road. "Good, Mrs. King." "Well, at least someone had a good day." "Was your day not good?" I huffed. "What am I supposed to say?" I mumbled under my breath. "It was... perfect." "You sound the opposite." I chuckled. "You can tell?" "You’re not trying to hide it." I sucked on my teeth, leaning back on the comfortable seat. "Oh my, what to do?" I caught a light laugh from him. I smiled, feeling a bit better than I was a few hours ago. "This is just one of the days that went south. I need to get out of it, you know what I mean?" He didn’t reply, but his nod told me he acknowledged. It was already dark when we reached the private club. "This is where you needed to go?" Reed asked. I pulled down my shades. "Got a problem?" He said nothing, eyes assessing the place, but I caught the familiarity in his eyes. "Been here before?" "On... occasions." "Awesome! Then we don’t need to worry about unfamiliar places. No one followed, right?" "No, we’re currently alone. I used a different route." Good. I don’t like the idea of dragging Tori into this drama. "We shouldn’t take too much time. Mr. King specifically said that I—" I placed a finger on his lips. "Shhhhh.... No talking about King." I walked to the entrance, and when I saw he wasn’t coming, I yelled. "Coming or not?!" Sighing, he followed behind. We stepped into the luxurious space, and the club glowed with deep red lighting, giving a bold, mysterious look. The ceiling reflected light, adding to the warmth. Just a few people were sitting; this place wasn’t crowded until midnight, so I still had time. I looked toward the bar, lined with black leather stools, where Tori worked. "Scotch on the rocks," I said, sitting on the stool. "Cat!" She said, surprised. "What are you doing here? What if someone recognises you?" I raised my shades to sit on my head. "I’m not sure anyone would, only you can, and besides, this is a private club, exclusive." "No.. the upstairs is not here, anyone comes here." "Anyone?" I reasoned. She rolled her eyes. "The ones with deep pockets, but that doesn’t explain what I mean." "Still mad at me?" I asked with puppy dog eyes. "Who could ever stay mad at you?" "You proved that when you didn’t reply to my messages." "I already told you I felt shitty for leaving you like that." She rested her hand on the counter. "I admit I was mad, but I didn’t last a day. Went back to the apartment, but you were gone. Everything was gone." "I wish I were honest with you, not rephrased," I conceded. "But you told me anyway...." She narrowed her eyes. "Wasn’t the contract a secret or something?" "The NDA exempts you from it. I couldn’t keep such a thing from you." "Oh, Cat..." she drawled sweetly, not until her brown eyes caught Reed standing at the far corner. "Who’s the hottie?" "My bodyguard. He’s a regular here, too." "Really? How come I have never seen him before? I would recognise those blond locks anywhere." I raised an eyebrow. Tori shrugged. "Look at you now. Bodyguard, designer things, and contacts. What have you done with my munchkin?" "She’s still here, and the bodyguard was the husband’s order." "I do not like the sound of that." "Tori..." "Cat..." she drawled right back. "I’ve been with you forever." "I know. That’s why you’re my forever girl." "And nothing’s gonna change that, and I love you to the earth and back, which is why I say this..." She mixed my drink. "Ares King is the last person on earth you should sell your soul to." "I know, but so far so good, it’s been going well." If only I could control my damn body. "Where is that coming from? You always hated his guts when working for him. I expected this to be the worst of them all." "What do you mean?" She moved my drink to me. "Nothing..." "What?" I urged taking my shot, and I grimaced at the burn. "Now that hits the spot. I’m tempted to show you Ares’ collection, you’re gonna go wild when you see it." "Okay, I’m sensing a hot familiar energy with your boss, and it spooks me." I waved my hand. "It’s needed because we need to convince the public that we’re a real couple." "Uh-huh." "Most of the time it’s just acting." 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂 "You don’t say." I clenched my fists. "I’m sensing you have something to say." She nodded slowly before shaking her head. "No, no... I don’t." "Tori!" I hissed. "Just have at it." "Tori." She pointed a finger. "You’re enjoying this, aren’t you? This persona of Mrs. King." "Guilty pleasure?" I reasoned. "Erm... or maybe you’re obviously attracted to your boss." "I’m not!" I blurted out, and some eyes flew to us. "Got me convinced there." "I’m not..." I lowered my voice. "....attracted to him. Even if I am, that devil does not feel a thing." She was about to say something right back, but my phone rang. I fished it out of my coat and saw it was an unknown number. "Just a minute," I said, walking to a corner. I wonder who this is. I picked. "Catherine! Thank god you picked." I frowned. "Dan?" "Yes, it’s me! I-I tried calling you with my line, but it wasn’t going through." "I wonder how that happened," I said sarcastically. "Listen to me, Catherine, everything went to shit after the charity ball." "Why did you call me Mr. Stone?" I asked, already getting irritated. "Just listen to me, please..." Was he crying? I could hear sobs and whimpers in the background. "I lost everything, okay? Piper left me. I-I can’t reach her. She’s pregnant, yet she’s cutting me out like that; her family won’t let me near her either. And Mr. Voss, h-he was mutilated, and now my approval was revoked and—" "Mutilated? What are you talking about?"