Older

8 | Clara Saint

"𝐡𝐞 𝐜𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐤𝐞𝐞𝐩 𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐰𝐢𝐥𝐝 𝐞𝐲𝐞𝐬 𝐨𝐧 𝐭𝐡𝐞 𝐫𝐨𝐚𝐝, 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬 𝐦𝐞 𝐡𝐨𝐦𝐞..."

𝐭𝐚𝐲𝐥𝐨𝐫 𝐬𝐰𝐢𝐟𝐭

𝐀𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫: 𝐩𝐥𝐞𝐚𝐬𝐞 𝐝𝐨𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐞𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞! 𝐈𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞, 𝐢 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐫𝐞𝐜𝐢𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐢𝐟 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐰𝐨𝐮𝐥𝐝 𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐯𝐨𝐭𝐞. 𝐈𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐚𝐧𝐬 𝐚 𝐥𝐨𝐭 𝐭𝐨 𝐦𝐞 𝐚𝐬 𝐚𝐧 𝐚𝐮𝐭𝐡𝐨𝐫!

"Hang on, wait-let me get this straight...you owe him three million dollars?" Lilac gasps as she holds her cocktail, I roll my eyes and look ahead at the skylight view of the city.

"I broke his watches, and trust me-I bet you they costed more that three million."

"So wait? Did you still do the cat fur plan?" I nod my head with a smile.

"He should be dead soon." I reply with a mischievous grin. "He thought he could embarrass me by pushing me into a chocolate fountain, so I decided to give him a taste of his own medicine with the cat fur."

Lilac bursts into laughter. "Oh my God, Clara, you're insane! But it's also kind of brilliant. You've got to keep him on his toes."

"That's the plan," I say with a wink, taking a sip of my own cocktail. "Vincent Kovak won't know what hit him."

"You like him." Lilac points out, my eyes widen and I almost spill out my drink.

"No the fuck I don't."

Lilac raises an eyebrow at my quick denial. "Really? Because it seems to me like there's more to it than just pranks."

I take another sip of my cocktail, trying to act nonchalant.

"Oh my god, is Clara Saint finally intrigued by a man?"

"Lilac, please. This is a business arrangement, nothing more. I don't like him, and I definitely don't have feelings for him."

Lilac smirks, clearly not buying my act. "Clara, you can't fool me. I've known you since we were in diapers. I can see it in your eyes—you're intrigued by him."

I roll my eyes, feeling a bit flustered. "Fine, maybe I'm a little curious about him. But that's it. It's just curiosity."

Lilac leans in closer. "Curiosity killed the cat, Clara."

I scoff. "Well, I'm not a cat, and I'm certainly not planning to get killed by anything—curiosity or otherwise."

She chuckles. "We'll see about that." I couldn't allow myself to like Vincent. He was rude, egotistic, and displayed a complete lack of manners.

The way he treated those beneath him, the dismissive way he spoke to the staff—everything about him made me cringe. He seemed to have no respect for anyone who wasn't on his level.

But then there were those moments when he surprised me. Like the way he'd cared for me when I'd hurt myself. It was as if there were two sides to him, and I couldn't deny that the caring side piqued my curiosity.

Still, I had to remind myself of my true objective—marrying Roman. Roman was a kind-hearted man who deserved my attention. I couldn't afford to get carried away with Vincent. If I did, there was a real danger that I might actually fall for him.

So, I made a mental note to dial back the teasing and to keep my focus firmly on Roman. After all, he was the one I had an arrangement with, and it was him I needed to win over.