ZARIA

Chapter 20

Zaria

Betty had been suspiciously quiet the day before, giving her knowing glances while a slight smirk played around the edges of her mouth, making her feel entirely too self-conscious.

She kept thinking about the mind-blowing sex Kei and she had that morning, a suspicion that that was the reason for Betty's odd behavior creeping in and making her blush from head to toe in embarrassment.

But all her suspicions had been blown to dust once Kei had returned from work to inform her that he would be taking her out that night.

At first, she had just stared at him, waiting for a punch line since she was absolutely sure Kei was yanking her chain. But when that never happened, Kei looking at her expectantly, she realized the man was serious.

Zaria could do nothing except nod, feeling absolutely befuddled. She went through the motions, getting ready while not really thinking about it, her mind in a state of mild shock.

She had never been on a date before; hell, no one had ever even asked her out on one, and by the time she was supposed to meet Kei at the front door, she was a jumbled mess of emotions.

But it all changed quickly, her anxiety ending abruptly as soon as her eyes fell on the man waiting for her at the foot of the stairwell.

To say that Kei looked magnificent would be a serious understatement. He was dressed in a dark, designer suit that hugged his figure in all the right places, making her mouth water.

Zaria felt seriously underdressed and undeserving, and as the seconds ticked by, the nerves started returning until she caught Kei's eye. The man was gazing at her intently, his eyes wide in wonder, his pupils darkening as his eyes traveled over her body.

"Gorgeous." Kei had whispered, his voice husky and rough, making a shiver run down her back as the man stepped closer, offering a hand for her to take.

The rest of the evening passed in a blur of food, wine, and surprisingly easy conversation once she had gotten over her nerves and relaxed.

Zaria realized sometime during the evening that she had been stressing ever since they came back from the lake house, worried that everything would change once they returned to reality, and Kei realized just how different they were, but somehow, nothing had changed except their location, and the two of them worked.

She stretched her back, sighing contentedly as she heard it pop, before the smile slid from her face as she realized that the place next to her was empty, the sheets cold.

Zaria's stomach flipped unpleasantly before she frowned, berating herself for feeling that way and acting so needy. There could be several reasons for Kei's absences, the most important being Ren, who was at home today, as it was Saturday.

The boy still didn't know that Kei and she were, well, whatever they were, and it would have been logical for Kei to leave for his own room before the boy woke up and barged into hers like he ought to, only to find his father and his nanny snuggled up together. Talk about embarrassing.

So, she climbed out of bed, deciding to stop worrying so much unless she went mad, before getting ready for the day ahead.

Once she was ready, Zaria exited the bedroom, stopping for a moment to check on Ren, who was still asleep but deciding to let him rest, seeing as it was the weekend, before making her way down to the kitchen, the smell of freshly brewed coffee, making her mouth water.

But as soon as she stepped into the kitchen, she could sense that something wasn't quite right; the air in the room felt tense even before her eyes fell on Betty's stormy face.

"Good morning," she said, frowning as the woman barely nodded, rushing around the room as if possessed.

"Betty? Is something wrong?" Zaria asked, her stomach filling with unease the longer Betty stayed quiet.

"Wrong!? I can think of a few things that are wrong this morning!" the woman exclaimed suddenly before shutting her mouth as if making herself remain quiet, even though that seemed to be the last thing she wanted.

The uneasy feeling in Zaria's stomach grew as Betty turned away and left the room, going through the back door and into the backyard.

Zaria shook her head in bewilderment, not used to such odd behavior from the woman, before deciding to go and find Kei, hoping that the man could explain to her what the hell was going on.

She started towards his office since that was where Kei spent most of his time when not with Ren, but the sound of his voice coming from the entrance hall made her pause and reroute.

"Kei? Do you know what's going on with Betty? I swear, I've never seen her so out of sor..." she said, stopping in the middle of her question as soon as she entered the hall, and her eyes fell on the people standing there.

"Um... sorry," she mumbled, blushing as the most gorgeous woman she had ever seen looked at her. "I didn't realize you had company."

The woman's brow quirked at that before smoothing over, and she stepped forward, her sharp, green eyes rooting Zaria to the ground as she smiled blandly.

"And who would you be?" she inquired, her voice making something twist in her gut.

Danger, danger!

The alarm sounded off in Zaria's mind, something that had not happened for months, ever since she moved into Daigo's household.

"Zaria Khalil, miss. I'm the nanny." she said, thankful that her voice came out strong even though she felt anything but under that cold gaze.

Again, that painstakingly plucked brow arched up, followed by a sneering smirk, before the woman turned her back to her, dismissing her without a word.

"Things have certainly changed around here." she purred as she walked closer to Kei, one of her hands brushing against his folded forearm. As soon as she touched him, though, Kei stepped away, and it was then that Zaria finally noticed how bad the man looked.

His face was pale, his brows and mouth in a deep frown, and his eyes, damn, his eyes raging as he stared at the strange woman.

Zaria had never seen him so angry, not even when Ren had fallen and broken his arm, and he had been absolutely pissed then.

Who was this woman, and what had she done to deserve such ire from a man like Kei?

Zaria wondered for a moment, curious beyond belief, but her curiosity was soon sated as she heard a small voice from the top of the stairs whisper, "Mom?"