Chapter 38: TELL HER SHE’S BEING RIDICULOUS
Chapter 39
Lumi
Later that evening, Neve went out to run a few corporate errands and pick up some groceries, leaving me alone in the apartment.
I was sitting at the small dining table with my laptop, trying to focus on the legal documents my UK lawyer had sent over regarding the custody battle for my son.
But my mind kept wandering back to the restaurant we had eaten at earlier, and to the heavy realization that Neve would soon be leaving for New York permanently. Which meant I wouldn’t have to scramble to find a new apartment anymore.
A sudden, firm knock on the front door broke the silence.
I frowned, glancing at the clock. It was far too early for Neve to be back. I stood up and pulled the door open.
Ren was standing in the hallway. He had his leather jacket on, his dark hair a little damp from the evening mist. The sheer size of him seemed to fill the entire doorway, and the moment his dark eyes locked onto mine, my chest tightened.
"Ren," I said, my voice breathless despite my best efforts to keep it flat. "Neve isn’t here. She went out to the shops about twenty minutes ago. I thought you went back to your apartment."
I expected him to nod, turn around, and leave. Instead, he took a step forward, forcing me to instinctively take a step back into the apartment. He closed the heavy door behind him with a quiet click.
"I know," he said, his deep voice carrying a low, heavy weight. "I saw her car leave the neighborhood. I came to talk to you."
My heart did a violent flip against my ribs, but I forced my face into a calm, emotionless mask. I thought about the promise I had made to myself last night in the dark. Never again.
"Ohhh, about the company?" He shook his head.
"About yesterday." He replied.
"There’s nothing for us to talk about, Ren," I said, crossing my arms over my chest like a shield. "We finished the office floor yesterday, and everything else can wait until Neve gets back."
Ren didn’t answer right away. Instead, he slowly unzipped his leather jacket, threw it onto the back of the entryway chair, and began walking toward me.
His steps were slow, deliberate, and completely unhurried. Every single instinct in my body told me to run, but my feet felt glued to the floor.
"Are you sure about that, Lumi?" he asked, his voice dropping into that quiet, dangerous rumble that always made my skin tingle.
He kept moving until he was standing directly in front of me. The physical closeness was immediate and suffocating.
He was so tall that I had to tilt my head back just to look at him. I could smell the familiar scent of his jacket and the pure heat radiating off his skin.
"Ren, back up," I whispered, my voice trembling slightly. I tried to downplay the sudden surge of adrenaline, trying to act like his presence didn’t affect me at all. "This is inappropriate. You have a fiancé. We can’t do this."
"You keep bringing her up," he muttered, taking one more step, completely ignoring my words. He reached out, his large, warm hand rising to grip the side of my waist.
His thumb pressed firmly against my hip through the fabric of my t-shirt, sending a massive shockwave of pure electricity straight up my spine. "But you didn’t think about her yesterday in that office. And neither did I."
My breath caught completely in my throat. My hands rose instinctively to press against his broad chest, intending to push him away, but the moment my palms met his solid frame, my fingers betrayed me, clutching tightly at his shirt instead.
I wanted to fight it. I wanted to be strong and independent, but the way he looked down at me... like I was the only thing that mattered in the entire world... was making me completely melt.
"We can’t," I breathed against his chest, my eyes fluttering as he leaned down, his face coming closer and closer. "Neve..."
"Neve isn’t here," he whispered, his warm breath brushing against my lips, his other hand lifting to gently cradle the back of my neck, his fingers tangling in my hair.
Our lips were just inches apart, the tension between us stretched so tight it felt like it was about to snap.
I could feel the heavy, rapid thumping of his heart beneath my palms, matching the frantic rhythm of my own.
I wanted to close the gap. I wanted to forget the guilt, forget the laws of our world, and just lose myself in him.
But right before his lips could touch mine, he suddenly froze.
His whole body went completely rigid, his grip on my waist tightening for a fraction of a second before he slowly pulled his head back. His dark eyes narrowed, his head tilting toward the apartment door.
I blinked, dazed and completely breathless, staring up at him in confusion. "Ren?"
"She’s in the driveway," he muttered, his voice low and tight.
I gasped, a sudden wave of panic washing over me as I realized what he meant. He always knew when his sister was close. It was that instinctual bond they shared.
Before I could even process the fear, he stepped back, completely breaking the contact and leaving my skin feeling freezing cold.
He walked over to the chair, picked up his leather jacket, and slid it back over his broad shoulders just as the sound of footsteps echoed down the hallway outside.
The door handle jiggled, and a second later, the front door swung open.
Neve walked in, carrying two large paper grocery bags, her face bright and flushed from the crisp evening air.
She stopped in her tracks, looking at Ren, and then at me. I was standing frozen by the couch, trying my best to look natural despite my flushed cheeks.
"Oh! Ren," Neve said, a wide, surprised smile breaking across her face as she set the groceries down on the counter.
"I didn’t know you were coming back over tonight. I thought you went home hours ago. Have you two been working on the digital files?"
"Just checking in," Ren said smoothly, his voice completely calm and controlled, his hard mask fully back in place. It was terrifying how quickly he could act like nothing had happened.
Neve looked between the two of us, her eyes lingering on my face for a split second before she clapped her hands together cheerfully.
"Well, it’s a good thing you’re here," Neve said, her eyes flashing with excitement.
"Because we are officially stopping all work for the rest of the night. I just got a text from some old colleagues downtown.
There’s a new club opening up tonight, and we are all going out. No excuses, Ren. You and Lumi are putting the laptops away, getting dressed up, and coming with me."
My stomach did a nervous, complicated flip. Going out to a quiet restaurant with Ren was one thing. But going to a crowded, loud, high-energy club with him, right after what had just happened between us in this living room, felt like playing with absolute fire.
...
"Absolutely not," I said, staring at my reflection in the full-length bedroom mirror while Neve stood behind me, looking entirely too proud of herself.
She had spent the last thirty minutes digging through her own luggage, determined to find something for me to wear to the club.
What she had come up with was a sleek, emerald-green silk dress that looked beautiful on the hanger, but on my body, it felt like an emergency.
It was cut dangerously low in the back, dropping all the way to my waist, and the front clung to every single curve of my hips before ending in a sharp slit right up the thigh.
"Lumi, stop it. You look absolutely incredible," Neve insisted, pulling at the straps to adjust how the silk fell against my chest.
"You’ve been hiding in cooperate weras for weeks. You are a gorgeous woman, and you are going out tonight to forget about Callum and have fun."
"It’s too revealing, Neve," I argued, my hands instinctively hovering over my bare sides. "I feel exposed. It’s not nice. I can’t wear this out in public."
Just then, the heavy front door of the apartment clicked open, followed by the thud of heavy boots in the hallway.
Ren was back again. He had left for an hour to go to his own place to change, and now he was waiting for us in the living room.
Before I could stop her, Neve gasped, a wicked spark of mischief lighting up her eyes. "Oh, perfect. Let’s get a second opinion."
"Neve, don’t you dare..."
She didn’t listen. She grabbed my wrist and practically dragged me out of the bedroom, pulling me down the short hallway before I could find a way to break free.
We burst into the living room, and my breath instantly caught in my throat. Ren was standing by the kitchen counter, holding a glass of water.
He had changed into a dark, tailored charcoal shirt with the top two buttons undone, and his hair was brushed back. The sharp cut of his clothes made him look even bigger, darker, and completely lethal.
"Ren, look," Neve called out, completely oblivious to the sudden, icy panic freezing the blood in my veins.
"Lumi thinks this dress is too much. Tell her she’s being ridiculous."
