Billionaire's Perfect Revenge [18+]

FIFTY SIX

*A Few Hours Before Armonica's Abduction*

[BRANDON]

"What are you doing here?"

Armonica stood on my front porch. I had no clue why. But seeing her in the dead of night, something hurled in the pit of my stomach. From head to toe, she was soaking wet, her entire body trembling against the cold outside. If she said something in response, I failed to hear it. Against my better judgment, I opened the doors of my home for her, led her inside and into the living room.

"Brandon!" Her voice trembled as she spoke.

"Save it!" Rushing into my bedroom, I returned with some dry towels. Then I went into the room Zara used to stay in before she got herself a new place. I knew she kept some spares just in case. Once I found a pair of sweatpants and a t-shirt, I laid them on the bed and went back outside.

Armonica was in the middle of drying her hair. She paused when our eyes met.

"You can use that room." I told her, gesturing at the room behind my back. "There are some dry clothes you can change into."

"Brandon." She tried again, and I felt a slight tease of irritation biting at the back of my neck.

"Can you for once do what I say?" I snapped.

I didn't mean to be rude—I wasn't usually—but weird things were happening lately. I was far from knowing what they were, what they meant, or what I was supposed to do with them. It was taking everything in me to keep them suppressed, too afraid to let them out and not be able to take them back.

To my utter relief, she clamped her mouth shut and gave me a nod.

Ten minutes and seven seconds later, the door of Zara's room opened and Armonica walked out. She looked much better now. Her long, dark hair was still an uncombed mess, but it had dried to a great extent. Meaning, she had used the hairdryer I had left on the bed as well.

Gnawing on her bottom lip, Armonica shifted from one foot to another. Her dark eyes were restless as she tugged at the hem of the T-shirt and swallowed again and again.

I was in the kitchen, done preparing some hot coffee for both of us.

"Brandon."

"Here." Pushing the steaming coffee mug across the kitchen island, I ignored her deliberately. I wanted to ask what the hell happened, but hesitation forced me to keep my mouth shut. I wasn't sure if it was my place to know. I wasn't sure if she would want me to ask. A lot had changed since we met last time.

Lowering her beautiful dark eyes to the counter, she wrapped her delicate fingers around the mug and drew it to herself.

We drank coffee in silence.

I hated this silence more than anything.

"So..." after a long gap of painful silence, she muttered, her eyes glued to the band of ring around my finger. "...I heard. You're engaged now. I believe congratulations are in order."

If she thought I was unaware of her presence at the engagement party, she was wrong. I had seen her. She had company. I assumed he was the fiancé she conveniently forgot to mention anything about.

"What are you doing here, Armonica?" I asked. Shouldn't she be with her man, whatever his name was?

"I...I wanted to talk to you."

"Ah, that explains everything," I said thoughtfully; as if that made every sense in the world. It didn't. "But you didn't have to throw yourself in a pool for it. Don't you think it was a bit too much?"