Chapter 73_ Plot Soup

On getting to the hotel room, Arya saw Kane reading a newspaper in the chair. She walked towards him with a smile. “Hi.” Kane responded from behind the newspaper and kept reading without even looking at her.

‘What the hell? Is that article more interesting than I am?’ Arya mused as she put down her handbag and took off her shoes. “How was your day?" she asked.

“Usual." Kane answered without looking at her, and she furrowed her brows.

“Are… are you tired?” she said, and Kane held the newspaper tightly, still not bothering to look up at her.

"Maybe.”

‘What the hell is going on with him? I need to take a test,’ Arya thought and went to lie on the bed, arching her back, sensual and provocative. She purred, “And what about my daily dose of Kane?”

“I'm not in the mood," Kane answered, and Arya was left speechless as she mused silently, ‘This is a first.’ She jumped from the bed, walked straight to Kane, and snatched the newspaper from his hands.

“What the hell is going on? What's with the sulkiness?” Arya asked, putting her hands on her hips.

"I'm not sulky. I'm freaking furious, Arya,” Kane yelled, and Arya flinched slightly at his tone. This was the first time Kane was really angry at her, and he was even yelling. Her heart raced as her mind flashed to the movie date they were supposed to go on. Was he angry because of that?’ she mused inwardly.

"For what? The movie date?" she asked, slightly annoyed that he had yelled at her.

“It's a movie, Arya. I couldn't care less about it, but it's freaking 10 PM! I called you twenty times. You never answered, and you never even thought about letting me know that you were okay. I was worried for fuck’s sake!” Kane said as he took deep breaths to restrain the anger boiling in his veins.

“I-I was working,” Arya murmured softly, lowering her head to the ground.

"I know you were working, but you are not a bloody underwater welder, are you? How hard is it to spare a teeny tiny minute to let your boyfriend know that you're not dead and that you will be late?” he said, and Arya glanced up at him with a guilty expression etched on her face.

"I… I don't know, I—-"

“You don't care about me, that's what's going on. Should I go find another girlfriend or what?” Kane said, and tears welled up in Arya's eyes.

“How can you say something like that to me?” Arya whispered softly, and Kane froze up as if he had just realized what he had said.

“I… I’m sorry. That was just my fuckhead mouth getting in the mix. That was bullshit to say. I– It feels like work is one hundred percent of your life right now… and I’m nothing.” he said, and Arya moved closer to him, looking him straight in the eye.

“Now promise I'll never hear bullshit like that from you unless you really mean it,” Arya demanded, and Kane cocked his brow at her.

"Only if you promise you won't forget about me for twelve hours straight anymore,” Kane said, and Arya nodded at him.

"Fine…” she said.

“Fine…” Kane repeated, as they stared into each other's eyes like it was a blink-first challenge. After some moments, both of them grabbed each other in anger and excitement, kissing, touching, and squeezing like they wanted to eat each other alive. As the fire of passion started rising and mixing with the anger in Arya's chest, she bit hard on Kane’s lips, dragging her nails into his shoulders.

Kane didn't flinch at her bite and bit back, digging his teeth into her lip.
“Mmm." Arya yelped as she kissed him deeper, hungrier, and more passionately.

Kane pushed her against the wall and lifted her up. Arya held onto his hair and bit his lip again, making Kane chuckle. “You feel more like a wolf than a tigress today.”

“That's because I kind of want to eat you alive, so that no one else can have you,” Arya said, her amber eyes blazing as she pounced on him again. Kane tried to pull back, but Arya held him tight as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pulled him closer.

“That was the last one, I promise.” Arya got closer and put a soft kiss on his lips. “Don’t ever say that to me again. Okay?”

Kane nodded and gave her a peck on the nose. “I won't," he answered, and despite his assurance, Arya could still feel the sting of the idea of another girl touching Kane. It almost came as a surprise to her; she didn't know she could feel jealous over what he said to her, as she had never been possessive with someone before.

Kane went back to the chair, giving Arya some space, and said, “Would you like to tell me what kept you so busy today?”

Arya sighed at his words and answered, “I don't even know where to start. Everything is a mess. Victoria is constantly bullied by the other two managers. And it's like no one is taking care of delivering the damn car.”

“That's quite ironic. The name Victoria literally means victory, and she's constantly crushed,” Kane said, and Arya widened her eyes.

"Really?” she asked, and when Kane nodded, she continued, "And what do the other names mean?”

“Well, Lewis means ‘the warrior’...” Kane said.

“I see… It works great with his ego. That guy has a huge crush on himself,” Arya said, and Kane narrowed his eyes.

"Maybe not just on himself. Maybe he likes Victoria as well,” Kane said thoughtfully.

"Then why does he have a go at her on every occasion?" Arya asked with a frown.

Kane shrugged. "Men act in a weird manner when they like someone. I was completely out of my mind when I met you.”

"Let's put a veil of mercy over how you behaved when I met you. Tell me what Martina means.”

"It means ‘belong to Mars, the god of warriors.’ It's a warrior name,” Kane said, and Arya nodded her head as she watched Kane go to his desk and open his laptop.

“Maybe in their personal files we can find something to keep that bunch of grown-up kids in line. I have remote access from here,” Kane said as he gave Arya his laptop to go through their files, jumping over the regular stuff until she pointed at the screen.

“Hey, look at this! Both Lewis and Victoria were transferred from the Naples office within a few months,” Arya exclaimed, and Kane leaned forward to look at the screen.

“So they knew each other before arriving here,” he said.

“Apparently so. Victoria has a daughter as well. I hope she can stand up for herself better than her mom,” Arya said, and Kane’s brows pulled together.

"And what about this thing that Martina goes off the grid in the same period every year?” Kane asked.

“I don't know, but the plot thickens.”

“Well, we’ll sip through this plot soup one spoon at a time. Now why don't you hit the bed? It's been quite a day,” Kane said, and Arya raised her brows.

"Aren't you joining me?” she asked.

"Unfortunately, no. While studying the drawings, I found out that those geniuses in our tech department made a car and an engine that don't match. I found a solution that will work to put together the concept car, but I have some math to check and some suppliers to research online,” Kane explained, and Arya widened her eyes.

‘Wow! He found out about the engine all by himself and already has a solution for it?’ Arya mused silently, her eyes brimming with admiration for him.

“Alright," she nodded and gave Kane a goodnight kiss as she headed to the bed. As her body hit the soft mattress, Arya felt herself relaxing, and it didn't take her long before she allowed sleep to take over her.