Chapter 150 Avoiding People Like Tristan
"You don't care if he dies early, go ahead and take care of him," Tristan shot back without even turning around.
'What's going on in her head?' he wondered.
Katniss finished dabbing medicine on the last scratch and tossed the cotton swab in the trash.
After a few beats of silence, she said, "But no matter what, I gotta go check on Aaron at the hospital. Who knows how he's holding up?"
Thinking about Aaron, who got jumped by a bunch of guys yesterday but didn't make a peep, and who could've bailed but stuck around for her, she couldn't help but worry.
Aaron reminded her of Rupert.
"I'll take you there later," Tristan said, messing with his phone, scrolling through some messages. Whatever he saw made his eyebrows knit together.
Katniss glanced down at the shirt she was wearing and said, "I don't have any clothes here."
"Wait for Nicholas and the others to show up. Tell Saskia what you need." Tristan stood up and gave her a sideways look.
Seeing those long, slender legs under the black shirt made his Adam's apple bob.
Last night, those legs seriously messed with his game.
So he wasn't totally satisfied.
But he pushed down his body's restlessness, went into the bathroom to wash up, and seemed to remember something as he pulled out a new set of toiletries from the cabinet.
"Come wash up. They'll be here soon." His tone left no room for argument.
Katniss hesitated for a few seconds before heading in. The sink was big enough for two.
Tristan left her half the space, where the brand-new toiletries had a bit of a feminine touch.
She quietly went over, unwrapped the toothbrush, squeezed some toothpaste, and started brushing.
In the mirror, their every move was reflected. He glanced at Katniss, who was a head shorter than him, and raised an eyebrow slightly.
Half an hour later, Tristan came down from the second floor and unlocked the fingerprint lock. Nicholas and Saskia had already come in.
He lazily walked over and pointed upstairs, saying, "She's in the first room on the left on the second floor."
"Got it," Saskia nodded and went upstairs with the clothes for Katniss.
Tristan, meanwhile, lounged on the sofa, fiddling with his phone, and his thin lips curved slightly as if he thought of something amusing.
Nicholas plopped down next to him and said, "Look at you, all happy. Have you thought about how you're stuck in Nightfall City and have pissed off the Ortiz Family? What's your plan?"
Tristan barely lifted his eyelids and said, "I have no idea."
"Don't say I didn't warn you. Got a call from my dad this morning. He told me not to give you a dime," Nicholas said, crossing his legs and sniffing. "He probably figured I'd help you out, so he froze my assets. Now, thanks to you, I gotta ask my dad just to get some bread."
Tristan's brows furrowed, and a serious look crossed his face.
"Scared now?" Nicholas said with a smirk. "To make things worse, the only family in Nightfall City that can fund your project is the Gibson Family. And guess what? Mr. Gibson is Stanley's uncle."
So, getting Tony Gibson to invest was a dead end.
Upstairs, Saskia's gaze made Katniss super uncomfortable as soon as she walked in.
She grabbed the clothes and went into the walk-in closet to change. When she came out, she was fuming. "What kind of clothes did you buy?"
The square-neck dress didn't cover any of the marks on her body!
Saskia grinned, "That wild, huh? We're all adults here, what's the big deal?"
Katniss's ears turned bright red, and she tried pulling up the neckline, but it didn't help much.
"Hey, tell me, is Tristan good in bed?" Saskia asked in a hushed tone.
Her serious demeanor clashed with the topic.
Katniss rolled her eyes impatiently, not planning to answer.
Saskia switched gears. "I've heard that guys with high-bridged noses are better in bed. Is that true? You've had a lot of guys after you this past year and turned them all down. Still thinking about Tristan? Do you want to sleep with him or do you really want to be with him?"
"Enough!" Katniss grabbed something and threw it at Saskia. "He's not as great as you think. At best, he's average, and I don't want to sleep with him!"
She glared at Saskia and said, "If you're so curious, go try Nicholas yourself. Don't ask me!"
Saskia grinned but then noticed Tristan standing at the door, and her smile faded. She said sheepishly, "I just wanted some tips from you."
"Since you asked, I'll tell you. Stay away from guys like Tristan. He's got bad character and is lousy in bed. Let's go downstairs."
Katniss harbored some resentment but didn't dare to complain in front of Tristan, so she vented to Saskia behind his back.
But as soon as she finished speaking and turned around, she realized she had complained right in front of Tristan.
Saskia stood up, gave Katniss a "good luck" look, and quickly left.
Tristan's eyes narrowed slightly, a half-smile playing on his lips. "Looks like my client isn't happy with my service. Guess I'll have to step up my game."
There was a dangerous edge to his tone that made Katniss instinctively take a couple of steps back, her brows knitting together.
The noon sunlight streamed through the floor-to-ceiling windows, casting a golden glow on Katniss. The patches of kiss marks on her collarbone made Tristan frown involuntarily.
After a moment of thought, he went into the walk-in closet and pulled out one of his T-shirts.
"Put this on," he said, a bit annoyed.
Katniss took it and put it on without a fuss. It was big, but she tied a knot in the T-shirt, and paired with a casual skirt, it didn't look too bad.
When they went downstairs, Nicholas and Saskia were already gone.
Tristan whipped up some simple food, and then they headed to the hospital together.
In the VIP ward, they found Aaron and Ryan. Both were in hospital gowns, sharing the same room.
Aaron had some injuries on his face and, from what she heard, a sprained foot. He was sitting on the hospital bed and tried to get down when he saw her, but quickly stopped and awkwardly turned his head away.
Ryan, on the other hand, looked completely fine, not a hair out of place, making it hard to see why he needed to be hospitalized.
Noticing Katniss's confusion, Ryan rolled up his wide sleeve. He pointed to his wrist, which was wrapped in layers of bandages, and said, "I hurt my hand."
She placed her bag on the sofa and went to Aaron's bedside, while Ryan was called out of the room by a look from Tristan.
"Are you stupid?" With no one else around, Aaron couldn't hold back his temper and started berating Katniss.
"We're not related, why did you come to save me? If you hadn't come, I would've just suffered a bit. Stanley wouldn't have killed me," Aaron said.
Katniss didn't say anything, just quietly listened to him vent.
"Next time something like this happens, don't come!" Aaron finished and spat a few times into the air. "There won't be a next time!"
Seeing this, Katniss laughed. "You learned this from your grandma, didn't you? Saying unlucky things and then spitting to ward off bad luck."
Aaron's young face was filled with displeasure. "What's so funny? My grandma said there's a God in the sky. If you say something wrong, you have to spit so God doesn't hear it!"
"Yes, your grandma is right," Katniss said, sitting down on a chair. "But didn't your grandma also tell you to study hard?"
Aaron glared at her a few times before falling silent.
Katniss smiled, "Now that everything's fine, it's a win-win. Why are you so mad? Besides, you're a kid, and we're adults. We have our ways of solving problems."
"If Tristan hadn't come, how would you have solved it?" Aaron sneered. "Jump out of the window?"
Katniss realized Aaron was sharp and could read her thoughts from her subtle expressions.
She said sheepishly, "Anyway, I didn't jump, and the problem is solved."
Aaron snorted, "You only solved the Stanley issue. I just heard Mr. Gray take a lot of calls. Because you pissed off the Ortiz Family, Tristan's in trouble!"
Katniss remembered Saskia mentioning that Tristan was in hot water, and now it seemed even worse.
She bit her lip and looked at the door, where Tristan's silhouette was faintly visible through the glass.
The door was slightly ajar, and she could hear Tristan and Ryan talking, though she couldn't make out the words. Ryan's voice sounded somewhat urgent.
"By the way, I want to be discharged," Aaron complained. "The doctor already said I could leave. Why won't you let me go home?"
Katniss turned to look at him and asked, "The doctor said you could be discharged?"
"Yeah, Mr. Gray was about to handle the discharge paperwork, but then he didn't. And then he got himself admitted!" Aaron said, clearly puzzled.
Even Katniss, an adult, couldn't figure out what was going on.
As they both sat in silence, the door to the ward opened, and Ryan walked in with a smile, grabbed his phone from the bed, and turned to leave.
Suddenly realizing something was off, he quickly switched the phone to his unbandaged hand.
He glanced back at Katniss guiltily, seeing her staring at him.
He grinned and said, "Oh, I forgot I was injured. This habit of mine might cause a secondary injury. I need to take better care of myself."
Then, he left the room.
After a while, they returned to the ward. Ryan sat back on his bed and said, "Thanks for visiting, Mr. Forbes and Ms. Grey. Don't worry, I'll take good care of myself and Aaron."
"It's no trouble," Katniss said. "It's Mr. Gray who has been taking care of Aaron."
No matter what, Stanley targeting Aaron was a way to get to her, and she felt guilty about it.
"It's my duty," Ryan said, glancing at Tristan's face. "So, Ms. Grey, can you cover for me for a bit? Including work-related matters and Mr. Forbes's personal affairs. You've done it before, so I'm sure you'll handle it well."
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