Chapter 170 Reporting Work or Talking About Love
"Can't go out? Just say so," Tristan muttered, trying not to wake Katniss.
"You dumped the whole Gibson family investigation on me, and I sorted out the funding issue. What are you doing holed up at home? It's late, and you're still not up?" Nicholas grumbled, feeling like Tristan owed him at least a meal for all his hard work.
"Didn't sleep all night, catching up on rest," Tristan replied curtly.
The room was dark, and his deep, raspy voice cut through the quiet, sounding oddly satisfied.
"You don't get it," Tristan added.
Nicholas caught on immediately. "Messing with Katniss again? I'm telling you, if you keep this up, Katniss will..."
'If he keeps treating Katniss like this without giving her a proper status, she's gonna rebel, and then he won't even get to touch a strand of her hair!' Nicholas thought.
But he didn't say the rest. No way was he giving Tristan any more hints, especially if it meant Tristan and Katniss might end up together, leaving him single.
"This isn't bullying; it's mutual affection, a natural progression," Tristan said, holding Katniss tighter, feeling pretty pleased with himself.
"Mutual affection..." Nicholas was speechless.
Tristan's smirk grew wider. "Hasn't Saskia come to find you? Don't let her come back to Katniss's place these days."
"Seriously?" Nicholas was annoyed. So Tristan had kicked Saskia out?
The real kicker was, why hadn't Saskia come to find him?
"Tristan, you jerk, I'll be at the club at eight tonight. If you don't show, forget about finding out anything about the Gibson Family's funding!" After a long rant, Nicholas hung up.
Katniss stirred in his arms, her lips brushing against his chest. She slowly opened her eyes, her long lashes tickling his skin.
He loosened his grip, looked down at her, and asked, "Did I wake you?"
"Yeah." Katniss's hand rested on his waist, their bodies pressed together under the thin blanket.
She was still a bit groggy, trying to process his words from last night, "Be with me."
She looked up at his sexy Adam's apple moving. In a few seconds, his hoarse voice came from above, "Are you hungry? I'll make you something to eat."
After a night of passion, Katniss was indeed hungry. She moved to lie flat and said, "Yeah, go ahead."
Tristan grabbed her arm, making her turn to face him, and said, "Just like that?"
"What else?" Katniss shot back. "You always cooked for me before. Now that you've won me over, do you expect me to cook for you?"
He knew her cooking was beyond terrible. Actually, calling it terrible was being kind—it was downright awful!
Why else would Tristan always insist on getting up to cook after their nights together?
Even with his great stamina, it was clear he really didn't want to risk eating her food.
"Aren't you gonna give me a reward?" Tristan asked, looking at her seriously.
Katniss got the hint, met his eyes for a few seconds, then leaned in to kiss him, but when she tried to pull back, he hooked her waist with his hand.
He pulled her closer, deepening the kiss.
His breathing quickly became heavy.
After a night of passion and only a few hours of rest, Katniss felt his body's reaction and let out a few soft moans in protest.
She was exhausted. It wasn't their first all-nighter, but last night was different. He was more intense, making her respond and cooperate, which wore her out.
"Then rest a bit more." He held back, not wanting to push her too hard.
Tristan got out of bed and rummaged through the wardrobe for the clothes he had left there.
As he searched, he kept glancing back at Katniss, making her feel a bit guilty.
She thought he wasn't coming back, so she kept those clothes as a memento.
Seeing him pull out the clothes from the corner and put them on while looking at her, she quickly said, "I was worried someone else might see them."
"I'll believe you this time." Tristan's lips twitched slightly. He didn't argue and headed straight to the kitchen.
The bedroom door was open, and Katniss could hear him bustling in the kitchen from where she lay in bed.
She was fully awake now, convinced that last night wasn't a dream. She was really with Tristan.
Then she started wondering if this decision was right or wrong.
But then again, some things couldn't be measured by right or wrong.
Just like when she agreed to marry Tristan at Adelaide's request, it couldn't be measured by right or wrong!
Suddenly, her phone buzzed with a message.
Saskia: [You better give me a good explanation tonight.]
It seemed Nicholas had just spilled the beans. Katniss didn't reply, got out of bed with her sore body, put on a nightgown, and went to take a shower.
It was close to New Year's, and the nights in Nightfall City were a bit chilly, so they hadn't opened the window last night.
But their lovemaking had made them sweat, and Katniss's long hair was still damp.
Twenty minutes later, she came out of the bathroom, and the room was filled with the delicious aroma of food.
She sat down at the dining table, where an extra set of utensils had been laid out. The porridge was still steaming, and the aroma was mouthwatering.
"You eat first, I'll go freshen up," Tristan said.
He took off his apron, gently gathered her long hair, and bent down to kiss her forehead.
His deep eyes reflected her bare face, a faint smile on his lips. He turned to hang up the apron before heading to the bathroom.
Everything was made just the way Katniss liked it. She was starving and dug in with gusto.
When he returned, he sat down next to her, took an egg from the plate, peeled it, and placed it in her bowl.
"Do you need to go to the education center later?" Tristan asked.
"Yeah." Katniss nodded. "I need to prepare two lesson plans and then go to the Wilson Family for tutoring in the evening."
Hearing this, Tristan frowned. "I'll drive you."
She was quite busy, and they probably wouldn't see each other until the evening.
Katniss took a bite of the egg and mumbled, "No need, I'll drive myself. It's easier for me to come back on my own in the evening."
She always preferred convenience and wasn't one to be fussy.
When they weren't together, she could go to and from work by herself, and it was the same now that they were together.
But Tristan didn't see it that way. He wished he could fire Ryan and have Katniss come back as his assistant.
That way, they could be together all the time, and he could see her whenever he looked up.
"I'll drive you," he insisted.
Seeing this, Katniss could only agree. "Alright, but let's not make a big deal out of it. I don't want everyone to know."
Although many people already knew Tristan was with a tutor, at least the teachers at her institution didn't know yet.
"Other than Nicholas, whether anyone else knows is up to you," Tristan said.
Tristan's situation was quite special, and it wasn't suitable to make it public.
They would wait a bit longer, but he wouldn't make Katniss wait too long.
He didn't eat much, mostly taking care of Katniss. When he saw porridge on her lips, he would wipe it off with a napkin.
After thinking it over, Tristan decided to meet Nicholas after dropping Katniss off at the education center.
In the afternoon, he called Nicholas, but there was no answer, so he went straight to Nicholas's apartment.
After knocking twice, he heard someone inside cursing and coming to the door. "Who's interrupting me?"
Nicholas was holding up his pants with one hand, shirtless, with a scratch on his neck.
From the entrance to upstairs, there were women's high heels and dresses scattered around.
It was obvious what he had been doing.
"If you want to get back to it, stop wasting time and tell me who's behind the Gibson Family's funding chain break."
Tristan didn't step inside, just leaned against the door frame, his indifferent gaze sweeping over Nicholas's lower half.
He let out a light scoff.
Nicholas's body tensed up inexplicably. "Didn't we agree to meet tonight?"
"Tonight, I'm busy." He had to take Katniss to her tutoring session, and it would be late by the time he got back from the Wilson Family.
Besides, wasn't there something better to do at night than meet Nicholas?
Nicholas gritted his teeth in frustration. "Michael. Samuel has been here these past few days to handle this!"
Hearing this, Tristan's deep eyes darkened. "Got it, carry on."
He turned and went back to his car, buckled his seatbelt, and called Ryan. "Check out the recent activities of the Astor Family."
"Huh?" The sudden order left Ryan stunned for a few seconds. "We're in Nightfall City, why check on the Astor Family?"
Tristan snapped, "Just do it. Do you want to keep your job or not?"
"I'll get right on it!" Ryan hung up, puzzled.
He felt his job was becoming less stable. But he hadn't done anything wrong!
Katniss arrived at the education center at one in the afternoon and immediately started working on her lesson plans.
Each lesson plan took at least half an hour to record, and she recorded two in one go.
When she finally checked her phone, she saw a message from Tristan sent forty minutes ago:
[What time are you going to the Wilson Family tonight? I'll pick you up.]
Katniss planned to catch a ride with a colleague to the Wilson Family after work, saving Tristan a trip.
She told Tristan this honestly.
Within seconds of sending the message, Tristan called.
"Whose car are you riding in? A man or a woman?" he asked.
Katniss's mind went blank for a few seconds, realizing something was off. She quickly said, "I was joking with you. I'm not riding with anyone. Donna's tutoring session got rescheduled. I'll go at five and be back by seven."
"Then wait for me at five," Tristan said without hesitation.
Feeling a sense of relief, Katniss sighed, "Got it, bye."
"Wait." On the other end, Tristan's dissatisfied voice came through, "Katniss, are you reporting to me or talking to your boyfriend?"
His tone was so formal, it was more mechanical than a GPS voice.
Katniss wasn't the type to act coy. Maybe she had unintentionally shown a softer side before, but now being asked to act coy felt awkward.
"I'm busy," she muttered softly. Her tone wasn't exactly sweet, but it was better than before.
"I'll let you off this time. Practice at home tonight." Tristan hung up, his lips unconsciously curling into a smile reflected on the dark phone screen.
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