Total pages in book: 69
Estimated words: 66062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 66062 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 330(@200wpm)___ 264(@250wpm)___ 220(@300wpm)
There was a moment’s pause. If Hakim was surprised by his question, he didn’t let it show. “Yes,” he said. “He was seen entering the home theater half an hour ago, but we don’t have cameras inside the room.”
Zain’s shoulders relaxed a little. He got out of the elevator, heading toward his helicopter. “Put two men outside the room. All of you are to be on high alert. Security must be tightened. I’ll have Abdullah brief you.”
“Yes, Sheikh.”
Zain hung up and got into the helicopter. “Home,” he said. “As fast as possible.”
Despite his instructions, the ride seemed to last longer than normal, and he felt wound up by the end of it.
The home theater was guarded by two security guards.
“Return to your normal posts,” Zain ordered before pushing the door open.
Aiden was seated on the floor in front of the TV, a pair of headphones covering his ears, gripping a controller in his hands. There was an endearing look of concentration on his face: his brows furrowed, his full lips pursed tightly, eyes glaring at what was happening on the screen.
He didn’t hear Zain enter, of course. Anyone could have entered and stolen him.
Zain grimaced, trying to eradicate the thought. Aiden wouldn’t be stolen. He had to be Zain’s first in order to be stolen from him, which was the line of thinking that was… that he had been trying to eradicate for months.
Aiden must have noticed him in his peripheral vision—he turned his head and smiled widely. “Zain! You’re back!”
Zain stared at that smile for a moment before clearing his throat and clasping his hands behind him. “I am.” He wanted to ask Aiden whether he’d seen anything suspicious around the house, but that would give away that there was a problem.
The problem wouldn’t exist if you’d gotten rid of him immediately after you decided to do so. It’s been months.
His lips thinning, Zain walked closer and sat down on the couch behind Aiden. The younger man immediately leaned back, resting his cheek against Zain’s knee as he resumed playing his game.
Zain stared at him. He didn’t move his leg away.
He utterly despised this—what he’d been turned into. By a boy, no less. Zain had never been one to hesitate. Once he made a decision, it was carried out. Until Aiden.
His decision to let Aiden go didn’t seem to matter. He didn’t seem capable of following through. If he were honest, it wasn’t all that hard to get Aiden out of the country. With his connections, he could accomplish it within days. He’d already done it for Aiden’s friends last month, which had earned him a bone-crushing hug from Aiden—and an adoring look that made him beyond uncomfortable. Uncomfortable and greedy for more. The fact that Aiden hadn’t questioned why Zain was able to get his friends out of the country so easily but couldn’t do the same for him was something Zain was grateful for—because he had no satisfactory answer.
He simply didn’t want to do it.
That was the crux of the issue.
He didn’t want to let Aiden go. Just imagining putting Aiden on a plane and never again being on the receiving end of his smiles, touches, and lighthearted, teasing chatter made a vicious feeling twist his stomach into a hard, toxic knot. He’d never experienced this sort of possessiveness before. He felt like a dragon hoarding his treasure jealously, ready to breathe fire at whoever threatened to take it away. It was ridiculous and unacceptable. And a million other things.
“All right, I’m done,” Aiden said, switching the PlayStation off. The mere existence of this stupid console was proof of how bad things had gotten: Aiden had briefly mentioned wanting to play a new Spider-Man game, and Zain had bought him the console—and the collector’s edition of the game.
Aiden crawled into Zain’s lap and looped his arms around his neck. “Hey,” he said with a small, fond smile. “What’s got you brooding now?”
Fond. He had no business looking at him this way. Sometimes Zain wanted to shake him. He might not have kidnapped Aiden himself, but he had treated him horribly at the beginning. Zain didn’t deserve this fondness. He didn’t deserve these soft smiles.
He still craved them like a thirsty man craved water in the desert. He wanted everything—every smile, every millimeter of skin, every molecule.
“You’re weirding me out,” Aiden said with a soft laugh.
“Stop that,” Zain bit out.
Aiden blinked. Cocking his head to the side, he looked at him curiously. “Stop what?”
“Stop being—” He cut himself off. It wasn’t the language barrier. He’d never spoken as much English in his life as he had done this year. The language came naturally to him these days. No, it was… He didn’t want to put his thoughts into words. Make them real. Make it obvious how bad this shit was.