Chapter 2 A Deal.

“What… Why…?” My mouth opened and closed. To say that I was confused was an understatement for what I was feeling.

I felt utterly perplexed that my mind refused to piece together the words dancing in my mind.

“Who did you say you were?” I asked after what seemed like forever.

“Calix Vaughn… Jamiel’s uncle.” He answered, his voice lowered an octave when mentioning his nephew’s name.

That woke me up from my mental fog, and I pushed him away. I only realized how much warmth his body provided once I stepped back.

“What do you want from me? Jamiel’s not here.”

First, my voice sounded accusative. Then, second, it sounded sharper and more bitter than I intended. I crossed my arms in front of my chest and rubbed my arms.

His head tilted ever so slightly; I almost didn’t catch it. His eyes traveled from my eyes down to my arms.

“Let’s go somewhere more appropriate.” He suggested and grabbed my hand, forcing me to hold his umbrella before walking ahead of me.

I watched him saunter in the rain, as if it wasn't pouring. His suit, which looked unnecessarily expensive, was starting to get wet. I wasn’t so heartless as to let the man become a soaked kitten.

I ran after him, holding the umbrella higher than I normally did.

“It's fine.” He said, not slowing his strides.

“It's yours. I should be the one getting wet instead.” I argued back, lifting it a little higher when his hair got caught on one of the umbrella's ribs.

I frowned when my arm started to cramp. I kept switching my line of sight from the distance between his hair and the umbrella to what's in front of us.

A single step from him earned two strides from me. I didn’t know if he was just tall or if my legs were too short, because what the hell?

“Can you slow down?” I blurted and grabbed his sleeve, pulling him back beside me when he took one step, covering a meter of distance.

“Oh, sorry.” He said, his eyes catching my arms stretched upwards just so we could share his umbrella.

He pressed his lips into a thin line and took the damned thing from my hands. Oh, what a sweet relief for my muscles, but I wasn’t about to show him that.

We reached his car, and he opened the door for me.

I unknowingly clenched my hands at my sides and looked at the dim inside of his car.

“Get in.”

I flinched when I heard his raspy voice so close behind. I felt his large palms pressing on my back, gently pushing me inside. His hand was so warm. No, his body heat felt burning… maybe because I was so cold from the rain?

I went in, and he followed. I had thought we’d only stay inside to shelter from the rain. But then we could have taken shelter at the ice arena.

Then, the engine roared to life.

“Why are you turning it on?” I asked, my words almost came out jumbled from how fast I spoke.

“Are we supposed to talk while we’re both wet?”

There was no malicious tone in his voice, but, for some reason, it sounded weird in my ears.

“Yes. Unless we talk here now, then I’m not going with you.”

“You don’t have to worry, Miss Russo. I don’t plan to hurt you, or do anything you wouldn’t like.”

I let out a loud scoff before I could stop it from coming out of my mouth. “You’re a Vaughn, Mister Calix. Did you really think I would believe you just because you say so?”

He didn’t answer. The silence stretched between us, thick and suffocating. The rain poured harder outside, but it was all muffled inside his car. And I hated it.

I hated that my heart pounded so fast in my chest, thudding so loud in my ears. I sat perched on his passenger seat, close to the car door.

He stepped on the pedal, revving his car’s engine. And before I could protest, he made the car fly out of the parking lot.

“Hey! I said I’m not going anywhere with you!” I held onto my seat, scrambling away to put my seatbelt on.

“You’ve already said your piece,” he said, a small smirk forming at the sides of his lips. “ You don’t trust me because I’m a Vaughn? Good. I don’t need to waste my breath pretending, then.”

I shut my eyes. I didn’t wanna look as he overtook cars, even within the slightest spaces between two, earning frustrated horns from them, left in the distance. He had seriously made the car fly so fast that it felt like my soul was getting left behind.

When he turned off the engine, I didn’t even look around to see where we were. I got out of the car so fast.

I was just glad to have survived that.

“Miss Russo.”

I snapped at him, a glare prepared to shoot at him. But when I saw him, my lips trembled slightly, my eyes traveling over his body that his soaked white shirt had made see-through.

He cleared his throat, and I immediately looked away.

“Shall we go up?” He asked. I could see from my peripheral vision how a small smile was on his face as he tilted his head to the side.

I scanned the place; we were in some building’s underground parking. Sports cars lined up perfectly.

“I’m not going anywhere. Let’s talk here.”

He sighed and brushed his hair back, loosening a few buttons in his shirt.

“Did Jamiel do something to make you cry in the rain like that?” He asked.

“My relationship with Jamiel has got nothing to do with you.”

“It will.” He fired back; his voice sounded firm and carried finality in it.

The certainty in his voice made my stomach churn. Not ‘might’ or ‘could. Will.

“What makes you so certain?”

He didn’t answer and just looked at me for a couple of seconds.

“Don’t you wanna take revenge?” Finally, he asked.

Revenge.

The word hung at the end of my tongue. Would getting revenge make me feel better? No, that wasn’t the right question.

“Why do you care if I do get revenge? Shouldn’t you stop me instead of urging me on? Jamiel’s your nephew after all.” I said as a matter of fact.

“I have no intention of playing house with him. He messed up, and that’s on him.”

I stared at his face. God, I couldn’t read the man. His face was hard, stoic. His tone didn’t reveal anything he was thinking.

“Revenge.” The word tasted sweet on my tongue. “Then… shall we make a deal?”