Liar Liar Billionaires

22. Conversations

Nathaniel jolted out of his slumber when a whimpering voice pierced his ears. At first, he was a bit out of it, but within a few seconds of darting his eyes across the room, he finally remembered where he was.

And the whimpering returned.

Swiftly, his head snapped towards Chloe, who was stirring in her sleep. Hurriedly, he approached Chloe’s hospital bed and placed his palm against her forehead. Despite the swift treatments the medics gave her, her skin was still very hot to the touch.

And she was mumbling things, her fingers not letting go of the sheets covering her.

Now more worried, Nathaniel leaned closer for a better view of her face. He instantly caught sight of streaking tears, and he frowned. Ever since he found her struggling to move in her room, she had been holding back tears. While it was some sort of relief to see her shed the tears, he worried whether the illness was the reason or something else.

After a chest-heaving sigh, without intending to, his hand reached to graze her soft cheek.

And slowly, as though it were a dangerous valley, he set a finger over her line of tears and wiped them off.

Then, his gaze found her lips, and he smiled.

Recalling the night they kissed came easily to him. And he desired to repeat that moment even though he wished to erase the memory.

"No," Chloe’s whimpers returned. "No, don't. Don't go." The tears flowed harder. "Please, brother..." Her terrified expression then fell, and her body stopped moving aggressively.

Nathaniel slowly stood straight, his eyes never leaving the woman whose face seemed even sadder than it was moments ago.

He was already thinking of waking her up to hug her when he withdrew with caution.

He was gradually getting attached to her… And he didn’t like that fact. Liking someone wasn’t something he was used to.

But, at the same time, he couldn’t help it.

He wanted her; he knew that so well.

However, after recent analysis of his emotions, he realised he wasn’t willing to accept the drama and craziness that could arise from exploring his desire and wanting.

So, with a dragged exhale, Nathaniel stole one more look at a now peaceful Chloe. And he walked out of the room seconds later.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"You don’t look like a tomato anymore. Good,” Amir rose from his seat and greeted Chloe, who had just opened her eyes after many hours of restorative sleep. “How are you?”

Her eyes shifted across the room. “I am in the hospital, aren’t I?”

"Yes."

Her shoulders slumped.

That was the reason she had the nightmares. But she didn’t brood over her hatred for hospitals and the things it did to her. She decided to man up and act like she wasn’t in her version of hell.

After pinching her eyes close, then open, she asked, “Where is Nathaniel?”

"He was gone when I came this morning."

"Oh."

"Why ?" His brows jerked in teasing. "You don’t want me here? You want your lover?”

"He is not my lover. Please," she quickly replied, her eyes maintaining a little frown.

"You do know that he didn't mean to sound so rude the other day, right?" Amir asked with a serious tone.

"Don’t excuse his rudeness." Her fingers played with each other. "I know he was worried, but there were better words he could have used."

"You are right. But I hope you don’t hold it against him.”

Chloe, who was feeling a lot better, ignored what he said, looked up at Amir and said, "Thank you, Amir."

Gently patting her shoulder, he replied, "Anything for a friend." A short silence full of small smiles ensued before Amir said, "Sebastian found out who the man on the tape is."

Chloe's senses fully came alive. For a second, she had forgotten that she had a mission to conquer.

"Who is he?" she asked.

"That is of no importance." Chloe's mind damned his statement. She needed every piece of information, no matter how irrelevant. "What is important is what he does and who he works for."

She frowned. "He works for someone?"

"Yes. He has no reason to frame me. Trust me, I checked."

"Huh..." Chloe wondered where their bits and bits of discovery would lead them to.

"Sebastian is keeping a watch on him. Soon we will know who he reports to."

"What are you guys murmuring about? " Gabriel cut short what Chloe was about to say. When he came to her bed, he faced Amir, "Surely you aren't trying to steal her from me."

Amir scoffed. "Please, if I wanted to, I would have weeks ago."

"Err..." Chloe pushed a finger up. "I doubt that. There’s a reason I refused to sleep with you back then.”

"You are cruel. Why do you have to bring that up?"

Chloe threw Amir a silly smile.

"Well, you heard the lady. So, don't even think of it."

"Oh, please, we all know Nathaniel's her man," Amir replied to Gabriel.

"Not for long."

"You guys do know I am right here, yeah?"

"Yes, cupcake." Gabriel faced her with a huge smile that boldened his features. Or maybe it was his packed hair that made that effect. "How are you feeling?"

"Better actually." She watched as Amir went to get a chair for Gabriel from the other end of the large room. "I can’t wait to be out of here."

Gabriel chuckled as he sat down. "Don't rush your recovery, cupcake. Your health is the most important. And to elevate your health, I got you cupcakes." Chloe's eyes grew excited. With a brow jerked, she quietly wondered where the cupcakes were. "Yeah… I ate them all."

"Gabriel! Why would you tell me you got cupcakes if you’ve eaten them?” Chloe’s taste buds had anticipated some cupcake sweetness when he mentioned his gift, so her disappointment was not fake.

Gabriel, who seemed to be focused on teasing her, replied, "Because I wanted you to know I did."

Chloe shook her head at him.

"Gabriel, are you serious about what you said in the conversation room yesterday?" Amir, who had his eyes narrowed, suddenly asked his friend.

"Yes. I have grown to like Chloe a lot." Gabriel's eyes did not leave hers as he responded.

Amir gave a short laugh. It wasn't a very pleasant one. "Even though you know that Nathaniel likes her too?"

"He… I want-"

"Why do you want to ruin this for him? We both know it’s rare for Nathaniel to wish to try dating someone.”

"Can't I be selfish just this once?" Gabriel faced Amir. "Can't I try to reach out to someone I like for once without being questioned or asked to sit pretty?"

Amir gave no response, making the air tenser.

Chloe knew she had to do something before the two men end up giving a lot more people reasons to hate hospitals. Well, maybe hate was a strong word since it’s not every day you see two good-looking men arguing in a hospital ward.

"Uh…” Chloe took a few seconds to figure out what to say. “I have never been in a relationship."

The duo paused their silent exchange of heated expressions and instantly turned to her. Chloe gave them a small smile accompanied by a shrug.

"You are joking, right?" Amir asked with a huge look of disbelief.

"No." Chloe knew they would react that way, but it was better than seeing them tear each other off with words.

"I find that hard to believe."

"Same here," Gabriel added.

Chloe shrugged again. "You guys make it seem like a bad thing."

"No. It… It is interesting, not terrible." Amir replied while Gabriel seemed to be pondering on what she said as though it were top secret information. "Well, you and Nathaniel are similar in that case."

"Wait…” Her interest piqued. "Nathaniel has never been in a relationship too?"

"Well..." Amir dragged. "He has been in a few situationships." He smacked his lips. "He has had flings that he thinks we don’t know about. But he has never been in a relationship. We think you are going to be the reason he finally goes into one."

"Oh." Chloe just couldn't get used to them talking about Nathaniel liking her so openly. "What about you? Have you ever been in a serious relationship?"

Amir chuckled as he and Gabriel shared a look. "Oh yes, I have. I have had two of those."

"But he got tired of the whole seriousness thing and decided to become a man-whore."

Amir glared at Gabriel. "I swear, the next person who calls me a man-w***e will get it from me."

"Man-w***e," Chloe threw in while fake-clearing her throat.

"Not you too." As Amir got up for whatever reason, a ringtone filled the air.

"Hello?" Gabriel listened quietly to the person who called him. After a minute or so, he disconnected the call. "Uhm... that was Sebastian."

Amir turned to face him. "Does he have something for me?"

"No." Chloe wondered why Gabriel’s voice was low. “Something bad happened."

"Well, talk!" Amir pushed the man out of his sudden silence.

Gabriel met Chloe's eyes, then Amir's. "It is Nathaniel. He was in an accident."

Following that news, something collapsed inside Chloe.