Love, Hate and Desire.

CHAPTER TWELVE.

Few minutes later, daliha walked in swinging her hips from side to side, she strolled towards Ryan with a smug smile;

"So...this is where he keeps her huh." She said

Ryan squinted, trying to study her. "He's upstairs, do your job and get out."

"Oh no baby, i'm staying." She giggled and turned slightly.

Ryan looked towards the doorway and saw the driver with a duffle bag, he couldn't believe nathan could do this. He knew who daliha was, it was already bad enough he brought her into the villa, now he was letting her stay?

He felt uneasy about this whole arrangement, but there was nothing he could do except watch the back of his dear friend.

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It was almost dark when nathan finally stepped out of his room in a bathrobe, hair and feet wet, you could tell he just came out of the shower. He came down to get something to drink, then he met his friend and brother.

"You didn't leave." He said casually, like he somehow knew ryan would still be around.

"What is daliha doing here nate?" Henry asked

Nathan paused midway, henry hadn't called him 'nate' since their mother, he turned to glare at henry.

"This is my territory...brother, i choose who comes and who goes."

"True, you know exactly who daliha is, she shouldn't be here."

Nathan turned to Ryan; "You. You called him?"

"No. She did."

Ryan said with his head corked to the side. Nathan slowly turned to the sitting room, by the lampside was selena in tears.

"Her mother is dead nathan." Henry said.

Selena left the office at five pm to go see her mother, getting to the room where she was kept, selena couldn't find her.

"Lena." Nicholas called

"Nick, where's mother?" She asked

"She has been taken into the operating room, mom went into cardiac arrest."

"What happened?"

"An anonymous source paid for her surgery."

"Anonymous source?"

Nicholas was about to say something else when their father and grandfather showed up. They look so stressed out, selena wanted to ask what they've been up to but didn't think it was the right time to have such conversation. The surgery took hours and at seven pm, the doctor came out with a vague expression.

"How is my wife doctor?" Mr Arnold asked

"The surgery was successful, but....."

"But what?!" Selena yelled

"We were too late, she might not make it through the night, her organs were greatly affected by the virus."

Selena was shattered, she wasn't ready to lose her mother, not now, not ever, she wouldn't survive it. Her mother demanded to see her first and she went in, she was able to speak with her mother one last time, she had something to say to each of them. Selena didn't think the time her mother had was enough, it wasn't enough.

Nathan obviously didn't send the driver to pick her up so she went to a bar to drink away her pain. She didn't know how much she had taken until it was time to leave, she stood up and almost fell.

"Hey beautiful, i can help you get home." A man said to her.

"No thank you, i can find my way." She replied. She could actually find her way, she didn't need help from anyone.

"Don't be so stubborn pretty girl, you definitely need help."

The man snickered and held her firm, she freed herself from his grip and ran into the bathroom, locking the door behind her. Then she took out her phone and called nathan several times but he wasn't taking her calls, the man kept banging on the door and she began to panic. She didn't have Ryan's contact, so she tried and searched through the company's website, and found Henry's contact too.

"This is selena, i need help please." She said

Henry arrived immediately she dropped her location and took her home. Getting home, she understood why nathan wasn't taking her calls, the pain in her heart multiplied. She knew how heartless he was, but he could have at least pretended to care for her a little.

"Her mother is dead nathan." Henry said to his brother when he came down, hair still damp from his shower.

'Probably took one after his activities upstairs with his mistress, or am i the mistress?' She asked herself.

"So? I lost my mother years ago, i'm doing fine, she'll be fine." Nathan said, walked towards the mini bar and took a bottle of wine.

"Since when do you drink?" Ryan asked

"It's not for me but daliha." He replied without a care in the world.

Both henry and ryan stared at selena, whose eyes were swollen from how much she's cried, she looked like she was going to pass out any moment.

"Selena." Henry called softly, gaining a low growl from nathan, one only the two men heard.

"Go upstairs, take a shower and rest." Henry said.

Selena nodded, she stood up and staggered a little, both Ryan and Henry rushed to steady her. Nathan wondered what charm she used on both men to warrant such reaction, she was supposed to be the daughter of their worst enemy, why are they doting on her? He pondered.

Selena managed to go upstairs into her room, leaving the men arguing about something she wasn't sure she wanted to hear. Her mother's death hit her hard like a thunderbolt, her mother was her only confidant, her mother's last words to her seemed impossible to achieve with what she just witnessed. Pushing nathan's actions into the back of her mind, she decided to get a dip in the tub instead of a quick bath, it was the only place she could think properly on how to move forward for herself and Nick.

*******************

Selena didn't leave her room the next morning, nathan had stopped several times just right by her door, but couldn't go in. He got to know how and why selena had called his brother, he felt a little twinge of guilt for intentionally neglecting her calls. He knew exactly how she felt, he had been in the same state many years back and it was all thanks to walter moore, her great-grandfather. And now he thought of it, he didn't care if she pulled through or not, but he was scared she would harm herself, so he opened and walked in.

Selena sat on the bed with her legs folded up to her chest and her hands wrapped around them, her head was bowed. Nathan stood still, he didn't know what move to make so he turned around to go.

"You didn't come into my room just to stare at me and walk away, did you?" Selena said, she raised her head to stare at him.

"I just wanted to make sure you don't die in my territory."

Selena scoffed, "You would love that, won't you?. Well, i have a brother to take care of, so i won't harm myself. You can leave my room now."

Nathan frowned, he stepped towards her and stared right into her eyes, he didn't know where she got the guts to speak to him like that. So he intended to subdue her but selena held his gaze, she didn't blink or look away.

"I see you've got guts now." Nathan said, still staring into her eyes.

"I was never a coward." Selena replied, still holding his gaze.

Nathan drew closer to her, his face were mere inches away from hers but she didn't flinch, he used a finger to raise her chin and before she could blink he kissed her.

Selena pulled away immediately and jumped out of the bed, she was mad angry. How dare he kiss her with those filthy lips, lips he had used on his w***e.

"What? Playing the hard card huh?"

"Get out!" She ordered.

"Why, don't fancy my touch anymore?" He said, moving around to the other side of the bed.

"Stay where you are!" Selena yelled again.

Maybe she wasn't ready to be so bold with him yet, she needed to build a strong defence to face him. She was still easily affected by his touch, his stare, his kiss....

"This is my house selena i go wherever i want."

He came around to stand right in front of her, selena tried to escape by mounting the bed but he held and pinned her down beneath him.

"This is exactly where you should be, right here."

He sniffed her neck, he placed a light kiss there and she squirmed to be free from him. He held her face and kissed her on the lips forcefully, selena struggled and pushed him enough to slap him across the face. Stunned to the effect of a woman hitting him, he remained still, trying hard to control his temper. Then daliha barged into the room to see him lying on selena;

"Nathan..."

"f**k off!" He yelled loudly, scaring both women.

Daliha left and slammed the door, his gaze returned to selena who was still under him but with her eyes closed and lips folded. He slowly got off her and stared at her again before storming out of the room.