Liar Liar Billionaires

23. A gorgeous wink and a wannabe prick

A much less sick Chloe could not help but nibble on her thumb as the day grew darker with no news about Nathaniel or what had happened to him. And after rushing out of the room, Gabriel and Amir had yet to return.

The lack of news was biting.

So Chloe decided to make a move and leave the hospital. With vigour that made her feel good, she approached the little box of her clothes, which Amir had brought for her. While changing out of her hospital gown, she realised she didn’t have a plan or a phone. So she decided to make do with checking for updates with the hospital’s information desk.

Now dressed in a nice gown, she walked to the door. She was about to turn the handle when the door pushed and revealed Amir walking into the room.

The man’s brows flew up as he asked, “Are you going somewhere?”

“I’m tired of this place.”

“Okay. I hear that.” He moved closer, his arms folded with amusement etched on his face. “Would you like to tell me where you plan to go?”

“Uh…” As he moved, she moved backwards, towards the bed. “Just… I was hoping to return to the mansion.”

He chuckled and closed the gap between them when her legs hit the edge of the bed. “You never fail to amuse me, Chloe. Were you planning to magically fly home?”

“Whatever,” she said with her eyes rolling and her feet shifting away from the heat oozing from his body. “I guess I wasn’t thinking straight.”

“You’re not supposed to think. You’re supposed to rest.”

“How is Nathaniel?” she asked the question at the tip of her tongue.

“He will be fine. Luckily didn’t sustain many injuries. If Sebastian hadn’t been passing at the moment of the accident, Nate wouldn’t have told us anything. So, don’t worry about it.”

"He is absolutely fine?"

"All he has is a small injury on the forehead."

Chloe felt relief. Then she laughed at herself for being worried. So much for not letting emotions and hormones take over the mission.

“I spoke to your doctor,” Amir added.

"Yeah?" She seriously hoped she was about to be discharged.

"Even though he doesn't highly recommend it, he says you can go home, but you have to rest well for the next two weeks or so. So, no more work for the next two weeks."

"Really?" Chloe could not help but be excited. It really sucked to be doing so much for a fake job.

Amir nodded. “But you have to promise me that you’ll rest. Don’t go near a broom or the kitchen or wherever else you do your work.”

Playfully, she straightened her back, chested out, saluted and with a silly smile, she said, "I promise you, sir."

A hearty laughter flowed out of his lips. "God, you are fun to be with."

"Errr... sometimes."

"Well, Chloe, I have gotten all your medications from the pharmacy, so.." He extended his hand to her. "Let's go home."

"Definitely." She placed her hand in his and allowed her excitement to grow. Most of the excitement was because of the work she would not be doing for two weeks, but a small hidden part of it was because she couldn't wait to see Nathaniel.

She didn’t want to acknowledge that desire, but that was how it was.

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

Upon reaching the mansion, Chloe saw that she had missed a lot of calls from the Agency. But she didn’t call back. She desired to take a little break from that part of her life. So, she put her smartwatch and phone away and went to take a long, hot, very relaxing bath.

After this self-pampering, she dressed and went downstairs for dinner, a voice in her head reminding her to thank Nathaniel for taking her to the hospital.

Minutes later, she reached the dining area, but only Gabriel was in sight.

“You look better,” he praised as he lifted his eyes from his phone. With a smile in his gaze, he watched as she moved and sat opposite him.

Chloe, who noticed the way he trailed her with his eyes, cleared her throat. His confident, intentful staring was sort of weird because it kept reminding her of the confession he made a while back.

“I got something.” The unlabelled white box before him slid towards her. “For you.”

As she caught the object, she asked, “What’s inside?”

"Check," he gestured with his hand.

Chloe wondered what it could be. But her soul was still feeling slight discomfort from Gabriel’s bold affection, so, as she flapped the ends of the box, she slowly groaned, “If it’s something terrible, I won’t forgive it.”

“I want to be with you. Why would I gift you something terrible?”

His normal gentleness was nowhere to be found after that response. Replacing it was a very determined expression that told Chloe that he really wished to be with her.

But she chose to ignore the hints of his affection and returned her focus to his gift.

“Cupcakes!” Chloe exclaimed when she opened the box.

“Yes. For the most beautiful cupcake.” His sentence ended with a slow wink that roused things within Chloe.

Even the highlighted gorgeousness that the wink caused pulled her attention, and Gabriel knew it. His smirk was small but knowing.

All these new feelings caused Chloe to avert her prolonged gaze. She decided it would be better to focus on and admire the smallish creamy cakes before her. At least falling in love with them wouldn’t result in a very dangerous game.

“Amir and Lucille,” Nathaniel’s voice suddenly boomed across the room, jolting her, “where are they?”

Quickly, Chloe began to recall all the ‘don’t fall for Nathaniel Storm’ lectures she had been given herself. However, they barely helped. The moment he reached the table, a crazy heat had overpowered her, and her thoughts went on a rampage.

“Lucille’s helping Madam Lugi with dinner,” Gabriel replied. “I guess Amir stepped out for some business.”

“Hmm.” As Nathaniel sat close enough, he said nothing, but looked at her, his gaze holding hers when she lifted her head.

To avoid slipping into the temptation of staring at him too much, Chloe blinked and said, “Thank you, Nathaniel.

“What for?” he asked, reaching for a bottle of water and downing it while still maintaining eye contact.

Before she formed her response, Chloe quickly studied him: his long lashes, the random twitches in his jaw as he swallowed the liquid and even his hair, whose layers seemed perfect. Every detail about him screamed irresistible, and she was eating them up.

“Uh…” She gulped. “For helping me get to the hospital.”

Nathaniel dropped the almost empty bottle. “I just happened to be passing by. Anyone could have helped you.”

Chloe narrowed her eyes. He was doing that harsh thing again. And he wasn’t even doing a good job with it because she could tell that he was trying to mask something he didn’t wish to reveal.

“Whatever you say won’t stop me from thanking you, Nathaniel.”

“I-”

“How’s your injury?” she asked as her gaze flickered to the little band-aid plastered to the side of his head.

“Chloe,” he dragged a breath, “it seems you’re feeling too well, seeing that you’re asking questions about something that doesn’t affect you.”

“What’s your problem?” Gabriel butted in before she could school Nathaniel.

While she sighed at Nathaniel’s unnecessary immaturity, Nathaniel narrowed his eyes in slight confusion at Gabriel, one of his fingers pointed to his chest.

“Of course I’m talking to you,” Gabriel continued, his voice tough with unhidden anger.

“What do you plan to yap about this time?”

With a scoff, Gabriel shook his head. “Is it so difficult for you to acknowledge her concern? Acting like a dirtbag isn’t a good look for you either.”

Nathaniel frowned and folded his arms. Chloe, on her end, chose not to stress about Nathaniel’s desire to mask his affection with rudeness; she just reached for a cupcake and munched on it.

“Gabe,” Nathaniel spoke with a low voice, “what nonsense are you spewing this time?”

“I just need to understand why you’re acting stupid out of nowhere.”

"Stupid? You’re calling me stupid when I’ve done nothing?”

Gabriel laughed. "Nothing? You f*****g saying you did nothing? I was so sure that you’re a man of honour, but it seems I thought wrong. If your response to having feelings for Chloe is to disrespect her, you had better watch yourself. If not, someone else will teach you how it’s done.”

"Feelings? I do fancy her, but feelings? Please, Gabe.”

Chloe noticed a mischievous flash in Gabriel’s eyes as he replied, “So you won’t care if another man walked in this second and kissed Chloe?”

Nathaniel shrugged. "Why would I?”

Chloe, at this moment, as she devoured the sweet cupcakes, began to wonder why she was attracted to Nathaniel when he found it easy to be a prick and a coward despite being vocal about his affection whenever it was just him and her in a room.

"Good." Gabriel got up.

"Where are you going?" Nathaniel asked.

"You’ll find OUT." Gabriel walked past him. Within a few seconds, he made it to where Chloe was seated. "Chloe?" he called.

She looked up at him. "Yeah?"

And his lips met hers without any warning.