Princess

Chapter 3: Wild Night for Dr. Ryder

Damon

When the son of the biggest mob boss in New York spoke, most people trembled.

Ariadne never fucking broke a sweat.

While my sister and Bella seemed a little startled by my sudden presence, Ariadne just took a slow sip of wine before standing up to face me. It irritated me beyond understanding that in the twenty-eight years of her life, she was never fazed by my general existence.

I walked around the couch until I was directly in front of her. The blue scrubs did nothing to hide the curves and ass I spent entirely too much of my life thinking about, paired with chocolate brown hair tied up into a ponytail and the fierce look in her equally brown eyes.

She didn't have a shred of makeup on her face which made sense because it was her, but she still looked beyond anything I'd ever seen before. It was fucking preposterous. Shouldn't doctors look tired and burnt out after stabbing people in the chest with needles, prescribing unnecessary medicine, and charging way too much money?

"You've never done anything to prove otherwise, Hale," she responded calmly, a challenging glare in her eyes.

Placing both hands in my pockets, I tilted my head to the side. "You don't know half of what I do."

"Half the women of New York, that's for sure."

"Only half? You must think me a very modest man," I asserted, stepping closer.

"Hardly. But you're right. Just half is a very meager approximation," she retorted, stepping up again.

"If you'd like to be included, all you have to do is ask, Ryder."

I would have told her how much I wanted to include her­–to break her and have her writhing under me while she screamed my name and begged me to let her come.

I took the glass from her hands, taking a slow pull but when my eyes fell back on hers, they hadn't moved. I expected to see pure hatred in her eyes. Instead, I saw apathy.

The same apathy I'd seen since the day she was fucking born.

"In your wildest, wettest dreams, Hale," she clipped, but her intention clear. Our bodies were flush against one another, her chest a mere half inch from mine. Up close, I could almost feel the sting of the venom that shot from her mouth.

My father cleared his throat, announcing his arrival with an amused smile on his lips. I backed up a step while she stood still, smirking at my retreat.

Ariadne always loved winning.

"Is my kid bothering you, darling?" He asked Ariadne, bending down to kiss her cheek. My father loved Ariadne–a representation of his best friend and Ariadne's mother, Catherine Ryder.

"Of course not. He's always so incredibly well-behaved," she responded coyly, still staring daggers at me.

I shrugged. "I learn it from you, Father."

"I'd take Hale Senior over you any day, Damon." She looked up at my father who looked between the two of us with a sly smile playing at his mouth. Unfortunately, my father was incredibly perceptive–much like Francis–which meant he knew a lot more about all of us than we ever thought. We could never hide anything from him, no matter how hard we tried.

"I'm Team Damon," my darling little diva winked at me from the couch, grinning so wide it could light up planets and really, did I need anyone else if the Isabella Marie Ryder was on my team?

"Imagine my surprise," Ariadne drawled.

"I have your mother on my side too, Damon," my father played, unbothered, though he turned to Bella and mouthed, "Traitor." She just kissed his cheek and laughed in a way no soul on the planet could ever be mad at.