Betrayal

Chapter 8

Valerie woke up to the sound of her roommate complaining about a headache and Rayan trying his best to comfort her. The two were so in love that sometimes made Valerie wished she could open up to the thought of falling in love again. She woke up and took a shower, got into her favourite pajamas. She looked at herself in the mirror and realised she had gained weight, she recalled how she looked before Agent Stonebrige saved her. She was a hundred pounds less, her skin was dry and had dark pools under her eyes. But now she was almost back to her old self. Valerie loved her curves and was not ready to change her appearance for anything. She thought of the way Zain held on to her hips as they danced the night away and blushed but she was not going to let a man anywhere near her heart, regardless of how amazing they made her feel.

To her surprise she found Zain sitting with the lovebirds watching TV, she wanted to make a run for it but it was too late. "Good morning Kitty", Rayan said nicknaming her after her pajamas. "Hi guys!", she said walking faster to the kitchen and pouring herself a cup of coffee. "Hey, how are you feeling?", his bass filled the kitchen making her shiver. "Am ok, you?", she asked while mixing sugar in her coffee making him chuckle. He placed his hand on hers stopping her from punishing the coffee cup. She felt his breath on the back of her neck, closing her eyes quickly to control her breathing. "You smell nice", he whispered in her ear. "Hey guys, we are ordering pizza, Zain what do you want?", Yolanda asked making Zain pull away and sit by the chairs next to the kitchen counter. "Anything with pineapple", he said shortly returning his gaze to Valerie who drowned herself in her coffee cup making him smirk. Yolanda took turns looking at them, no doubt reading the environment then left with a mischievous smile. "I better go to my room before she starts getting ideas", she told Zain who only nod his head looking unhappy. Valerie didn't care. It was for the best.

Zain's POV

What Valerie didn't know was although he was quiet most of the time, he was very observant and always got what he wanted and ever since he laid eyes on Valerie the morning he decided to pay a visit to his old friend and now young brother's girlfriend, he wanted Valerie and he was going to get her.

There was no denying the attraction they felt toward each other. But every time Zain wanted to push further she pulled away, the behaviour annoyed him but he had to keep it cool. He always liked being by himself, he barely appeared in any family events let alone hanging out. Work was his comfort zone, ever since he retired from the military, he liked to keep things on the low. His family had no idea that he had to see a shrink for almost two years to regain his sanity and also get a hang of his anger issues. Again that was none of his family's business, they had their father to focus on. The old man was struggling with old age and he was getting nosier by the minute, their mother was even worse. First, they pulled him out of the military because he had a stroke and Rayan was too much of a playboy to look after their empire. When he was back to his usual health enough to get a green light from his doctor, his attention turned to having grandkids. Now they were busy bribing Zoya into inviting her friends to their house every chance they got. All that hustle to get him a bride. He had to stop going to the events they were inviting him to because they kept on pushing women on him so he had to either be rude, drown himself in alcohol or force Rayan not to go with Yolanda so that he could be his wingman.

He recalled the day he arrived at the airport and his bodyguard telling him that Zoya had friends over the moment he told his mother he was landing on the day. He chose to call Rayan who invited him to go hide in the apartment Rayan bought Yolanda for their anniversary. He was happy to have accepted the offer because he was able to see the gorgeous chocolate-skinned Valerie. Everything about her made him want her more than he had ever wanted any woman in his life. He asked Rayan if she was seeing anyone but the idiot said they were trying to hook her up for months now, something about having her heart broken before. Well, Zain always loved a challenge. He was going to mend her heart and make her his.

"What's up with you?", Rayan asked when he joined them to watch TV. Yolanda smirked, "Your brother has a crush on Val, he was so eye fucking her when she was leaving the kitchen", Rayan was like a kid in a candy store. "No way! Fuck! This is epic", he said putting a pause on their movie and turning towards him. "What?", "Is it true?", "No, it's not", he tried denying it making Yolanda laugh. She knew him better than anyone in that room. "Fine, I like her, can you just press play now?", "Anhaa! you better not play with my roommate. I like her Zain", Yolanda said her voice carrying seriousness. She took time warming up to people so this was good, it meant that Valerie was worth it. The food arrived, Zain made sure to make a plate for Valerie and took it to her room, he knocked and heard a 'come in', she was sitting on her bed with different cookbooks in front of her. "I brought you food. What's this?", he asked facing the books. "Thank you, you didn't have to", she said trying to clear some space so that he could have a place to sit. He sat and waited for her to explain. "Well, tomorrow is my first day and I want to impress Liam, they've all gone to culinary schools but I am just a chef wanna be so, yeah, am trying to up my game", she said nervously. "Am sure you are a good chef and they should be the ones to watch out", he said with a smile. He couldn't help but feel jealous of Liam, he was going to spend every day with her. He wanted to be him.