A woman emerged from the café, a dark-haired local dressed in a lacy blouse and pencil cut skirt. She looked like a fashion executive – or to be specific, a fashion executive dressed for battle, considering the glint in her eyes.
“You are Luuk Aafjes?”
How many people had Ayah told about him anyway? And what the hell did she tell them that made everyone seem to want to come after Nic with pitchforks?
He inclined his head to the side, not saying yes or no. “I’m looking for Ayah.”
“I know you are,” she told him frostily. “The question is, why are you looking for her just now?”
Nic asked coolly, “And this is your business because?”
“Because we prefer that she dates a nice man from here and not a lying jerk like you.”
“Not while I’m fucking alive,” he snapped right away. She appeared startled at his words. He supposed he could have toned it down, but...unlikely. Ayah – dating another man? No fucking way would he stand for that and especially not now that he had decided to...
Never mind what he had decided. The most important thing was to get Ayah out of this shitty speed date as soon as possible.
Ayah’s friend was still looking at him suspiciously, but he didn’t give a fuck. The more time he wasted here, the more time those assholes had with his Ayah. He said without preamble, “You either let me inside peacefully and I will not make a scene, or I will get this whole place shut down.”
Mari blinked at the man’s threat. He sounded like...he meant it and that he could carry it out easily. Her gaze narrowed. The way Ayah described him, Luuk Aafjes had seemed more like an ordinary white-collar worker in Europe, but there was nothing ordinary about this man. His height, his looks, and the way he spoke and moved – everything screamed money, power, and authority.
It was just so like Ayah not to notice all of that!
Lifting her chin, Mari said, “I don’t care who you are or what you can do. Before I let you in, I want you to know that we all think you’ve been leading her on all this time and we all think it’s suspicious that you’re suddenly here.”
When the man started to speak, she shook her head profusely. “No! You do not get to speak until I’m done.”
The man lifted a brow.
Gah! So smug, Mari thought. Whatever did the sweet Ayah see in this jerk? She continued hotly, “All this time, Ayah’s been loyal to you when we all know you never even called her your girlfriend.” Planting her hands on her hips, she finished ominously, “If any of us find out that you’ve hurt her, we’ll kill you.”
His expression did not alter, meaning he still looked like a cold handsome bastard. But his voice was even when he said, “Fair enough. Now can I come in?”
Those were the only words he could manage to say. Nic felt like his world had started spinning in the wrong direction at what Ayah’s friend had revealed.
Over one year...that was how long they had not seen each other.
Just that one time...that was how short they fucking knew each other.
And yet this woman was telling him that none of those things mattered.
Ayah had...taken a risk on him, the way he had once gambled on them...and lost by choosing to take the easy way out.
“Anything else?” the man asked.
Trying not to show how disconcerted she was at how “cooperative” he was being, Mari dug into her pocket. “Not so fast, Mr. Aafjes.”
Nic suppressed an impatient sigh, reining in his instincts to just bodily lift the woman out of his way and barge into the café. Hong Kong was a nightmare so far, with everyone forcing him to wait on others and in a way that he had never waited on anyone his whole life.
“You’ll need this.”
Nic returned his attention to the woman and at the sight of the object in her hands, his jaw clenched hard. “You’re fucking kidding me, right?”
“No. I’m fucking not,” she said sweetly. “If you want to see Ayah peacefully, then this is what you have to do.”
“Fine.” He all but snarled the word as he grabbed the name badge from the woman’s fingers.
Mari suddenly had a bad feeling, and she caught his sleeve just as he started to walk past her. When he turned to her, his face terrifyingly blank, she swallowed. Was she making the right decision here? “Luuk...” Mari looked at him pleadingly. “What are you planning really?”
Only the genuine care on Mari’s face allowed Nic to unbend enough to answer honestly. “I just want Ayah and me to have time alone and get to know each other again.”
And then he was walking into the café.
Mari knew she should follow him right away, but she couldn’t. Her heart was heavy with the knowledge that Luuk Aafjes had yet to realize that he was the only one who felt like that. In Ayah’s world, a person didn’t need to know someone to be in love. One just...loved.