Smarter than you think
At first, Ari thought Nicolai was asking her about the time they exchanged gazes in the dark alley.
If that was the case, she would rather not admit that it was she who saw Nicolai beating someone to their death, Ari was ready to refuse. The last thing Ari wanted was to get entangled with this man even more than she already had.
However, before she could say that she had no idea what he was talking about, Nicolai leaned back so that she could see him much better. He tilted his head and said, "The answer should be yes… you prude girl. I should know who you are, but the thing is that I don't…so who are you again?"
A wave of rage rushed to Ari's head as she clenched her fingers. It was humiliating to think that this man left an image in her head so f*cked up and violent that he never left her head. Even now, she could remember what he was wearing that night and how his shoulder-length hair fell over his face while a few strands stuck to his sweaty face.
Yet, this man did not even remember her!
She clenched her fingers in anger. Because it was better to let anger take hold of her instead of the fear that she had when facing Nicolai.
How dare he mock her like this, she was the wife of Noah Nelson. That surname meant something in this city. Only someone who lived under a rock all his life, would not know who she was. He must be pretending to not recognize her! He had to be.
'But what about you? Without the last name of your husband, who are you? Nothing, that's what you are.' A dry voice rolled in her head, the voice was similar to the sound of someone dragging their nails on the blackboard. It left a throbbing headache in Ari's head.
Her head felt light as she forced the rotten taste in her mouth and then forced herself to calm down.
She raised her head and then looked at Nicolai before saying, "You should hand those papers back if you are done poking your nose in my business, Mister De Luca."
Her voice had an authoritative tone, and Ari liked how she did not shudder or tremble when speaking to Nicolai.
"Rushing to go somewhere?" He asked with a curl of his lips, amusement glinting in his eyes as he continued to hold the divorce agreement out of Ari's reach.
"More like, I do not appreciate you prying in my business. I apologize for the damages that I have caused, and I will think of a way to pay you back, but that does not give you the right to treat me like this," Ari said rudely.
Ari was a gentlewoman, and she was usually pleasant until someone overstepped their boundaries, something that Nicolai was doing with flying colours since he stepped into the same space as her.
He stared at her with a slight raise of his brows, he then turned to look at his car which had lost his rear bump and then turned to look at Ari's car. His lips curled into a mocking smile before he handed her the divorce agreement and said casually, "You know what? Take me on dinner, I will let this one slide as you are not having your best days."
Take him to dinner? Was this man high?
In fact, Ari should have considered that notion as this man was affiliated with the Mafia, even if he snorted something unusual, it should not have been a surprise.
"I will think about it," or more like pretend that this meeting did not happen once she got away from here.
"Now can I leave?" She asked in a firm voice. "I do not have the money, even if you keep me here I cannot pay you back or treat you to dinner."
An appreciative hum fell from his throat as he nodded, "Bossy. I like it, it makes me wonder if you are this bossy when you are doing crude things. Even that little prude way of speaking is kind of cute."
Ari's eyes widened. What on earth did she do to deserve this? And what was wrong with this man? Was this the kind of question that someone should be asking a woman to whom they were talking for the first time?
"I think I will be taking my leave."
Her words were met with a chuckle. She turned to glare at the man who did not have an ounce of shame and cursed him in her heart. Not only was he vulgar, but he did not know how to show remorse.
"I hope that you will cut off that rotten bastard this time around, Mrs. Nelson," he said with his hands in the pockets of his pants. He looked at her as if he were a superior being, despite having his shoes and hands covered in blood.
On what basis?
Ari felt her teeth ground when she saw the unapologetic look on the face of the man giving her advice as if he were the sanest man who ever walked on the surface of this earth. When in fact he was as crazy as a mad dog.
"I don't need you to tell me," she tightened her muscles and held the morbid unease back as Ari knew that this man needed some special lessons. "I don't think I need to take advice from a disgusting man who thinks with his fists instead of his head."
"Yeah?" His eyes, the colour of burning flames, twinkled with pure sadism as he leaned closer to her and murmured, "Well, this disgusting man knows when to cut his losses short. If one of my limbs was rotting, I would cut it off instead of waiting for it to ruin my life."
His warm breath skimmed over her lips as Ari heard him speak once more, "I would rather suffer short-term pain rather than long-term if it means losing myself. Now tell me, am I still disgusting?" He smirked at her with a mocking gaze and added, "I think I am smarter than you."