Escaped My Ex, Got Snatched by His Rival - Chapter 399

Chapter 399: Be Her Hearth (2)
Nicolai glanced at Keon with even greater distaste than before. He hated how the man seemed to be taking control of the situation as if he had the right to do so.

However, he didn’t say anything to Keon because he had bigger worries. He twisted his neck and looked at the stubborn woman in front of him.

She was so weak and yet at times like these when it came to protecting the people she loved, Ari seemed to find unbound and inexplicable courage.

“Are you sure?” he asked while studying her expression. He wanted to catch even the slightest hint of unease if there was.

Ari gave him a brave smile. She said to him, “I will be fine, why don’t you get another cup of coffee? This one looks like it has gone cold.”

Only then did Nicolai look down at the cup in his hand. He had been focusing on the Ashford brothers and Aaron instead of his coffee which had turned the liquid cold and most certainly even more bitter.

He took a sip from it and his worst suspicions came true.

“Yuck,” he scrunched up his nose and mouth in disgust. “It tastes disgusting.” The sweetness of sugar had been overwhelmed by the bitter taste and Nicolai couldn’t even handle the monstrosity in his hand anymore.

What? He liked his coffee sweet. Shoot him, if you dare.

He threw it in the trash can on the side of the room before turning to look at Ari. His gaze fixated on Aaron as well through his peripheral view, he said to Ari, “I will be right outside, scream as loud as possible if something happens.”

“I know that you think that I cannot protect myself,” muttered Ari. “But I will not make the same mistake.”

“Will you scream or not? If not, you better kill me because I am not going outside the room.”

“I will. God, you are so stubborn,” Ari rolled her eyes but her lips were still curled up in a smile which made Nicolai smile in return.

He swivelled around and came face to face with Aaron. “You do any harm to her and I will make you crawl back to your momma’s womb. Though it will be difficult as I would have shoved her back to your grandmother’s already.”

** *** **

“Keon, why did you agree to let that man stay with her?” Outside the ward, Emil couldn’t help but complain about his brother and his naivety. “Who knows what that man might be planning?”

“Emil,” Keon made a loud tutting sound as he turned to look at his brother. “Honestly, it would do you some good if you use your brain instead of your heart all the time. Don’t wear it on your sleeves like a hero.”

“Are you calling me a fool?” Emil asked, affronted.

Keon had brought his brothers to the parking lot, where the three of them now stood in front of the car in which they came.

“No, I am calling you impulsive,” Keon calmly corrected. “You think things through rather simply. Do you think that we—who have never stayed by Ari’s side can tell her what she can and cannot do? Clearly, she trusts Aaron and treats him like her brother. Our position her heart is not enough to waver his.”

“It is not my fault—”

“I know but you have to understand,” Keon spoke sternly. Something he only did when he was upset or angry. “Things are not as simple as you think they are, you cannot expect Ariana to make peace with her past and accept us as her future.”

“Protecting her is our job and I understand that you are upset with the status quo,” he paused took a deep breath and continued, “But instead of thinking of what makes you happy, you need to think of our sister. It’s bad enough that her life has always been one hot mess since she was taken away from us..so don’t become another hell for her, Emil.”

“Become someone she would rely on —instead of making her estranged from us.”

After he finished speaking, Keon turned and walked to the other side of the car. He pulled open the door and slid inside while Emil turned at his second brother. “What was that?”

“He is just being petty,” Mateo snorted. “Our dearest brother is not happy with how Nicolai and Aaron seem closer to Ari than we are. So, he wasn’t scolding you..he was scolding himself.”

At the mention of Nicolai, Emil’s face turned sombre. “He seems to be smitten by Ariana. I don’t like it.” He hadn’t even found his sister completely and yet a mad hellhound was already waiting to snatch his sister away from him.

As much as he supported and cared for Nicolai as they were childhood friends, Emil didn’t like him as the man beside his sister. He had seen Nicolai lose control once, when he was in college and when the man left—there was only blood on the ground and a bunch of men with broken bones.

All of this was just because someone called and asked Zena if she was serving Nicolai well in bed, for no one believed that their relationship was platonic.

Many believed that Zena was a servant of the De Luca family because they were not known for their charitable actions.

Penelope yes—that woman deserved her stuffing knocked out of her head and everywhere else. But not Ari, she was sweet and kind, and there was this aura of goodness around her which contradicted Nicolai.

If that man was to lose control —his sister could be gravely injured.

“Neither am I,” Mateo confessed with a darkened gaze.

** ** ***

Back in the ward, Aaron was eyeing Ari warily. He asked in a weary voice, “What is going on Ari? Why did that man say that I will hurt you? I am your brother.”

“We are family.”

There was a bleak note in his voice which made Ari’s heart twinge with pain.

She raised her head and looked at her brother before saying, “Aaron, you need to sit down for this.”