Femme Fatale: The King's Deadly Temptress Chapter 132 - Have You Gotten Bolder?

The two women sat in the backseat of Caleb's car. While they navigated through the traffic, Katherine couldn't help but feel the inexplicable tension in the atmosphere. If it was only her and Caleb, the latter would mostly be leading the conversation and talk about random stuff — it was never boring.

However, with Ali in the car, the atmosphere was… different. Caleb was quiet and so was Alianna - the woman who had been very bubbly the entire time they shopped and dined, how come she was like a mute now?

Katherine's eyes darted between the two, wondering if there was some history between Caleb and Ali that she was unaware of. 

The car came to a stop in front of Crown Resort Group's main office building. "Sorry, girls, I just need to drop this off." Caleb waved a folder in his hand. "I won't be long," he said before getting out of the car.

When he was out of earshot, Katherine turned to Alianna and asked, "Okay… Now it's my turn to ask you questions. What's up with you and Caleb?"

Ali flashed a beautiful smile, "There's nothing wrong, Kath… We're fine." 

"The two of you are unusually quiet." The ride wasn't awkward at all, but it was quiet. Returning her smile, Katherine narrowed her eyes. The woman bombarded her with questions about her relations.h.i.+p with Damien and now Ali was holding back information? She wasn't going to let this pa.s.s. "You shamelessly asked me about our 'no-s.e.x life'. You better spill-"

Alianna threw her head back and laughed. "Why, Katherine… I never thought you would hold that against me. Okay fine, it's not a secret anyway… but Caleb and I… well, we used to date."

"Oh…" 

"Surprised?"

"It's just…" Katherine suppressed a smile as she imagined Caleb and Alianna dating. "It's new information, and my brain is still processing."

"Yeah, we dated for a year several years ago."

"Do you mind if I ask - what happened?"

"Not at all. I guess… we just grew apart. I travel a lot and modeling is my life. But Caleb…" Alianna turned towards the window and stared at the entrance of the building. "He…" She turned back to Katherine again, a small smile formed on her lips and she continued, "I can't be there for him whenever… Our relations.h.i.+p just didn't work."

All of a sudden, Katherine felt like she shouldn't have asked but her curiosity got the best of her. "Do you still love him?"

"Of course." Ali's smile grew wider. "Caleb will always be special to me. I know we both love each other, however, we're just not in love. So… he and I aren't going to happen anymore."

Katherine felt a slight p.r.i.c.k in her heart. She clenched her hands and thought about her relations.h.i.+p with Damien. Ali and Caleb love each other but they just aren't in love? 'How does one see that? How is love measured exactly?'

Seeing the expression on Katherine's face, Alianna nudged her on the side. "Hey! What are you thinking about? Don't worry about it. He and I are good friends and we keep in touch from time to time."

"Are you sure? If that's the case, then why are both of you so quiet?" 

Ali laughed. "Don't read too much into it. We're just like this whenever we see each other for the first time again after being apart for a long time, and it's been more than a year since the last time I saw him."

"Why don't I believe that?"

"After all, we dated for one good year. I guess it's just both okay and not okay between us… and we're fine with that. Besides, I'm dating right now and it's steady, we're both in the same industry too."

Just then, Caleb entered the car. "Li, it's the chain in 5th street, right?" he asked, referring to their company's hotel chain. Alianna nodded and Caleb sped off. He dropped her off first as her hotel was on the way.

After exchanging phone numbers, the two women bid farewell. "Keep in touch, Kath." Ali waved at Katherine before she turned to Caleb. "Take care, Ali. Call if you need anything," he said.

The two of them smiled at each other as Ali reached to hold hands with him very briefly. "Bye, Caleb."

When Caleb reached the house in Pearl Gardens, he helped Katherine with all of her shopping bags. "Did you empty the store?" he asked as he set down the last bag in the living room. 

"Oh gosh, Ali is… persuasive." 

The two of them laughed.

"Are you going to be okay here by yourself? I can stay and wait with you if you want," he asked.

"I'll be fine. It's almost nine in the evening, you should head home and rest. I'm sure you're also exhausted." She saw him out to his car and when he left, he rea.s.sured her that Damien was going to come home soon.

Katherine had not heard from Damien since lunchtime and she didn't want to disturb him either, so after putting away all the shopping bags in her closet, she changed into her comfortable pajamas and got ready for bed.

However, after twisting and turning, sleep didn't come easy. It was almost midnight and she thought of checking up on him. Tapping her phone screen, she sent Markus a message.

[ How is he? ]

After a minute, she received a reply.

[ Markus Lee: Tipsy. ]

Katherine huffed. They have closed a deal in the afternoon which was why Damien was out with his business partners. 

This was the reason why he wouldn't bring her to such meetings, there will always be drinking involved and he had to entertain them with different types of approaches — including women. Good thing he had The Gentlemen's Club — sometimes, he pats his younger self on the back. But the entire time he was busy, Katherine was constantly in his mind and all he wanted to do was to go home to her.

Another text came in from Markus saying that they were on their way home. Wanting to wait for Damien, Katherine came out of the house twenty minutes later and stood by the gate. Damien was going to arrive soon and she wanted to be there when he arrives.

The night was a bit chilly but she didn't mind as she leaned on the pillar and waited patiently. She saw an approaching car and she straightened up only to find that it wasn't Damien's. The car came to a stop and Matthew Jeong got out. He was about to go inside the house when he caught sight of Katherine by the gate.

She gave him a polite smile and he was going to just wave and go inside his house when his feet decided to move on its own until he found himself in front of her. "What are you doing out here?"

"I'm waiting for Damien. He's on his way. Did you just get home from work?"

Matthew nodded. "Does he always come home late?"

"Not often. How are you settling in?" she asked, finding that Matt was easy to talk to.

Just before he could answer, an Aston Martin arrived. The two of them turned their heads and saw Damien getting out from the backseat, his eyes looking listless as he trudged towards them.

Damien only glanced and nodded at Matthew and went straight to Katherine's side. He took off his trench coat and draped it around her shoulders, covering her fully. There had been no sound since he came except for his footsteps and the blowing of the wind.

"What are you doing out here? It's cold," he said in a low voice.

"I was waiting for you." Katherine stared at him and studied his emotionless expression. His eyes were a little red and he looked tired — she could also smell the strong alcohol in him.

"Let's go," was all he said before grabbing her hand and pulling her inside the house. She hastily waved at Matthew as she walked away. 

Damien released her hand and headed towards the master bedroom while Katherine followed behind. "How long have you been waiting for me outside?" he asked, shrugging off his suit coat.

Katherine helped him out of it and hung it up. "Not so long."

He turned around to face her whilst unb.u.t.toning his s.h.i.+rt, his eyes were unblinking and penetrating as they looked at her. "How long have you been talking to him?"

She gulped when she sensed the bitterness in his question but instead of backing away, she inched closer and unb.u.t.toned his s.h.i.+rt for him, her hands slightly shaking. "Not long. You arrived shortly after he did."

Damien allowed her to remove the s.h.i.+rt from him. "Have you gotten bolder? Aren't you afraid that I would do something?" He stared at her, wetting his lips with his tongue as he moved even closer.

Breathing in, Katherine turned to the side and tossed the s.h.i.+rt in a basket. "You're not—"

She swallowed the rest of her words when she felt Damien's arms around her waist and in an instant, he pressed her against the wall, trapping her with his hand beside her head and his thigh in between her legs.

With his face a few inches away from her, he warned, "You really shouldn't be reckless around me when I'm like this, Kitten."