The Tyrant's Wife

Chapter 371: Proposal gone wrong (1)

A few weeks later, Zaria finally went back to work. Though she ended up spending most of the first morning in Desmond’s office. It was Saturday but she didn’t want to wait around for Monday.

"I forgot how hot you look in those business outfits." He grumbled when she walked into his office, carrying a contract that needed his signature. He had not been able to get a look at her this morning, since he had woken up much earlier than her.

Today she was wearing a black skirt with a slit at the back, and an emerald silk blouse with a plunging neckline. She looked hot in such outfits before, but now she looked even hotter. He had Holden to thank for the fact that although she had slimmed down since he was born, her hips and boobs had retained most of their volume, giving her a luscious curvy figure.

He couldn’t get his eyes off her as she walked over to his desk.

"You look like you’re having thoughts that could get you fired, boss." She teased. His dirty grin was proof of whatever was running through his mind.

"Come here." He ordered.

Her stomach fluttered at the gravelly tone of his voice. She had forgotten how much she liked being ordered around by him in here.

She walked over to his side, strutting seductively in her heels. "Do you need something from me, Mr. Fort?" She purred.

He pulled her onto his lap, making her yelp at the sudden move.

"I didn’t close the door." She whispered. She should have locked it, she thought. She didn’t want to leave his lap either.

"Then you better hurry before someone walks in." He parted her knees and stroked her thigh, running his hand up to her waist. He hooked his finger t the waistband of her thong and dragged it down. She wiggled around to help him take it off.

When it was completely off, he fisted it in his palm and sniffed.

"I knew you would be wet for me."

He then kept her panties in his pocket and nudged her off his lap.

"You’re just going to send me away?" She wondered aloud.

"While I want nothing more than to bend you over my desk and fuck the living daylights out of you, I need to get some work done."

"But my panties—ow." She yelped in surprise when he spanked her.

"Walk around without them for being such a tease. Then you will have the constant reminder of why you’re not wearing any."

She wanted to tease him into doing more than stealing her panties but he was right. He needed to get a lot of work done and so did she.

She had just taken over from his interim assistant and although the young woman had done a great job, there were many things Desmond couldn’t trust her enough to let her handle. She was, after all, an intern. There was no prior record of her work for them to know of her work ethic.

Besides, Preston and Fort Group had just acquired a new hotel and it was currently under renovation. It was going to take longer than they expected.

So although she wanted to sit in her husband’s lap and spend the whole day in his arms, she had work to do.

....

By the time she got back to her office, she realized she had missed a call from Liam.

She called him right back.

"Hey, Liam." She greeted when the call connected.

"Zaria, do you have a minute?" Liam asked, sounding worried about something.

"Yes, what happened?"

"I realize I may be making you worried. Everything is fine, I promise." He said but blew out a ragged breath that had her raising her brows.

"If you say so."

"Ximena and I are in the city for the weekend. Can I meet you at dinner today? Wait. Make that lunch. I can’t wait for dinner."

She chuckled. He sounded like something in between an excited kid on Christmas morning and one who was in trouble and scared to tell his parents what he did.

"Okay. I’m going to the restaurant down the block from Preston and Fort Group. See you at 12:30?"

He agreed. "Okay."

Lunch time rolled by fast for Zaria and she wouldn’t have realized what time it was if the alarm clock on her desk wasn’t jumping around and chiming incessantly. She imagined Liam was feeling the opposite way and would probably be in the restaurant already waiting for her, so she wrapped up and left the office, popping her head into Desmond’s office on her way.

"I’m meeting Liam for lunch. Do you want me to bring you something from the restaurant?" She asked, knowing he would probably work through lunch if he didn’t order something.

His gaze trailed down her body, letting her know just what he would like to have for lunch.

She chuckled. "Nice try, bossman. You need to have actual food. I’ll order some of those cheeseburgers they make that everyone seems to love." She disappeared before he gave her that gaze that always made her melt to whatever he wanted.

When she arrived at the restaurant, sure enough, Liam was waiting.

"I ordered pasta bolongese. I hope that’s okay?"

She sat down with a smile. "I’m always in the mood for pasta. Thank you."

Knowing he would explode if he didn’t tell her what was bugging him within the next half a minute, she nudged, "what’s going on?"

"I..." he pulled out his phone and showed her the screen.

For a second, she wasn’t sure what she was looking at. Then she noticed the flower arrangements on the screen, which all had one thing in common—a velvet box sticking out from the bouquet.

"Oh my God." She dramatically clapped a hand over her mouth. "I appreciate the gesture but as you can see, I’m married." She flashed her left finger at him, making him throw his head back and laugh.

"Very funny. I’m a one woman man." He cleared his throat, feeling less nervous. "I need your help planning a proposal. Right now, if possible. I can’t get my mind to function and Ximena’s starting to think I’m cheating on her."

She laughed. That finally made sense. Ximena had called her a few days ago and told her about her suspicion, including the fact that Liam now had a passcode on his phone and wouldn’t put it down for half a second. He had also been answering calls in private and looking over his shoulder when he browsed, as though scared for her to catch him. That did sound sketchy.

She shot him a glare. "How do I know you’re not actually cheating on her? This could be your way of creating a fake alibi, making sure your story checks out if she confronts you?"

He raised a brow. "If you thought that, I would be on this floor bleeding out with the heel of those shoes you’re wearing lodged in my throat."

She nodded in approval. "Good. What are we planning? I don’t want my girl heartbroken, thinking you found someone else."

"Okay. I take it I have your blessing, then?" He winked, and she realized she’d just been duped.

"I was going to make you work for it when the day came that you asked but okay."

He grinned. He had spoken to Ximena’s father and Theodore too.

He knew when they made that walk down the aisle, it would be Theodore handing her over, not her father. But he couldn’t change the fact that he was her father nonetheless, and he was trying his best to make up for the years he didn’t act like a father would. Needless to say, he had made the man’s year.

When their food was brought, they ate first before they finally wrote down the details for the proposal.

Zaria preferred him to go for the first chance he could get, since Ximena was still hurting over the thought that her boyfriend was cheating.

He would go the old fashioned way, filling their backyard with flower petals and ordering a big meal with their favorite dishes—well, he would have cooked but that would end with a trip to the emergency room.

He would pop the question over dinner, by which point Ximena would already know what he was up to and it wouldn’t catch her off guard.

That was what was supposed to happen. But instead, what happened was this: Ximena stomped right into the restaurant and glared at Liam.

"I knew you were not out with Evan. You know how I knew? Evan is taking Rosaly to his ballet class. Like he’s been doing every Saturday."

______

AN

The book ends in a few Chapters. Let me know if there’s any side-story you would like to read. So far I’m going to write the following:

a sneak peek of Liam and Ximena’s future

Evan and Clarion