Chapter 451-We Fight Like Enemies
Verity:
There was something strange about the whole situation.
There was no way Jaguar and Theodore had believed that ridiculous explanation.
Or had they? Honestly, I couldn’t tell. Their reactions had left me completely confused.
After they left, Gigi and Ragnar went off to discuss their engagement arrangements while I remained at my desk, smacking my forehead in frustration.
If we’d already made up a fake explanation for everything, why the hell was I still being punished?
I grabbed my tongue between my fingers.
"It’s because of you," I mumbled, barely managing to get the words out with my tongue held between my fingers.
Then I released it and sighed.
About half an hour later, the door opened, and I knew the asshole had returned.
As he passed my desk, he placed a cup beside my laptop and continued toward his own.
"I don’t need your charity coffee," I remarked, giving the cup a gentle shove.
I hadn’t intended to knock it over, but it tipped, and that was when I realized it wasn’t coffee at all.
It was hot chocolate.
What was he trying to prove? That he knew me so well?
The cup tipped toward the edge of the table, and I quickly caught it before setting it upright again.
Ragnar turned toward me, giving me the most bizarre look.
"You know what your problem is, Verity? You just love attention. That’s why you can’t keep your mouth shut," he remarked.
I smiled at him.
"Yeah, I guess I do. I love attention, and I deserve it," I replied with a cheeky grin.
"Do you want to spend the entire week here working on even more projects?"
There it was. Another warning not to piss him off.
Rolling my eyes, I returned to my computer.
He settled behind his desk and buried his nose in his work until he finally got up.
By then, everyone else had already left. It was four in the afternoon.
He snapped his fingers to get my attention before knocking on my desk.
"Get up. I’ll drop you home," he instructed but I shook my head.
"No, I’m still busy. I have a lot of work left," I replied.
Well, I supposed he was right about one thing. I did crave attention.
I mean, he was finally letting me leave. I should’ve simply gone home and rested, but no.
I was still so fucking angry that he’d been tossing me around like some kind of doll, expecting me to do whatever he wanted.
"Verity?"
He slowly undid a button on his coat with one hand, allowing himself to lean more comfortably over my desk.
Then he planted both hands on either side of my laptop, leaning toward me.
"I said, get up. I’m dropping you home. It’s late."
His voice had grown even raspier.
Without taking his eyes off me, he slowly lifted one hand and lowered my laptop screen, deliberately taking his sweet time.
I gave him the same look before reopening it with equal dramatic flair.
"No, I’m going to work because my boss is so arrogant that no matter what happens, he always takes his anger out on me. So I’d rather finish everything because who knows? Maybe a black cat will cross his path on the way home, or a deer will run into his car, and he’ll somehow blame me for it, saying it happened because I hadn’t finished my work."
I delivered the entire complaint in one breath, watching his jaw tighten with every word.
Each time he looked at me, his eyes narrowed a little further.
Honestly, I had no idea how he could even see me through those tiny slits.
"So, if you want to leave, go ahead," I muttered.
"Verity, why do you do this? Why do you fucking piss me off so much? Are you like this with everyone? How the hell did my brothers even fall in love with you, considering that attitude of yours?" he demanded, straightening his back.
"Well, I guess my attitude wasn’t exactly what they fell in love with," I murmured, deliberately trying to get another reaction out of him.
Sure enough, he turned to glare at me.
"You know, we do a lot of other things together, too," I added casually, continuing to type.
"I’m dropping you home," he insisted, heading toward the door.
"Go ahead. Drop yourself home. I’m not leaving until I’m done."
I’d barely finished speaking when he turned around and marched briskly toward my desk.
But before he could reach me, I had one last thing to say.
"You know what? You just can’t resist giving me attention."
He stopped dead in his tracks.
I slowly leaned back in my chair and turned toward him, resting my elbow on the armrest and propping my cheek against my palm.
"You want my attention so badly. You’re constantly looking for excuses to get close to me, and I’ve noticed how you can’t seem to stop yourself from touching me. What is it, Ragnar, huh? Please don’t tell me you’ve fallen for your brother’s mate."
I knew I was playing a dangerous game, but somehow, Ragnar didn’t scare me anymore.
It was crazy, but I’d grown so comfortable messing with him that I could say things to his face I wouldn’t even dream of saying to Jaguar or Theodore.
"That’s bullshit," Ragnar hissed.
"No, no, no. That’s the truth," I countered, lifting my hand from my cheek and wagging a finger at him. "You’re desperately craving my attention all the time. I’ve noticed how you always find some reason to touch me. We could be having a perfectly normal conversation about your brothers, and somehow, you’d turn it into something sexual. Like when you called me a good girl."
I deliberately reminded him of the way he’d said those words, and the embarrassment that flashed across his face was impossible to miss.
"If that’s what you think, then you’ve completely misunderstood. I don’t..." He looked away.
Oh, he was embarrassed, all right. His cheeks had already begun turning red.
"I saw that video, and there was a pretty noticeable bulge in your pants..."
I immediately glanced up at him, and he snapped his head toward me.