Hateful Games: (An arranged marriage billionaire romance) (Arranged Games Book 2)

Chapter Eleven

“You’re not much of a talker, huh?”

Blinking, I look up at Miya, sitting across while watching me with mild amusement. We’re seated in a corner booth at a small family-owned café, down the street from Nova’s high-rise apartment. I suddenly realize I’ve been quietly eating my pancakes while sipping on coffee since we sat down, which was almost half an hour ago.

My closest friends are used to long expanse of silence from me when we’re hanging out. So, I forget it may come off as weird or plain rude to a total stranger.

“I don’t really know you.”

“And how will you if you won’t allow us to have a conversation?”

“Small talk isn’t my jam.” Besides, I don’t trust Nova not to send her to spy on me. Cousin or not, she’s still a D’Cruz. They cannot be trusted. As has been drilled into my head ever since I can remember. I believe what my father says with a grain of salt but so far, Nova’s family haven’t proven otherwise.

Miya smiles, a thoughtful look crossing her light green pupils. Her friendly demeanor shifts to a person who’s wise beyond their years. There’s more to her than meets the eye. When she speaks, I’m proven correct.

“You don’t trust me, do you?”

“We’ve only just met,” I reply politely. “Trusting someone takes time—years, in fact.”

“Spoken like a person whose trust has been shattered.”

“Takes one to know one.”

She chuckles, tucking one curl behind her ear, and shrugs one shoulder casually. “Everyone’s been betrayed once or twice in their lives. Doesn’t mean you should give up on people entirely.”

“Jasmine will love you,” I mutter, making her frown. “You’re hanging out with the wrong sister.”

“Older or younger?”

“Older.”

“Are you both close?”

“We are,” I answer with a small grin, missing her a little bit. Taking a sip of my coffee, I ask, “Do you have any siblings?”

“I have a stepsister.”

The revelation leaves me intrigued. So does the guarded expression that arises on her face.

“We aren’t close, in case you’re wondering,” she explains, sensing my speculative gaze.

“You seem close to Nova, though.”

Miya doesn’t strike me as the kind who cannot get along with anyone. She practically radiates sunshine and warmth. The fact she came to meet me first thing in the morning screams it.

“Because he isn’t worried that I’m going to steal his fortune,” she reveals, and I don’t miss the hurt beneath her words. The stepsister sounds like a real piece of work. “Even though he actually has one. Is that why you don’t trust me? Because I’m a D’Cruz?”

“No, it’s not because you’re a D’Cruz.” I tell her before dropping my voice low. “I don’t trust you because your loyalty lies with Nova.”

And I don’t easily let people in.

Burned too many times.

“You aren’t wrong but that doesn’t mean we can’t be friends.” Leaning forward, she replies in a gentle but firm tone. “I don’t blindly follow my brother, Rosalie. I have my own brain and make my own decisions. Nor do I judge a person solely by who they’re related to. I know our families’ history is tumultuous, which is why I wanted to come meet and let you know that you’ll always have one friendly face. And if you ever decide to give us a chance, then maybe we can even be close friends.”

Instantly, I feel like an ass.

Maybe I judged her too harshly. However, it is hard to fight my natural instincts when all my life people have only tried to get close for nefarious reasons—to use me for their own agenda.

I mean, my own father is guilty of the same crime. The one person in the world who is supposed to protect me and not throw me to the wolves himself.

Or use me as a pawn in his greed for power.

“I understand my uncle and your father hating each other, even our grandfathers, but it makes no sense for the kids to drag themselves into their drama. The hate between you and Nova could cut glass. It’s that thick and I only hung out with you both for a few measly minutes. My brother is a dick but he’s got a good heart underneath his layers, Rosalie.”

A humorless chuckle slips from my mouth before I can contain it. I drop the fork to the plate. The clanking sound startling Miya. Gazing at her, I speak, my voice cutting, “Well, then they are buried way too deep. Probably under concrete.” Pausing, I demand, “Do you even how I became engaged to him?”

She shakes her head, apprehension replacing the light in her eyes.

“I was all but given to him like some property, Miya. I was forced to sign my life over to him, in front of his father, in a legitimate contract with a clause that we can never divorce unless I want to be disowned and left from my father’s will. Not even a penny from Nova either. And you know how old I was? Sixteen.” Once the floodgates open, I can’t stop baring every hurtful detail. “My mother, who I believed was on my side, actually orchestrated the whole idea. Except, both the head of the families decided to take it a step further by forming a joint venture that’ll profit off of our sham of a marriage. While your precious brother, Nova, who claims to despise my family and could’ve said no, stood by and did nothing out of some misguided obligation. Either way, he gets to run a company while I’m the one sacrificing everything. My freedom. My future.”

My outburst leaves her speechless. Horror etching her beautiful features. Unable to withstand the pity that slowly replaces the current emotion, I look away. Several tense minutes pass before she speaks in a small voice.

“I’m so sorry, Rosalie.” I sharply face her when she rests her palm on my balled fist on the table and squeezes in sympathy. “While I’m appalled by the way you were coerced into this arrangement, I’m afraid you’re only looking at one side of the story.”

“Enlighten me then.”

“Did you know Nova was kidnapped when he was seven?”

My jaw goes slack. My spine going rigid, but she’s not finished.

“The rumor is your father was behind it.”

“I don’t believe it,” I mutter flatly. My father wouldn’t do such a heinous crime. For all his flaws, he can’t possibly be capable of it. Most importantly, what will he achieve from it? Miya must read the question in my horrified gaze because she leans back and explains it to me.

“Your father is very subtle in his aggression and hatred toward Nova’s family.”

“Subtle isn’t the word I’d use.”

“Uncle believes he did it to eradicate Nova and leave them with no heir to his legacy. However, he didn’t succeed because Nova escaped, but they scarred him enough that he had to be homeschooled until he got into middle school.”

Each heart-wrenching revelation shocks the hell out of me, putting my fiancé in a whole new light. A part of me is having trouble reconciling a scared and traumatized little boy with the vicious man with the sharp tongue he’s become today.

Is this the reason he despises my family so much?

I can’t even imagine being forced to marry the daughter of a man who you believe tried to kill you in cold blood as a kid. It perplexes me even more that his father actually agreed, despite having the same suspicions.

I’m confused and torn.

The more truths that come to light, the more tangled our webs become.

Miya expectantly waits when I become silent for too long, lost in the same old rabbit hole. Yet again. No matter where I go, those sick memories remain attached like a parasite.

“Why are you telling me all this, Miya?” I ask, curiosity nagging at me. “Nova wouldn’t appreciate you baring his secret like this, definitely not to me.”

“Oh, he’ll be pissed,” she says with a small affectionate smile before becoming serious. “But I’ll cross that bridge when it comes. As for sharing with you, just because our elders spent years tearing each other down while burning in mutual hatred, doesn’t mean us kids need to follow the same path. Hate can never be erased with hate.”

As part of the extended family, she seems to know more about the history of our families than I do. The knowledge I’ve been fed over the years has always been vague, raising more questions than answers. The gist as narrated by my father like a broken record is that Nova’s family came from the wrong side of the tracks.

They were low-life thugs and were into money extortion, money laundering, drugs, illegal underground rings, before realizing they would be far more wealthy and safer with legitimate businesses.

Rumor has it their darker sides of the empire hasn’t ceased.

It’s the reason their name inspires so much fear.

After Nova’s father married Teresa, Nova’s mother, who came from old money, the D’Cruzes became untouchable.

It eats at my father, who prides himself on hard work and old traditional values, that someone like Danish D’Cruz became his competition by climbing his way to the top through sneakier means.

Nevertheless, I’ve always had this gut feeling that there’s more to the story.

Maybe Miya knows. If she revealed Nova’s darkest secret so easily, perhaps I could tempt her into sharing more. Anything to give me an edge, a wild card, when I marry into the family in the future.

She wouldn’t answer if I ask now, which means I only have one choice. To spend time with her. Besides, did I not promise I will not let anyone ruin my trip, least of all my own damn self?

Clearing my throat, I say, “I’m going to be sightseeing while I’m here, if you want to join?”

Her whole face lights up like the Fourth of July. She takes my invitation as a clean slate. For a moment, I wonder if beneath her sunny personality, lies a lonely girl.

“Of course, I would love to.” A mischievous smirk graces her lips. The tension dissipating and she offers, “If you ever need embarrassing stories about Nova or ways to get back at him, I know a ton. Hell, I might even join you.”

“Very enticing.” I chuckle and wave my fork at her. “I’m going to hold you to that promise.”

Amicable silence falls as we both focus on finishing our breakfast. Though, my mind whirls with all that I learned today. Instead of easing my tension, it only makes the muddy waters murkier. With it, it strengthens my resolve to not let my guard down around Nova.

After all, I’m the second person in my family to almost kill him.

The scarred man in him will not let it go unpunished.