Sweet Hatred Chapter 168: Teleportation

Of course it was him.

I picked up the phone with a sigh already on my lips.

"Aren’t you supposed to be off hijacking the global economy or whatever?"

His voice ca smooth, amused, and irritatingly warm through the speaker. "Oh, sweetheart, don’t tell you’re drowning without already."

I leaned back in my chair, crossing one leg over the other. "No, I was hoping a pigeon shits on your million-dollar suit."

He chuckled, deep and low, and it made my stomach flutter in a way I hated.

"I missed your sunshine," he said, sarcasm dripping like honey. "So. How’s it feel being back? Don’t you just love paperwork stacked higher than your emotional repression?"

"You are such an asshole," I muttered, grinning despite myself.

There was a short pause.

Then, quietly, he asked, "...You holding up okay?"

My smile faltered just a little, just for a second.

"I’m fine," I said. "Don’t turn into a therapist now. It’s weird."

"Right. Wouldn’t want to make you feel things or anything." He made a fake gasp. "God forbid."

I laughed under my breath. And before I could stop myself, the words were slipping out.

"Are you coming back soon?"

It wasn’t ant to sound so soft. It just happened.

He caught it instantly. "What was that?"

"Nothing. Shut up."

"Oh no, no, no," he said, sounding way too pleased. "You were going to say sothing emotional. Did you miss , Aria?"

I scoffed. "Don’t flatter yourself."

"You were definitely about to say you want to co drink that wine with you."

My throat dried up.

"You peeked at the gift card, didn’t you?"

"You signed it, dumbass."

He burst into laughter, and I closed my eyes, half-embarrassed, half-grinning like a fool. God, I hated him.

"Anyway," I snapped, trying to sound stern. "Don’t you have oil barons to schmooze or children to scare?"

He made a thoughtful hum. "I could teleport, you know. If you just asked nicely. Maybe begged."

"Tch. Get out."

"Out of your phone or out of your mind?"

"Eat shit."

But my heart was thudding a little faster now. Because if I really did say, Co ho, I wasn’t sure he wouldn’t actually do it.

"Bye, Kael," I said, hanging up before he could get another word in.

The office suddenly felt too quiet. I stared at the wine bottle again, chewing the inside of my cheek.

I was going to drink that with him. I just... I wanted to. That wasn’t the plan, but now it was. And I didn’t know what that ant.

And then—

A knock. My breath stuttered.

I turned toward the door, my heart suddenly pounding with sothing ridiculous and hopeful and far too naïve.

He wouldn’t.

Would he?

The door creaked open slowly. My eyes shot up. And there he was.

Kael.

In the flesh. In my office.

Dressed like he’d descended from the kind of luxury only private empires could afford. A dark navy wool coat hung open over his fra, the lapels sharp, tailored to sin. His black turtleneck stretched smooth over his chest, tucked into pressed charcoal slacks. And his gloves, leather, black, creased perfectly around his fingers—he peeled off slowly, like it was a ritual.

His smirk was already in place, crooked and knowing. The kind that said he’d just closed a billion-dollar deal and still had ti to co disrupt my personal space.

"Miss ?" he asked.

I wanted to say no. I wanted to say get out. But my mouth didn’t cooperate, and my heart did sothing stupid. As usual.

I blinked at him.

"What the hell—?"

He leaned against the doorfra casually, as if he hadn’t just materialized out of nowhere like so devilishly hot ghost. "Told you. I can teleport if you ask nicely."

"You—were literally on the phone with five seconds ago—"

"Didn’t say I wasn’t already in the building." He winked. "Don’t you like my superpowers?"

My jaw dropped. "You’re unbelievable."

"I missed you too, sweetheart."

I turned away to hide the way my face betrayed , blushing like a damn teenager. I walked back to my desk, shaking my head. "You’re insane."

He followed in, casually glancing around like this wasn’t completely deranged behavior. "I couldn’t not be here on your first day back. Don’t be dramatic."

"Didn’t know teleportation was one of your secret billionaire powers," I muttered, trying to sound annoyed instead of... flustered.

He smirked wider. "I own jets, Aria. I don’t need to teleport. I just appear when I want to."

He tossed the gloves onto my desk, like it was so damn flex, and I had to physically stop myself from picking them up just to feel the warmth he left behind. Pathetic.

I arched a brow. "So, you were just pulling my leg earlier?"

"Don’t you like my superpowers?" he teased, stepping closer.

I scoffed, trying to seem unfazed. "I heard you weren’t coming back for another month."

"And who told you that?" he asked, leaning on the edge of my desk like the smug bastard he was. "My schedule bends to , not the other way around. You’ve been working with for almost half a year now Aria, I thought you’d have noticed by now." The green in his eyes glimred with sothing impure in them. "The biotech reps, the energy people, and the old money investors I’ve been dealing with? They’re all in town now. I brought the eting here."

I blinked. "You what?"

"I had them fly in. Everything’s being finalized in person." He smirked. "In fact, you’re coming with ."

I blinked again. "What?"

"To et them. You’ll love it." His tone dipped just enough to make my heart jump. "We’re heading to La Maison Blanche."

I choked. "The—? That’s... That’s where presidents eat."

"I know. That’s why I rented it for the night," he said casually. "They’re already there."

"I didn’t know people could rent a place like that."

"they can’t, but I can."

He stood and turned toward the coat rack like this was all normal behavior. Like inviting to a dinner that cost more than my paycheck for a year was a casual Monday night thing. He was doing it again. Pulling into his world without care. And frankly I enjoyed it. Because it made forget things for a small while. But—

"Pack up," he said, like it was that easy.

I gestured to my desk. "I can’t. I have vendor approvals, marketing revisions, and Rose said there’s a quarterly pitch I need to reformat by—"

He walked over, grabbed my bag, and shoved my tablet and a few files into it without a word.

"Kael," I warned.

"It’ll wait." He answered with a lazy smile and the slow blink of his eyes.

"This is important."

"I’m more important." He argued, reaching for my wrist and gently tugged. "Co on. Don’t make pick you up like a sack of potatoes."

I stared up at him, breath caught halfway in my throat. We’re we back to this? Going to eting, expensive parties and dinners, eting people who wouldn’t even look my way on a regular day.

It hadn’t even been a full three months since it felt like my whole world had shattered into pieces and yet I was back to being . Was that healthy? I couldn’t tell. Is it okay mom? I asked myself quietly because I didn’t know what to feel about this. About us. About letting this man continually distract from my own life. I should’ve pushed him away. I should’ve.

But instead...

I let him pull . Again. And deep inside, I hated how good it felt.

Because I knew I’d let him do it all over again until this man himself told he was sick of . I’d let drag wherever he wanted, do whatever he liked to .

I felt my stomach tighten. I was happy, so happy that it felt so uncomfortable. God I loved this man. And even when I knew it was basically walking on a thin rope, I still wanted him every second of the day.

Kael didn’t say anything as he led down the marble steps of XE Tower and into a waiting car parked like royalty in front of the building. The windows were tinted pitch black. The inside slled like expensive leather and subtle cologne, his.

I slid in, already too deep in the chaos to back out.

"You always do this." I finally muttered. "Dragging everywhere."

He turned to look at , the corner of his lips curving with a smirk, "I can’t help it."

Ten minutes later, my jaw was dropping again.

"What the fuck," I whispered as we pulled up to a private helipad tucked between two buildings like it belonged in a spy film.

And waiting for us? A jet-black helicopter.

"Kael," I hissed, my heart already racing. "No."

"Yes." He opened the car door for . "Unless you want to walk to the coast. In heels."

I wanted to slap him. I also wanted to kiss him. Maybe push him into traffic. I couldn’t decide. I didn’t even know why I was surprised, this man basically dragged to a castle months ago.