“I’m sorry,” Ari whispered. “I didn’t mean to bring up something painful. I just… she looked familiar.” She reminds me of a woman I’ve been dreaming about. A woman and her brother. About to tell Jai about the weird dreams, a throat clearing halted Ari. Turning around, they found Luca standing before them with an older man and a beautiful young woman. To their left stood a younger man with similar features to Tarik and Luca. Another brother? Ari’s eyes drew back to the stunning woman. She looked a year or two older than Ari. They were of a similar height and both had dark hair, but that was where the similarities ended. Whereas Ari’s features were soft and full, the girls were sharp and elegant. Ari did not like the way she stared at Jai.
Oh crap. Was this the girl? Was this the woman Jai was in love with?
Feeling sick, Ari dragged her gaze back to Luca. He smiled at her, but she couldn’t bring herself to return it. “Ms. Johnson, this is Hugo Lenz and his daughter Yasmin. Hugo is one of my oldest friends.”
Ari nodded at them, not sure what to say.
“Pleasure to meet you,” Hugo replied and then he flicked a sneer at Jai. “I was surprised you got this assignment, boy. Don’t mess it up.”
“It’s going fine,” Luca said before Jai or Ari could reply. “I’ve had word back from one of my contacts. He thinks he’s got it narrowed down to five guilds. He’s going to get back to me with better news as soon as possible.”
“Thank you, sir,” Jai acknowledged.
“Ms. Johnson, this is my middle son, David.” Luca gestured to the guy at his side. On closer inspection, he looked more like Nicki than Luca. At his name, Ari tensed, giving him a tight nod, as he stared lasciviously at her body. Creep. And one who had tormented her guardian. God, Ari wanted to get Jai out of this place as soon as possible. No matter what he thought, he deserved so much better than these people.
Father and son spoke some more, but Ari barely listened. Avoiding David’s disturbing gaze, hers stumbled back to Yasmin, whose eyes devoured Jai from head to toe. She looked like she knew him… intimately. Girls Charlie had screwed around with had looked at him exactly the same way. Oh hell. This was Jai’s girlfriend. This sharp-eyed, glossy guardian jinn was Jai’s one true love. Ari wanted to rip out all that silky hair and scratch her eyes out. Afraid to look at Jai but needing to, Ari slid him a tentatively appraising look. She relaxed a little when she saw he wasn’t even looking at Yasmin… but did that really mean anything?
Luca bid Ari goodnight. She muttered her reply, watching Jai’s father, David, Hugo and Yasmin saunter out of the room.
Jai nodded at the exit. “Come on, it’s getting late, I’ll walk you to your room.”
Stomach churning with the need to know the truth, Ari strode by Jai’s side in tense silence. With everything that had happened to her in the last few days, it felt ridiculous that her anxiety over meeting Jai’s girlfriend had grown to such epic proportions. Knowing she couldn’t go on like this, Ari whirled on him when they stopped outside her room. “Is Yasmin the girl you’re in love with?”
Jai blinked, appearing totally surprised by her question and the suddenness of it. “Um… no.” He shook his head, looking a little uncomfortable. “No, she’s not.”
Ignoring the inner voice that pleaded with her to be cooler, Ari threw up her hands in exasperation. “Well, who is? Who is this woman that you’re in love with? Will I meet her?”
Dread settled into her bones as Jai stepped away from her. He couldn’t meet her eyes and he rubbed his hand over his short hair the way he did when he didn’t want to talk about something. “Ari, now is not the time for this.”
“Jai?”
Sighing, he looked up at her. Their gazes locked, hers pleading, his enigmatic. Finally, he shook his head. “There is no one. I lied.”
Feeling punched in the gut, Ari’s mouth dropped open. “What?” she asked, disbelieving. He’d lied to her about being involved with someone? Why would he do that? “Why?”
“I thought it was the best way to keep a proper distance between us. When you…”
“Came on to you,” Ari supplied angrily.
“Ari,” he threw her an unhappy look. “When you kissed me, I realized you felt a certain way about me...”
“Just say it, Jai.” Ari drew her arms across her chest as if they would somehow shield her vulnerability. “I have feelings for you.”
He couldn’t look her in the eyes, and that just made her so mad. Crunching on that mad, she waited as he finally met her gaze. “I don’t feel that way,” he whispered. “I didn’t want to hurt you and encourage you when you don’t even know me.”