Chapter 50. Kiss Me

As she struggled to answer, her gaze darted between him and the floor. A hiss escaped from her lips as his fingers threaded through her luscious locks. "I was with Hannan!" she finally blurted out, somehow hoping she could defuse his simmering anger with the truth.

"And who is he to you exactly?" he asked, his voice low, every word laced with a threat.

She gulped, searching for the right words, hoping they would somehow make him understand. "He was m-my colleague… and a friend too. He actually—he helped me a lot… in… in Amna’s operation," she stammered. "He told me that his brother had d-died today, four years back, and he was feeling down. So he… he insisted on having a—a small lunch with him. And he’s just a friend! I swear, he’s just a friend. There’s nothing more," she added desperately, trying to explain, to paint the picture clearly for him.

His lips curled in a humorless smile. "A friend, is he?" he muttered, voice dripping with sarcasm. "That’s why you gave