Page 31 of The Pursuit of Happiness (Satan’s Angels #2)

Slater

I feel hungover as fuck, but I barely drank anything.

I know my current headache is in part caused by the overthinking I did last night and from not sleeping.

My mind kept retracing the events of last night.

I’m always even tempered. I never fight, I never snap, and I never argue.

But last night, something inside of me broke.

I lost my shit and snapped. I could’ve potentially killed that guy and part of me regrets that I didn’t. I don’t know what’s gotten into me.

What that man said about Aria pushed me over the edge.

I’m starting to realize that the way I feel for her can be dangerous.

Not for us, but for other people. I won’t tolerate anyone disrespecting her, especially not when I know what this does to her.

She’s struggling over this whole situation and I’m wondering if that’s why she’s been pushing me away, but I also wonder if my wounded pride is making me question her motive.

I had breakfast delivered for us this morning and plated everything to keep myself busy while Aria still sleeps.

I’m afraid she’ll be angry at me after her worry has had time to settle.

I haven’t turned my phone on yet because I know what awaits me when I do.

I’ll have a million missed calls all from Steve, Selene, my mom and dad, Nate, Miles, and possibly even Rogan.

The thought of discussing what happened or being yelled at for it isn’t on my to-do list for today, so I’m avoiding the problem until I can’t avoid it anymore.

I hear footsteps padding down the stairs slowly and I anticipate Aria’s presence. I feel my chest tighten with worry over how she’s going to look when she sees me. I worry over just how angry she’ll be with me.

When she enters the kitchen, her hair a mess from sleep and her arms wrapped over herself as she wears my clothes, my dick immediately springs to life.

I imagine for a split second what it would be like to have her here every morning wearing my clothes.

I silently thank the universe that I’m standing behind the counter so she can’t see the hard on I’m sporting right now.

I feel like a pubescent teen getting hard over the sight of his crush. I need to get it together.

I wait for her to give me a look of distaste, disgust, anything, but she doesn’t.

She just gives me a weak, exhausted smile.

“Good morning,” she greets. Her eyes are puffy from her crying last night and there are remnants of mascara around her eyes.

I feel a sudden rush of guilt knowing that I’m the reason she’s upset.

I did this. I put that look on her face.

“Good morning,” I try to hide the sadness in my voice but it barely works.

She gives me a worried look and I gesture towards the food, “I got you breakfast.”

She looks up at me and suddenly doesn’t look tired and sad anymore. She looks excited and cheery. Her caramel eyes brighten and glimmer in the light and I realize that food may be the way to Aria Kane’s heart. “Did you make this?” She asks, impressed.

I laugh, “Don’t let my gorgeous kitchen fool you. It’s never been used.”

Her eyes widen in surprise, “You don’t like to cook?”

I shake my head, “Not only that, but I don’t know how to.”

She stabs at some french toast with her fork and brings it to her mouth. “I love cooking. I could teach you,” the offer hangs in the air between us.

Selfishly, I nod because I want to spend more time with her and I’ll suffer a cooking lesson if that’s what it takes. “Yes, Chef. Thank you,” I joke.

She laughs as she chews and when she swallows, her smile falls. “Have you heard anything? About last night.”

I sigh, “No. But that’s probably because I never turned my phone on.”

“Selene may kill you,” she frowns. I’m aware of that and I’ll admit, that is one of the biggest reasons I did not check my phone. “I’ll say something really nice at your funeral,” Aria grins as she takes another bite.

I start digging into my own plate, “Why is Selene so scary?”

Aria laughs, “Brody said Selene used to be pretty calm and chill back when they were younger. She got super cut-throat and ruthless when she started going to law school. Especially towards when she graduated. I think she had some drama with some other lawyers that went sour.”

I raise a brow, “Why is Selene your manager if she’s a lawyer?”

Aria smiles innocently as if she’s used to getting this question. “Because she makes a fuck ton more managing us and also because we’re all friends. I know it doesn’t seem like it because she scares the shit out of us, but we’re a group, the four of us.”

I nod, “I get that. I’m happy you have that kind of support in your friendships. Especially because…” I let my words trail off, realizing I’m wandering into territory I have no business discussing.

She cocks her head, “Especially because I don’t have good relationships with my parents?”

I scratch the back of my head uncomfortably, “I didn’t mean to-”

“It’s okay, Sly. I told you my business because I trust you. It’s okay to talk about these things,” she smiles around another bite of toast. I’m about to say something back, but I get interrupted by an aggressive fist knocking on the door. Aria laughs, “That’s definitely Selene.”

My stomach sinks and I feel my face paling.

Fuck. I didn’t want to deal with this ever, but realistically not for another couple of hours.

I hesitate to start for the door and walk slowly, anxiously to the door, taking a deep breath before opening it.

The small hand that reaches inside and yanks the fabric of my hoodie closer to a very angry Selene’s face, has my life flashing before my eyes.

“What the fuck were you thinking?” She seethes.

Selene wears one of her signature suits, her hair styled perfectly along with her minimal makeup.

I also note that her face is beet red with anger and her lips are curled into a very angry frown.

I wince, “Selene, I-”

“Shut up!” She shouts. She pushes me and I stand back to my full height as she slams my door behind herself. “Where is she?” She points at me accusingly. I know right away she’s talking about Aria.

“In the kitchen,” I answer, my voice shaky.

I am not scared of many things, but Selene Stone? Terrifying.

She charges through my foyer and to the kitchen like she’s already familiar with the layout of my home.

I wouldn’t put it past her to have a copy of my house’s blueprints somewhere.

I walk a safe distance behind her, too intimidated by the four-foot eleven woman storming through my house like the Juggernaut on some evil mission.

Aria’s spine straightens when Selene enters the room.

She stops chewing and swallows her food forcefully, wincing as it goes down the wrong way.

Selene stops on the other side of the island and I make sure to keep myself as far away from her as possible.

I stand right beside Aria because there’s power in numbers and all.

Aria anxiously wipes her palms on her thighs, “Hi, Selene,” she squeaks and under normal circumstances, I would smile at how cute she sounds, but this is not normal circumstances. This is the wrath of Selene Stone, more commonly known as Armageddon.

Selene slaps her palm down on the sand colored granite, “Do not ‘hi Selene’ me right now, you fool!” The vein in her forehead is bulging and I feel anxiousness swirl inside me when she focuses her gaze on me. “What the fuck were you thinking? Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

I take a deep breath, “I know what I did and I’m sorry it went as far as it did, but I’m not sorry for putting him in his place.” I refuse to back down on this issue. My voice darkens as I say next, “Not after what he said about her.”

Aria squirms in her chair and Selene frowns so hard it almost looks like her face may fall off.

“You want to be a hero? Donate to another one of your animal rescues. You don’t assault and hospitalize a pap in public and on camera because he disrespected your girlfriend, who may I remind you, is not even your real girlfriend! ”

Thank you, Selene for reminding me that my relationship with Aria holds no significant value outside of the friend zone.

What’s with these women and constantly reminding me that I’ve been rejected more times than I can count?

“I’m sorry, okay? I just snapped and nothing else mattered in the moment,” I defend myself and I know it’s weak.

Selene shakes her head and huffs, “You’re sorry?

Aw, thank you, Slater. Sorry fixes everything!

It fixes the charges and lawsuits you’re facing for sure along with the bad media press.

” She points in my face, “Need I remind you that you are supposed to be fixing your media press right now? This is not fixing shit!”

I open my mouth to respond, but Aria places a hand in front of me to stop me, “Selene, I understand you’re frustrated and so does Sly, okay?

What happened is not okay, we both know that, but why don’t we skip the part where you make him feel bad about wanting to protect me and focus on how we’re fixing this.

” I whip my head at her, my mouth agape as I stare at her in awe.

I did not expect Aria to stand up to Selene ever , especially not on my behalf.

Aria gives me a sympathetic look before turning her gaze back on Selene. I reluctantly do the same.

Selene stares between us both with a certain suspicious look in her eye that I’m not sure how to place.

It feels like she’s looking directly into my mind and dissecting every single thought I’ve ever had.

I feel violated in a way, but I know that’s absurd.

Selene couldn’t possibly read my mind…right?

After a minute she sighs, pinching the bridge of her nose, “I talked to Steve and he gave me control over handling this situation. You’re being sued and that pap is pressing charges for assault and destruction of property.

I’m trying to get these charges dropped and a settlement drafted.

I think I can get you off with probation, but you’ll have to pay a couple million in settlements. ”

I nod, “That’s not a problem.” A couple million is pocket change to me. I’ve got hundreds of millions in my account. I give Selene a grateful look, “Thank you.”

She waves her hand around and shakes her head, “Don’t thank me because I am not doing this for you. I’m doing this for Aria, my friend and client who I care about. I’m doing this because your impulsiveness is going to affect her.”

I give her a genuine smile, “I know.”

Selene looks at me with understanding in her eyes like she’s seeing me in a new light.

I feel a hand grab mine under the island and look down to find that Aria is holding my hand.

She looks up at me and gives me a weak and very exhausted smile.

I want so badly to grab her and kiss her senselessly, to throw her over my shoulder and carry her upstairs to my bedroom where I kiss every square inch of her body and make her scream in pleasure.

Selene clears her throat and the eye contact between Aria and I breaks as we turn to face her, our hands still laced together out of sight, “Right. So what I need you to do, Slater, is keep yourself out of trouble and continue working on this album.” She focuses on Aria next, “I need you to pretty much do the same.”

Selene prepares to leave, walking around the island and back through the foyer. She stops and turns, giving Aria an irritated look, “And for fuck’s sake, turn your phone on. I’ve been calling you for twelve hours.”

She scoffs as she shakes her head and continues her exit, muttering, “Morons,” under her breath.

I look down at Aria and find a relieved look on her face and a newfound lightness to her as if a weight has been removed from her shoulders. Her hand squeezes mine and she grins, “Wanna come over later?”