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Gossip

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Chapter 34: Gossip (Rowan's POV)

One thing I never thought you could be late for was grocery shopping but apparently, I was wrong. As I reached downstairs, Evie didn't hesitate to tell me that. 

"How can someone take so long to get ready for grocery shopping?" she asked, slipping her shoes back on as she glared at me before standing up from the couch where she lay with Niko beside her. "What the hell were you doing for so long?" she asked, taking her phone and following me out as I walked quickly. 

"I took my time," I answered. 

"Took your time doing what?" she pressed further. 

"Taking a shower," I huffed, pressing and holding down the elevator button. 

She paused, folding her arms across her chest. "You were... in the shower for an hour?" 

"No." 

"Then?" 

I turned to her, sucking in a frustrated breath through my teeth. 

In amusement, she watched me. "Do I want to know what you were doing, Mr. Rowan?" 

"I doubt it, Ms. Spencer." 

"Oh no, I think I would like to know, Mr. Rowan. You seem rather... frustrated," she laughed. 

"I am," I huffed. Sexually, that is.

"Do I want to ask?"

 "You most certainly do not, Ms. Spencer," I ground out. 

"No more Mrs. Volkov?" she mused. 

"No, you've lost that privilege." I glanced at her before getting into the elevator. 

"Okay," a chuckle poured out of her and she stood beside me. 

Helplessly, I stole a look at her, taking note of what she wore, which was strangely becoming something I mentally noted down a lot. But today she had on simple black joggers and a plain black zip-up jacket on too, that hung off one shoulder, revealing the white strap of her camisole. Her hair was pulled back into a bun while the shorter strands slipped out and framed her face, and unlike usual, she had no jewelry on. Not even the little hoops she always wore. 

"Something to look at, Mr. Rowan?" she asked without looking at me. 

"You've got fuzz in your hair," I replied. She truly did have fuzz in her hair. Her eyes cut to mine with suspicion swirling in them. Sighing, I reached forward and picked out the little strand of white fluff, showing it to her. I blew it in her face as the elevator doors opened before walking out, ignoring the frustration in her groan as she caught up with me. 

As I unlocked the car, we both climbed in and buckled up before I started the car, turning in my seat and placing an arm around hers to back the car out smoothly. She stole a few looks at me but I didn't say anything. I'd rubbed it into her face enough this morning when she mumbled whatever she did about Greek Gods. 

"Do you even know what we need to buy?" she asked. 

"No, that's what you're here for, Lyubov." 

"To be the human grocery list?" 

"Indeed." 

"And why should it be me?" 

I did not like that accusing tone. "Not because you're a woman, sweetheart." I glanced at her and her lip twitched up. "I'm a feminist, you see," I reminded her. "You are the human grocery list just because you actually know what we have and what we don't. You were the last one to be in the kitchen this morning." 

She grinned, "Fair enough considering you're paying." 

"How chivalrous of you, wife." 

"You're welcome, husband," she responded while looking out the window. 

Within ten minutes, we were at the grocery store I usually came to, so I parked the car and we both got out and entered the store. She led the way, skipping ahead merrily and I rolled my eyes, pulling out a cart and trailing behind her. 

"You actually made a grocery list?" I asked, glancing at her phone screen. 

"Were you expecting me to magically remember everything?" she asked, looking at me in confusion. 

"You seem to remember strange things all the time, why not groceries?" 

"What strange things?" she snickered. 

"Everything strange." 

"Like?" 

"Probably like what I wore on the day we first met." 

She paused and then looked at me briefly. "I do, actually." 

"Enlighten me." 

"You had on these denim shorts with this... faded navy blue t-shirt that had The Avengers on it," she giggled softly, "and this... black, I think it was black. A black hat that had the Marvel logo on it. And your shoes were plain converse, but you had this little Spider-Man clip hooked onto the laces on each foot. You were sitting by the pool, you were in a god-awful mood," she laughed, "you didn't like me very much, did you?" 

"I didn't like anybody in the world." 

"Hmm, except your grandpa and most of the time, Nate." 

"Sometimes Nate," I corrected. 

"No, it was most of the time," she said, watching me in amusement as she grabbed a bowl of cereal, dropping it into the cart. "Do you remember what I was wearing?" 

"No," I answered. 

"Try. Amuse me." 

I glanced at her as she continued to stroll through and drop all things into the cart wordlessly. "You were in pink, head to toe." She didn't reply. "You had on this annoyingly bright, baby pink bucket hat with a strawberry stitched onto it. Your dress was white but you had pink flowers all over it. The shoes you wore were, to nobody's surprise, the same shade of pink with white laces that were untied." 

"No four-year-old knows how to tie laces," she argued. 

"Some do. Oh, and you had this pink beaded bracelet on too but that fell off at some point, I think." 

She stopped abruptly and spun around to look at me. I barely stopped the cart from ramming into her. "How do you remember that?" 

"I didn't. I remembered you screaming and crying when you couldn't find it," I replied with a small shrug. 

Her eyes rolled in annoyance. "That was the first ever bracelet I made for myself at school and I lost it barely three days later. Of course, I got a little upset." 

I snickered in response, "Little is an understatement." 

"You dick," she scoffed, reaching forward and smacking my arm. 

"Oh! It's Rowan!" 

I spun around at the call of my name and saw Mrs. Naomi, who was Mr. Davidson's wife. Just how I felt about her husband, I despised the woman too. She was a headache, to say the least. She liked to humiliate people, belittle them, give those snide remarks nobody asks for, and she loved to gossip about anything and everything, everyone and anyone, all she did was gossip. There was a circle for the wives of the shareholders of Volkov Enterprises and it was a given that once Mrs. Naomi knew something, they all knew it. 

"Mrs. Naomi," I greeted gruffly, ignoring the jab that Evie's elbow threw at my ribs as she moved to stand by my side. 

"How strange to see you here, I didn't think Rowan Volkov did his own grocery shopping," she chuckled. 

"Is Rowan Volkov not an average human?" 

Her smile faltered while Evie forced a laugh, clutching onto my arm. "It's nice to see you, Mrs. Naomi. We missed you at the party last night." 

"Ah right. I had been feeling rather sick last night, so I deemed it best to stay home." 

"Well, we hope you get well soon. We should get going now, right Rowan?" Evie turned to me. 

"Right," I nodded. 

"How come you're not at work?" the woman asked anyway, ignoring everything we just said. "You're not usually one to take days off, Rowan. Evie on the other hand," she laughed, pointing a finger at her. 

"Yes?" Evie asked, lifting a brow. "Go on, please." 

"Nothing dear," Mrs. Naomi smiled. 

"Well actually, I asked her to take the day off with me, Mrs. Naomi," I lied, fixing Evie's hand on my arm. "She works harder than I do on most days. She's always got more to do." 

"Well, she's your wife, that must have its perks, no?" 

"She's also a working woman who knows how to be professional in the office... no?" I lifted a brow. 

Mrs. Naomi paused before taking in a breath. "I'm actually here with a few friends, give me a moment and I'll introduce you to them." She walked away, going back to where she came from. 

Evie's arm slipped from mine as I turned to push our cart. 

"Let's leave before she comes back," I said. 

"You didn't have to lie. I'm the one who asked you to skip work." 

"And that doesn't make you any less professional than me. You are responsible when it comes to work, I'm just..." 

"A workaholic?" she smiled. 

"Mostly," I nodded once. 

She chuckled softly as we stopped in an aisle, both of us looking at opposite sides. 

"They were right here!" came that annoying voice again. 

"For fuck's sake," I sighed, spinning around to look for where they were so we could run in the other direction. 

Evie quickly moved closer, ducking under my arm and moving to stand between the cart and me. 

I watched her in confusion. "What the hell are you doing?" 

"Most of the shareholders' wives hate me enough as it is." 

"Why?" 

"Because I'm the new girl who suddenly has it all," she said, her words dripping with sarcasm. "I don't need them to see me and talk about how I went grocery shopping in slippers and sweatpants while Mrs. Naomi wears Prada to buy veggies." 

"She's actually wearing Christian Dior," I mumbled. 

Her gaze hardened. "Not helping," she gritted out. "You weren't there last night when I sat at the table with them. No woman has ever made me feel so incompetent and undeserving before," she huffed, glancing over my shoulder, going on her toes to do so. 

"What did she say to you?" My eyes narrowed. 

"The things she usually says, just worse. 'Oh, everything must be easier for you now that you're married to Rowan.' 'I never thought Rowan would marry you, of all people.' 'You have to admit, he had many options.'" She groaned, throwing her head back. 

"But I chose you." 

She straightened up to look at me. 

"I don't regret it. Yet," I added. "The woman talks about anything, don't listen to her. She just loves to gossip." 

"There he is. Rowan!" 

I huffed, closing my eyes and taking in a breath. 

"Then let's give her something to gossip about," Evie shrugged, taking a look past my shoulder. 

Before I could utter a single question, she took a fistful of my shirt and pushed herself onto her toes, slipping her other hand to the nape of my neck before she pulled me down into a kiss. Her lips crashed against mine as my hold tightened on the cart and I leaned forward, leaned into her. My hand slid off the bar and it went reeling back. Evie lost her balance, losing her support but my hand instinctively flew to her waist, holding her up and pulling her lower half against mine. 

I should have been paying attention to the women behind us, but I drowned everything out the moment my lips touched hers. I wanted nothing more than to take advantage of the situation and go further. I knew how wrong it was to use something like this to take what I'd always wanted from her. I knew she deserved more than a fake love with kisses that were just for show. But I couldn't help myself around her. She was driving me insane and I didn't want it to stop. 

Taking my chances, I slowly moved my hand lower. I would have stopped the second she asked or showed any signs of discomfort. But she didn't. Instead, she pulled me in deeper. 

I let go of the cart and held her with both hands, sliding them down her hips and to her ass, pulling her against me harder. She gasped quietly against my lips and I deepened the kiss, forgetting and not caring at all about where we were or who was watching. 

Her tongue swiped across my bottom lip before I felt her leaning away and as much as I didn't want her to, I took my hands off of her and broke the kiss. Immediately, she let out a shaky breath, bringing her fingers up to trace her lips. 

Staring at me as she caught her breath, she stuttered. "Uh, I um, I- I think they're gone," she mumbled, looking past me before nodding softly. 

"Good," I replied, nodding once as well. 

Clearing her throat, she took a quick scan of the area. I wanted to say something to avoid the sudden awkwardness between us but my mind was blank. "Okay. If I get in the cart, you'll still carry it, right?" she asked randomly, tucking her hair behind her ear as she avoided my gaze. 

"What?" I asked. 

"That's a yes." Without another thought, she grabbed the cart and carefully climbed in, facing me instead of away from me and holding everything in her lap. "Let's go," she demanded. 

I watched her curiously as I began pushing the cart. "Is this what you do after kissing men in grocery stores?" 

"Make them push me around in the cart? Yes," she laughed. 

"So, do you kiss a lot of men in grocery stores then?" 

She shook her head, smiling in amusement. "Only you, Rowan." She pointed to a pack of chips that were out of her reach and I grabbed a few, dropping them in her lap. She repeated, looking at her lap and not at me, "Only you."   

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Chapter 34

I updated again nvm the fact that it's 4:30 in the morning and I have to wake in 2 hours to go to fucking school

I LOVE THEM SM OMG I'M SO HAPPY W THIS BOOK YOU GUYS IT'S NEVER ENDING LOL I WANNA WRITE THEM FOREVER <333

IF I DON'T GET A ROWAN AND A LOVE LIKE THEIRS I WILL ACTUALLY DIE

anyways, prepare for an Indian wedding guys. prepare. Let's make Priya a bride.

next chapter: hatred