Chapter 5 He stands up for me

Nyx's p.o.v

Being a shielded girl all my life was somehow a blessing and a curse. A blessing because the bully reduced,a curse because I'm currently missing out on the peak years of my youth. Partying, clubbing, drinking and many more.

Now this new phase of life that I was introduced to by that dare has increased my curiosity. So much that I continuously research about this recent feeling of mine. How I get incredibly hot inside me when my uncle is close.

His voice to me, so sinful that he didn't need to touch me to get my core singing.

Uhhh. He's hot, why does he have to be my stepuncle.

It gets really frustrating when he acts unbothered about that phase.

But there's nothing wrong with having a little crush right. That's exactly what I'm gonna do. A crush on Travis that only I know about. No acting on it. Just a crush.

As I drew into that conclusion, I sighed in relief as I drew the image on my sketchbook, hoping to transfer it on my canvas during the night. My face contoured into a wide smile as I stared at the almost finished painting.

“Nyx,” I heard Mom's voice from downstairs, I sighed heavily. A moment of peace please. I thought.

“Nyx,” she called again, this time, closer, I heard her footsteps approaching, hastily, I shut the sketchbook’s cover and hid it under my pillow.

My mom is everything including a nosy housemate.

I rushed to the door and pulled on the handle,not eager to let her into my room.

She peeked her head in just as her hand reached the door.

“What are you doing?” she asked, eyes narrowing in that suspicious mom-way that could turn anyone into a stuttering toddler.

“Nothing,” I replied too quickly. Too sharply. Too guilty.

Great, Nyx. Real smooth.

Her eyes lingered on me for a long second, like she could see through my skull and straight to the sketchbook burning under my pillow.

Then she sighed and folded her arms. “There’s a dinner hosting happening in a few hours. For our employees.” Her tone tightened a bit. “Travis wants to announce his position as the new owner.”

My stomach sank. I already knew where this was going.

“And you shouldn’t come downstairs,” she added flatly.

Of course. Of course she’d say that. That’s always how it is get locked away, stay out of sight, don’t breathe too loudly because God forbid someone remembers I exist.

But this time…

This time something in me pushed back.

“Mom, I’m also an employee,” I said, lifting my chin. “Well… not officially. But I’m a soon-to-be employee…”

She cut me off with a calm but firm, “Nyx, don’t make this harder. Please. Just understand.”

The calmness hurt more than if she had yelled.

I nodded slowly, even though every part of me clenched. She gave me one last look, one mixed with worry and something like guilt before turning around and walking down the hall.

As soon as she disappeared, I closed the door.

Once again I miss out on socializing.

Taking a deep breath to rid myself of the ache in my chest, I walked back to my bed, pulled out my sketchbook and continued sketching.

---

So engrossed in the finishing touches of my sketch, I hadn't heard footsteps approaching nor did I take note of the time. Well not until my door opened and hit the wall with a loud bang did I turn to my door. Instinctively, I slammed the cover of my book shut.

Travis.

His eyes flickered to the book I shut and then back to me,

Angry eyes sharp, dark, blazing with a dismissive authority that somehow made him even more devastatingly handsome.

“Why the fuck are you missing from the dinner downstairs?” His voice cut through the room, low and lethal.

I straightened so fast the bed creaked, every excuse I’d rehearsed scrambling uselessly in my throat.

“Uh I was just…”

“Don’t.” He snapped, slicing the air with that one word. “Don’t feed me an excuse.”

My breath hitched. I’d never heard him use that tone with me before, not directed at me, not that sharp edge of barely restrained annoyance. It rattled me so hard I forgot how to swallow.

“I…Mom said…” I tried again, but he shut me down instantly.

“Keep the excuse.” He stepped closer, the heat of his body prickling against my skin even from several feet away. “Get your plump ass downstairs in two minutes… or I’ll spank it till it’s swollen.”

My lips parted.

My entire body froze.

Then heat.

A hot, treacherous, humiliating wave that pulsed straight between my thighs. My stomach twisted. My lungs forgot how to work. And he saw it. Of course he did. His gaze dipped for half a second, catching the exact moment my knees pressed together.

Then.

He turned and walked away.

Just like that. No pause. No second look. No realization that he had just destroyed every last thread of stability in my body.

I sat there, shaking, my chest rising and falling too fast. I didn’t know whether to hide or faint or scream into my pillow until it exploded. Who the hell threatens to spank someone like that? And why…why did my stupid body react like that?

I shoved myself off the bed.

Whatever reaction that threat had dragged out of me, I was absolutely not giving him any opportunity to follow through.

I threw on the first dress my hands touched, brushed my hair once maybe twice and rushed out before the full two minutes even came close to passing.

The noise hit me first.

Low chatter. Clinking glasses. The rumble of conversations layered over each other. The dining room was already full the workers from the club squeezed around the long table, which suddenly had enough chairs like it had magically multiplied overnight.

Heads turned instantly.

Of course.

I kept my eyes ahead, ignoring the whispers, Mom’s tight-lipped glare, and Kent’s not-even-subtle disapproving shake of the head.

Whatever.

My heart thudded painfully as I approached the only empty chair left.

The one right between Mom… and Travis.

Perfect. Just perfect.

I sat slowly, forcing my knees not to buckle under the heat I could feel radiating from Travis’s side. I kept my gaze on the tablecloth, pretending I didn’t feel his eyes sweep over me in one slow, deliberate drag.

Mom cleared her throat sharply, but Travis didn’t glance her way.

He only leaned slightly closer so slightly no one else would notice and said under his breath, voice like a sin I was never taught how to refuse:

“Good girl.”

My heart nearly leaped out of my chest.

Before I could react,he reached for his glass of champagne and stood up immediately, he took a sip of it and I saw his Adam's apple bobbed. Sin.

The dam between my legs is only growing.

“Welcome everyone,” he began. I looked around the table now, not recognizing anyone except Steph, my late step dad’s secretary who always came home to drop a file of two, she was leaning close to an equally young woman who was whispering something into her ears while she stared lustfully at Travis.

“Thanks for honoring my invitation, my name is Travis Wyatt.” He announced, expectantly, murmurs erupted as they looked between themselves. Mom obviously saw that as her opportunity as she leaned in.

“I told you to stay inside,” she berated, I turned to her, explaining at the tip of my tongue but Travis spoke.

“Silence everyone,” he said sternly, leaving room for disobedience.“I'm your late boss brother, and now the new owner of Raves.”

He announced and Steph squealed happily. I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. “Now the introduction is done,we may eat now and ask questions later,” Travis said dismissively, then he sat down. His dominating presence clinging to the room.

Everyone opened their already dished out food in their plates, I did the same, grabbing my cutlery, my mouth watered. The steak and mashed potatoes combo. Yum.

If there's anything I'm grateful for, for being down here, it's this food. I tasted the steak and moaned out unconsciously. I didn't even notice the room stilled until. Mom tapped my shoulder roughly. “Respect yourself young lady.”

Only then did I notice almost everyone staring except Kent who seemed to be sulking. He had been that way since Travis told him he was going to be a worker.

I was still reeling from the embarrassment when I heard Steph and her friend whispering well, not really whispering, because I could hear them perfectly clearly from across the table.

"Why’s she eating with her left hand?" The other girl asked, her tone dripping with mockery.

"She’s a leftist," Steph replied, smirking.

"Poor thing… is that why we never see her at any gatherings with the Wyatts?"

Steph nodded, and they both burst out laughing, their giggles loud and sharp, cutting through the room like knives.

Tears pooled in my eyes, hot and bitter, and my vision blurred. I wanted to vanish, to sink under the table, to disappear entirely. My hands trembled around my cutlery, and the mashed potatoes on my plate blurred into a gray, tasteless smear. I was frozen, humiliated beyond reason, my entire body aching to run.

Then Travis stepped in. His hand slammed onto the table with a force that made everyone startle, and the room went silent.

“That’s enough,” he said, his voice low but sharp, carrying command. “Sit the hell down and shut up.”

Steph and her friend shrank back immediately, their laughter dying in their throats. Mom leaned in once again, eyes flashing with authority and warning. “I warned you,” she said, her tone tight.

“Get out of my house. Both of you are suspended for two weeks without salary. Now. Out.” Travis said.

The girls began to beg, stammering apologies and excuses, but their pleading did nothing to Travis’ firm judgement.

I couldn’t even look at them. My chest heaved, m

y face burning, my stomach twisting in shame.And then… without thinking, without waiting for anyone to tell me, I pushed my chair back and bolted from the dining room.

I ran.