Arrogant Bitch

Seven Years Ago

"Aren't you gonna stop them?"

I turned to my right where the voice came from. There was a guy standing there. First thing I noticed about him was that he was tall. I liked tall guys. He had a clean shaved square jaw and a pointed nose. He was wearing a casual royal blue t-shirt and black pants.

"Would I even be a straight woman if I stopped a good fight between two hot and half-naked males?", I replied.

"Wow... You do know they're fighting over you?"

He turned towards me and I noticed that his eyes were green. And he had strong arms.

"Yeah, so?"

There were men here with better looks but I couldn't take my eyes off of his body. The way his arm muscles stood out in his half-sleeve as he put his hands into his pant pockets. His arms weren't that muscular but they were attractive. God, desire was such a nonsensical thing.

"So you should stop them. That's what girls usually do right - jump into the middle of the fight they have no business being in. Then they get hurt and blame others."

Okay so that sort-of-sexist and stereotypical comment hurt. I could fight better than both of the boys fighting. I could take both of them on at once and defeat them. I was sad that he wasn't so enlightened. But it was expected of the men in our world.

"Hyah", Jared screamed as he punched Mikhail in the stomach. We were at a party, in my garden, that my father had hosted so I could meet all the eligible bachelors in our circle. There were very few women invited and almost all of them were married or engaged or in a relationship. It wasn't a surprise that nobody tried to interrupt the fight. We needed some sort of entertainment in this hell of boredom.

Jared had come over to me with the intention of flirting and so did Mikhail. It eventually became a pointless conversation between two men trying to one-up the other. Fists flew and blood flowed soon. I might have been the reason for the fire but I wasn't the catalyst. Their dumb brains were. But he didn't need to know that.

I asked him in an angry tone, "You don't think I am worth fighting over?"

"I didn't say that."

He raised both his hands up to his shoulders, palms facing towards me.

"Then let them fight and go mind your business", I said with haughtiness in my voice like I was ordering him.

He smirked at me and said, "Arrogant Bitch." He winced the moment he said it. I thought it was because he realized that I had heard him.

I smiled at him and in a very polite voice said, "Thank you for the compliment."

I did that in the hopes of embarrassing him but he just smiled back.

"It's okay. I admire them."

"Admire who?" I was so lost in this conversation. My eyes had wandered back to his muscles and I was wondering if he had abs under that t-shirt. It was hard, keeping up with what he was saying and now he was talking in riddles.

"Arrogant.. pardon my language.. bitches. I admire them. I wasn't insulting you"

That brought me out of my funk. Did he just ask to be pardoned for swearing? I didn't expect Miraj Moretti would ever ask to be pardoned for anything. Not if his stories were true. Yes, I knew who he was. I had been hearing his praises for the last two months from everyone around me. He had instilled fear in some of the toughest men in the criminal world.

"Okay... pardoned", I said with a confused tone. He understood my confusion and said,"I am a gentleman who believes one shouldn't curse in front of a lady. The first time was a slip of the tongue. I am sorry."

That explains the wince.

"Oh, you don't have to worry about that. My mom never washed my mouth with soap because she died when I was still young. So I curse like a sailor."

He sobered up at that. But I was screaming inside because I was attracted to him and I was uttering nonsense. My lame attempt at a joke was definitely a sign of that.

"I am sorry about your mom."

"It's alright. It has been so many years since."

He nodded and the conversation came to a still. Awkward. Way to go, Eli.

I turned to him and said, "I know we know each other's name but we haven't been introduced officially. I am Eliana de la Cruz."

He was here, at the party organised for me. He had to know my name.

I extended my hand for a handshake after I was done. He took my hand in his and said, "Miraj Moretti."

"Well, nice to meet you, Miraj."