Tamina

"Aren't you going to introduce us?" he asks when Brandon doesn't respond.

Brandon clears his throat. "This is Tamina Rovers. We're taking our leave."

The stranger's hand abruptly reaches out, and his fingers clasp mine to lift them up as he bends down, placing a delicate kiss to my knuckles. "A pleasure, Miss Rovers." His blue eyes flick up to mine. "I'm Lucius Aventail."

"Um. . . it's nice to meet you too," I return, but balance seems to release me as my feet stagger back until I'm flush against Brandon's chest.

Flicking my gaze up to his, his jaw is set, and the muscle ticks. "Keep your hands off her, Lucius. I won't tell you a second time."

Lucius chuckles, and his eyes light up in amusement, and they land on me. "So, you're the girl Florentina is raving about," he wonders aloud, but to no one at the same time. "You do know he's got a fiancé, right?"

I'm about to speak when Brandon cuts me off. "There's no marriage, I called it off."

"I was talking to her, not you." His lip curls and he finally settles his gaze on me again. "Care to explain, sweetheart?"

"Don't call her that," Brandon spits. "She isn't a woman for you to use."

The man belts out a laugh, and it's strangely humourful. When he calms down, his eyes harden. "Oh, Brandon, I fuck them, get it right if you're going to try to insult me. And what, you don't call her sweetheart because she's your possession?"

My eyes linger on Brandon in confusion, secretly asking what Lucius means, but he shakes his head softly, and I'm dismissing it. Turning back, I say, "I didn't know they were engaged, and by the sounds of it, Brandon never wanted to be with your sister and has been trying to call it off."

"Is that so?" he muses, eyes switching between the two of us before he scrubs his jaw in a slow manner. "I think that's backing out of our deal, isn't it, Brandon?"

"We both know you would've found a way out of it sooner or later," Brandon shoots back, and my mouth remains shut.

"Well, we'll never know now, will we?" Lucius retorts, and eyes me again. "It's not your fault, sweetheart, Brandon here is a bit of a sly dog when it comes to rules that aren't his own."

Why does this feel like it can get very ugly and personal very soon? And why do I feel that there's more to this than meets the eye?

"Well, Mr Aventail, it's been nice to meet you, but I'm afraid we've got to get going, right Brandon?"

Instead of answering, he stiffly nods his head. Swallowing the lump in my throat, my fingers slip through his and I'm able to plaster on a smile. Lucius cocks a brow, and peers over his shoulder when Mr and Mrs Wolfe make themselves known.

"Everything alright in here?" Brandon's dad enquires, and I'm the only one who nods.

"Tamina needs to leave," Brandon pipes up, and I'm thankful because I'm starting to lose my courage.

"Yes, for work," his mum recalls. "First, I'd like to speak with her, come."

Silently leaving everyone, we enter the kitchen once again and I'm shamefully quick to notice the coffee had been drunk. But that's the last of my worries, what matters now is what happens between me and his mum.

"Tamina are you alright?" she asks, and it shocks me because I'd honestly thought she believed I was beneath her.

"Y-yes, thank you, Mrs Wolfe. Thank you for the coffee, I'm sorry I didn't drink it."

"No worries, Florentina cleared it off. You better put something cold on that to calm the mark down."

Wincing at the memory, my head bobs in acknowledgment.

"It was nothing personal, I just wanted to make sure you weren't using him," she explains.

"I understand, and I'm thankful you were looking out for him," I reply, trying to ignore the tingle in my cheek.

"Thank you. Yes, I just want what's best for my son, and that's why I've asked you in here dear." She sighs and shakes her head, causing her thick mahogany locks to bounce. "You're a nice girl, but being nice isn't the only thing Brandon needs. . . he needs someone who can support him too, and has a bit more to her—"

"Like Florentina?" I cut off.

"I'm afraid so."

My head shakes in disbelief. "I'm sorry, but I'll have to disagree with you. I'm not leaving Brandon unless he wants otherwise, I love that man, and I'm not going to back down for anyone. I'll prove to you that we can make it work, and in return, I want nothing from you."

Her eyes widen before they close and she nods. "Very well, I can only wish you luck."

Inclining my head, the two of us walk back out, and Lucius is nowhere to be seen, and Brandon's mood seems to be on the lighter side now.

"Thank you for coming, may we see you soon," Mr Wolfe says while embracing me in a gentle hug, and my arms carefully wrap around him before pulling away with a nod and a smile.

Turning my gaze, his mother keeps her distance and I respect it before watching Brandon and his dad share a quick handshake. Brandon wraps an arm around my waist and guides me out, leaving them to shut the door behind us. Once we're by the car, he opens the door and waits for me to climb in before rounding the vehicle to the driver's side.

"What did my mother want?" he asks, not wasting time to reverse and head for the road.

"That it's not personally and she thinks you're better off with someone like Florentine," I honestly relay, shrugging my shoulders.

Brandon doesn't look phased, and it dawns on me he wasn't expecting a different outcome either. Why would he? Florentina is like a model, she must have a lot of money, and she's in their league while I'm just a bookworm scraping by compared to them.

"Don't worry about it, my love. I'm proud you hung in there like you did, and I'll show you just how proud I am when I see you later," he answers cooly, and my head just bobs in reply.

"I didn't have a chance to give this to you yet, here." He fishes out the small box from earlier at my parent's house, and gently rests it on my lap for me to have a look at. "Open it."

Carefully doing so, my fingers untangle the silver chain and let the pendant sit in the palm of my hand. It's the head of a rose, and it's small and beautiful. Twirling it between my fingers, it catches in the beams of sunlight shining through the windscreen, and my breath catches.

"Thank you. . . it's beautiful."

"Just like you, sweetheart." He smiles before shifting gear. "I'll put it on when we come to a stop."

For a majority of the time, we talk about work, and I mean really talk. He tells me the ins and outs of being the boss to a publishing company like how he has to oversee the publications at a publishing house, and negotiate contracts and licensing agreements with authors, distributors and vendors. It's fascinating, and by the time he's finished explaining, we're back in town.

"Maybe we'll get yours done when you're ready," he announces, and my cheeks start to boil.

"Oh, I don't think I'll ever publish anything, not at the rate I'm going, but that's fine with me; I'm happy to write random things on paper and do what I do best: read and work."

He shakes his head. "There's more to you, and you know that. You just have to find it."

Beaming up at him, we come to a slow stop outside work, and he turns off the car. "Would you like me to walk you in?"

"Oh, no, don't worry, I'll be fine. I'm sure you have other places to be," I ramble, and he chuckles.

"Not yet, love. But I'll let you head in if it makes you feel better."

With that, he retrieves the necklace and swiftly shifts my hair for me to hold as he laces the chain around my neck and clips it in place. The coolness has me shivering, but the sensation of his lips on the back of my neck soon replaces it with something else entirely, and my mind goes back to what he did to me in my parent's kitchen.

"I'll be thinking of you," he rasps against my ear, and my head turns round to meet him over my shoulder.

"And I'll be thinking of you."

The corner of his lip twitches. "I love you."

"I love you too," I whisper, placing a lingering kiss to his lips.

Hopping out, I say a quick, "Goodbye," but Brandon stops me by calling my name.

"Tamina, can I ask you to do something for me?" he begins when he has my full attention. When my head inclines for him to carry on, he sighs out heavily. "If you see Lucius, can you keep away from him?"

"I doubt I'll see him again, but sure."

"I mean it, love. He's a conniving snake, and there's no way I trust him with you," he warns, and there's no humour in his tone.

"OK, I understand," I murmur.

He smiles. "Good girl, I'll message you later about tonight."

Smiling, I say, "Sure, I'll look forward to it."

Turning to leave, a heavy sigh comes from me before my feet start to carry me toward the entrance of Charlie's Café. Once I'm on the other side of the threshold, the first thing to greet me is the aroma of fresh coffee and baked goods. The second is Jasmine standing by the till with her hands on her hips and a glare on her face.

"Where the hell have you been?" she exasperates.