Raffy's POV

Irina burst out into a fit of laughter when she saw how scared I was as shit. "Oh, finally! The skirt-chaser found her match!" she exclaimed amusingly, winking at Natalia who was staring at her, bewildered.

"I'm Irina Grishin, Raffy's friend," as she gave me a brief glance then back to Natalia, who had been giving her an intent perusal, while she didn't notice it due to her enthusiasm. Perhaps she did, but she chose to ignore it. "Please, not the kind of friendship he shared with other women. We have a very clean type of relationship. No hanky panky," she giggled, and Natalia gave me a fleeting stare, then smiled back at Irina, genuinely.

"I'm his ex-girlfriend," Natalia corrected with a very friendly smile, and Irina grinned mischievously.

"Aw! But you two looks so perfect together," she mused, turning her head to me, she gave me a look that says, I-love-her, taunting me, with her eyes lit up like a bulb with mischief. "Come," Irina hooked her hand in the crook of Natalia's elbow, then lead her to a room. I decided to wait at the waiting area.

Before I turned on my heel, I heard Irina's words, "I'm so glad to hear that someone is giving Mr. hanky panky a big lesson to learn ..." causing me to turn my head to her, scowling at her back.

I quickly turn on my heel, heading to the waiting area, when they disappeared into one of the rooms, then seethingly sat on one of the plush ivory armchairs. There's a big flat screen mounted on the wall. In between the armchairs, a rectangular stainless steel glass coffee table, stack of magazines sitting on it, and a small centerpiece in different hues.

I decided to pick one of the magazines, grabbing a business magazine, then started flipping the pages, until my attention caught when I saw a big picture of Alexander Demakis in a full view, in his crisp Armani suit. He looks enigmatic. He was grinning, but his eyes filled with unfathomable secrets.

I read the title. Shipping magnate to finally tie the knot if his love of his life will accept his proposal.

I didn't bother to read the whole thing as I fold it shut. I put the magazine back on top of the others, then pulled my phone out of my pocket as I stood up, heading out of the door, as I dialed Alexander's number.

"Hello?" came his crisp voice, he sounded distraught, perhaps exhausted.

"Hey, it's Raffy," I answered shortly.

"Oh, hey Raff, what's up, bro?" he asked, noting the sudden energy in his tone.

"Just trying to get an update about your life," I said, unconsciously shoving my free hand in my pocket, I pace back and forth on the parking lot, simultaneously watching any cars pulling into the parking lot as I talk to him.

"Since when we get along pretty well, Rafael Benedict?" came his obnoxious reply.

I glared into the almost empty parking lot. "You forget who you are talking to, Alexander James. I'm Clara Bell's brother, and just one word from me, you're back to round one!" I retorted curtly.

"Oh, yeah!" he quipped, brushing off my temper.

"You are so uptight, your grace," he chuckled to my chagrin. "And why so sudden, you became interested in my life? Care to tell?" he taunted. I wanted to strangle him, but I held my temper at bay. "Well," he said before I could open my mouth to respond sarcastically "nothing interesting," came his reply, brief and nonchalant.

I hate to go on when he's too annoying to talk with, but I'm so eager to know if it was my sister he's referring to, and he should be, or I'll kill him. I know what happened between him and Bell when he took her to Mykonos. "A little bird told me that you are getting married?" I spewed out my thoughts, and I heard him chuckled, seemingly amused.

"Oh, that little bird called, Global Magazine?" he quipped, bursting into a fit of laughter.

I felt my blood tick off of his response. "Oh, shut up!" I grit out. "I have no time to throw jokes around, Alex. Are you going to propose to her or not?" I fire straight away without preamble.

I heard him sighed. "Of course, I do! But she's so stubborn as a bull." He sighed, perplexed. "And I think, she doesn't fully trust me yet!" He sounded like he's carrying the weight of the world on his shoulders, and at that moment, I felt how he felt.

Same way with Natalia. She doesn't trust me, and I can't blame her, so as my sister to Alex. With Alexander's past affairs, she's probably paranoid.

Although he's dating Claire Preira for a while, he didn't stop seeing another woman, and it seems it was okay with Claire until he decided to go after my sister. Claire became too obsess with Alex, and my sister was caught in between them, catching all that bitch's wrath.

Dad was working on it, trying to get that Claire and her cahoots to rot in hell. Dad has been known for his cruelty until he met mom, and he won't ever let anyone trampled his family, especially not his children. He'll kill them without remorse, and he won't think twice.

Claire just happened to forget who she messed up with. Bell has been dad's favorite, and he went ballistic when he found out that Bell was in trouble.

Even if we wanted to help, dad wouldn't appreciate it. As mom always says, don't bother helping, because dad wants to do things by himself, so to feed his ego. To show that he can protect his family and that, he still possesses that power in him.

He's monster to his opponents, untouchable, but he's a soft bear at home, especially to mom. Sometimes, I wonder if he was truly a manwhore when he was our age. Seeing him when he's with mom, he seems not aware that there are millions of women around the globe. He mostly looks like a love struck fool around mom, who couldn't take his eyes off her.

"RAFFY!" Alex's called out, vexed, snapping me out of my train of thoughts.

"Yes, I apologize," I quickly answered.

"Hey, I gotta go," he said, and I agreed.

"I hope you make her happy, Alex. If she cries, I'll hunt you down," I threatened gruffly, and I meant every word.

"I longed for nothing but her acceptance of me. I will be happier and will spend the rest of my life making her happy. You don't have to remind me, Raffy. She's all that I want," he responded intently, with profound sincerity, and I felt relieved to hear it.

As soon as the call ended, I stashed my phone back in my pocket, then headed back inside. I sat back on the armchair I vacated and noticed that the waiting area is all mine. Grabbing the remote control that was sitting on the coffee table, next to the stack of magazines, I flicked on the channels until I saw the sniffer was on.

Dropping the remote control back on the coffee table, I watched the remaining part of the show, propping both arms up, on top of the backrest of the armchair. The show was interesting, I got hooked up. I watched animatedly, smiling once in a while, not noticing Natalia's presence until I felt a gentle tap on my shoulder.

I had to crane my neck, tilting my head up, I met with bright sapphire eyes I adored very much. I grinned happily and rose to my feet. I rounded the armchairs, then stood on her side, curling my hands around her slim waist, I drew her closer and stared at her face with a huge grin.

She looks happy. "You look hotter," I teased, and she raised her eyebrow.

"I'm aware of that," she responded apathetically "but thank you," she grinned. I chuckled, and briefly caught her lips in a brief peck, then quickly released her.

The disconnection of our skin brought disappointment to me, but I ignored it. I quickly paid her dues, thank Marina, then led Natalia back to the car.

Inside my car, she seated on the passenger seat, watching me as I started the engine. She looks happy, and I am pleased that Irina didn't act like she always does when I'm with a girl. She's the only and closest girlfriend I've ever have.

As she said, no hanky panky, just plain friends. That's why I like her, and I kept her in my circle of friends here, because she wasn't like most girls I met. I even thought at first, she was one of us, but she dated one of my buddies in high school. The only thing that really annoys me was, she's flirting with me whenever there are women fluttering around me, acting like a clingy girlfriend, which is sometimes was very helpful, there's no need to chase those possible threats away. Well, she didn't only do it to me, but she did it all to my other friends, that she also called it her friends.

"I like Irina," suddenly she blurted out, causing me to stared at her intently, searching for something that could possibly give me a lead why would she likes someone as irritating as Irina.

I frowned, causing her to smile mischievously. "She's so cute, and bubbly," she grinned wider, causing my heart to skip a beat. Not for her, but the thought that she might have spilled some embarrassing thing that we did in our teenage days. She was prone to make a slip of the tongue, which my friends and I, enjoyed it most of the time.

"She said, we can be friends, too, she wants to hang out with me, sometimes this week," she exclaimed enthusiastically, her grin getting wider, elatedly. Her sapphire eyes got brighter if that's possible in excitement, had me think deeply if that's a good idea, knowing Irina far too well.

"Well, if it makes you happy?" I forced a smile as I slowly drove off the parking lot and into the busy traffic.

"So what did she tell you?" I asked casually, glancing at her occasionally and back to the road, and heading to the next street, where the famous salon in town, called 'Элитный салон' (Elite Salon), owned by Boris Gokov, Kaelan's gay uncle.

She innocently caught her bottom lip between her shiny pearl white teeth, her eyes shining with mischief, my attention drifted to her naturally red lips in between her teeth, I badly want to kiss it. I suddenly felt uncomfortable, my crotch getting tighter as I felt the rushed of throbbing need in my loins, with that erotic gesture.

I grunted in frustrations as I tore my eyes away, drifting to the street sign, and growled under my breath simultaneously steering the wheel, turning into the street, and pulled the car into the salon's parking space, almost missing it if I didn't saw the street sign.

After turning the ignition off, I undo my seatbelt, then shifted my body to face her, and watched her staring at the two-storey building, made of brown brick, big sign in silver metal, up the building, waving to everyone who passes the building. No one could miss the huge sign that seems to boast to anyone.

A smile plastered on her face, she looks so happy, and I felt damn happy, too. My heart feels warm just looking at her.

"Pumpkin," I drawled, my voice sounded deep and husky.

She slowly shifted to face me, and her eyebrow shot up in curiosity, staring at me expectantly.

"Ready?" I asked, but I really wanted to kiss her, not ready yet to let her out of my car, or share her with any of the salon staffs.

My whole body rev up at the idea to taste her lips again, but I don't know how to ask her. Since when did I lose the charm?

"You look constipated, are you okay?" Natalia frowned, moving closer, then she raised her dainty hand, and touched my forehead, her eyebrows pressed together as she felt my forehead.

Our close proximity unsettled my emotions. It triggered the urge to kiss her even more, wrap her in my arms, and get drowned in her scent.

My hand cupped the back of her head, and the other automatically held her on her back, drawing her closer to me. Her hand dropped to my chest, her eyes locked on mine. "I want to kiss you," I whispered, then I pulled her so close, and brushes my lips against hers, then met mine, her hand curled around my neck.

My kiss gradually becoming aggressive when she responded hotly. A soft moan escaped her lips, muffled inside my mouth when my tongue slips into her hot mouth, exploring the insides in fervent desire to quench the thirst growing deep within me.

God, she felt amazing, tasted amazing, and smelled amazing. It's tickling my arousal to no end. I wanted to do more, but I held the urge, not wanting to scare her away.

My lower belly felt heavy, on the verge of explosion, it is agonizingly throbbing, and the precum damping my boxer underneath my trousers, which only added to the discomfort I already felt. 

I goddamned have no idea if I'm going to last.

My skilled tongue searched deeper into her sweet mouth, massaging hers, and she whimpered slightly. My hand skimming her back, up and down, feeling the softness of her body.

I caught her tongue briefly, and sucked it, she moaned softly, and I grinned. She was enjoying our kisses as much as I am. She drags her lips slowly, then caught my bottom lips between her teeth, gently biting it, and I felt my desire growing, making me feel delirious. I groaned in disappointment when she pulled her lips away, and stared at me with the same hooded eyes, lust mirroring in her eyes.

"You look so turned on," she teased, an amused grin gracing her lips.

I groaned in frustrations, my eyes held her gaze. "You have no idea, pumpkin. And you're such a tease!" I grunted gutturally, pulling myself away before I'd do something she won't like.

I heard her soft giggles as I slid out of the car, then rounded it to her side, opening her door, I held it with my other hand, the other stretched out to help her out.

She was grinning, thoroughly amused, then she slowly looks down, eyes lingered in between my thighs causing me to groaned deeply, my body involuntarily shivered at her intense perusal, desire coursing through my veins, shooting down in the pit of my belly.

"Don't stare, pumpkin!" I grunted heavily, pulling her closer to me, and she giggled as she met my lustful eyes. And to my chagrin, she brushes her belly against my bulging crotch, and I let out a heavy grunt, lust slowly consuming my sanity.

"Should we go in? Your awake friend is very noticeable," she taunted, her eyes teasing me, effectively driving me crazy. She curled her hands around my neck, then pressed her belly even more against my crotch, and I clenched my jaws, desire rippled through me.

Pulling her closer to me, until air is non-existent, I growled softly. "Don't play fire with me, pumpkin," I hissed, trying to control the desires starting to consume me.

She just gave me an innocent look, and I grunted.

Oh, she's such a tease!

"Oh, Am I?" she innocently widened her eyes, and I let out a chuckle, shaking my head.

"Yes!" I swallowed thickly, still amused at her playfulness. I held her eyes, my eyes traveled to her lips, and about to kiss her again when her phone rang.

I scowled absentmindedly as I watched her detached herself away from me, then fished out her phone out of her purse.

After checking who was calling her, her eyes promptly drifted to me, before she reluctantly answered it, walking away.

"Hey," she answered softly, but enough for my grasp. She was obviously trying to put a distance between us as she spoke, her voice almost a whisper, and my curiosity perked up.

"Who's that?" I scowled, narrowing our gap, she widened her eyes at me in warning, but I didn't budge.

"I'm actually with a friend, and I don't know what time will I be back—" I was fuming, grabbed the phone away, and looked at the caller.

William Morrison.

.....

A/N: let me know your thoughts.