"Minister Darkle, I present to you..." Mr. Archibong ran ahead to go sit opposite the man on the sofa, smiling proudly.

"The billionaire Caspian-Asiegbu! Who doesn't know him?" heralded the man, interrupting Mr. Archibong.

"It's a pleasure to meet you sir." Lucas replied, moving to go exchange pleasantries. Mr. Darkle beamed eagerly, inviting him to sit beside Mr. Archibong on the sofa.

Then Mr. Darkle touched the lady on his right to go pour drinks for the men and Lucas's gaze followed at the action as the girl stood up. His eyes narrowed dangerously when he realized who it was.

"These girls are the best, Archibong. I don't know where you found them but I like 'em." The Minister chuckled, whistling lowly as the girl walked to the mini bar to pull out a drink. She held a bottle of whiskey in her hand as she strolled back to the sofa, effectively keeping her gaze from meeting Lucas's chilling glare.

"Do you fancy her, Lucas?" queried Mr. Darkle, breaking into his thoughts and pulling his focus away from the girl.

Lucas grimaced at his words. "I don't bed random women," came the retort, and the other two men burst out laughing. The girl brought a tray holding shots of the whiskey and placed it on the stool. The men accepted the drinks in readiness for a toast. Stealthily, the girl went to go stand near the door.

"Let's drink to the start of a prosperous and profitable alliance for us," Mr. Darkle said, while Mr. Archibong cheered before emptying his glass in one swallow and grimaced. Lucas gulped down his drink, and instinctively stood up.

"Excuse me, minister. I need to make an urgent phone call."

Without waiting for their reply, he was striding out of the room. He grabbed the girl by her arm furiously as he reached the door, pulling her with him as he exited the room, oblivious to Mr Darkle's words.

"He likes her."

Once they were a few meters from the door, she snatched her arm back, glaring at him.

"What do you think you're doing in there? This is beneath you!" He raged.

She scoffed. "You and I are no longer family, so you do not know what is beneath me."

"I doubt your sister agrees with you."

She fumed at his words. "I don't care what Sara thinks. She was a fool for divorcing you. She would have been so much happier if she had stayed!" She retorted, her eyes spitting fire.

They stood a few inches apart, but Tonya knew she could make great use of their situation. It wasn't like she was committing any great sin, unlike all those years ago she had refrained herself because he was married to her sister. He was male, virile and sexy. And definitely in need of female company. If his reputation was anything to go by, he would barely refuse her.

"If I were in her shoes, I would have never left you. I would have stayed glued to your side, till death do us part," she said, moving closer.

Lucas's brows creased at her words, checking to see if she was drunk. She must be, as she had never been bold enough to throw herself at him. She stood on tiptoe to kiss him, leaning in so close their lips almost touched, that is, until a female voice broke them apart.

"Stay away from him you whore!"

Lucas turned around at the familiar voice to find the former Miss Nigeria, beautiful Karen Thomas standing meters behind them. He looked at her in surprise but her gaze was focused on Tonya who was holding her stand with a glare of her own.

"Says pot while calling the kettle black," Tonya jabbed at her, daring her to deny it.

Karen fumed. "You are desperate, girl. I'm not the one who is degrading myself just so I could continue living like a queen."

Tonya was offended by her words and let her know it too. "I wouldn't need to if your cheating self hadn't ruined his perfect marriage to my sister! You are the desperate one here girl, not me."

Lucas slowly extricated himself from the pair of vicious women. They always hated each other's guts and it was all because of him. One was his ex-sister-in-law and the other his former on-and-off girlfriend. Heck, they had barely broken up two months before he met Sara. If anything was clear, both women liked him or at least his money and were quite prepared to get it.

He was on his way towards the stairs when he saw the senator smiling at some company and at his arm was Antonia Amadi, who was looking dainty and demure. They were climbing up the stairs and that made him pause. He felt his bile rise to his throat and he found it hard to swallow when she looked up suddenly and their eyes met. He was met at the top of the stairs by the senator who instantly pulled him in exchanging pleasantries. All through the conversation, his eyes were glued to her face, watching her. They hadn't been best of friends when he was married to her daughter but their relationship had been cordial. Now though, he wasn't sure where they stood.

Once the senator moved away to continue the conversation with his friends, Antonia walked up to him and led him to the railing overlooking the lounge area. He exhaled deeply, allowing her the opportunity to start first.

"I heard you were back in town and also that you were quite rude to my daughter because of a mere invite," she said, glaring at him.

He scoffed at the memory. "I suppose it's because I heard from the elites that it was like mother like daughter in the Amadi family," he explained, daring her to deny it.

She recoiled at his words "You don't know what you're saying?" How dare he jump to conclusions without verifying the facts?

"I know enough judging by what I've seen," he stated, pointing to the commotion going on downstairs. Tonya and Karen were fighting, dragging at each other's hair and clothes. It was a vicious fight, none too eager to back down easily, none ready to give in yet. "Defend your actions, if you can," he demanded while eyeing her.

Antonia swallowed her gasp, feeling hot airs on her chin. Desperately she fanned herself using her hand fan. Lucas scoffed at her actions.

"Sara is not like that. My baby girl will never stoop so low. I'm her mother and I know her very well. She's been through so much pain because of your divorce," she said, pleading with him. "Don't put her in the same category as the rest of her family. She's just too naive for her own good."

Lucas's brows creased at her words. "Why are you telling me all this?" he turned to look at her fully.

She held his gaze, unwavering. "Because I can see that you still love her. You can barely conceal it. And you were never one to think twice about going after what you want. I highly doubt five years changed that about you."

He nearly choked on her words. He would never admit it to himself that he still held any sort of feelings for her, let alone love. And he wouldn't start now, at least not in front of this woman.

"You don't know anything about me."

Antonia opened her mouth to reply and clamped it shut instantly, frowning at something going on in the lounge area. Lucas followed her gaze to notice that the fighting pair had been separated and different people were surrounding each woman. In between them stood Sara who was talking to her sister, more like arguing as that was the nature of their relationship but then her gaze travelled up to the railing and their eyes met and held.

Like the first time in his house, the world paused again on its axis for the two star-crossed lovers. Lucas felt his breath being knocked out of him by her mesmerizing gaze. He barely recognized Antonia talking next to him or the fact that Tonya was yelling at Sara. Those toffee colored pupils held him spellbound. And he was tempted to lose himself in them yet again.

It wasn't until she whirled around to leave did his senses return. His brain sounded the alarm furiously and he felt rather than saw himself running quickly down the stairs. He barely gave his actions a thought, clearly bent on catching up to her. He cut blindly through the crowd downstairs until he was out the door, still running. He came to a stop when he saw her standing in front of the driveway silently. He strolled to go stand closer to her, his 6'3 towering over her meagre 5'6, only to frown when she whirled around to glare at him. She was crying.

"What do you want? What do you want from my family? Do you like humiliating us?!" She demanded amidst tears.

His frown deepened at her words. "Trust me, I hardly care about your family or about what they do or even how they live their lives," he paused when his mind added, but I care about yours. He quickly squashed the thought before continuing. "It's all a case of being in the wrong place at the wrong time."

She seemed to doubt his words. "We are not bad people. Yes, my family loves the good life but it doesn't mean we would dupe or swindle people to do so." She was obviously referring to what transpired five years ago, trying to prove her innocence.

She swallowed her sob, seeming to calm down. "If you would just stop listening to gossip since you returned, you'll realize it isn't all white and black around here."

He should probably tell her what Antonia had told him a few minutes ago, but he decided to ignore it. For some reason, she had blind loyalty to her family, and he hated the fact that those vultures were dragging her name down with them. It made him hate them more.

"I know that now," he said, judging her reaction. "It was wrong of me to have assumed things without verifying its accuracy first."

She nodded, swiping a hand across her face. She smiled through her tears, pulling her cardigan closer to her body. Lucas's arm itched to pull her into a hug.

"Why are you here? Are a member? I saw Tonya and Antonia. Although Evelyn was absent." He asked, hoping fervently that she wasn't. Things like this never appealed to her.

She shook her head in disagreement. "No, I'm not a member here. It's pretty expensive but my mother and Tonya are. Evelyn isn't fully committed but she comes by occasionally." She paused to pull her sling bag closer before continuing. "I forgot an important file at home and Evelyn said Mother was here. She was with the key and I thought I could just drop by, pick it up and leave. I didn't expect to find Tonya in a fight with Karen," she finished, making a face as though she was swallowing a raw eel.

He nodded, clearly disinterested in whatever had brought her here. She was here right in front of him and that was all that mattered. He exhaled deeply, watching her face closely. He reached out and cupped her face with one hand. Using the other, he wiped streaks of tears away gently.

He felt her breath hitch at the action, remembering the times when they were dating and he always lent her a shoulder to cry on, wiping away her tears afterwards. Slowly while watching her face, he bent his head to her height and tentatively captured her lips in a kiss. Tasting her, feeling the euphoria of her delectable soft lips trapped in his. He felt her lift herself up on tiptoe to kiss him back and Lucas realized how dangerous this idea was.

He didn't except the fireworks going off in his heart on kissing her after five years, and certainly not the wantonness on her part on being kissed by him. He pulled away before his trousers strangled him.

He was breathing hard. She was looking dazed.

He had to cough to clear his throat. "I'm glad we were able to clear up misunderstandings about your family tonight. I hope it's all good news whenever we bump into each other from now on. Goodnight, Sara."

"Goodnight, Lucas." She nodded, her lips slightly parted, as though still shocked by the kiss.

Lucas walked past her to the Ford Explorer that suddenly pulled up on the driveway. He cast a glance at his ex-wife standing in the driveway before opening the back door of the car and climbed in. The car drove off into the night, leaving Sara still standing there completely confounded.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Frankly I was like meh. I had secretly hoped Sara was the Minister's escort but our girl is too nice for her own good.

And Lucas still likes/loves her? And what's with that kiss? This stuff is getting real

For the reads, votes and comment, I really appreciate.

Thank you😙😘