I am so tired of this notification problem, like why the hell does it happen all the time?! 😭😭😭
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ALAMEA
(Age Twenty-One)

Someone touched my shoulder from behind making me flinch slightly as I turned around immediately, going defensive.

No one can hurt me here. I had to remind myself.

The man was middle aged and looked eager to introduce himself, probably trying to get in our good grace.

I absent mindedly nodded to him, searching around the banquet hall where the party was being held.

It was the day Uncle Marcelo stepped down from his position along with Uncle Silvio and Dad, passing it down to Armano, Kian and me respectively.

I was happy and so were the others but the party was getting boring.

I spotted Lenore across the room, silently pleading her to come get me.

Being the sweetheart she was, she made her way to me.

"There you are!" She exclaimed, sliding next to me. "Your Dad's been looking for you."

I glanced at the man, offering him a tight smile. "Excuse me."

I sighed, walking away from him along with Lenore who muttered, "Do you have any idea where my brother is? Everyone is looking for him..."

"No. But knowing Armano, he must be busy fucking some girl."

Lenore's face grimaced. "Why is he like that?" She shook her head. "Stupid."

"Must have hit his head when he was born."

She chuckled. "Agreed. According to me, he is not even capable of this position."

"Oh, is that jealousy?"

She scoffed. "Please. I have no interest in being the leader and all that nonsense. I just feel like Armano is too childish for that position."

"Hmm..."

"Hey, do me a favour and go look for my brother before Dad kills him."

"Why me?"

"You are his third in command. Plus I don't want to stumble upon him doing something shameless that will traumatize me forever."

"You think that won't traumatize me too?"

"You are not related to him by blood, I am."

I rolled my eyes. "Have you tried calling him?"

"Yes, he is not picking it up."

He is definitely busy fucking. God. He is such a player while me on the other hand can't even digest a man's touch even if I want to.

I did try kissing a man whom I found attractive a year back but within two seconds, I started to feel nauseated by his touch.

It was an embarrassing experience which also made me realise that I can never have a relationship.

The only men I am okay with are my father, uncles, and cousins. I even keep my distance from Kian, not that he is a very touchy type but still.

Armano is the only exception for some reason. I feel safe with him. Even if he touches me and hugs me sometimes, I don't feel weird.

It's so complicated.

I want to have a normal relationship too and if not a relationship, I at least want to lose my virginity for fuck's sake.

It's irritating and I don't wish to stay a virgin forever.

"Mea?" Lenore waved her hand in front of my face. "Where did you go?"

I cleared my throat. "Sorry. What were you saying?"

"You said you were going to look for Armano."

"Right. Sure."

I turned around and walked away from her, hoping that my thoughts weren't written all over my face.

I walked past a table where Uncle Silvio and Kian sat together, with Uncle showing him something on his phone making Kian look bored and say something which sounded like, "Not interested."

Must be some girl's picture. His parents have been trying to get him interested in a woman but he keeps rejecting every one of them. I don't see Kian getting settled with a woman ever.

I stepped out of the door which opened into a dimly lit corridor with closed doors on each side.

"Armano?" I called walking down the corridor.

If he is not here then he must have left the banquet hall.

Towards the end of the corridor, I came across a slightly opened door, light peeking out from it followed by muffled moans.

I should have turned around and left instead, I peeked inside.

Armano's back was the first thing I saw. He was still dressed, his suit jacket discarded on the floor and his white shirt was drenched with sweat.

He kneeled on the carpeted floor, the sound of skin slapping against the skin was loud and clear and I could see his hips moving vigorously.

I couldn't look away, my mouth turning dry and my body froze.

Armano threw his head back, groaning loudly, his movements turning jerky.

Holy shit. He sounded hotter than he should as he came.

I was breathing heavily as I watched him, my palms sweaty and there was a tingling in between my thighs.

This can't be fucking possible. All these years I have tried everything I could to make myself sexually aroused and whatnot and the person who manages to do that happens to be the most annoying man in my life.

What the fuck.

He is handsome, I would admit that. Over six feet tall, dark hair, a clean shaven face giving him a boyish look and his green eyes which have a few flecks of blue in them. He is attractive.

This is ridiculous and just in my head. I flushed out those thoughts and slammed open the door. "Armano!"

They both jumped around, the girl scrambling to grab her dress and hold it to her front.

"What the fuck?" Armano grumbled. I kept my eyes on his face as he tucked himself in, zipping up his pants.

"Everyone is looking for you", I spoke dryly, folding my arms across my chest.

"You couldn't have waited for another two minutes before interrupting?"

I shrugged.

The girl had finally dressed up and Armano turned his attention to her, whispering something to her which made her blush and nod and finally leave.

As she left, Armano made his way over to me, placing his forearm against the doorframe and leaning. "So, did you like my performance?"

More than I would like to admit. I felt angry by my reaction to him.

"More like I am scarred for life."

"You don't mean that, devil--" He lifted his hand, reaching for my face but I stepped back.

"Don't touch me with those dirty hands."

His hand paused midway and his brow shot up. "Dirty? I hardly used my fingers to--"

I slammed my palm against his mouth, not wanting to hear the rest of it.

Mirth danced in his eyes and I could feel his lips stretching into a grin against my palm.

Just as I removed my palm, he said, "Do you want me to tell you what I used my lips for?"

"Eww!" I quickly wiped my palm over his shirt. "You are so gross. I don't wanna catch STD."

He chuckled at my reaction. "You are a walking comedy, do you know that?"

"Me? You are the one who is a walking comedy! Always goofing around even at the age of twenty-five, stupid."

He grinned cheekily in response making him look sexy for some reason.

"Just come out now," I muttered, walking out of there.

"You know..." He said walking beside me, "You can just admit that you liked my performance."

Instead of admitting, I spoke, "Till when will you continue this behaviour of yours?"

He looked genuinely confused. "What behaviour?"

"This..." I waved my hand around. "...playboy behaviour."

"What's wrong with it?"

"You are impossible. I can't imagine you ever been married to anyone." I mumbled to myself.

"That's right. I don't plan on getting married. Ever."

"You do realise that you need to get married and have an heir by the time you are thirty-five or else Uncle will find a bride for you himself." It was kind of a traditional thing. A weird one but yeah.

He slid his hands inside his pockets, saying casually, "I will see about that when the time comes...till then Kian should be the one worrying about all that considering how desperate his parents are to find a girl for him."

"I did see Uncle showing him another girl's picture. He looked like he would rather be dead."

He snorted. "He acts as if he is allergic to girls."

"Could he be gay?" I whispered.

Armano chuckled loudly. "Please. He is very much interested in girls, just not emotionally."

"You seem to know too much about his sex life."

"Of course, I do. He is my best friend."

Armano tried to put his arm around my shoulder making me glare at him and step away. "I told you not to touch me."

He lifted his hands in surrender, not looking apologetic at all. "Oops. Sorry, devil."

He liked putting his arm around me all the time, he liked pulling and pushing me. Physical touch happens to be his love language.

I rolled my eyes and went inside the banquet hall where a few of the guests were still there followed by our family members.

"By the look on your face, you look traumatized." Lenore slid to my side. "I'm glad I didn't go search for him."

"Yeah...I am glad you didn't."

But maybe I shouldn't have gone too because discovering my reaction towards Armano's activity was way too out of the world.

I shouldn't even be finding that stupid attractive. This is going to be a disaster.