"Seattle?" I blurt out.

He turns to face me and I suck in a deep breath.

He's very intimidating under normal circumstances, but when he's angry like this, he's a different creature. There's still that swirl of energy with sparks of gold around him. The gathering of forces before the storm. It's clearer now that we're in the darkened SUV. His eyes are also more gold than the regular bright hazel, surrounded by long dark lashes. His sharp angular face looks like carved marble. His beauty takes my breath away.

I can sense how very powerful he is and he gives off a dangerous vibe that should have repelled the demon part of me. But somehow, despite the danger or maybe because of it, I want more of him. I want to get closer. If I were to burn, I'd gladly perish by his fire.

"But why?" I ask him. I don't get why he can't just leave me here like he planned to. I'm not planning to go anywhere now. Not too much, anyway.

"Why?" he says through gritted teeth. "Because you obviously can't be left alone for five minutes without causing trouble!" he bursts out angrily before he stops.

I can feel the energy around him building as he was talking and I have a feeling that he's now reining in his rage for fear of hurting me.

He takes a deep breath while keeping his hand firmly clenched on his thigh. He takes a few more long deep breaths then turns to stare moodily out of the window.

He's furious but he won't physically harm me and that's a serious conflict within our natures. I don't get it but I do sense it on the deepest level.

I watch the passing view outside the window on his side for a few seconds before my gaze flicks back to study him.

I can't see his entire face because he's facing away from me but his jaw is clenched and his whole body is stiff. He has an elbow of one arm braced on the car window while the other on his thigh. The muscles of his exposed arms are taut underneath the golden skin. His long elegant fingers are digging into the fabric of his dark grey pants.

His turbulent energy only draws me in, tempting me to stick a finger into his flame.

I remember what it feels like to feel his warm skin underneath my fingertips and even now, I'm itching to trace my fingers over the raised veins of his arm or run them through his thick dark mane. But I keep my hands to myself and I fidget with the diamond bracelet around my wrist instead.

Maybe the best thing to do is to stay quiet so that he'd have the chance to cool down?

After ten minutes or so, I can't take it much longer. The silence sort of unnerves me and I sense that he's got his rage under control...a bit. At least I don't see that golden energy revolving around him anymore.

"You're mad," I say finally, wringing my hands together. Ugh! That's not what I meant to say. No man has ever made me feel this way before. I made men feel insecure and desperate, not the other way around.

He remains stiff and stoic, not giving any indication that he has heard me but a muscle in his clenched jaw jumps and his arms seem to tighten even more at the sound of my voice.

"I mean, I know you're mad that I ran off on my own," I begin again. I see the muscle ticking at his jaw but I continue on, "But I was going back to your condominium." Because Astaroth ordered me to, but there's no need to tell him that. And there's no need to tell him when I was thinking of going back because that also wouldn't help my cause. "So you see, you don't have to..."

"I was supposed to be attending a very important meeting this evening," he cuts in quietly. His expression is grim when he turns his head to face the windshield. He keeps his eyes firmly on the road outside. "We were minutes away from taking off when one of your guards called to tell me that you're gone." His eyes narrowed and he's clenching his fists. "I warned you that it's dangerous for you to be out without the guards. But what did you do?"

I open my mouth to answer but he continues on furiously as though he didn't just ask me a question. "You drugged them! You drugged the guards. Good Lord, where did you even get the drug?"

He rakes his fingers through his thick hair. Then his head dips down a bit when he grips the nape of his neck. "I was sick with worry all day but when I found you, what did I find? You in the arms of that... of Nico Alesi." He spits out Nico's name like he's spitting out bile. "I wanted to kill him and all the other men who had touched you." Jealousy is clear in his tone and the way he's looking at me- all accusing and hurt as though I've betrayed him.

"Nico's just a friend," I reply weakly.

"Just friend?" He raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "He was your fiance and you were talking about getting married!"

I scowl and cross my arms over my chest. "Whatever." He won't believe me no matter what I say about Nico. "And you don't need to worry about me. I told you, I don't need your protection. I'm not in any danger."

"Yes, you are," he firmly disagrees. "Your father has turned you into a bargaining chip for something that he really wants from Pappalardo. I know you've met with Astaroth this morning. What happened? Why did he let you go? Something must have changed for him to let you go instead of giving you to Pappalardo." He's watching me warily. His eyes sharp and alert. "Why did he let you go, Danica?"

I turn away from him without answering. Question and answer time is over. I don't want him to keep asking me questions that I can't or shouldn't answer.

"Don't think that you're forgiven, princess," he murmurs after a while. "And this conversation isn't over."

I decided that it's safer to remain silent for the rest of the ride.

I sneak a glance toward the driver and wonder about him. Sacha obviously trusts him...to some extent, but maybe he's the only reason why I wasn't put across his knees and getting spanked right now.

Thankfully, Sacha doesn't keep pressing me for answers, and the car ride doesn't take too long.

The driver opens my door to the sight of a private plane waiting on the tarmac. The insignia of the Order of the Circle- a golden ring overlapping with another golden circle formed by ancient symbols adorned the fin.

There are three other men already waiting for us inside the aircraft. One of them is Olivier who doesn't look at all thrilled to see me. He's obviously against my being here and going to Seattle with them.

Sacha places a proprietorial hand on the small of my back when he briefly introduces me to the other two men, all the while ignoring Olivier's broody presence. He exchanges a few words with them and the captain, then he leads me to the front of the plane where there are two seats together, facing another two seats with a table that can be set up between them.

We have our privacy since no one else is sitting with us. Sacha secures the seatbelt for me before doing his own, then he calmly and quietly sits back. Once we're in the air, an air stewardess gets busy serving us dinner.

Dinner consists of salad drizzled with lemon dijon vinaigrette, consommé, and duck confit with shallots. Dessert is a basket of cupcakes, macarons, and cookies from one of my favorite bakeries in Manhattan.

After dinner is cleared, he opens his laptop and starts working.

I must have dozed off because when I open my eyes, we've already landed and I'm warm and quite comfortable. I have my head resting on his chest and his arm is wound snuggly around me. I have a blanket pulled up to my chin too. I notice that his laptop is already stowed away and his seat is reclined like mine.

I crane my neck to look at him. "Hi," I say, feeling uncertain and a bit shy, which is a first for me.

"Hello," he replies. He seems more relaxed but I can't read his expression.

We straighten up and disembark the plane shortly after.

A couple of people are waiting for us or rather for him when we get to the airport's luxurious private lounge- a Nephilim man and a woman. She seems very happy to see him.

"Hey, you! Welcome back!" she says, almost throwing herself into his arms in her jubilance. They share a hug and I feel like pulling them apart and scratching her face off.

I clench my fists and did neither because I don't know the situation, yet. But I study her. She can't be his family because she's clearly a human.

Her shoulder-length hair is dark and shiny and she's cleverly dressed in a dark green wrap dress that could be worn to the office and also for an evening out. Alexander McQueen's four-inch high heels grace her feet.

The hug seems to last too long that I grit my teeth and glance away to control my growing jealousy. My eyes meet Olivier's who is watching me like a shark sensing blood in the water. His gaze is smug and he has a smirk playing on his lips.

When they finally separated, a big bright smile is on her face and her shining eyes are only focused on him. "What was the situation in Manhattan that took you so long to get home?" she asks.

That voice. I remember that voice. This is the same woman who called him up the other night.

"I had to pick someone up," Sacha replies lightly. He seems a lot more relaxed and calmer now. Or maybe that's just a front. He places his hands on my shoulders to bring me forward.

The light in her eyes suddenly dimmed and the smile seems to melt off her face when her gaze falls on me.

"Jade, this is Danica Saint. Danica, this is one of my best friends, Jade Johnson. She's also a Senior Project Manager of one of our subsidiaries."

To her credit, she seems to recover quickly enough to paste a wide smile on her face. "It's nice to meet you, Danica!" she says brightly. Perhaps too brightly.

In return, I paste a sweet angelic smile on and say, "It's nice to meet you too, Jade." No, it's not.

"Hey, Olivier! Great to see you back," she says to Olivier.

"It's great to be back. I'm glad to see you too," he tells her.

I follow them as they all walk toward the exit. I feel her eyes skittering all over me, measuring if I was a threat, then she turns her attention back to Sacha. "So, you had to wait for her? Was that the reason why you couldn't make it to the meeting with Kareem Group today?"

I seethe inside. I don't like her accusing tone and I hate it when people talk about me as though I wasn't there. Most of all, I don't like her.

But before I could say anything rude, Sacha places a firm hand on my shoulder and replies dismissively, "You and Sawyer handled everything very well today. I don't need to be there. In fact, I shouldn't have to be there to fix every problem." He gives my shoulder a squeeze. I don't know if that's an assurance or a warning for me to behave. "Besides, I have a meeting with them on Monday before they fly back to Dubai."

There are three black Mercedez-Benzs waiting by the curb for us.

"Maybe you want to ride with Jade so that she can brief you about what happened with Kareem Group today? I'll take another car with Danica," offers Olivier suddenly.

I turn my eyes up to Sacha. No, I don't want him to be in the car with Jade and I don't want to be alone in a car with Olivier.

*************************************

Hello, dearies!

Thank you for reading, voting, commenting, and following. I truly appreciate it.

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Have a wonderful week and please stay safe.

Much love,

Nicole♥