"There are two tragedies in life. One is to lose your heart's desire. The other is to gain it." -George Bernard Shaw, Man and Superman  

****WARNING!!!! This chapter has a mature content! read at your own risk! for 18 years old and above!****

CARINA'S P.O.V.

The dinner was dominated by Ellie talking about her day. I learned that she was a model. I found it adorable whenever she accidentally starts speaking French then translates it to English when she realizes that I was there. My boss on the other hand was just nodding his head, saying mono syllable replies but I could see in his eyes that he was enjoying listening to his younger sister. Then suddenly the conversation was cut off when we heard someone spoke.

"Hey! This is a surprise! My son is here" she said. I looked at her and I saw a beautiful and sophisticated woman in her 50s. She approached Mr. Novell and hugged him happily.

"Mom, that's enough. We just saw each other 3 months ago when you visited me in New York"

"Nonsense! Parents always misses their children. You will be like that too when you have your own childr----" I saw her eyes widened and covered her mouth, staring at Mr. Novell who became silent all of a sudden, his eyes became cold and blank, gritting his teeth.

"hrmm...Mom, I want you to meet Carina, Regan's EA. Carina, this is our mom, Sophie Novell" Ellie said with an awkward smile on her lips, trying to divert the attention to me. I could tell that she was trying to brighten the heavy atmosphere.

"Oh! Hi Carina. Nice to meet you"

"Nice to meet you too Mrs. Novell" I said and continued eating even if I couldn't taste the food I was stuffing in my mouth. I didn't understand what was happening or what went wrong. They also continued eating. Mrs. Novell was talking about what she did at her sister's house. My boss was so quiet and serious. After he finished eating, he got up from his seat.

"Ms. Westbay, come in the study room when you finished eating" he simply said and left. I stared at him quizzically but he already turned his back and left.

"What happened to Mr. Novell?" I said without thinking.

"Don't mind him. Maybe he just had a bad day" Ellie said and stared at her mom who was quiet and had a worried expression evident on her face.

****

I stopped in front of the door, fidgeting like a child going in the principal's office. Before, being alone with him in his office was normal, intimidating yes but not like this. After the kiss between us, awkward feeling was swimming inside me. I raised my hand to knock when the door suddenly opened. My eyes widened at the sight of him. The buttons of his polo shirt was undone, his hair was messy and his face was flushed.

"Come in" he said as he turned his back to me and walked back inside. I followed him hesitantly. This was my first time seeing him like this. He sat on the chair next to the table and motioned me to take the opposite chair. I saw a bottle of 'Vieille Bon Secours' and a glass on the table. He'd been drinking.

"So tomorrow, we will be having a meeting with Mr. Romano Vargas. I just want to ask you if everything's ready. This is a very important meeting and I don't want any mistakes" he said sternly, his hands were shaking the glass of alcohol in a circular motion.

"Yes sir. Everything is ready"

"Okay. If the meeting tomorrow finish early, you can go and roam around the city"

"Okay sir. May I go now?" I asked him. From the looks of him, he was already tipsy and I felt uneasy. He stood up and drank the alcohol in the glass in one gulp.

"About what happened on the plane earlier today, I want you to forget about it" I couldn't barely hear his voice but I understood what he just said. His voice was hard and full of regret. I felt my heart tightened. I just stared at him like a fool, trying to form a word to answer him but nothing came out. Then I just nodded and went out of the room without saying anything. What a spoilt jerk! He just do what he wants without considering the feelings of others then suddenly saying something like that as if it was the biggest mistake he ever did in his entire life!

****

We met with Mr. Vargas in his office in down town Paris and everything turned out well. At first, Mr. Vargas was hesitant to make a business deal with Bayleaf Corp, seeing that the CEO was still young, but then Mr. Novell managed to convince him. He showed him how intelligent and confident he was and he captured the attention of the CEO of GQ Corporation. There were a lot more discussions after that and it took almost half of the day before the meeting ended.

We were in front of the elevator, waiting for it to open when I heard someone called my name. I turned my head to look for the person who was calling for me. My eyes widened excitedly when I saw a very familiar face running towards me. He hugged me tightly, lifted me lightly off the floor.

"Gian! What are you doing here in France?!" I asked him gleefully as I hugged him back.

"My father sent me here for training. It's been 3 weeks since I arrived here actually. What about you? What are you doing here in France?" He asked and I was about to answer him when Mr. Novell cleared his throat. My cheeks reddened with embarrassment for forgetting that he was there.

"Gian, this is my boss Mr. Regan Novell. We are here for a business matter. Sir, this is Gian Arthur, one of my best friends" I saw his face hardened, became colder than usual. The 2 men shook their hands without saying words with each other. They just stared at each other hardly. Mr. Novell was the first one who let go and turned to leave.

"Let's go Ms. Westbay" his voice sounding so demanding.

"Cari, if you want I can show you around town. I will be out here at 5pm. The city is also beautiful during the night and the lighting of the Eiffel tower makes it more exciting" Gian said before I could take a step away.

"I think I can come. I'll just call you about it. I need to go. Bye" I said in a hurry and kissed his cheek. My boss' gaze was making my palms sweat. Is it my imagination or he was just glaring at Gian? Why's that?

****

Like before, no one talked during our drive to their house. I was watching the beautiful view outside when I heard my phone's message alert tone. I quickly checked it out and it was Gian.

Gian: Text me your address and I'll come pick you up. I smiled at his text and replied.

Carina: Okay. I will text it to you later :)

"Is he your boyfriend?" I heard him asked suddenly. I looked at his direction and saw him frowning.

"No sir. He is my friend" I answered, my eye browse lifted a little at his question.

"Make sure to come back early. You are in my care right now so you are my responsibility"

"Yes sir" I began to feel irritated at his tone. He sounded possessive and I didn't understand why.

****

When we arrived at Mr. Novell's house, I quickly took a bath and dressed. I texted Gian and he said he would pick me up at 6:00 pm. I chose a skinny jeans, black t-shirt and a pink snickers. I put a cardigan on because it was a little bit chilly outside. I bought these before we flew here in France. I also put a little bit of make-up and put my hair in a messy bun. When I was done prepping myself, I went down to the living room and switched on the television while waiting for Gian. I was busy watching NRJ, the song of Selena Gomez, We don't talk anymore, was currently playing when someone sat on the single sofa in my right side.

"You look like a teenager" He said, his eyes were focused on the television. He was wearing a white t-shirt and men's short. His t-shirt was a little bit fitted on the upper part that the trace of his muscled chest was obvious.

"I thought I'd change for good" I said dismissively and tried to concentrate on the TV but I my eyes were betraying me. I looked at him in the corner of my eyes. He was just wearing simple clothing but he was so sexy and irresistible. I bit my bottom lip nonchalantly.

"Well, you look good in anything you wear" I looked at his direction and I caught him staring at me intently. I swallowed hard because of his piercing gaze. I didn't know what to say. My eyes widened when he stood up and sat beside me, still holding my eyes with his.

"You look beautiful" He added in a soft voice. His warm hand went on my cheek, gently caressing it. I was lost to his touch that I closed my eyes to feel the moment, waiting for his next move. When I realized what I was doing, I opened my eyes just to find out that his eyes were also closed. His lips were almost touching mine, causing me to gasp. I tried to get up but he suddenly leaned his forehead against my forehead.

"Don't move" I heard him whispered, his eyes were still closed while his hand continued its delicious caress on my cheek.

"Don't" I whispered back. I heard him grunted like he was controlling himself, before he claimed my lips. His other hand tugged in my hair gently, angling my head for a better access on my lips. I groaned at the sudden uncontrollable sensation I felt at the pit of my stomach. I was already returning his kisses and my hands went to the back of his neck and pulled him closer to me. He groaned at my wild response and I felt his hand cupped my left breast, gently massaging it. His tongue traced the contours of my lips before thrusting it inside, claiming me fully to his mercy.

His hand left my breast and started lifting my t-shirt off of me. He broke our kiss so that he could take it off me then he also removed his shirt and tossed it on the floor. I automatically embraced myself as I suddenly felt cold all of a sudden. But that was just for a moment because he held me back into his arms and reclaimed my lips. I could feel his warmth, skin to skin, my breasts were crushed against his hard chest but that just made me craved for more. His lips made its way down to my neck and played there for a while, softly biting, sucking and tonguing. All I could do was gasped and moan at the delicious sensation of what he was doing to me. Even when I felt him unclasped my bra, I didn't care anymore. All I want to do was to give in to the desire I was feeling towards him.

"Beautiful" He whispered hoarsely and I opened my eyes. We stared into each other and the desire I saw in his eyes made me trembled with anticipation. I nodded and watched him making his way to my breasts. His gaze was still on me as if telling me to watch him. When his lips caught my turgid nipple, all the right reasoning left my head. I was completely lost. His hand gave attention to my other breast causing me to arch my back, giving him more access. He was like a man deprived of water for days.

He gently bit my nipple then circled it with his tongue. I moaned deliriously and hugged his head, pulling him closer. My body was shivering with so much desire and I started to caress his lean back while he continued its assault on my breasts. He pushed me lightly, signaling me to lay my back on the couch. 

****

****Please support this story by SHARING it. Don't forget to leave a COMMENT and VOTE too. Thank U!****