Marco finally managed to tear his mouth away from Khaye's before anything further they'd both regret happened. It took all his willpower to step back, his breathing as heavy as hers.

"Let's not make this any more complicated than it already is." His voice was almost a snarl. He was too busy regaining control over his urges.

Khaye had a confused look on his face and he groaned.

"Stop that," he snapped.

"Stop what?" she asked under her breath. Her eyes were glued to his.

"Looking at me like that."

She blinked. "You started it."

"Started what?"

"That...that kiss, of course."

He groaned again and closed his eyes. "As I said, let's not make this complicated—"

"Than it already is, I know," she finished for him. "But just so you know, Marco...it already is."

"Exactly my point." He opened his eyes and was surprised to see her walking away.

"Exactly. It already is complicated." She opened her bedroom door and added over her shoulder, "Your fucking logical restraints wouldn't change anything." Then the door slammed behind her, leaving Marco to gape in confusion and surprise. What the hell did she mean by that?

*****

Theo hated the woman's stubbornness. She wouldn't get out of her box and insisted that it was way more comfortable in there than his bed.

For a brief moment he considered cuffing her to the bedpost again but finally gave up the idea. She couldn't get away from the house without tripping the alarm and if she would ever be successful in doing so, she wouldn't be able to get far before he could catch up with her.

A big part of him nagged inside his head, telling him he was getting soft. Blind trust wouldn't do him good, he thought. But they had made a deal. She'd help him with his plans on Vernier and she could do whatever she wanted. He'd even let her go if she asked but there was no way he'd tell her that. What happened on the cruise was good enough proof to him that Desiree could be trusted. She could have betrayed him countless of times but she didn't.

He slowly sat up in bed and looked down at her sleeping in her fucking box. He'd have to do something about this sleeping arrangement.

*****

Khaye lay on her bed wide awake. She cursed Marco and his righteousness. Everything was going so well until he snapped back to his senses!

She tossed and turned, not able to get an ounce of sleep.

"Fuck it," she uttered, jumping off the bed. She padded to her door, swung it open and stormed to his room. She deliberately forgot to knock and pushed his door open. The darkness inside blinded her but there was enough light from the moon outside for her to see him jump off his bed in alarm. She was heaving with a lot of pent up emotions while she stood in the middle of his room with her hands on her hips. "Just so you know, I can very well take care of myself after this is all over. If you are thinking that having sex with me will make it complicated afterwards, then you are mistaken because I am not planning to hang on to you like a crybaby. I will definitely do such a thing if that is what you are afraid of because I will not want someone who doesn't want me back so fuck you and your—"

It only took him two steps to grab her face in both hands and claim her mouth, leaving the rest of her words unsaid. She felt his hunger and fed on that, finally relieved that she was successful, otherwise she would have made a complete fool of herself.

His hand went up to cradle her nape while the other pressed on her lower back, drawing her closer against his arousal. She pushed him toward the bed and it creaked heavily as they fell. Khaye smiled against his mouth but it soon disappeared as a great wave of sensation rushed through her.

Marco rolled her to her back until he was on top of her. He tore his mouth from her for a moment to say, "Don't say I didn't warn you."

Her hands were busy with his buttons. "Consider it done."

*****

Desiree woke up with a start. She almost screamed when she found herself inside the box but immediately remembered why she was there and groaned. Of course, they were back. She suddenly missed the bed in the cabin of the cruise ship.

"If you're awake, breakfast is ready," Theo's voice said from the bed.

"Why, thank you," she uttered sarcastically. "You're very much accommodating."

"I didn't force you to sleep there. Remember I offered the bed."

She huffed, stood up and climbed out of the box without a word.

"Get ready after your meal. We're going out," he called after her as she stormed out the room.

She stopped and turned to face him. His hands were behind his head and he was looking at her with a grin on his face. "Where are we going?"

"I was called for an urgent meeting. Move fast. Everyone seems pissed underground."

With underground, he meant the Liaisons. "You did your job. Why the hell would they be pissed?"

He did not answer. Instead, he jumped off his bed and walked toward her. "While you're having your breakfast, let us talk about Vernier."

She suddenly grew anxious. Was it possible to talk Theo out of it? She didn't want to deal with Vernier at all.

Theo's brow arched when she didn't move. "Either you have your breakfast now or we'll share a different meal in this very room instead."

Desiree snarled and walked away to go to the kitchen. He followed close behind and she could almost sense his amusement. What the fuck happened to the bastard Theo?

"Milo Vernier, as I told you, keeps the most important records of the organization," Theo was explaining five minutes later while Desiree finished her bacon and eggs. He was sitting across the table from her, his hands folded over his chest as he comfortably leaned against his seat.

"And you want those records."

He nodded. "He doesn't easily let anyone inside his house where he keeps his office."

"So you will give me to him so I can get inside, open the doors for you and help you steal what you want. To destroy your father. Did I get that right?"

He fixed her a fake smile and nodded. "Exactly."

"And why do you think Vernier would believe you'll just hand me over to him when you spent millions to get me? He is not that stupid, is he?"

"I'm a businessman, Desiree. Of course, he'll have to pay me."

Her jaw tightened. "You're going to sell me to him."

"Lend is more like it. Don't think for a second I'd let you go just yet."

For some reason, his statement caused her heart to race.

"For how long?" she asked, her anxiety rushing back in.

"That depends," he uttered, "on how long you can manage to completely erase his doubts."

"Sex could do that."

She caught the angry fire in his eyes before he managed to control it. "If that's what it would take," he snapped from across the table.

She dropped her fork and sighed. "Let's get it fucking over with then. Go call the man and have your business talk while I get dressed. You have some pissed people waiting for you underground after all, right?"

Not much time later, Theo was driving them away from his house.

"Where's your family?" he asked, surprising them both.

She arched an eyebrow at him. "Are you making small talks?"

He just shrugged.

She looked out the window and let the silence linger for a while. "I don't have any waiting for me if that's what you're wondering about," she finally uttered.

"But you must come from somewhere, right?"

Why the sudden interest in her history? "If you think I come with a bad childhood memory, you're wrong. I had a perfectly normal life growing up."

"Then what happened?"

"This is getting frustrating. I don't have to tell you anything about my family."

Again, another shrug from him.

"They both died in an accident leaving me with a large trust fund."

"Explains the bratty behavior," he uttered and received a stingy look from her in return.

"What about yours then? Has it always been this way for you?"

She saw his jaw clench but they both knew he started it so he shouldn't expect to be able to get away from answering. "No, not really. Believe it or not, we had a perfectly normal childhood," he finally answered, copying her words.

Desiree snorted. "Can't imagine that...no, really, I can't."

To her great surprise, he chuckled. "Richard and I enjoyed normalcy once in our lives, Desiree."

"You're older, right?"

"Just by a year."

She shifted in her seat so she was almost facing him. "Then how did you end up underground?"

"Mother died, the old man took us in when he found out his two boys suddenly became orphans." There was something in his tone that told her it was the end of the story. She didn't press on, making herself believe that his life story wasn't important at all.

They drove in silence after that.

*****

"All things considered, this is a good thing," Khaye uttered sleepily.

Marco groaned in frustration not because of her but because of his lack of control. It shouldn't have gone this far, he thought. "I should do something about that mouth of yours."

"What's wrong with my mouth? You were enjoying it not five minutes ago—"

He suddenly pinned her on her back, his hands on her wrists on both sides of her head. He slid her arms higher and she arched beneath him with a lazy smile and damn if his body didn't react. "Why?" he asked, his head just inches away from hers. He had to at least wait for her answer before diving into her again.

"Why what?"

"Why is this a good thing?"

She rolled her eyes at him. "Do I have to remind you how we both enjoyed our previous activity or are you just dumb, Marco?" He looked at her with warning. She sighed. "This is a good thing because it gets rid of the stupid tension between us. Now we can work together and have sex if we want. If you just stop feeling so damned guilty over breaching some ethical rules, we might just both be able to do things better from here on."

Marco blinked. She had a good point and he hated to admit it. "God, I hate your mouth," he breathed out before he kissed her deeply, throwing away his ethical dilemmas because, as what she said, they might just be able to do things better with this newfound intimacy.

*****

As Desiree waited for Theo inside the same lounge again, she wondered of his reasons for wanting to destroy his own father.

He said the man took him and his brother in when they were left alone without a mother. Despite the dangerous world they both ended up in, there was no denying that they had a better fate than others. But maybe that was the reason why he didn't say more. Who knew what he and Richard went through when they first arrived underground? They could have suffered the same fate as hers.

Or maybe he was just borne to be as ruthless as the people around him. Maybe it was just as simple as wanting to gain more power over such a large and advantageous organization. They had the CIA as their clients for Christ's sake!

The door opened and she almost groaned when Tatiana entered. The woman smiled when she spotted her. "You know, for some reason, I am glad to be bumping into you, Desiree."

She lifted her brows at the beauty before her. "Really? And here I thought you might have some hidden desires to get rid of me."

Tatiana looked offended. "Why would I do that?"

"I don't know. Because of Theo?"

Tatiana broke into a laugh. "Theo and Richard are like brothers to me. I might have fancied both of them, Theo especially, once but I got over that."

"And you're married."

The woman's face turned sour for a second before she broke into a smile that did not reach her eyes. "And I am married." She walked to where Desiree was and sat down beside her on the couch. "Do you think Theo will be okay?"

Desiree frowned. "Why wouldn't he be?"

Tatiana shrugged. "The packages he delivered got stolen just a few hours after the clients claimed them. Mr. Hong isn't so happy about it the last I heard."

The color drained from Desiree's face. "Do they know who took the tw—packages?" she carefully asked, trying hard to sound nonchalant.

"Who knows? This business has its competition, you know. Well, I hope he can save his ass. He was able to deliver the packages after all. The clients cannot very well demand for them now when they were the one who lost them in the first place." The lady stood up and faced Desiree. "I forgot why I came here. We are having a party at our house tomorrow. Since I cannot wait for Theo to walk out of his father's office alive, I figured I'll just tell you so you can tell him yourself. You'll be there, right?"

"What's the party for?"

Tatiana winked at her as she walked backward to the door. "You'll know tomorrow. Seven in the evening. Sharp. Dress casual. It's just my father, some family and close friends who are coming." She started to turn but not without adding, "And I am having this feeling we are going to be really close friends, Des."

Desiree felt a chill from Tatiana's choice of name to call her. Not because she was against the idea of the woman befriending her, but she was reminded of Jamaica. Guilt washed over her. It had been weeks since her friend crossed her mind. She shouldn't forget, she told herself. Jamaica ended up dead because of the Liaisons.

Not five minutes after Tatiana closed the door, it opened and Theo came in, his face unreadable.

"How did it go?" Desiree asked.

"Good," he answered, nearing her. He extended his hand and she took it. "Let's go home for now. We have a lot of planning to do."

Desiree frowned behind him as she let him lead her out of the room. "What happened to the twins, Theo?"

He stopped walking and faced her. "How did you know?" He didn't look angry, merely curious.

"Tatiana told me. And she invited us to her party tomorrow. Her father will be there."

That got his attention. "That's good to know. We'll be coming."

"Not if you don't tell me about the twins," she challenged.

He let out a patient breath. "All I can tell you is that you have nothing to be worried about. I was told that they are in safer hands."

She didn't expect that and he knew it, thus the small tug on his lips. "What happened—"

"That's the most I can tell you and it would be wise if you talk about this ever again. I don't want to have the same fucking meeting I just had, Desiree, so let the matter rest."

Blinking in surprise and gratitude, she nodded with a smile.

"Stop smiling." He started to lead her down the hall again.

"I am just grateful—"

"Stop it or I'll fucking change my mind."

She kept her mouth shut, letting relief overwhelm her. As she stared at Theo's back in amazement, starting to believe against her better judgment, that the man had a heart after all.

*****

"So we're going to the party. I assume you are going to talk to Vernier about your supposed business arrangement?" she asked once they were inside the car.

"No," he simply answered.

"We're not going to the party?"

"We are."

"Stop talking riddles, Theo."

He shot her a glance before he returned his eyes on the road. "The exchange happens tomorrow."

Desiree gulped. "So there is no stopping it," Theo heard her whisper and for a second he wished something could stop it.

If only there was. The pang of guilt he felt was understandable, but the unidentified fear that came with it caused him alarm.