“What’s wrong, Luke? What happened?” Nina asked, getting to her feet and patting him softly on the back just in case he’d choked on his coffee.Fiona tried to back out of the room without being seen but Luke shot her a dark, cold stare and she froze in her tracks.“Where the hell do you think you’re going?” He asked.“Uh… Um. I…” she stuttered.Nina and Lord George stared in confusion as Luke got to his feet and advanced in Fiona’s direction. His shoulders were stiff with tension and his eyes, all but glowing with rage.“Son, what happened? What’s wrong?” Lord George inquired.Luke remained mute until he was standing almost nose-to-nose with Fiona, pinning her in place with a death-worthy glare.“What happened to the coffee I ordered you to make, Fiona?” He asked in a low growl. When she continually remained silent, lowering her head to avoid his gaze, Luke snapped.“Speak!”Startled, Fiona jumped and a squeak of surprise fell from her lips.“I… I don’t know…”Luke grabbed her upper
Luke and Nina touched down Japan at exactly seven PM the next evening. They were immediately driven to the Fortress Hill Hotels, one of the best seven star hotels in the city.On their way, Luke watched, completely fascinated as Nina smiled and gasped at the view of the beautiful city. He couldn’t help it. She was simply the most beautiful woman he’d ever met. And to think that Fiona almost made her choke on bad coffee. “Oh my God, Luke!” Nina exclaimed, snapping him out of his bad thoughts. “Japan is so beautiful! Take a look at those cool lanterns.”Completely smitten by her infectious joy, Luke took her hand and smiled down at her. “Yeah. It’s a beautiful place. Very beautiful.”He was supposedly referring to the city but his entire attention was on Nina.The atmosphere in the car suddenly grew tense as Nina ducked her head shyly and tucked a strip of hair behind her ear.Seconds later, her entire frame trembled with delicious heat as Luke tipped her face upwards with his index
“I asked you a question.” Master Adachihara blew hot, giving Luke a disgusted up and down look. “Who even let you in here? What do you want?”Luke summoned courage and stepped forward.“Hello, sir. My name is Luke George. I’m from the Diamond Empire and I’m here to represent Lord George and possibly sign a deal for the development of a chain of hotels you both have spoken on.”The entire room was silent for a moment. Three seconds later, every single man in the room, aside Luke, burst into loud rounds of laughter. Luke and Nina looked on, completely appalled as the men struggled to get their mirth under control.A moment later, master Adachihara lifted a finger and they all fell silent.“I do not understand, sir. Did I say something funny?” Luke asked, stepping forward boldly.The master gave him an assessing glance before replying.“Did I give you permission to speak?”Luke’s eyes narrowed in confusion.“No. I did not realise…”“Then you will keep that mouth shut until I have given
This could NOT be happening. This honestly could not be happening.Luke saw Nina tense as she prepared to deliver another comeback and he knew he had to do something quick in order to salvage the situation.Before Nina could speak, Luke hurriedly grabbed her arm and pulled her back, setting her firmly behind him with a hard look which screamed at her to behave while he tried to fix the situation.“Master Adachihara, please call off the security. We can settle this amicably between us.”“And why would I do that?” The master grunted. “Your little plastic doll has already disrespected me enough. I do not owe you anything.”The master turned to leave but Luke was having none of it. Of course he took offence at Nina being called a plastic doll, but Luke understood that this business deal was pioneered by his grandfather. He had to get it done at any cost.“Sir, please.” He begged shamelessly. “I plead with you to reconsider, if not for our sakes but for the sake of the friendship you share
Luke stared at Master Adachihara, shock and disappointment warring for domination within him. But beneath all of those emotions was annoyance.“Master,” he tried to approach respectfully, “don’t you think it is rather unfair for you to just write off the deal without getting to know all of its advantages and the possible ways we could make profits from this?”The master shook his head.“No, Luke. I’m choosing to base my decision on what I’ve heard and seen already. The bitter truth is that if your hotel idea was good enough, I’d have chosen to invest the moment I saw the first slide.”Luke lowered his head in defeat, at a complete loss of what to do to salvage the situation. Finally, he looked up and deadpanned.“Are you doing this because my colleague disrespected you or because you have a strange aversion for young men?”Completely taken aback at his boldness, Master Adachihara’s eyes widened a fraction.“Are you trying to insinuate that I lack the intelligence to make decisions of
“Hey Luke, my boy. Nina! Welcome, welcome.”Luke and Nina smiled widely as Lord George beckoned to them from the VIP section of the club.“Hey, Grandpa. I see you’re enjoying the party.” Luke said when they were finally within hearing distance. Lord George gave him an affectionate pat on the back while he took Nina’s slender hands and kissed her on both cheeks.“You look a dream, my dear.” He complimented the blushing woman. “Very gorgeous.”“Thank you, grandpa.” Nina replied with a smile of gratitude.Lord George turned his attention to Luke.“You’ve really struck gold with this one, my boy. Hold on to her for as long as you can.”Nina lowered her head shyly as Luke’s intense, heated stare landed on her skin. He pulled her beside him and draped an arm around her.“Oh, I intend to, grandpa.” I’ll hold on to her for the rest of my life if I can, he thought to himself.“Sit diwn. Sit down, you two.” Luke and Nina took their seats and Lord George snapped his fingers — a gesture which im
Nina was nearly choking with anxiety as she and Hailey searched for Luke all around the club. They even went as far as searching outside and looking through every single car in the parking garage but one hour later, they still couldn’t find him.All their efforts were futile.“What are we supposed to do now?” Nina asked frantically, Luke’s phone snug in her grip.Hailey paused and thought for a moment.“Does the phone have any damages?” She asked, “like a cracked screen or…”Nina flicked a glance at the phone and her eyes widened in horror;“The screen is actually cracked.” Hailey chewed on her bottom lip.“I don’t wanna scare you or anything but from the cracked screen, there’s a high probability that he was kidnapped and had tried to fight off his assailants in the process.” Hailey’s words hit Nina like a blow to the guts. She staggered backwards, her heart beating a mile per second.“No….” She whispered. “It can’t be. It can’t.”Hailey wrapped her arms around Nina’s shoulder in a
“Nina? Are you okay?” Lord George asked when he noticed she’d gone completely still. Nina did not react. Apparently, she was deep in thought. It took another two tries to snap her back to the present world.“Nina!”She blinked rapidly as her gaze gradually refocused on Lord George.“Are you okay, sweetheart?” He asked again and she blinked, nodding in response.“Yes. Yes, I’m good.” Her gaze narrowed on the waitress as she inquired;“ Excuse me, what did you say the lady looked like again?”Everyone watched, completely curious at the question. The waitress gulped nervously at all the attention as she replied;“She was dark haired and had a tiny slash on her eyebrow.”Nina narrowed her gaze;“If the slash on her brow was tiny, how did you see it?”“Well, I passed between them to use the bathroom, you see. The lady was very stylishly dressed so I wanted to get a look at her clothes up close… which is how I noticed the scar. Her outfit looked pretty expensive as well.”Nina nodded, her