Eternally Seduced(28)

His eyes narrowed. "Get caught … by whom? The boy who keeps hitting on you?"

It honestly took me more than a few seconds to remember who he was  referring as a ‘boy'. Laughingly, I said, "You and I both know Drake is  not a boy, Constantijin. And no  –  I wasn't referring to him. I'm  referring to everyone working here."

"He is a boy and as for everyone else, what is there to worry about? You are my woman. That is all they have to know."

I shook my head stubbornly. "No. It's too soon. We have to give … give  this thing between us some time  –  give us time to adjust before we let  others know about it."

He took a long hard look at my face. "Yanna  –  I mean it when I said I  will not make the same mistakes again. From here on, it will just be you  and I. The two of us  –  no other women … " His eyes narrowed once more,  his voice chilling as he finished, "And I will not tolerate any other  man in your life. I do not even want to see you glance at any other man  or even hear another man's name on your tongue."

The possessiveness in Constantijin's gaze and words made me shiver, but  it wasn't fear I was feeling. A part of me still couldn't believe that  he wanted me  –  that I mattered to him enough for him to dislike the idea  of me having anything to do with any other man.

But I had to stand my ground on this. If things got bad between us  again, I knew I would be the one suffering more between the two of us.  "Just … just give me at least a week. Please?"

Just when I thought I had hit a brick wall, Constantijin's expression  relented, softening marginally as he said, "A week. And that's it."  Curving an arm around my waist, he walked us out of his office, letting  me go only to lock the door before pulling me close again.

When I turned around, I almost jumped in fright since the boy  Constantijin so loved talking about was in front of us, a quizzical look  on his face.

He wasn't alone either.

Behind him, I saw at least five familiar faces from Finance, the department Drake worked in, as well.

Oh, shit.

This was what I so didn't want to happen. I believed Constantijin when  he told me he was going to be faithful to me, but --- intentions were  just that  –  intentions. The truth was, I didn't have yet the courage to  have everyone know that Constantijin and I were dating. If he ended up  breaking my heart again, people wouldn't think I was a girlfriend he  dumped. Everyone would think I was the floozy who didn't know better,  getting what I deserved.

"Hello, Yanna." Drake's drawl made me look back at him, and the smile on  his face was as friendly and as flattering as before. He had his blazer  draped on one arm while holding his briefcase and several folders. His  polo had its sleeves rolled to his elbows, its tails hanging loose over  his pants, and unbuttoned low enough to reveal a sprinkling of chest  hair.

Honestly, I'd be such a liar if I said that I wasn't momentarily dazzled at how sexy Drake looked right now.

"We just finished brainstorming," he continued.

The way his gaze lingered on my body, the way his eyes were so  shamelessly appreciating every curve and inch of skin he saw  –  I  couldn't help but blush.

Behind me, I felt Constantijin suddenly tense, as if he had sensed my blushes and didn't like it.

Oh shit.

Realizing that Drake was waiting for me to answer, I stammered, "I … was  working overtime for, uhh, Mr. Kastein. He wanted me t-to provide the  latest work schedules of the cast for the potential TV adaptation of  Hana Kimi in the U.S."

In the periphery of my eye, I saw Constantijin finally turn around. When  I saw him about to curve his arm around my waist, I panicked and moved  away before he could reach me.

Drake blinked when I was suddenly several feet away from all of them and  just a short distance away from the reception area. "Are you in a hurry  to go home?"

Trying to ignore the daggers shooting from Constantijin's eyes, I said,  "Umm, yes." I opened my mouth to say goodbye, but Drake beat me to  speaking.

"Let me drive you home then. I know you just take the bus, but at this  time of the night, even independent girls like you need to take more  care." By the time I managed to close my gaping mouth, my mind whirling  at the unexpected turn of events, Drake had already reached my side and  was taking my bag from me.

"B-but … "

"I'll worry about you endlessly if I let you go home alone tonight," Drake murmured.

Oh, oh, shit.

Constantijin wasn't just glaring daggers at me now. He was literally  trying to kill me with his glare, and I knew that it was just going to  get worse.

Drake was talking to one of his colleagues, leaving last-minute  instructions for the minutes of their meeting. A chorus of goodnights  followed and then Drake was saying, "You too, sir. Good night, Mr.  Kastein."

My phone vibrated inside my bag and I hastily fumbled for it, knowing who it was.

If you fucking dare leave with that boy …

Oh, oh, oh, shit!

Didn't he know I had no choice but to fucking leave with this boy  –  I  mean, man? It was too soon for us to go public. It was just too soon,  with the wounds he left in my heart too raw, and the memories of the  times he had turned me down and pushed me away too fresh.

The elevator's arrival chime snatched me out of my reverie. By the time I  recovered my senses, Drake was already inside the elevator, holding the  open button. "Yanna?"

I stepped inside.

The last thing I saw was Constantijin's cold and impassive face before  the elevator's doors closed in front of us. With the others already  walking past Constantijin, their backs to us, I allowed myself to plead  with him with my eyes. A week, I tried to communicate with him mentally.

But Constantijin only stared, not a flicker of expression on his face to  tell me I had reached him. When the elevator's doors finally shut, I  felt like it was permanently keeping us apart this time.

"Are you all right, Yanna?" Drake asked beside me.

No. I was not. I just had the best moment of my life a while ago and now I was having my worst.

Was it going to be like this between Constantijin and me time and time  again? Did it always have to be a battle between the two of us?

Forcing myself to smile at Drake, I lied, "I'm okay. Just tired." Almost unconsciously, I found myself texting Constantijin.

A week, I typed. You promised me a week of just keeping things between the two of us, and that seven-day period started tonight.

But he didn't reply, even though I waited till the next morning for even  the smallest sign that there was still something worth waiting for.





Lesson #9




Billionaires don't lick their wounds when they are hurt. They get even.



"Are you seeing this?" I shrieked at Daria and Alyx, who I was videoconferencing with on my iPad, as I pointed towards the TV.

Alyx laughed so loudly I was tempted to flick her face on the screen. "You're such a kid. You're actually jumping!"

"I can't help it!" I was so mad I wished the floor under my feet would  turn into the hard, toned, sluttish body of a guy named Constantijin  Kastein.         

     



 

"He was courting me and now he's out with another girl! On TV!" Glaring at the screen, I hissed, "Man-whore."

Daria was grinning. Tall with short curly hair and sparkling gray eyes,  she was the most outspoken in our little group. She was also dangerously  impulsive, but Alyx and I hoped marriage could curb that somewhat.

"You should gatecrash the event, show him who's the boss," she suggested.

Or not.

"Get real. I can't gatecrash his dad's fundraiser."

"You know, I think she's right," Alyx intruded as she pushed a wide hair  band up her boyishly cut hair. As she started slapping cream on her  face  –  one of her hundreds of rituals before going to sleep  –  Alyx  added, "He can't do this every time you two quarrel or have a  misunderstanding."

I shook my head. Just the thought of gatecrashing  –  and putting myself  out there for Constantijin to humiliate  –  had me hyperventilating.

Daria bent forward, her eyes narrowing. "Yanna, I can see you panicking from here."

If that was true, then she had better eyesight than Clark Kent since  Daria had her iPad positioned somewhat far away from her. I could  practically see the entire bed she was seated cross-legged on, which was  so enormous it could probably fit an entire football squad.

From Daria's side of the screen, I heard something popping in the  background, followed by the clink of glass and then the Greek-accented  tone of Daria's tycoon hubby. "Why is Yanna panicking?" Nik asked as he  came into view, wearing an unbuttoned white polo shirt and jeans. Tall,  dark, gorgeous, and an alpha male to the core, he used to be the world's  greatest jerk. Even I hated him, and it took a lot for me to say the  H-word. A misunderstanding had caused Nik to mistake Daria for a  gold-digging nymphomaniac and he had treated her like shit. Thankfully,  true love  –  and a good dose of the truth - had reformed him, and there  was no doubting that when you looked at how Nik acted around his wife  these days.