CHAPTER ONE

Kaia Kennedy eyed her reflection in the mirror with a disappointed frown. She looked...okay, but....

"You look like a whore.."

Turning at the rude girl who was busy munching her favorite Doritos, Kaia glared at her and snorted. "Nobody is asking for your opinion."

But she just raise a well sculpted brow at her, still munching in a very obnoxious way that was very far from the elegant and classy woman she was known to be. "Well, this is a free country and I'm free to say what's on my mind..."

Sighing, Kaia looked back at her reflection in the mirror and bit her lower lip. Glancing up and looking at the woman sitting behind her she said in a small voice.... "Can you help me.. Please?"

Her friend just snorted. Dip her long and elegant hand inside the bag of Doritos and took a mouthful. "I thought you're not asking for my opinion."

She stomp her feet and drag her already tired body and stop in front of her friend. She's already tired. How many times did she change her clothes already? She can't take it anymore. "Come on, Kat. You're the expert here.. Help me. I'm— Oh my God! It's already past seven! I'm going to be late! Come on Kat! Please?!"

It's Katherine Michael's turn to sigh, but grimace when she came face to face to Kaia's bountiful mounds. It's bouncing obscenely and any guy would probably drool at the sight but unfortunately she's a woman. Although, for whatever reason she felt so frustrated. She wonder why?

Well, that’s beside the point. What she said awhile ago was the truth. To her this red dress would probably looked elegant but because the neckline was cut so deep, it looked differently to Kaia.

Kaia is a very beautiful woman. And there's a lot of guy who can attest to that. She had that kind of beauty which kinda looked like she's an Angel. She has a small heart shape face, deep set of eyes paired with long curly eyelashes, cute button nose, although her lips were kinda big but it didn't make her ugly, actually it added to her appeal. She also has long wavy black hair and fairy ivory skin. The only downside to her appearance is her height. She's barely 5'5 and with her looks she appear younger to her true age which is, 25. Thankfully though, even though she's small she has long legs because God if that's not the case, she'll probably looked like she’s 15.

"Kat, come on!"

Katherine shook her head to get out any unnecessary thoughts and stood up. "Okay, okay. Gee, you should've called me last night."

"I forgot, okay."

"You mean you're busy watching your favorite Korean drama that's why you forgot."

Kaia just giggle at her. Figures.

Five minutes later....

"Wow! Is this me?!" Kaia exclaimed when she saw how Kat transformed her to an elegant and mature woman she wanted to be. She didn't do much. Actually she's still wearing the damn red dress. But Kat somehow transform her and make her somewhat conservative and elegant. Although her chest area is still indecent but with a black jacket on top of the dress it make her more mature. Also, Kat straightened her wavy hair and it looks so good on her that she looked like her age.

"How the hell did you do it?!"

"Well, it's the make up Kaia. You should learn how to do it yourself, you know."

Still feeling awestruck of her brand new self, Kaia smiled confidently at her reflection and squared her shoulders.

It's already 7:30 and her appointment is at 8. Thankfully their meeting place was just around the corner that she could arrive there in 5 minutes.

She turned to Kat and smiled. "I'm going."

"Yeah, yeah..."

Well, her meeting tonight is not just any meeting. Tonight, she was going to prove to her father that she's capable and could be trusted with important stuff too. Sure, her father was going to flip when he found out what she's about to do tonight, but this chance was too good to pass.

She wouldn't be able to get a chance like this ever again. Normally back in Europe her father would always kept her on a short leash, watching her every move like a hawk. Kaia would have liked to think that the reason for that was her father's over-protectiveness, but she wasn't delusional.

Kaia knows that Arthur Kennedy, simply didn't trust her only child. She tried not to take it too personally, but it was high time to change that. She hadn't graduated with honors from Harvard only to spend her life being a pretty face for her father's marketing campaigns.

Kaia had always hated it, but she was downright sick of it after the last two months she had spent in LA, attending meaningless events in her father's stead for the LA branch of Kennedy Corporations.

The email she had received a few days ago was a welcome break from the mind-numbing routine she'd grown accustomed to. Well, technically, the message wasn't for her.

If Kaia hadn't been in LA, her father's people would have simply forwarded it to the main office in London where his father currently was. Strictly speaking, she should have done the same, instead of reading it, but she had been bored and restless and the message had intrigued her.

Mr. Arthur Kennedy,

My secretary seems to be having trouble getting through to you. She informs me she's been unable to reach you. I told her you were a busy man. But I'm the same. And, I'm also not a very patient man. We have things to discuss. Meet me at, LA downtown, January 21st, 9 p.m., at a restaurant named "Mostaf." I'm expecting you to be there at the exact time. You know how much I hate tardiness. And I don't want our friendship to be ruined over such small thing.

Looking forward to our meeting,

Eton Domino

Kaia had read the message several times. Something about it was off. The friendly tone seemed fake. Or was she just imagining it? She didn't think so.

Eton Domino. The name sounded vaguely familiar, but Kaia couldn't remember where she'd heard it. But the man, whoever he was, must be important enough to be able to assume such a superior tone with her father. Hell, the guy was practically ordering her father around. She had never met anyone who had enough power-and nerve-to do that. Everyone knew her father wasn't someone to be trifled with.

Her father was known as ruthless, and powerful British billionaire-a billionaire who was rumored to have dealings with the Italian and Russian mafia. And Kaia is aware of the rumors circling around his father. They'd been around all her life, but no one could ever prove anything. Not even she, his only daughter, knew for sure.

The fact that the email's sender wasn't at all worried about ramifications despite her father's reputation meant that, whoever the man was, he wasn't someone to be trifled with, either.

She should have forwarded the message to her father when she had realized it. But Kaia had always been too curious for her own good.

It took only a few minutes of Googling to find the information she needed.

Eton Vasily Domino, thirty-eight was an Italian multi-billionaire. Apparently, he owned dozens of companies all over the world and sat on the board of dozens more.

But it wasn't his wealth that attracted her attention.

Kaia was kind of embarrassed to admit it, but she couldn't help but to stare at the photographs of the guy. Eton Domino was a tall, dark-haired man with broad shoulders and the kind of muscle definition that most men could only dream of. He looked like a professional boxer rather than a successful businessman.

It was silly to form an opinion of a man she'd never met, but the more Kaia looked at his pictures, the more she felt attracted to him. Even when the guy smiled and it never seemed to reach his eyes. There was actually nothing attractive about those eyes. If anything, the cruelty lurking in them was downright ugly. The guy was handsome enough, she supposed, if one liked cold, assertive men who looked like they could snap your neck and be bored while doing it. Kaia certainly didn't like his type. But, for some reason, she had trouble dragging her eyes away. It was silly. It was just a photo. And a photo shouldn't make her feel so... unnerved.

Shaking her head, Kaia checked the time on her phone, one more time. If she didn't leave the hotel soon, she was going to be late for her appointment.

.......

Ten minutes later, Kaia was finally on her way to the restaurant. Leaning back against the taxi seat, she stared out the window.

Butvit didn't even take a minute, and she's frowning again as her thoughts returned to the upcoming meeting with Eton Domino. Not for the first time, a sliver of doubt crept into her mind. She was going there blindly. She had no idea what the Italian tycoon wanted from her father. The results of her research on the guy weren't exactly reassuring, either.

Eton Domino had the reputation of a shark; it was said he controlled his business empire with an iron fist. Kaia had searched to her father's Corporations' database, but she didn't have enough clearance and couldn't find what connected her father to that man.

God, she was sick of being kept in the dark. Yes, maybe what she was doing was reckless, but it was the only way she could force her father's hand: if she learned something she wasn't supposed to, her father would have little choice but to trust her.

Maybe you aren't ready to be trusted.

The thought made Kaia's stomach flip-flop. It was something she'd been trying to avoid thinking about. What was she going to do if the rumors were true and her father really had dealings with criminals? If her father was a criminal? Would Kaia want to be trusted with that sort of information?

"This is the place missy," grunted out the driver as the cab stopped.

Kaia flinched and looked out the window. She hadn't even noticed that they were already here.

"Thanks," she said, thanking the driver in and shoving a hundred dollars into the man's hand. Kaia had no idea whether it was enough or not: she's not use to taxis but she can't possibly asked her chauffeur to drive her because if she do so, her flyer will immediately know what she's doing. wasn't good enough to understand the driver's strange accent.

The driver shot her an odd look and muttered something under his breath-clearly something uncomplimentary. Quite used to it, Kaia grabbed her purse and got out of the car, hoping she didn't look as nervous as she felt. Taking a deep breath,  she straightened her shoulders and walked to the front entrance of the restaurant. This meeting was important for her future. She couldn't screw it up.

________________________________________________