His Addiction

"So bothersome!" Looking at her reflection in the mirror, Emily fixed the messy pony she tied in between the crown and the nape before coming to the club. The dark shade of makeup and her dark lens hid the softness of her square face. Her strong jaw, above-average height, and tanned skin that caused the humid temperature in Brazil were a plus, and the muscle she gained from my ritual exercise, and having her apartment close to the beach, her swimming regularly helped to bring out the look of a young countryside man she wanted. If the manager of the club she works didn't promise to pay her double, she wouldn't have agreed to come to work early in the morning for the decoration for a birthday event she did in the pool bar with the help of a few of her colleagues. Months ago, seeing the praise she received from their foreign clients for the food, wine, and decor, the boss and the manager never left a chance to take advantage of her using her weakness with extra money. Then again, she ne

"Ah, look who finally shows up today in my cafe!" Liam jeered cheerfully the very moment when Emily stepped into his shop for the first time in a long while. The owner of this cafe, previously called Sweet Bakes, was the only cousin of Helenite, whom Emily cherished the most after her little sister, so they were naturally on good terms as they were family. "Why? Were you not expecting me here again after the opening of the new branch?" Emily asked as she leaned against the counter. "Of course not! You have no reason to travel this far when my old shop is close to your home. Anyway, I am happy you are here, Emy." His smile widened. "Now, what would you like to order? Tell me, and I will have my stuff to take you to the second floor." No one had great expectations, as this branch was far from the local college and schools. But look how every chair was full of people on the first floor! She was sure this would be the case on the second floor too, and that was the case when she went th

There were three types of people Emily feared most, something like her instinct told her to keep her distance from. The people she knew. The people who forced friendship on her. And the people she didn't wish to know. The reason she chose to be an introvert and docile was not to stand out much in the crowd. Her blooming years were ruined, but she had no regrets. She couldn't afford to get involved in unnecessary matters to survive when her parents wouldn't be around for her. It did work out to her advantage, and Emily didn't have many enemies except for her grandfather, yet it was unexpected to get bothered this much by the kind of person she encountered today. She thought she wouldn't have to deal with the person in the third category she was terrified of coming across, but weirdly, she felt it would be easy to peel him layer by layer to get through his mind. Plus, that man felt weirdly familiar. Emily didn't want to see him again, but why was her intuition telling her that when s

"You shouldn't have dragged her family into this. We don't know the person you are helping." Bash's assistant/bodyguard said the first thing as soon as his boss came out of the bathroom after freshening up. The traveling and the temperature of Sao Paulo had taken a toll on Bash. He would rather avoid those southeastern countries where he felt stuffed and suffocated, but his vision led him to where he never wanted to be in the first place. His fair skin was turning red, and he got rashes too, which had him in the worst mood because even the water there didn't suit him. And then, his man brought up a matter he hated to think of for so many reasons that he stopped counting, knowing that would take him nowhere. He hoped to sign the contract with Mr. Iglesias fast, and then only he could return to NYC for his movie promotion, away from that humid city. Wiping his face, Bash tossed the towel on the dressing table in the room where Emily's grandfather's butler brought them to freshen up as

Emily flinched the tone Bash used on her. His eyes held accusation and caution for her. She knew she shouldn't feel guilty, but her cheeks still heated up in embarrassment and terror, and then her eyes enlarged as she realized how effortlessly the man caught her when she was still in disguise, or that was what she thought until her feet touched her false hair. She was supposed to put that on after getting in the car, but her nervousness and worry made her completely forget about checking on her appearance. "Water." Suppressing her fear, Emily again held her water for him, "You need this more than my name." Whatever the officers said about Sebastian, she remembered them still. That transaction from his account would separate her from her sister for life, but she knew he was a businessman, and whatever he did to get that deal from her grandpa. Bash wasn't the first person who tried to destroy her, and he certainly wouldn't be the last person her grandfather lured to bring her to her kn