CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

The cold air hit Sharon's pale skin, and goosebumps covered her entire body.

She was wearing really short white shorts and a beautiful floral lingerie like top.

It did nothing to shield her from the elements and she shivered as the cold sea breeze washed over her.

Her hair was in a ponytail, the only thing she had managed to do before Luca forced her into his luxury yacht.

He picked her outfit. She felt weird wearing something Luca Pavilochenki had recommended. Knowing that he had probably imagined her inside it

Since she married Luca, she could only make out a number of emotions from him.

There was hate, there was anger, and now this —

He had earlier ordered her to strip, which was weird. Luca wasn't the least bit interested in her

She couldn't name what it was. Was there a name for the feeling of wanting to humiliate someone, and make the person feel self aware and small?

Well that was what Luca was doing. And it was working.

She felt a wave of nausea wash through her. Was she sea sick?

No, she had been on luxury cruises a couple of times, so it was something else.

The feeling that made her sick to her stomach

It was Luca

He was standing there, looking at her. Watching her every move. Their eyes met and she felt a cold shiver run through her spine.

He had a demeaning, condescending look. But he was staring at her intently .

His eyes surveyed her from head to toe, her face, her eyes. Then they lingered on her slightly exposed cleavage. They went back to her face to catch her reaction before it slipped

Her cheeks turned red for an instant. Then she turned away from his gaze.

She could still feel his eyes on her back, still sense them linger on her butt

But then again, this was all for show. Luca had informed her that there would be several drones in that location researching sea turtles and something related to pollution.

The real times news were going to cover their documentary, and it was just a coincidence that this happily married couple happened to be there. Doing what all happily married newly weds do

She still couldn't get the thought of what happened at home off her mind. The man with a scar on his face—

Sharon was brought out of her thoughts by an electric feeling. Luca's hand traced something on her thigh. And she could feel his hot breath on her neck.

“Luca”

Her shrill voice gave away her fear. His palms smoothened her thighs. Her delicate skin shuddered under his touch

He wasn't even doing anything for goodness sake

“Relax, the drones are passing”

Sharon tried to control her breathing, but she suffocated from his towering presence.

“That man in your house— the one with a scar”

“What about him?”

Luca's other hand held her waist firmly against himself, and she shivered

“Did he scare you?”

Luca asked

Not like he cared. Just got the simple pleasure her got from seeing her in pain. Seeing her traumatized and terrified

“I—”

Her breath hitched in her throat. His large hands were on her shorts. She felt a finger tease the waistband slowly.

Sharon turned her head to look at him. To look at the man who whose towering presence made her feel small, whose voice made her shudder, whose hands were straying —

His eyes were emotionless, cold and void. How could he be this and still not feel anything?

He dragged the elastic and it stretched out, leaving a window for him to peek. She wore black panties, which created a sharp contrast with her skin

Then he snapped it. The band hit her waist with an electric shock and made a little sound. The next time she blinked, he had walked away from her

The drones had passed and he had wrapped up the show.

******************

Claire's high pitched screams filled the air as she admired her latest gift. It was a BMW, and Donald gave it to her

It was black, wrapped in a pink ribbon. She couldn't suppress her joy.

She jumped and he caught her on his arms, like he anticipated it. She held his face with both her hands and planted a soft kiss to his lips

“Thank you” she whispered in his ear before he lowered her down.

“Do you like it?”

He asked as his hands moved to tuck a strand of hair behind her ears

“Donald I— nobody has ever done this for me, I love it!”

“Really?”

He moved closer and his hand rested on the small of her back

“So after all your years of friendship, Sharon didn't attempt to gift you a car? I mean it's obvious you need it”

His mouth went to her ear and his lips touched it

“And she obviously has the means”

Claire thought carefully before answering. It wasn't that Sharon had not tried to gift her a car. Infact she did, two birthdays ago

But she had rejected it, because she didn't want Sharon to feel like she was her friend only because of what she could benefit from her

“She's given me a car before, but I rejected it”

“Why? A lot of people would jump at the opportunity if they were in your position

You're selfless Claire, too selfless. You're too good a friend for her. Does she even realise it?

“I— I don't know”

“So are you going to reject mine too?”

He had on his puppy dog face, and Claire couldn't help but laugh.

“No, I won't do that”

“Does that mean you prioritise me—over her?”

The question shocked Claire, and she was speechless.

But before she could answer, his lips were on hers, and he was kissing her passionately.

He finally released her so she could breathe

“I don't know Donald, we've been friends for years”

“So it's a no?”

Claire didn't know what to say. But before she could think further, he was kissing her again, with so much intensity that she had to grab him to avoid falling.

He lifted her off the ground and she heard the beep of a car key. Before she could collect her thoughts, they were inside her car and she was straddling him

The new car smell hit her as she admired her car. He really went out of his way to please her.

His hands groped her ass before he pulled off her underwear in a swift motion

She gasped

“Mrs Gray, can you describe her relationship with Mr Hillary Gray?”

“The question was completely out of context, and unrelated to what they were doing at the moment. But Claire wasn't in her senses anymore”

Claire took a deep breath and tried to arrange her thoughts.

“I don't really know much about their relationship” she said. Her cheeks were red and she squirmed on his lap

He removed his hands from her thighs and wrapped them around his chest

“Donald please” she tried to unclasp his hands from each other, tried to bring them to soothe her aching need, but he asked her a question and he wanted her to answer it first.

Claire took a deep breath

“They're— not a very loving couple and Mrs Emilia is basically his puppet. She doesn't have a say over anything and Mr Hillary treats her like shit behind closed doors”

That was it!

Donald gave Claire a quick kiss on her forehead as he pretended to look at something important on his phone.

“Baby, something just came up”

He pressed another kiss to her lips

“I'll be back sometime later”

With that, he walked away from her with malicious glint in his eyes.

“Did the bird sing?” Came the voice from his phone

“Yes Palmer, the bird did sing—”