I SLAPPED CALLAN’S chest and squinted my eyes, tracing any hints of distress from his eyes but he was indeed amused. Did he just fool me into kissing him? “You can’t get enough of me, wife. Don’t ever think too much. We just got married.” After saying that, Callan returned to his phone. This time he positioned it to his ears after pressing onto someone’s number. “Yes, we are now heading to the private airport. I can meet Mr. Dicken by evening. Yes, have that setup, Mila,” then he ended the call and dialed another number. “Aakil? Where is father? Did you accompany him earlier? Did he close the deal with the real estate mogul? Good. Yes, he shouldn’t bother with that. I’ll deal with our transactions abroad. Just keep the barracks in place. Our men have to be deployed next week at Mr. Baris’ groundbreaking event. What did the consigliere say about that? The underboss has the say in where his mean must be, Capo Baris is as important as the other captains. They bring in more than just t

AS CALLAN LOOKED AWAY, I put on my jeans back and looked down. My cheeks were flushed with shame and shock. I made sure there was no one in the vicinity. I just needed to get off my clothes so water wouldn’t drip on the tiled floor.I cleared my thoughts and then looked at the surroundings once again. Callan stood with his back turned at me from a close distance. Before he pointed at the nearest door. I assume it was a room. “That’s our room for tonight. I asked for a double bed. We’ll have the penthouse by morning.”I nodded. Callan walked towards the doors and swiped a card then the door unlocked. Without saying anything I rushed towards the room and stepped inside.The room looked elegant despite the simple interior with white and grey accents and gold carvings on a few pieces of furniture positioned inside.There was also a large television a small kitchen on the side and a bathroom on the left. True enough there were indeed two beds beside each other. Each one has a bedside table

Callan’s POVESMÉ LEFT and I found myself drenched in cold water as I allowed the shower to just drip off my face. The cold droplets traveled from my jaws to my chest.It was just my senses detecting everything as my eyes were shut close and my mind drifted off from all the work I had to finish on the way here, and all the times Esmé clouded my mind with the little things she does which seemed to bother me a lot.For instance, her words were a while ago.I balled my fist and with a grunt, I had already punched the wall in front of me. My cold hand turned hot, now throbbing with sharp pain. I used the same arm to lean onto the wall as I silenced the grunt coming out of my mouth from the jolting pain on my knuckles.“Fuck!”When Esmé asked why there were times we were drawn to each other’s bodies even when I always tell her I love someone else… I was flabbergasted. Looking at her eyes that suppressed the tears that desperately wanted to escape, I wanted to give her the truest answer I c

I WOKE UP feeling cold. When I opened my eyes, the quiet peaceful sky greeted me. Somebody was breathing beside me which gave me warmth. I inhaled a deep breath and moved, only to witness Callan’s peaceful face as he slept deeply.The alcohol didn’t have much effect on me this time. But the cold at this hour alarmed me. I touched his forehead and sighed in relief when I felt him still warm. I looked around and the surroundings at the resort were quiet, maybe everybody was asleep.My gaze landed on the men wearing suits who were sitting at the entrance part of the villa. One of them was sleeping and the other two were talking in low voices.“Hello…”They saw me and immediately walked towards the pool.“Callan is still fast asleep. May I ask for help in carrying him to…” I paused a little, feeling quite embarrassed to say, “Our room.”“At once, Mrs. Chevalier,” both of them stood on each side of Callan and stood up. Callan moved a bit and maybe realized what was going on.With eyes half

I SLEPT KNOWING there was nothing left for me to do but figure things out sooner. As the next day arrived, Callan’s words resurfaced inside my head. This was the last thing that he said to me before he called it a night. “No one can hurt you as long as you’re with me.”‘But you do, Callan…’ I wanted to say. The gala will be in the evening and the invitation has already been sent to us. Callan was the one who received it from the guards. Then handed it to me as he was fixing his hair. “We’ll leave in an hour. I’ll wait for you in the car.”“W-what? In an hour? Callan, I just woke up.” I looked at the blanket covering my body and touched my hair which I’m sure is a mess right now. “We will roam around the road for a bit and look for clothes for the event in the evening.”“Aren’t you gonna attend to your clients?” I asked as I immediately got out of bed and fixed the sheets. “I am only doing this just because I owe you a lot, Callan. Once this meeting with your relatives is over, you