Chapter 8

CARMELA THOMPSON

I kept glancing between Cyrene and our boss--Cyrus, for what seemed like an hour. There's this heavy silence lingering around us the moment Cyrus stopped us from our trance a few minutes ago.

Cyrene scoffed disrespectfully at our boss then without a notice, she grabbed me by my arm then dragged me back to our feet.

"I said stop." My heart leaped at how cold and demanding he sounded but that didn't bother Cyrene as she just kept going, dragging me along with her.

"Cyrene, I think Mr. Steele is mad." I whispered. She just smirked to herself and I can't help but wonder where she gets this confidence to disrespect our boss.

"He should be." She said meaningfully and hearing nothing more from our boss, she successfully dragged ourselves to a very famous bar.

My head is filled with Cyrus and his weird actions were thrown outside the window the moment we stepped foot inside the bar. I wasn't even shocked anymore to see famous celebrities partying in here. Young people trying to dance sexily in the middle of the dance floor. Men ogling at women wearing nothing close to a decent clothing. And then, that's when I realized one thing. I stopped walking that made Cyrene stop too. She looked at me with curiosity but I just sighed.

"I don't think I belong here."

"Why?" She asked, a bit alarmed. Sighing deeply, I looked down at my form and she must have gotten what I meant when she laughed, not an insulting one.

"Carmela, even with your corporate attire, you totally look bomb!" She complemented and I can't help but blush. No one has ever called me sexy.

"Let's go now, okay? Just take your coat off and you're good to go." She continued as she ushered me in one of the vacant seats somewhere far from the dance floor.

I never thought I'd see myself inside a bar wearing a formal attire especially now that it is Monday night. I have work tomorrow and worst thing is, I don't drink. What am I supposed to do here then? Just stare at Cyrene?

"You're thinking way too much, dear. Why don't you loosen up? How about we start with a glass of drink?" She then offered me a glass of liquor. I don't know what it is called but anyway, being the polite employee that I am, I took the glass from her and gulped down the liquid that burnt my throat like hell.

I almost gagged because of its bitterness and I could feel my throat starting to heat up. Whatever this liquid is, this must be too strong for me to handle. Shaking my head at Cyrene, I put down the glass and told her I can't take anymore of it.

"Come on, it'll be fine later. Just wait till it soothes your throat." She said as she served herself the same drink she gave me.

And she was right, after a few moments of the bitter taste, I could now feel a refreshing feeling creeping into my system. Cyrene must have noticed that I am no longer bothered by the taste so she decided to offer me another glass.

I may not be a drinker or some kind of girl but I'm not a kill joy either so with a smile, I took the glass and aimed for a shot and another and another until I can no longer remember how much I drank.

Right now, I could feel the world spinning and the loud music is really deafening. But I am still sane. I still know who I am with and right now, she is talking about Cyrus, and I am all too focused to even think about my state.

"I knew he was a coward." She blurted out.

"Why did you say so?" I asked as I hiccupped.

"Well, he knows he can't fight the bond but him, being the mighty Alpha that he is, he stupidly tries to defy what the Moon Goddess had offered him." I can't relate to every word she was saying.

There goes the ALPHA word again. I wonder if that is what they mean as CEO.

"I can't understand a word you're saying." I told her honestly as I played the rim of the glass with the tip of my forefinger.

She just laughed, a rich one and hugged me tight. Cyrene still looks fine despite the amount of alcohol she took while here I am, on the edge of throwing up and emptying my stomach. What an alcohol tolerance she got there.

"I'm sorry you have to go through this. If he wasn't just a stubborn stupid..." But her sentence was cut off when a man spoke out of nowhere.

"Hi." Despite the blur, I looked up to see a gorgeous man smiling down at me. I blinked a couple of times to examine him clearly.

"I'm sorry to interrupt you ladies but, may I ask you to dance?" I pointed my forefinger right back at me to make sure that he was asking me and not Cyrene. He nodded with a sweet smile playing on his beautiful face. I turned to look at Cyrene and she just smiled wickedly. Nodding her head at me.

"I... I..." I started but Cyrene decided to get herself involved.

"Yes, you may dance with her." She said that made the guy smile.

I had no choice but to take his hand as we both made our way to the crowd. A very seductive song is currently burning my ears, but I can't help but sway with the rhythm. Even the people dancing around me are having fun too. They are loving the DJ's taste of music and slowly, I started to rock my hips. Just enough to follow the tempo but this guy stayed still, not even moving an inch.

"My name is Dylan." The guy shouted through the music. I smiled at him and nodded my head, telling him I heard what he said.

"I'm Carmela." He pulled me by my waist and I yelped at his action.

His arms snaked around my waist making me stiff under his touch. He smiled at me, not a scary nor friendly smile.

"I like your name..." He said then he dipped his head down and I froze at what he did next. His lips touched mine and at the very same time, a loud growling sound echoed through the noise and my heart pounded almost off my chest knowing all too well where or might as well say, whom it came from.

With a blink of an eye, Dylan was thrown meters away from me causing some tables to move from its original place and for the bottles to break and create another noise that totally caught the attention of everyone.

I was too shocked to move or to even comprehend what was happening. This huge man is completely blocking my way and my headache is severely trying to knock me off, but even if I don't have the energy to move, I tried my best to pull Cyrus and stop him from attacking that poor guy when he made an attempt to go punch him again.

"Let me go." He said through gritted teeth. Everyone is watching, curious about the commotion, even I myself is curious as hell too, but the only thing that's on my mind is to save my boss from becoming a criminal.

"No. Mr. Steele..."

"I said, let me go." He said once more trying to escape from my grasp and I was struggling so bad to keep him locked up between my tiny little arms.

Dylan is now back on his feet but he's not moving yet. He could not even stand properly. Cyrus must have punched him pretty hard. He glared at Cyrus, not scared at all.

"What the hell is wrong with you, man?!" He shouted, his nose bleeding from the damage he got. Even his lips are cut badly.

Cyrus sure didn't like how Dylan behaved as it only fueled his unknown anger that made him escape from my hold and stalk him and give him another punch and a kick in his stomach.

"No one touches what's mine!" And I was practically shouting at Cyrus to stop what he was doing but he was not listening. It's as if he had turned into a beast.

I had no choice but to step in between him and the poor guy to make him stop. I dropped to my knees and looked up to a very furious Cyrus. His eyes are blazing with fire and he's breathing heavily, his fists clenched tightly and slowly, he moved closer to me and Dylan.

"Get up." He ordered. I shook my head repeatedly that caused my headache to worsen. He must have noticed it because of how I looked but he didn't say a word.

"I said, get up!" And just like that, he pulled me back to my feet and the tingles flew everywhere all over my body but this isn't what matters now.

When he was about to toss me in the side, I did the most unexpected thing on Earth, at least that's what I thought. I hugged him. I hugged him so tight as if there was no tomorrow. He stiffened and I even felt how he shivered under my touch, a few moments later, he started to calm down. He was no longer shaking from anger. I could see that my unplanned move worked to stop him from killing Dylan.

"Mr. Steele..." I whispered. He didn't say a word, instead, he buried his face on the crook of my neck and hell how warm it felt.

I could hear the nosy people whispering to themselves but I paid no attention to them. Even the bouncers that were supposed to be here the very moment Cyrus punched Dylan just made their grand entrance. What a waste of money this club has to pay for their irresponsible employees.

"Cyrus." I saw Cyrene behind Cyrus and she just nodded at me while Cyrus didn't respond to her. He seemed to be lost in his own world.

"Get him out of here." She said and I nodded. I was about to pull away from the embrace when he didn't let me. A growl escaped his lips. A sexy growl. He tightened his grip around me and I could not fight this strong magnetic force pushing me more to find comfort in his arms. I smiled to myself.

"Mr. Steele..." I called out, like I was talking to a five year old kid. I tried my luck to pull away and this time, he let me. But not too far, just enough to let me see his beautiful face.

"I'll take you home, okay?" I said, ever so sweetly and like a lost puppy, he nodded and pulled me closer to his side, making me crash against his firm and masculine body and giving me more headache and a warm feeling before he dragged us both away from the curious eyes of this sinful club.