CHAPTER ONE

CHASE'S POV

I walked into Cavelli Hotel where my former high school classmate, Cesare Cavelli was getting married with his fiance Lenore Bernard.

"Mr, Reed I'm so sorry, Sir," Bianca, my personal secretary said.

I stopped in my steps and looked at her before asking, "What's the matter, Bianca?"

"I just got a text from my daughter's nanny. She said Blanca is burning up with a fever. I would have left her with her dad back in London, but my husband is also on a business trip and I had to be here with you, so I just had to bring her along. I need to rush back to the hotel to check on her, Sir," Bianca replied looking terrified.

"Of course you can go right away, send her to the hospital if possible, I'll cover the medical expenses. Your daughter is only five, she needs you right now. You're free to go Bianca," I replied.

If not anyone else, I knew how hard it was to take care of little children, especially when they were sick. I made a mental note to check on the kids I left with a nanny in London.

"How are you going to communicate here, Sir? The main reason you took me with you was because of my ability to speak French. You can't speak it so how would you manage?" 

"Don't worry, I have G****e Translate at least. Now run along, Blanca needs you," I said and watched her run out of the hotel lobby.

Scrolling to the contact of Octavia, the nanny of my twins, I dialled her number and waited for her to answer.

"Hello Mr. Reed. How are you, Sir? Are you in Paris already?" Octavia asked with her native Brazilian accent.

"Yes, I am. I wanted to know how Chris and Crystal are doing," I replied while noticing how the atmosphere in the lobby changed with the entrance of a raven-haired beauty of about 5ft 10 inches.

The lady seemed quite young and elegant, probably twenty-seven years old. She seemed quite oblivious to the men checking her out and the women envious of her looks, but rather fixed on her phone. 

She appeared to be searching for someone and kept looking from side to side, until our eyes locked together and she looked like she had found whatever she had been looking for, because she kept staring at me.

"Oh, I'll pass the phone to Chris, Sir," I heard Octavia said which forced me to tear my gaze away from the lady.

"Hello Daddy! When will you be back?" I heard the tender voice of Chris, the older twin by ten minutes.

"In two days, son. How's everything going? I hope you're not fighting with your sister again?" I teased.

"Yes, he is Dad," Crystal replied over the phone.

"She's lying Dad. I hope you come back with all those wonderful eclairs that I heard is sold in Paris!" Came Chris.

"Don't forget the Barbie dolls, don't get Chris anything. He doesn't deserve it, Dad!" Crystal yelled.

"Don't worry kids, I'll be back in two days time. I'll also get you all the goodies that you asked for, you both deserve it. Is that alright?" I asked smiling almost completely forgetting the beautiful lady who kept staring at me.

It felt almost like she was eavesdropping and so I quickly rushed the conversation to an end and cut the call before making my way to where she stood.

As if noticing my intentions of coming her way, she lifted her phone to her ear as though on a call.

"Hello Miss. Do you need any help?" I asked when I stopped in front of her.

Taking a closer look at her, she was even more stunning than I thought with large grey eyes, sensuous lips and a nice nose. She had a very nice facial structure like that of an elegant French princess. 

I tried to remember if she was an actress or a celebrity I might have known, but couldn't quite place a finger on it. She had a very nice figure too, one you couldn't possibly forget, so I couldn't have met her before. If I did, I'd have remembered.

She had on a velvet-red dress which enhanced her well-rounded figure. Diamond jewelleries adorned her neck and wrists. If not anything, this lady came from a wealthy family. There was no ring on her finger, though. I wondered why that observation made me feel more relaxed.

The lady all of a sudden ended her call and walked past me and all I could do was stare at her back as she walked away.

How could a woman ignore me? She was the one who looked lost and I only wanted to help. Deciding to follow closely behind her, I noticed she doubled up her steps before pressing the elevator button and quickly getting in.

It seemed like she wanted to get away as quick as possible and so, I stuck my hand in between the elevator doors and made my way in with a smile.

The lady simply clicked the button for the top floor, which made me realize that she was probably here for the wedding as well, given her dressing.

"It seems you're also here for Cesare and Lenore's wedding, aren't you?"

She turned to look at me, which caused her long, wavy black hair to whip my face, giving me a smell of her strawberry-scented perfume.

"I'm sorry what did you say?" The lady asked in French.

'Of course, I forgot that I was in a French-speaking country, but does it mean she doesn't speak English?' I thought to myself.

"Don't you speak English, Miss?" I asked before all of a sudden the elevator stopped moving with a loud sound. 

"What's going on?" I asked, not sure if I was directing the question to myself, her or even the elevator. 

"I think something's wrong with the elevator," the lady gasped, holding her hand to her chest as though she was about to have a panic attack.

"Just relax, everything will be fine. Take a deep breath, try to think of something else while I contact the technicians," I informed her.

"No, we're going to die. I've seen this in the movies, this elevator box is going to crash!" She screamed, her husky voice rising a pitch higher than I thought possible.

"No, we're not. You...," I was saying before the elevator made another sound with a jerk that caused the lady to fall into my arms.

She held onto me tightly and kept mumbling, "We're going to die. Oh my God, I haven't even got married yet. I haven't bought a house yet, I can't die."

Patting her creamy white back which was on display dues to the style of her dress, I explained, "It will be fine, you have my word."

The doors of the elevator opened to reveal all the wedding guests at the top floor and paparazzi taking pictures of us. 

'Oh my God' I thought to myself after realising that I and the lady were just caught in what seemed like a passionate embrace.