There was more than a twinge of awe in Antonio's voice when he saw Ruhi throwing empty threats at Rafael, and his son not minding her closeness at all.
"Dad!" She freed herself from Rafael's arms and stood up, feeling awkward.
"I was so worried, wondering if he threw your bags onto the lawn and pushed you out of the house. His grandma was nagging me to check on you, saying he must have choked you in a fit of anger or something. And what am I seeing here?"
Rafael got annoyed and got up from the couch, standing almost a foot away from Ruhi.
"Well, ask her to reschedule and attend the meeting because I'm late and not going to try again." Rafael walked into the kitchen to ask Ms. Myers to make dinner, now that he wasn't going out.
"Late? She got here just a minute ago. You just don't want to attend my meetings."
Ruhi looked at Antonio apologetically. His vision wasn't completely back even after two surgeries, and he had traveled
As Ruhi walked down the hallway, she marveled at the modern structures and three-dimensional wall panels, with huge office spaces and free food everywhere. She would have loved to be part of it, but she knew it won't be possible because she had to work with Rafael, not his dad. This building appeared much bigger to her than the one Rafael's company had.It was only 9.45AM when she stepped into the conference room. She wanted to set everything up and calm her nerves before everyone got in.Taking a seat close to the projector, she looked up andsaw a quote on the wall above the projector: 'What we do echoes in eternity,' with diamond and infinitypatterns under it."Beautiful, isn't it?" Laura, Rafael's PA at his dad's company, walked in with coffee and refreshments."Y-yes. This building somehow makes you feel inspired to become a workaholic." Talking to anyone but Rafael seemed to relax her a little.She was confused when Lau
Ruhi tried to resist his kiss and not give in so easily. He made a joke out of her and her presentation. She didn't even want to think about how she was going to explain this to her father-in-law.Rafael pushed hertothe wall without breaking the kiss and pinned her arms against itwhile wrapping the other hand around her waist tightly and pulling her into him. Ruhi's lips slightly parted when she felt himthrobbing between her legs. He took the opportunity to force his tongue into her mouth, claiming and devouring.Moaning against his mouth, she deepened the kiss and rubbed herself up and down his hardness.He undid the top three buttons of her blouse while tracing wet kisses down to the hollow of her neck, making her cry out his name."Fuck, you taste so good." He groaned,licking the curve of her breast.Ruhi ran her hands into his tousled chocolate brown hair and rained kisses on his forehead while letting him tease the
"Weird? What kind of weird? You mean like a psycho?" Ruhi's friend Lisa was on the other end of the phone, trying to understand Rafael's behavior."Not a psycho, but more like someone with a split personality disorder. One minute he acts so cold like he doesn't care if I choke to my death right in front of his eyes. But the next moment, he has this glint in his eyes. You know, the kind that tells you he can't live without you.""You think he's pretending to have forgotten you?""What good will it do to either of us? I don't think he can be so cruel to me.""Why don't you ask him?""And why will he tell me?""Ruhi, ask him.""Ugh! I thought you will have an answer.""I'm a school teacher, not a psychiatrist or psychologist.""Fine. I have to start work from tomorrow at his company. I will be directly reporting to him.""I can picture you rolling your eyes right now. If your office has any tall, handsome guys with a
A small smile broke across Rafael's face when he saw Ruhi walk into his office the next day. Dressed in navy blue slacks and a yellow shirt, she looked at his expression uncertainly, wondering if he was also thinking about his hands under her violet skirt. She made sure she was in control this time by not wearing a skirt. She was still recovering from the effect of a wet dream she had early in the morning where his voice was husky, thick with desire, confessing his feelings for her. Rafael wasn't thinking about her skirt, but about how much sexier she looked yesterday in his white shirt. He wasn't sure what he would have done to her if she had let him rip it off. Her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink under his hungry gaze, wondering what he was thinking about. Shaking off all unwanted thoughts, he smirked at her arrogantly and stopped her from taking a seat. "Ms. Mirambika Bakul. You aren't my wife here, but an ordinary employee like anyone else workin
"Sorry" Rafael moved away from her, scared of asking the reason for her tears and getting sucked into an emotional vortex.He called her chief bodyguard to have her car brought to the garage."How much do you remember, Rafael? Please, tell me."He remained quiet. Frustration burned through her bones wondering why he was doing this to her."This is no joke! Did you really lose your memories?"He nodded."I have a right to know if you can remember me. You have no idea how scared I was when I thought I lost you.""I don't remember you." His voice was hard and cold.Ruhi grabbed hold of his shirt. "Look me in the eye and say it again.""I don't, Ruhi."Her face fell, but his answer wasn't completely convincing to her."Well... I can feel the bonding, not always...I do, but rarely.""Like when?""When we kissed last time and then fought, you were leaving my office with messy hair and wrinkled
"Oh, thank God, it's you!" Ruhi buried her face into Rafael's chest, feeling shaky. Rafael pulled her off him and put some distance between them."What's the matter?"Ruhi looked back at the path she followed, seeing no one except a man in his fifties walking toward his car. Wiping her sweat and feeling uncertain, she mumbled inaudibly."You what? Why did you leave the office without calling Harry? I called him just in case and he's clueless about your leaving."She wondered if he seemed to be mad at her because he was worried about her.Seeing her still slightly shaking, a slight frown knitted the space between his brows. "Were you running this way? What's going on?""Um, yes... I saw someone watching me, and then he followed me when I started running.""How does he look? Did he carry a knife or something?""I... I don't know. He was wearing an oversized black jacket with his hands in the pockets. The jacket was zipped u
Rafael woke up after a few hours, feeling like an idiot for wanting to lie next to Ruhi for as long as possible. He found her sleeping on top of him, with her head nuzzled deep into the crook of his neck.Untangling himself from her arms, he got up reluctantly and fell face down into the spare bed next to her. The sight of her sleeping so close to him drove him insane.Ruhi also felt the loss of his touch and warmth in her sleep and stirred uncomfortably, searching for him next to her. She opened her eyes to realize the harsh truth that she has been sleeping alone for a while now. But when she came to her full senses, she was happy to know it was an improvement today.Rafaelpretended to have fallen asleep the moment she sat up to get a good look at his sleeping face.She watched his chest rise and fall in a soft rhythm, feeling thankful that he was in front of her eyes, breathing, and not how she saw him unconscious in hernightmares sometimes fr
Rafael's POVI made up my mind for good this time. I thought Kimberley was bad news, but Ruhi is turning out to be a nightmare. Letting her sleep in my room was the stupidestmove ever. What am I supposed to do when she stands at the doorstep with a pillow and blanket, looking at me so hopefully with those puppy eyes?Damn those eyes. She's fucking adorable!I could have told her off to go put on her noise canceling headphones if they could block the thunder out. I guess I need to put some dollars aside toinvest in that technology as well.If there's one more night of rain and thunder, I'm going to throw my self-control to hell. Well, I guess I already did. I was lost in her warm touches and sweet moans. Just thinking about it gives me a boner even now. And she thinks it's okay to grind that sexy ass against my arousalwhen I'm already pushed to the limit."I missed you." I hate these three words to the core. Almost every girl
SEVEN YEARS LATER It was a quiet Sunday afternoon with some cooling summer showers pouringdown outside the window whileRafael spent a good amount of time in his study. He was lagging behind quite a bit because he spent all day at the water park yesterday and left work early even on Friday afternoon to attend his daughter's ballet performance. He got up from his seat and stretched before stepping out to see what Ruhi and his little Snookums were up to. Even though he wanted to finish all the piled up stuff, he had gone two hours without seeing them and it felt like too much on a Sunday. He walked down to the kitchen to see what all the excitement was about. Ruhi was watching something very seriously on her daughter'spink laptop while the little girl was busy whisking butter and molten chocolate. She got chocolate mousse on both her chubby cheeks while Ruhi got a good amount on her nose. "Papa! You were not supposed to come out until w
Rafael had always imagined death to start with some blinding light where all the best moments of his life wouldflash by him and then follow with an abyss of darkness. At least that's what he heard people say it would be like.The gunshots were still ringing in his ears long after the darkness, but the blinding light never came. The pain and the hopelessness sure felt like death.Among the many regrets he had, he regretted not being able to say a proper goodbye. Ruhi had never believed how unconditionally he loved her. He knew he did a poor job showing his feelings toher, except that he could prove that he would die for her, willing to do so over and over.He wanted to hear Ruhi's voice one last time before falling unconscious. His body was going numb, but a shooting painunfurled in the deepest pit of his stomach when he thought about the image of Ruhi lying on the floor.Was she conscious? He couldn't remember. Everything happened too quic
"Oh, I seriously loved what you fed me. I don't know what this is.""Well, let me fix something light so that you don't go hungry. The doctor will be on his way if you throw up again." His voice trailed off as he walked back into the kitchen.Pushing the stray locks of her hair out of her sweaty forehead, she looked at the time on her phone and groaned, her head still slightly spinning. She slept for almost ten hours last night after getting rid of her dinner and felt exhausted at barely ninein the morning.Rafael stepped into the bedroom with a bowl full of chicken soup forty minutes later, and she was in for another surprise. She wished she knew how to cook a soup withthat perfect consistency and flavor he achieved seemingly effortlessly. Watching the heavy raindrops hit the window panes persistently, she stared out at the dark sky while sipping on the warm liquid."Huh, so no sightseeing today?" She asked Rafael, who was looking at her with
No matter how much Rafael hated to move to a different room, Ruhi was super adamant, and hehad no other option but to leave the room. He hoped the next morning to be better and planned a day full of fun things to do. He missed the good old times where all she wanted was to eat a good meal with him at a restaurant and make him watch some kids' movies.She answered his call after deliberately missing it the first two times. He assumed she was sleeping. Sleep was the last thing on her mind. Without him by her side, she tossed and turned until the stormy predawn sky gave way to some daylight outside the huge glass windows."Wake up, sleepyhead. We have reservations for breakfast at a lakeside cafe here.""What makes you think I'm still in my bed. I ate breakfast already."Rafael's face fell when he heard that. It was barely 9 AM and Ruhi was still in bed on weekends, so he didn't expect her to be out already when on vacation."Where are you
"Do I really want to talk to her? I don't think so." Ruhi crumpled the paper with Adira's number on it."Well, we can't trust anything she says, but I think we should hear her out. Also, I need to track her location. So just talk to her for a few minutes and---""I don't want to help you kill her, Rafael."Rafael entered the number into Ruhi's phone and made the call before turning the speaker on."Ruhi... I-I'm sorry. Please, please, help me. There are some half a dozen men with guns chasing me. I feel scared. Ruhi? Are you there?""How could you lie to Gus about something like that? Don't you know he still hasn't moved on?" Ruhi asked reluctantly,confused about how she felt when talking to her sister. She never wanted to talk to her again after finding outshe wanted Gus to kill her."It was... Um, it was Alisha's idea. I just told her Raina had a sister. She came up with this idea to make a deal with him
It took a lot of courage for Ruhi to utter those four words, knowing full well Rafael wasn't going to let her go that easily. If he was a person to reason with and walk away with mutual understanding, she would have never tried so hard to run away from him. As she expected, his eyes flared, smoldering with what seemed to be fury, and his body grew rigidabove her, taut with tension."What?"He rolled onto his side and forced her to meet his gaze."You heardme. I can't live like this anymore. I want out, and I mean it."He flinched slightly at the steely resolution in her eyes. His gaze was feverishly raking her up and down, with disbelief clearly written all over his face. She was equally baffled that he hadn't seen this coming. She wondered if he was being deliberately dense."Ruhi, I know you didn't deserve the treatment you got from me." He stroked her cheek back and forth with hislong thumb. "It's not fair that I make a mistake
"A honeymoon..."Ruhi quietly pushed Rafael's hand away and put her seatbelt on. He expected her to put up a fight orrun out of the car and was shocked to see her stare out of the window in resignation.Zack approached the car but was blocked by Harry. He handed Ruhi's cellphone, laptop, and money back to Harry. Rafael told him to hold on to them as he believed Ruhi wouldn't run without those things. He also wanted to make sure she didn't call her sister and ask her to run instead."Drive!" She told him in an impatient voice when he stalled inside the car, checking his work emails quickly."Ruhi, I don't mean to force you into---""What part of my intentions isnot clear to you? Doyou really think I'd run away from you to show you I want to go on a honeymoon? What kind of logic is that?"Rafael opened his mouth to defend himself but closed it when he saw the look on her face. She was royally pissed, unlike all those ot
"Are you serious?" Ruhi couldn't believe her ears.He ignored her and focused on his phone when Zack texted and then called him."No, no weapons and none of his men. He can go back if he doesn't agree."She waited for him to finish talking on the phone while peeking into the coffee mug he left on the table."Was that dark rum or black coffee? Didyou really mean it when you said I can go?""Pack your stuff before I change my mind."She darted upthe stairs but stopped when she heard Zack enter the house with a pissed off face and announce something to Gus. When did he ever look happy? She wondered and turned back to the room but stopped dead in her tracks when she thought she heard Rafael's name.Climbing back down the spiral staircase, she walked towards the door to listen to their conversation."Just one then. Check thoroughly.""Check who?" She asked Gus, who ignored her again and went to grab some stu
"Gus, she's gone." Ruhi held her breath when she heard Zack's infuriated voice. She was surprised to hear him address his boss by his name.Gus closed the bathroom door and walked over to the bed. Unlike Zack who wanted to kill Ruhi if he saw her again, Gus was relatively calm as he picked his cellphone up from the bed. Checking his messages on the locked screen and dismissing them, he opened the 'Tracker'."I'll get Nash to check the surveillance camera. She may still be on the premises if---""She's right here." Gus cut him off whileRuhi's heartbeat skyrocketed. "You can get back to work. I'll take care of this."Leaning down a bit, he grabbed Ruhi's wrist firmly and pulled her out from under the bed. She didn't dare to meet hiseyesand stared at the door Zack exited from.Gus moved a strand of her hair from her cheek while she froze.'Crap, crap, crap! He's probably twenty years older than me and wants to either kill me k