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Intrigued

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billionaire
forbidden
possessive
love after marriage
pregnant
arranged marriage
powerful
twisted
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Blurb

Hayley Collins was the only single,  unmarried friend. She was too busy living her life and flourishing her career to care about men until..

Meet Luke Basset. One of the most richest and well known businessman and also Hayley's brothers best friend. He has quiet a booming recognition with woman. His good looks and charming smile could not be denied and almost always wasn't. 

What happens when Luke returns to the country with his best friend and neither Luke nor Hayley is the same since they had last seen each other. She's more gorgeous and sexy than he remembered and he was more muscular and attractive than she could recall.

Now a run into a few awful people causes Luke to make a decision that would benefit both of them.

A decision that could either turn out to be the best thing that ever happened to the both of them or the worst.

There are forces and figures that are beyond their knowledge that seek to cause chaos just when things seem to be going smooth.

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1
The striking rays of the midday sun reflected on the bonnet of my car as I parked in the free parking space just outside the decent looking restaurant. It had been a busy week for me which meant I rarely had the time to catch up with anyone this week. Saturdays were literally the best day of the week for me. It was the one day that I usually looked forward to for two reasons. Number one being that I chose not to work on this day and, two, I could do some catching up. Satisfied with my parking, I slid my red leather bag over my shoulder and got out of the car where I had to shield my eyes from the sun. I got to the door of the restaurant and the doorman, who knew me since this was usually the go-to spot, held the door open for me with a gentle smile on his lips. Chuck was in his early forties but to be honest, with his sparkling blue eyes and well-maintained hair color, he looked no older than thirty-five. I returned his smile and made my way further into the restaurant. It was beautifully designed with a modern feel to it without the space feeling cold. The space was reasonably busy but not to the point of it coming of as unpleasantly chaotic. Light chatter and laughter filled the air which just made it feel comfortable. My attention was caught by the waving hands from the right side of the room. I smiled excitedly as I spotted Rebecca and Nicole who wore equally excited expressions as myself. I started towards the table carefully since falling in front of all these people would be humiliating. Nicole, Rebecca and I have been friends since high school and all through college. We've shared tears, laughter, and heartbreaks together. Nicole was more on the crazy and free-spirited side from the three of us. She rarely cared what anyone thought of her and it was something I admired. As for Rebecca, well, she was more reserved compared to Nicole but she had her moments. Nicole often referred to her as our mother hen since she always seemed to be admonishing her on her outgoing behavior. I settled into the chair that was across from the two of them while we exchanged greetings. "It has been the craziest busy week I think I have ever experienced," Nicole said after taking a sip of the sparkly champagne from her fluted glass elegantly. I sighed since just thinking of the week that passed made me want to sleep. "The office I was designing was completed a day earlier than expected and I have never been happier to get home and catch up with my sleep." Nicole groaned which made Rebecca glare at her. "You have no reason to groan, missy. Since you've been sleeping this entire week," Rebecca said to Nicole who just shrugged before raising her glass to her lips. Nicole was a book writer and she had a flair with words and streak for a mysterious adventure. Her works were quickly climbing the ladder especially since she released her newest creation a month ago. Nicole set her glass down. "Well, after the book release and signings, I've been pretty much free but the days before that I was a stress ball." She explained and Rebecca stuck her tongue out at her which made Nicole frown. "If I remember clearly, you were off since fashion week had just ended!" At that, I laughed because Rebecca had no argument left since Nicole had a point. The bickering settled as the waitress approached us and we ordered what we usually had here. Meg was a young woman who worked here since she needed the extra cash to pay for her bills after her parents disowned her. She was really polite and nice so we three always made an attempt to leave a generous tip for her every time she was our waitress. She smiled after going through our order again then left. I grasped the wine bottle that was on the black velvet tablecloth and poured some into my glass. I took a sip savoring the taste before swallowing it and looked at Rebecca. "So, how has married life been? It must be challenging juggling between your career and all of that." I asked Rebecca. She was recently married to her high school sweetheart, Jake, for four months now. Jake studied to be a doctor and Rebecca followed her passion for fashion and became one of the few top fashion designers in the country. They made the most adorable couple. "It's been great so far. We've finally begun settling down in the new house." She replied excitedly. "It isn't very difficult since Jake is really understanding." She said with admiration for her husband. "Wow Becca, I feel really sorry for your new neighbors. They aren't going to get much sleep having you and Jake around." Nicole teased her, causing Rebecca to blush deeply before glaring at her. "It's not like you and Aiden are any less quiet!" Rebecca shot back jokingly making us laugh as we remembered what she was speaking about. We had a sleepover at Rebecca's parent's villa before she got married. Her parents weren't at the villa with us because they said we were too noisy and occupied their other mini mansion nearby. Aiden was invited as well as Nicole, myself and a few of Rebecca's cousins. After a fun-filled day, everyone went to bed. Everyone was peacefully asleep until loud moans and noises began to erupt from Nicole and Aiden's room. One by one, we all started waking up and gathered in the lounge. Every person was present besides those two. I walked to her door and knocked loudly and asked them to keep it down as most of us were enjoying our sleep. Nicole scoffed. "We weren't even that loud. You guys just exaggerated the whole thing." She said, protesting with embarrassment. Just then Meg brought our food and the aroma filled my nostrils making my stomach growl. Having missed breakfast, it was understandable. We started eating and Nicole was voicing her thoughts and ideas for her new book that she was working on. "It doesn't make sense," Rebecca said to Nicole. "How can your hero not know his mother if she's living with him?" I had to hold back a chuckle at Rebecca's attempt to annoy Nicole. Nicole let out a sigh of frustration. "Because he was taken-" She started to explain but the ringing of my phone interrupted her. I stared at the caller identification and saw that it was my mother. The girls kept quiet and I answered the call. "Hayley darling." My mother's familiar voice sounded ecstatic which only made me frown. "I hope I'm not interrupting you but I just had to tell you." She didn't wait for me to even ask what it was before continuing and I suppressed a smile. "Simon is coming back home tonight so we're having a welcome back event for him." I, now, understood the reason for her excitement because I was beaming. I've not seen my brother for so long since he went away on business. "Invite your friends if you want to and be home early because I need you to help me with a few things and so you may want to get a decent amount of sleep." She added having known my haphazard sleeping pattern for this week. When I hung up, two pairs of eyes waited impatiently for me to share the details. So, I did. "It has been how many years since you've seen him?" Rebecca has asked. I couldn't remember but it has been almost a year. He had left with his friend soon after they graduated to build their life. "A year, I guess." The truth was, I missed my brother immensely. Even though he made fun of me and I used to trouble him so much, we knew it came from a place of love. I invited Nicole and Rebecca because a party isn't a party to me if they weren't there. Besides, they're basically part of the family. We paid for our meal and made our way out of the restaurant. "See you, guys, tomorrow night okay?" I asked while hugging the two of them. "Yes. There's no way we'll miss it. Besides, free good tasting booze isn't something that a sane person missed." Rebecca commented which got her a nudge from Nicole. I shook my head at her with a chuckle. She was just too much sometimes. I woke up and mentally groaned imagining the amount of work that has to be done today. Being an event planner and interior designer always came in handy for family events. I rubbed my eyes sleepily then got off my bed and walked to the bathroom. Grabbing my toothbrush I quickly brushed my teeth and walked back into my room. I stepped in front of my closet to pick out my clothes for today but my hand stilled as I reached for the hanger of the cream colored floral dress. I frowned, feeling my ears strain to make sure I wasn't hallucinating the familiar male voice downstairs. Simon. My brother. He arrived late last night because of his flight from Japan being delayed so I didn't get to see him. I quickly ran down the stairs and into the kitchen, ignoring the smell of chocolate chip pancakes my mom loved to make as I launched myself onto my big brother from behind. Oh, Lord. How I've missed him. He's always been there for me and always looked out for me. Not seeing him for so long made me realize how boring my life was because I had no one to annoy and drink hot coffee with at stupid o' clock in the morning. "Hey, short stuff. Yeah yeah, I'd miss me too. I'm pretty awesome." Simon said jokingly as he lifted me up into a bear hug. I snuggled closer, breathing in his familiar scent that I missed so much. I slapped his shoulder for being his conceited self. "Don't kill my moment, brother." I smiled at him and he made a funny face and I laughed, hugging him again. "Fine, I missed you too, Hayley." He said seriously before hugging me one more time. Simon looked so much like our father it was almost unsettling. He had the same eye and hair color, not to mention the similar facial structure. He was good-looking and it wasn't a surprise that woman chased after him. If you took away the aging from my dad's face, they'd probably look like brothers. Sort of. "Hayley Mariah Collins! This is no way to be dressed or behaving in front of our guest." My mother stated in disapproval at me as she ran her gaze up and down my pajama-clad body. Her hand held a spatula while her left hand rested on her hip. I frowned, not understanding since I hadn't really given the care to look around in all my excitement. My mother scoffed at my confused expression and didn't give me the chance to look around before she started to motion to the said guest. "Luke Basset. He's Simons friend. The one that was him in university." My mother said gesturing to the male figure standing at the far end of the kitchen. I remembered him. He used to always be around the house when I was still in middle school. He and Simon were like brothers and Luke used to always pull pranks on me. This one time he put a plastic snake under my bed covers which caused me to scream so loud my mother thought I was facing a burglar in my room. But all of those were now forgotten memories that no one spoke about, let alone remembered since we all grew up. After Simon and he graduated, they both moved on to building their own successful businesses. From what I've heard, Luke was rated one of the top ten richest men on Forbes. He owned Basset Enterprises and also inherited his father's company since he retired. But Luke wasn't only famous for being wealthy. He was famous for being a ruthless charmer who could have any woman he so fancied. He slept with women and discarded them the next day like he didn't even know them. He's never been in a proper serious relationship. Ever. Or at least as far as I know. "Good morning, Luke. It's nice to see you after so long." I said with a small smile as I extended my hand in greeting which seemed to be the proper thing to do. The corners of his lips lifted up but not quite into a smile. "It's nice to see you too, Hayley." He said with a straight face as he grasped my outstretched hand. Simon cleared his throat causing Luke to let go of my hand and me to take a step back. I really was inappropriately dressed and I should be getting ready for the day. "Now that we're all reintroduced," Simon said sounding the smalled bit annoyed as he looked at me. " how about you go get dressed and come downstairs for breakfast." I resisted saying anything because he was right and I needed to anyways. I nodded and headed back to my room to put on my bra and a longer pair of pants. I sleep in as little clothes as possible because I find it comfier that way. Breakfast was a comfortable affair which went on smoothly. My dad was relieved to have Simon back and spent the entire time, much to my mother's disapproval, speaking to them about all things business. I quickly showered and got downstairs, looking hurriedly for my car keys and noticed that it was not there. I checked in the cabinet near the key holder but nothing. "You're not going to find the key Hayley. Mum took your car to run some also minute errands." I jumped at hearing Simons unexpected voice disturb the silence and straightened from my hunched position. I groaned and Simon laughed."But I need to go to the venue to set up and get the deco going. I can't afford to waste time." I explained the reason for my impatience and he nodded. Time was of the essence and the later I started, the time it gave me to plan for unforeseen circumstances. "Relax little sister. I have my car but you're going to have to wait because the news is still on." He said while he switched his attention back to the television. News. You've got to be kidding me. I started at him in disbelief. "Are you seriously making me wait because your news is on?" I asked, completely annoyed at this point. He let out a loud chuckle as he retreated back into the living room. I waited patiently while the boring news finished and literally shoved Simon out of the couch the second it was over. "Alright, let's go." Simon finally got up and let out the loudest yawn. I suppressed a laugh thinking of just how amusing it was having grown successful businessmen watching the news at eleven. Luke stood up as well without saying a word or even a question about where we were going. I assumed maybe he didn't like talking much or maybe he wasn't comfortable around people he wasn't well acquainted with because the man rarely spoke. We walked to the car and settled in with Simon driving, Luke Basset sitting passenger and me in the back of the vehicle. Our destination wasn't really far from home, just a few streets away and on the way there I just went over some calls to ensure everything was in place and all that I required was delivered. Much to my satisfaction, everything was in order. It wasn't long after I had taken care of everything that we pulled up at the venue that was uniquely built. It had the feel of being ancient yet managing to remain tasteful. The moment I got in, all the drapings and accessories had arrived and I wasted no time before starting with the tasks at hand. The color scheme was white and silver. It looked pretty stunning. It was probably an hour later when I was at the highest step on the ladder putting up the last drape when Simon walked stood below me, eying the place carefully. "Why are we having this event again? I mean I would much rather celebrate coming back with you, mom and dad eating ice cream and watching moms soap operas." He said lightly but he wasn't completely joking. I let out a small laugh before smiling at him. "I would prefer that too but I guess mom is just so proud of you that she wants to show you off." He pursed his lips and nodded in agreement. "Besides, I'm sure she's already chosen a selection of ladies who she would like to be her daughter-in-law someday to attend the event," I added jokingly as I hung the last of the drapes and turned just in time to catch his face blanch and I couldn't help but laugh loudly. After that was done and the tables were set and chairs nearly aligned, I was rendered to soggy muscles of exhaustion. I was seating in one of the extra chairs watching at the lighting guys were trying to put up the chandelier and failed miserably for almost twenty minutes before succeeding. After that well-needed respite, I started on the table setting and began to place the flower arrangements on each table along with the names of our guests at their assigned seats. After two hours, space was done to perfection. It oozed elegance and to be honest, I felt pretty proud of myself. I let out a yawn and hoped I had time to catch a quick nap once I got home before getting ready for the evenings' events. Unfortunately for me, time was running out. So, even as I got home as the earliest I possibly could, there just wasn't much time for a nap but a rest would have to be sufficient.

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