Hearts untamed

Chapter3

CHAPTER 3

A bottle of wine and two glasses were set on a table, minimalist yet elegant. He puts his hand on my waist and leads me towards the chair set as though someone had planned for it.

Shocked by the scene in front of me, I blinked twice before asking

“Did you?” I began.

“I prefer to stay in control and not gamble with uncertainty“, he said, his voice smooth with every syllable, deliberate and low as he took a seat.

Pointing at the empty chair, he motions for me to sit. Having a seat, I wince as I feel a pain in my ankle from standing on my heels for too long. He pours wine gracefully into my cup like someone who has done it a hundred times, with no falter in his hands.

Careful not to let my fingers tremble as I accepted the glass, I took a sip. There was no hesitation in his gaze as he stared at me while my tongue kept lingering on the bold and dry taste of the wine.

With his legs crossed as he sat across from me, he had one arm casually resting along the back of the chair. “You seemed… uneasy earlier ”

I struck out a dry laugh, feeling relaxed. “Yeah, well, stumbling in front of strangers isn't exactly my preferred way to make a first impression ”.

“It got my attention ”, he replies, with his lips curved just slightly.

Caught somewhere between curiosity and disbelief, I stared at him and asked, “You really waste no words, don't you?”

“No”, he replies, head tilting slightly, “but I listen”.

Left dumbfounded, without knowing what to say, I took another sip of wine instead. Looking at my surroundings, I look down to see the city stretched out below us; like spilled diamonds, it glitters. Nothing about this moment felt safe, though it should have been comforting with how beautiful it looked, but not with how he looked at me. Like he knew too much.

“So Federico,” I say, hiding myself with nerves behind the polite conversation, “do you often sweep clumsy strangers off their feet at parties ”?

The smirk had returned to his cheek, slow and lethal. “Only when they're wearing emerald green”.

Glancing down at my dress, the fabric shimmered in the light. The color was deep emerald green, almost black in the dark. My cheeks flushed, I took a long sip, intending to calm my nerves.

I lifted the glass to my lips again, only to realize it was empty. His eyes, God, his eyes never leave mine with the silence between us very thick.

Without flinching, he watches me with that unrelenting gaze; he doesn't drink as he reads every flicker of emotion across my face like a scripture.

“Tell me,” he says, finally, with his voice cutting through the stillness. “What's real about you?” low and unwavering.

His voice isn't just asking, he's looking at me like he already knows the answer. My breath catches. The words land with the weight of something more… more than curiosity, it feels like it's peeling me open.

Memories I've shelved too deep for daylight and unspoken things rising in my throat.

Reaching for my third glass, needing a distraction to do something with my hands, my heart, my nerves, I drink too fast this time. The wine pushes words up my throat instead of helping me drown them.

My lips part, I can feel it happening. The truth, something real like he had asked.

But before I could speak, I saw something shift.

I saw him, lifting his glass to his mouth. The liquid swirled lazily in his glass, catching the lights like sparks of fire. He looked so majestic and sexy, like the type of man who easily gets what he wants with just his looks.

Everything about him was curated to perfection, the way he sat with legs crossed, suit jacket buttoned, his silver watch perfectly on his wrist. He takes a sip, with his gaze still on me, leaning back, waiting in silence, expectant. I couldn't speak, my heart stumbled against its own rhythm, betraying me as it always did with him, with words clinging on to the back of my throat like secrets too treacherous to say out loud.

I was scared that if I opened my mouth, I would spill things I held back without restraint. Three glasses in already, I could already feel the warmth flooding my body.

“Do you want to get out of here?” he asked, concern flickering behind those guarded eyes in a flash.

“Yeah sure”, without thinking, I answered, thanks to the wine dulling my edges.

He stood, with practiced elegance, adjusted his suit, then offered me his hand. I slid my shaky hand into his steady and almost grounding composure. But as I rose, I winced, a sharp pain in my ankle made me stumble.

Before I could even process what was happening, again, I was in arms.

For the second time tonight, I was in his arms. This time it felt like something inevitable, something… magical. Time slowed, the world blurry, and without a word, he scooped me up effortlessly and walked towards the elevator.

Still in his arms like I weighed nothing, he pressed the button to the first floor. The ride down felt like it stretched forever, my heart thundering as the storm of confusion was up in my thoughts.

I glanced up at him, his face sharp, cold yet beautiful, but unreadable with no cracks or hint of emotion and that somehow made my heart beat harder.

The first floor led to the car park and that was when I remembered. “ I have platforms in the car I came with” I said, happy I had carried them.

“Stay”. He said as he dropped me down softly. He signaled a valet who came over in a heartbeat. I described the car and gave him Lex's full name. Within minutes my platforms arrived, and I quickly changed.

His car was brought in. I let out a breath I hadn't realized I was holding, it was a Pagani Huayra Roadster and it whispered wealth. I became familiar with cars because Reuben was a car enthusiast and would always discuss them with me.

He opened the passenger car door for me and helped me in. Guarded as he is, there was something gentlemanly about him in that cold demeanor. He buckled himself into the seat belt before starting the car.

He tilted his head to cross-check if I had gone through all the safety measures before giving me a small nod. With eyes back on the road, he sped off.

I smiled. The wine made him a little too eager, or was his charm already melting some of my resistance? I didn't know where we were going. I didn't mind, because I felt safe and scared at the same time and with that thought, I had quickly remembered to send a text to Lex, apologizing that I had left abruptly with Federico, but knowing Lex, she would be delighted I was finally out of my shell having fun.

The drive was perfect…in the quietest way.

He drove with effortless confidence and that made my skin buzz. The top was down. I felt light-headed, not just from the wine but from the night air that rushed around us like freedom and the way he moved.

The feeling was something more, like I was speeding into something dangerous and I didn't want to hit the brakes.

We pulled up to a club I instantly recognised from pictures. Lex had raved about how new and exclusive it was on a random night she was trying to drag me out. She said no one without a serious connection made it past the velvet ropes unless you had the right name or unquestionable power.

But Federico… he didn't pause.

He drove straight to the front like he owned the place. The door had opened with a valet already there, helping me with practised ease. Another took the keys from him with a respectful bow, it almost looked rehearsed with eyes darting briefly over Federico like he wasn't someone to linger near.

For a second, I wondered if he was royalty or if people were frightened by his aura.

His hands found my waist as he guided me inside, the contact heating low in my stomach.

I didn't understand it, my skin tightened where his fingers rested. It felt possessive. Both turned on and confused about how someone I barely knew could make my body respond this way to him.

The massive doors opened before we reached them.

And that's when it really hit me… stronger than before.

Who was this man?

He didn't just have money, he had power.

The kind that made grown men look down when he passed; no ID needed, no questions and definitely no waitlist.

Secretly, I had wished I had brought Lex along with me because she'd have been thrilled.

The bouncers greeted him with firm nods like he was expected. He moved with the kind of control that made people part ways with him without being asked.

And with his hand still finding the small of my back, firm in a possessive way, he guided me in. I had no idea of the kind of world I was stepping into, and I couldn't stop myself. I was already too deep.

The club glittered like a jewel under the night sky, wrapped in the glow of red lights and velvet shadows. Synchronized lights pulsed with every drop as the music throbbed like heartbeats. The DJ was half shown behind his booth, head down, as people swayed lost in the beat he controlled like a puppet master.

He led us into a private lounge like he owned it, above the main floor, to a leather booth surrounded by tinted glass, gazing down the gyrating dance floor below.

I dropped my purse before adjusting my dress to take a seat as he sat across from me with his elbows resting loosely on the table.

Before I could say a word, a bottle of champagne was brought without him needing to place an order.

“Still feeling tipsy?” he asked, as the waiter offered me a glass.

“ Just a little ” I said, accepting a glass from the waiter. He never took his gaze off me as the waiter poured the sparkling liquid into my glass and his.

My feet had started moving to the beat coming up from the floor below, just a little toe-tap at first, which I hadn't noticed till I was done with my drink. And then came the singing, half-hearted under my breath, mouthing the rest of the lyrics because it was a song I was familiar with.

This was the second time I had gotten drunk in my life, and after the first experience, I knew what came next was my loosened tongue and the rest of me standing up and swaying to the music.

With the little time spent with him, I could say I knew him well enough to know he'd stay seated all night and stare at me, so I took the first step, thanks to the champagne.

“Danc

With me”, I said, looking straight at him.