My Possessive Secret Lover

“If you were going to complain about wearing heels all day, why did you decide to wear them?” Morgan rolled his eyes at his daughter, the heels she’d been wearing previously clutched in his palms, periodically hitting the sides of his suit as they walked. He watches his daughter pad barefoot through the dimly lit lobby with a blasé expression. “They go with the dress,” Aria shrugs. Both she and her cousin Sola, who walked next to her with an air of confidence and poise, were clad in black chiffon evening gowns; Aria’s, a short piece with longer sleeves and Sola’s a longer one-shouldered gown with a slit running to the top of her thighs. The colour complemented their russet skin, custom designed specifically by a professional dressmaker in Italy to make them look both alluring and professional. “Don’t argue with them,” Aria’s uncle sighs as he walks next to her father and the brothers share a knowing smile with one another. Their host of bodyguards followed close behind chuckling at the girl’s antics, already used to her strange habits. Lucas, Aria’s personal guard, a tall lean man with a mop of curly chocolate hair, rolled his eyes at her words, a little affectionate smile tugging the corners of his lips higher. They’d been on the way to a conservation gala hosted by her reserve park when her father had received a call from one of his men, stating that there had been a mishap with the raid scheduled that night. Jae, the head of an allied syndicate who’d provided the information, had scheduled a quick meeting to go over logistics. They’d already been driving to the gala when he’d received the phone-call and the driver had had to turn around, heading for Jae’s own private casino with both Aria and Sola in the car. Their fathers hadn’t been too pleased with the arrangements, a litany of curses falling from their mouths at having to bring their daughters into unfamiliar territory. It’s why the girls are accompanying their paranoid fathers through the casino instead of waiting in the car like they’d insisted on doing. Aria skips up the last few steps, waiting for the rest of the group with a smile on her face. “You’re going to trip over your feet,” Lucas comments as she reaches the top. His hands are crossed over his chest, the black suit he adorns pulled taut with the effort. There’s a look of disapproval on his face at her antics, worry keeping him on edge. Aria narrows her eyes at the brunet’s statement before giving her friend a playful grin, “That’s what you’re here for. You have to make sure I don’t get hurt,” she shoots back smugly, smirk playing across her lips. “I pay him to protect you from potential threats, not from your own clumsiness,” her father says, rolling his eyes. “It’s okay,” Sola adds with a soft smile, eyes warm as she stares down at her younger cousin, “I’d catch you if you fell.” “See, this is why you’re my favourite,” she sends her cousin a playful grin, “The rest of you are dead to me,” Aria huffs, grabbing her cousin’s arm as they made their way through a low lit corridor. They walked passed a few doors before her uncle stops near an ordinarily looking brown one, motioning to the number, “This is the one. You girls wait outside while we deal with them,” he motions for his brother to follow him, and Morgan does, leaving the girls alone outside with Lucas as the rest of the guards shuffled in after. “Are we just supposed to wait here?” Sola huffs, throwing her hands in the air. A few strands of black hair have escaped the elaborate bun atop her head and Aria giggles when her cousin blows them out of her face in annoyance, heart shaped face rounding with the effort. The girls waited for a few minutes, aimlessly chatting amongst themselves when the door opened again and three men walked out clad in simple black suits. Aria assumes they were Jae’s men, having never seen them before. The one in the lead, a tall man with platinum blonde hair and slanted cat-like eyes stand before both girls, flanked on either side by two tall, muscled looking men, “We’re to escort you girls down to one of the VIP rooms,” he tells them, “You’ll be more comfortable there,” his tone is polite and respectful but his eyes don’t hide the obvious annoyance he feels. “Easy, Soran,” the black haired male standing to his right says, “You’ll scare them,” he gives them both an apologetic smile, plump cherubic cheeks lifting with the action and turning his tiny eyes into crescents. He looks like a doll, with creamy porcelain skin and plump dusty rose colored lips, “My name’s Jihyun,” he speaks to Aria, eyes watching her curiously as his lips tilt upwards into a charming smile. “Aria,” she replies, raising her hand towards him for a handshake. She’s a bit thrown when Jihyun cups her hand in his and pulls it up to his lips, placing a soft barely-there kiss atop it. A flick of heat shoots up her neck, flustered at the action. She sees Lucas tense beside her. “You haven’t changed,” Sola comments from where she’s standing next to her cousin and when Aria turns to look to the older woman for help, she sees her glaring at Jihyun fiercely. “It’s nice to see you, too, Sola,” Jihyun says, letting go of Aria’s hand as he leans back and regards Sola with a playful smirk. “We should be heading to the room,” Soran snaps, ignoring them and speaking directly to Lucas, who’s shoulders are still tensed. Lucas nods once, tousled brown locks bobbing with the action before effectively stepping between Aria and Jihyun and motioning down the corridor. Aria chuckles at her bodyguard’s stoic expression and she almost wants to make a silly face at him, to disrupt this serious persona he seems to be portraying but she decides against it, instead following him as Soran leads them through a set of hallways. “Hi,” the third man, light-haired and gentle-faced, speaks up, “My name’s Ian,” he gives Aria a polite smile, seeming to be already acquainted with Sola who he’d shared a brief silent greeting with, “The grumpy old man is Soran,” he beckons his head towards the platinum blonde who trudges forward in front of them. “Aria,” she returns his smile, almost cooing at the way his cheeks lift and his eyes sparkle excitedly. She feels Lucas place an arm over her shoulder, a silent warning to remind her where she is. She lets him steer her so that he’s between her and the two men behind them, relenting to his paranoia. “You could be more discreet about staring at my cousin’s ass,” Aria hears Sola snap in irritation, glaring at Jihyun who gives her an affronted look. “I would never do something so debasing,” he gasps in offense but Aria hears the playful lilt in his voice. She turns around to glance at him only for Jihyun to shoot her a playful wink, smirk tugging the corners of his thick lips up. She turns around quickly, trying not to let on how flustered she’d become, eyes wide and slightly panicked. “Where are your shoes?” Ian asks, and she turned to see him grinning down at her feet in amusement. It was then that she’d realized her father still had her shoes from when she’d handed them to him and that causes yet another embarrassed blush to make its way onto her cheeks. “Um,” she replied awkwardly scratching her neck. “What’s it to you,” Lucas snaps angrily and Ian reels back at his tone of voice. “Nothing, geez,” he mutters, holding his hands up in defeat when Lucas continues to glare at him. Aria nudges her friend, silently admonishing him for his outburst but Lucas is unrepentant, the hairs at the back of his neck standing on edge from how familiar these men act around his charge. Jihyun is undeterred by Lucas’s hostility, managing to maneuver himself next to Aria while Sola is temporarily distracted during a conversation with Ian. “I’ve seen you before,” he says casually, “On a bird documentary,” he doesn’t add that he’d only seen it in passing when he’d visited s brother and his husband one day and only noticed it long enough because he’d been taken by the display of bare legs on screen. He’s disappointed when he glances down to find that her dress stops just shy of her knees, showing him not nearly enough thigh for his liking. “I do a lot of conservation filmmaking,” Aria blushes at the attention, awkwardly fiddling with the straps of her handbag as she glances towards the floor. “Excuse me,” Sola says, politely shoving herself between Aria and Jihyun again, throwing her arm around her little cousin and pulling her close, “What are you doing?” Sola hisses, leaning down to whisper in Aria’s ear, “You have a fiancé, stop flirting with him.” “I’m not doing anything,” she huffs in reply, “he’s the one flirting with me.” “I’ve worked with him before, he’s a complete sleaze,” Sola rolls her eyes, “Don’t encourage him. And, besides, your dad will just get angry if he finds out you’ve been entertaining trash while engaged to someone else.” “I’m not actually with Cedric,” Aria scoffs, “You do realize that?” “Of course I do, but the point is that no one else knows that your engagement isn’t real. People would start questioning ties between us and Cedric’s family if the promised fiancée went around flirting with creepy men,” Sola added patiently, “I’m only trying to stop this from turning into something ugly.” Aria remains silent, hands clenching into fists at her sides. “Just be careful,” her cousin mutters guiltily, sensing Aria’s obvious displeasure at the topic. “I’m not doing anything,” she mumbles out bitterly, mood turning sour. Aria rubs at her bare arms, cursing her choice of attire in the middle of autumn. Even with the casino’s heating, the air still held a chill to it. “Are you cold?” Jihyun asks from behind her, “Here, take my coat.” He starts to unbutton his suit jacket when he spots both Lucas and Sola glaring at him, “Easy,” he explains, “I’m just giving her my coat. I won’t even speak to her directly, if it makes you happy.” Lucas turns to Sola for instruction while she stares at Jihyun for a moment longer, before sighing, “Fine,” she motions towards Aria, who had been staring at the two with a look of mild irritation. She had a voice, she could speak for herself. Jihyun smiles as he shrugs off his coat, striding over to the shivering girl and placing it around her shoulders. “Thank you,” Aria says hesitantly, a little thrown at the pretty smile he’d given her, his plump cheeks lifting so that his eyes turned into little crescents. Jihyun sends her another wink, before he’s promptly pulled back by a cautious Ian. “Keep it in your pants, big guy,” he chuckles when Jihyun gives him an irritated stare, “We don’t want her dad shooting your d**k off.” “If you don’t stop messing around back there, I’ll shoot it off for him,” Soran adds from a few steps ahead. He slows down until they’ve reached him, maneuvering himself between Aria and Jihyun and promptly hitting the man over the head. “Was that necessary?” Jihyun groans in annoyance and Sola has to stifle a giggle through a pretend cough. Soran doesn’t reply, simply lets his glare deepen. Jihyun’s head dips low in shame and he mutters out a soft apology. When they’re all piled into the room, Soran gestures towards the set of couches, “Please wait here while I fetch a waiter,” he says before disappearing out of the room. Aria and Sola make their way to one of the couches, Aria occupying the middle while her cousin seats herself to her left. Jihyun dashes around Lucas, making his way towards the empty space on Aria’s right while Sola watches him with narrowed eyes. “This boy is such a pest,” she huffs as he casually plops himself onto the seat, throwing his arm around the backrest nonchalantly. A look of panic crosses of Aria’s face and she sends her cousin a panicked glance, shuffling further away from where Jihyun’s legs spread out casually, thigh almost brushing against hers. Sola shoots her a look of pity but shrugs her shoulders helplessly, “If you move, he’ll just be more persistent about it and if I threaten him, things could go badly. Best to wait for Soran to come back,” she whispers in her cousin’s ear, patting her thigh sympathetically. Aria sighs, mustering up a bit of patience before she turned towards Jihyun with a smile. He smirks down at her, leaning towards her infinitesimally. A wave of internal panic shoots through her for a second but she schools her expression quickly, shooting him a polite smile before turning towards Sola, pleading with her silently. Her cousin sends her a sympathetic look, “you should probably phone Ced and let him know you’ll be late,” she offers. Aria’s eyes light up at the excuse, nodding determinedly as she fumbles around in her purse for her phone. When she finally finds it, she leans back and dials his number. He picks up after the first ring. “Where are you?” her fiancé asks worriedly and she can already picture him running a worried hand through light brown locks as he paces. “Dad had to take care of something so we’re running late,” she explains, voice shaking slightly. She feels the tips of Jihyun’s fingers run across her shoulders casually, almost like he’d been doing so subconsciously and she suppresses a shudder at the ticklish feeling. She chances a glance at Lucas, who’s standing near the door watching them. His eyes are livid, hands balled into tight fists as he glares at the hand near her shoulder. She shakes her head once, warning him not to do anything and her heart lurks when she sees his helpless expression. It’s only then does she grasp the situation, that both her and her cousin are alone in a room with two dangerous men they barely know with only Lucas there to protect them. She has no doubt that Sola can protect herself, is probably already canvassing the room in her head for possible escape plans should things go south but Aria still feels uneasy. She hates getting involved in her father’s business. “Are you okay?” Cedric asks, hearing the way her voice shakes. Aria mentally scolds herself for making him worried, “Yeah I’m fine,” she says, putting more effort into making her voice sound steady, “Cover for me until we get there?” “The things I do for you,” Cedric chuckles “I have to suffer through boring speeches about the importance of mould while you and Talia run off to play mafia. I expect you to make up for it,” he says in a mock-disappointed voice. “Of course,” she laughs, “Anything you want. Please, make sure this gala doesn’t go to s**t. It’s really important to me.” “I will,” Cedric chuckles, “See you later. Stay safe,” he hangs up the call after she says her goodbyes and Aria sighs to herself. Sometimes she thought she didn’t deserve someone as understanding as Cedric, even if his family were just exploiting their friendship. “We good?” Sola asks, glancing at the tired looking girl next to her. Lucas sees her frightened eyes and immediately tenses in displeasure. He’d been against her coming here since it was decided, so she’s not surprised when he purses his lips angrily and shoots an impatient glance towards the entrance. “Yeah. I’ll have to butter him up a bit, though,” Aria chuckles, “he likes social events as much as I do.” “Yeah but he likes you a lot more,” her cousin teases, “Bat your eyelashes a few times and he’ll get over it.” Aria blushes at that, lightly nudging her cousin with her elbow as she ducks her head in embarrassment. Jihyun shifts in his seat, drawing Aria’s attention to him. “Where were you guys headed before you came here?” he asked curiously. “Um, this conservation gala that’s supposed to raise awareness against canned hunting,” Aria tries to explain. “Canned hunting? What’s that?” he asks with a curious tilt of his head, leaning forward in his seat. “Um, well it’s about captive hunting. Hunting animals in small enclosures for an unfair advantage,” she begins hesitantly at first but the more she talks about the campaign, the more she forgets that she’s frightened. Eventually her brief explanation turns into a long-winded explanation of the gala and what the foundation hosting it was trying to achieve. “You’re really into conservation, I see,” Jihyun says after she’s done, smile on his face and adjusting himself so that he faces her fully. “That’s her line of work, basically,” Sola shrugs. “I think I saw some documentary about sharks with you in it,” Soran offers. He’d arrived while Aria had been in the middle of her lecture, choosing to lounge against the wall near the door instead of sitting with the rest of them. “The Tiger Shark one?” Aria asks curiously, silently pleased at having been recognized for her work. When Soran nods, both Ian and Jihyun both shot him teasing smirks, “I like sharks, okay,” he shrugs, not bothered in the least. “I can totally picture him curled up on the couch with his little poodle, watching Animal Planet in a fluffy bathrobe,” Jihyun mocks with a playful chuckle. Soran shoots him a glare so intense that he glances back down sheepishly, mumbling an apology. They delved back into aimless chatter, Soran joining Ian and Sola’s conversation about the weapons trade while keeping an eye on Jihyun. Lucas remains standing, face blank as his eyes never leave Aria. Jihyun, appealing to Aria’s weakness for animals, coerces her into talking about the various conservation campaigns she supports. He looks particularly amused when she’d mentioned that her favourite campaign focused on endangered bat species throughout Africa. “Bats?” he asked amusedly. “Bats are important!” she exclaims, and then promptly went into a rant about how underappreciated bats were. When their fathers peaked through the door, Sola notices how Jihyun leans back ever so slightly, an air of authority now replacing the flirtatious smirk he’d had on for most of their encounter. His hand still remains slung across the couch’s back, fingers playfully tapping away at Aria’s shoulders. His movements don’t stop, not even when Aria’s father zeroes in on the gesture with an unreadable expression. “Time to go,” Aria’s father says, sending a wary glance Jihyun’s way before giving his daughter a reassuring smile. She stands up, only then registering that she’d still had Jihyun’s coat on. She shrugs it off and hands it to him, thanking him with a shy smile. “Thanks for educating me on the importance of bats,” Jihyun smiles down at her, taking his coat and making sure to brush their fingers together. He watches her pad over to her father, who placed her heels on the floor. Aria glances at them for a moment before taking a deep breath and sliding her feet back into them. Jihyun chuckles, watching as she flails trying to secure the heels in place. Having pity on her, he strolls over to the pair, bending down to help her slide the buckles in, letting his hand linger for a moment on her calf before standing. When he glances at her again, he notices how flustered she’s gotten, eyes wide and slightly panicked as she breathes deeply. She lowers her head, her face hidden by a curtain of black hair and he watches it pool around her bare shoulders enticingly. She doesn’t even realize he’s staring, fiddling with her fingers and gazing at the floor. She’d mumbled a quiet “Thank you”, still looking at the ground and Jihyun feels a satisfied warmth sit in his gut at how flustered and shy she’s become. “You’re welcome,” he says, tilting her chin up so that she had to look at him, “You should come by again. You know, to educate the others on the importance of bats.” He can feel the heat radiate off of her as she nods shyly, staring up at him through her eyelashes and he internally curses at the innocence in them. Her eyes are a deep brown, almond shaped and pretty and his stomach swoops at the wave of lust that sits heavy in his gut. He wants nothing more than to ruin the innocent expression on her face, to see what her eyes look like hooded with arousal. He chances a glance towards her father who looks at him with poorly veiled displeasure as though he wanted to shoot Jihyun right then. Jihyun sends him a smug smile before lowering his hand and stepping away, allowing her to scurry off behind the muscular brunette who looks just as livid as her own father. They leave after that, Sola shaking her head as she passes by, “You’ve got balls, I’ll give you that,” she says to him, “But if you come near her again, I won’t hesitate to shoot.” Jihyun’s only reply is a satisfied smirk, giving her a cheeky wink as she passes. “You’re crazy,” Ian chuckles when they’re alone in the room. “It’s not like you haven’t flirted with pretty girls on the job before,” Jihyun scoffs. “Yeah, but they weren’t the boss’s daughter. And none of my girls ever had a fiancé.” “That’s what makes it all the more fun,” Jihyun smirks, tilting his head back to rest against the back of the couch. “Careful,” Soran says after a long bought of silence, eyeing Jihyun, “Jae has a soft spot for you because you two grew up together but he’s not going to stand for you starting a small war just to stroke your own ego.” “I’m not stroking my own ego,” Jihyun denies with a scoff and a roll of his eyes. “Because flirting with someone who’s off limits just to see if she falls for it isn’t stroking your own ego?” Soran asks, raising an eyebrow at him, daring Jihyun to challenge him. Jihyun seethes, grabbing his coat and storming out of the room without an answer. When Ian made to follow him, Soran holds out an arm, “let him sulk at the shooting range for a bit. We need him clear headed for tonight’s job.”