The sight of Ryley walking towards the call pretty much surprised Martin. Never had he seen the blond obey someone's order this fast, much less a stranger he said he'd just met a few days ago.
But when he scanned the commanding figure once again, he finally realized something.
The aura surrounding this man was plain vicious!
"Brother... Please leave us alone," the blond muttered while looking over his shoulder.
Martin was reluctant at first, but seeing the look on Ryley's gaze he gulped down his fear and stepped back, slowly closing the door from outside.
The sound of the door closing made the blond face the Alpha with a hint of pressure. "How dare you enter without my permission?!"
Clyde raised one of his eyebrows, then answered with his naturally arrogant tone, "So what? This is my hotel after all."
"But that doesn't mean you can just barge in—" Ryley let out a deep sigh when he realized it would be pointless to argue with the child inside a grown man's body in front of him. "Alright, forget it. Let's talk about our deal."
The Alpha patted the vacant space beside him. "Sit down first,"
Instead of obeying his word, Ryley raised his hand and pointed at the man's handsome face. "You better not play any game with me. I've done everything you asked so now it's my turn to—"
"Sit down here or I'll make you sit on my laps," Clyde interrupted, his face turned grim.
The blond almost gasped, he held back his annoyance and stomped his feet towards the man, then dropped his butt on top of the soft couch.
Clyde frowned when he saw Ryley was out of his reach. But the blond's annoyed face entertained him, and he kind of thought that Ryley looked cute when he was angry.
"Okay, let's talk now," he said after moving himself closer to the handsome model, practically cornering him against the armrest.
Ryley couldn't stand being so close to him, he knew his mind and body would no longer listen to him whenever Clyde's around. "What the hell are you doing?! Get away from— ah!"
But before he could escape, the man pulled his waist and caught him in his embrace, literally making him sit on his laps.
Ryley tried to let go of the man's circling arms, only to make the Alpha hug him tighter.
"Don't struggle or I'll do more than this," Clyde said, whispering behind the blond's nape.
The man's warm breath brushed against his white skin, and it tickled him into blushing, making his muscle slowly lose its strength. The blond finally stopped wasting his energy, then took a deep breath and muttered with a slightly trembling voice, "You think this is a good way to talk? I can't even see your face."
Clyde scoffed, his arm swiftly turned Ryley around and made him face towards him without letting go of his embrace.
"Now you can," he said, followed by a wide grin that adorned his lips.
Ryley shoved his palm on the man's face as soon as he felt his cheeks heating up. He instantly regretted saying he couldn't face him.
But Clyde caught his slender wrist and gently brought it down, still with his large palm wrapped around the blond's smooth, slender fingers.
"Now speak. What do you want to talk about?" His magnetic deep voice muttered as his gaze softened.
"You've promised me," Ryley said, half pouting. "I don't want to see that bastard geezer in this city anymore!"
"Hmm... That's a pretty big demand," Clyde paused for a moment, then leaned his face closer. "I can't do it."
"Why? I've agreed not to report him and you said you'd do anything for me in return!" Ryley snapped, almost losing his temper. "You gave your words to me, Clyde! So keep your promise!"
"He's a board member, it's not easy to send him away," he said, as if not feeling guilty in the slightest. "And I still need his voice in the board meeting to get back what's supposed to be mine."
Hearing the Alpha's selfish confession, Ryley raised his palm, about to land a really hard slap on the man's handsome face. But Clyde caught his wrist and locked his hand on his chest.
"You lied...! You fucking lied...!" Ryley tried to let go of his hand and pounded the man's chest with his fists.
But the Alpha wouldn't budge.
His blue eyes caught the pained look on Ryley's face, confused and shocked when he saw that the blond was on the verge of breaking down.
Feeling betrayed by his own sister and riddled with the question of what exactly happened after he drunk the cursed wine from that night made such a great torture for Ryley.
How not? Rachel was the one who got him into modeling. He wouldn't have found his passion if it weren't for her.
They used to be so close, but life did them so dirty that they had to turn against each other.
This was what Ryley used to believe but now, he would be forced to leave his conscience in the dark again, and start to treat his sister the way she treated him.
Indeed, the biggest betrayal comes not from the enemy but that of loved ones.
His tears threatened to fall out of the corner of his eyes, Ryley had been trying to hold back all the anger building up inside him while constantly telling himself that this was yet another storm he had to pass in order to grow stronger.
And yet...
"You lied to me... You fucking lied to me..." His voice grew lower, as did his fists, which weakly slid down the broad chest he pounded.
Clyde didn't know how else he should comfort him, the deep pain that the blond felt seemed to travel to him, making him feel as if a strong grip choked his heart.
And more so when he felt warm droplets that fell on him and left a wet trace on his navy shirt.
He initially came to demand an answer from Ryley since the model gave a statement that wasn't included in the script. And it pretty much ruined the plan that his sister had to crush Rachel and the insignificant company she worked for once for all.
Clyde actually had something else planned for Rachel, like locking her in a dungeon and forcing her to tell where she got the drug she put on Ryley's wine after this commotion finally ended. But since the blond saved her with his unscripted statement, the Alpha must think of another way.
The man had also seen the entire recording tape from Ryley's 'deadly' luxurious watch, including when he fucked the blond Beta because of the thick pheromone he exuded.
But he only told Claire that Rachel spiked Ryley's wine and lied that the woman took advantage of the sudden blackout in the hotel to sneak the blond out of New York.
His hand reached out to Ryley's chin, gently lifting it up. "Hey, look at me..."
Hearing the faint sobs from the figure whose face was buried in his chest as he gripped his shirt tight made him unable to hold his feelings again.
The blue sky in his eyes couldn't stand to see his sunshine looking this sad, and he didn't know any other way to stifle his cries other than calming his red lips that couldn't stop trembling.
Light as feathers, the kiss that joined their lips lasted for a few seconds. It wasn't the rough and passionate kiss he usually stole from him, rather a soft one, where it almost looked like he tried to drink the poison that made his sun lost its shine.
His face returned to drew closer, and as his palm gently pushed the back of Ryley's head for another kiss, he met some resistance that the blond put up by pushing his chest.
Clyde stopped once his forehead touched Ryley's, then his heavy voice whispered, "I'm not lying to you. I'm a man of my words, but I can't fulfill that wish of yours now."
Ryley's big brown eyes stared at him, his chest rising and deflating fast from crying. Not a world left his mouth that was slightly agape.
"Do you still remember what you said in the woods? It's the same with Scott," the Alpha said before he heaved a deep sigh.
"What do you mean by that?" Ryley replied in a hoarse voice. It's not like he couldn't digest what Clyde had just said.
Scott Morrison was a board member of the Falcon Group.
Could a man as powerful as him still had a leash around his neck?
The man's bright blue eyes shone dangerously. His thumb moved to wipe clean remnants of tears falling down the blond's porcelain cheek.
He couldn't have thought that this rebellious little fox would break down in front of him, looking so weak and vulnerable at the same time.
But above all, Clyde knew that Ryley was much stronger than what he looked like from outside.
"I have something important to tell you. It's about the drug that she used to spike your wine. But before that, let me ask you one thing."
Clyde loosened his embrace and continued, "Why did you save her?"