Shove into the backseat of the black sedan, she came face to face with three pairs of eyes.
Two pairs from the front seat — total strangers to her.
"Hello, Ms. Ervings. Glad we arrived just on time," the one on the front seat playfully remarked, the right corner of his mouth raised and revealed an adorable dimple. "I'm Dante, it's not an appropriate rendezvous, but it's nice to meet you."
He had a friendly smile, the type that would make friends in a second. The type that would make 'girlfriends' in a second.
The one driving glanced at Juliette through the rearview mirror in front. However, he didn't appear like he was in the mood to introduce himself, so Dante did the honor.
"Oh, he's Salvatore," he introduced him to her.
Salvatore, too, had a face that could hook women in a single glance. The type that was in between friendly and aloof. He had an enough amount of mysteriousness to keep the girls thrilled.
"I don't care about your names!" Juliette derogatorily pounced. "I wanna know what the fuck happened out there! Where are you taking me?" She was half-yelling.
She came to stare at the man beside her, having nearly forgotten about him.
He had smoldering ocean blue eyes, a mixture of cold and fire. It's a strange mix but perfectly combined.
Anyone would've loved to burn slowly under those blue eyes and Juliette felt the same.
He sat laxly in his sophisticated suit and shiny black shoes giving orders to the two men on the front seat.
Maybe it was the stranger's facial features in their entirety that dazed Juliette for a moment. Or maybe, it was his ocean blue eyes.
'Fuck he's hot!' she shamelessly thought.
The man was handsome. No, that was an understatement. He was gorgeous.
He had the kind of gorgeousness that was dangerous for women, a face that would hook women at a glance and leave them breathless for a lifetime.
One corner of his mouth curved up. This made Juliette come back to her senses.
Her calculative eyes secretly scrutinized him for any signs of criminal intentions.
In an alarmed voice, she asked, "Who are you? Where are you taking me?"
He wasn't kind enough to answer her.
Juliette looked outside of the window. When they passed by where her father laid unconscious, her heart twitched in indescribable pain.
"Dad…" she whispered.
"What are we gonna do about Ervings, Boss?" the man driving the car asked.
The man Salvatore called 'Boss', the one sitting with Juliette, straightened his back to lean more comfortably on his seat. In an indifferent tone, he said, "Leave him."
"What?" Juliette exclaimed in disbelief. "No! Let me out! He needs help!"
"What help?" He interjected in a dull tone. His freezing blue eyes stilled Juliette. "John Ervings is dead. You'll be under my care from now on."
Juliette's irritation intensified because of what he said. "And who are you to take me under your care? I don't know you!"
"I'm Luca Romano," the man introduced himself, "Mr. Ervings' business associate."
'Is he my father's business associate we're supposed to meet in Philis?' Juliette thought to herself.
Juliette didn't have the luxury of knowledge about him, but Luca Romano appeared to be a powerful man. She wouldn’t even be surprised if he had connections underground, much less in the normal business world.
"Your father left a will a month prior that you would be handed over to the Romano family should anything happen to him," he continued.
'Don't trust him!' Juliette's protective subconscious murmured.
"I don’t believe you! Let me out!" she yelled at him.
When no one budged, Juliette sulked on her seat pretentiously. She secretly turned on her smartwatch to call the police. She silently uttered a grateful prayer that her father had convinced her to wear one.
Right before she could dial the emergency number, a strong hand grabbed her wrist.
When she turned her head sideways, she came face to face with Luca, whose eyes were in a rage, on the verge of losing patience.
The proximity flustered her that she tried to hold her breath for as long as she could.
"Breathe," he ordered.
Automatically, she released the breath she was holding. And this irritated her. She couldn't accept how she just followed an order from a stranger.
She pushed him away and he went back to his proper seat.
"Hand me your watch," he ordered again.
She didn't move an inch. She had no intention of backing away from the stranger.
"Take off your watch or else I'm gonna take off your clothes," he carefully warned her. "Choose wisely."
Luca earned a glare from her.
'Huh! Try it!' she barked in her thoughts.
Clearly, words weren’t enough to scare Juliette Ervings.
"Handcuffs," Luca suddenly said.
Salvatore immediately took a handcuff from the upper dashboard and tossed it to Luca. This made Juliette's eyes go on full circle. She couldn't believe he's going to handcuff her.
'No freaking way! Is he crazy?'
She struggled and wriggled under his touch but Luca was obviously stronger so it was easy for him to restrain her hands at her back and handcuff them.
"Get these fucking handcuffs off of me, you asshole! Kidnapper! Jerk!"
"Kidnapper?" he uttered in disappointment. "I would love it if you'd call me your savior."
Chills ran down her spine when Luca's hands went to the upper button of the shirt she was wearing. His blue eyes stilled her in her seat. Then he snapped the first button.
"What are you doing? Get your filthy hands off of me!" she screamed at his face and relentlessly tried to slip her hands through the cuffs.
"I'm telling you as early as now. You should take my words seriously." His eyes were cold and expressionless. His voice was menacing and low. But suddenly, he smiled playfully as if to tease her.
Juliette was so confused. She couldn't quite read what Luca was thinking.
She knew it was useless but she still tried to get the handcuffs off.
"Stop trying. It'll bite."
She just scowled at him. He smirked in return then his hands went to the next upper button of her shirt. Before he snapped the button he looked at the two men in front.
"Don't fucking watch," he forewarned them.
Salvatore raised the rearview mirror so that there's no way he would see what's happening at the back. Dante, on the other hand, raised his hand to tell Luca he won't look.
This certainly was enough to make Juliette nervous.
Before he could snap another button, she closed her eyes to calm herself down.
'This is not the time to be stubborn,' she told herself inside her head. 'Let's be obedient for now. Safety first, Juliette. Safety first.'
Luca saw her closing her eyes so he stopped from touching the button of her shirt and instead stared down at her hard-pressed mouth. Juliette's plump full lips twitched as she tried to convince herself internally to calm down.
Luca wet his lower lip as he felt parched from such movement from Juliette.
When she opened her eyes, Luca's gaze left Juliette's lips and immediately went up to her eyes, as if he's afraid she would notice the lustful stare he gave.
"Are you willing to listen now?" he taunted.
Juliette clenched her handcuffed hands. She didn't want to be obedient to him. But she had no choice.
"Before that, can you do me a favor?" she managed to say.
Luca smirked. "Depends."
"Take off the handcuffs and put a space between us. I don't really fancy the idea of sitting this close to you."
Juliette was so confused when he suddenly chuckled in amusement.
'Is this funny to him?' she exclaimed in frustration only in her thoughts.
"Key," he ordered minimally.
Salvatore tossed the key to him. Luca then took off the handcuff on her hands.
"Great," she sarcastically muttered. "Now, a little space please." She made sure she sounded impolite.
Strangely, Luca obeyed her demands and moved over to the edge to put space between them.
"Great show. You two would've made it to the top in entertainment," Dante sneered and teased. "Though, I would've preferred it if you two went on a fiery one. You know, burning hot passion. I would've enjoyed it much more."
Juliette, in annoyance, kicked the back of Dante's seat, which by the way, caused the latter's brain to shake because of the force.
"What the fuck?" Dante whined without a sound and just mouthed the words to her.
Juliette smirked.
'You deserve it jerk!' she thought.
"Dante, hand me the will," Luca demanded.
By hearing him bossing the other two around, Juliette could tell that he's the boss among the three.
'But who is this guy? And why did he save me?' These questions hung inside Juliette's mind.
Dante opened the dashboard drawer but then stopped and glared at Luca. "Dude, I might be your right-hand man but I'm not your servant. Besides, I'm your goddamn best friend!"
His sentiments sounded like a bee buzzing in Luca's ears and he cleaned his ears using his pinky to convey his disinterest.
"How do the three of them differ from each other? Right-hand man, servant, and best friend. To me, they're the same because they are all you."
Dante's face fell in disappointment.
In defeat, Dante took out a piece of paper from the dashboard drawer and handed it to Luca. The latter stared at the paper for a moment before handing it to Juliette.
"If you don’t believe me, then you better believe this."
Juliette stared down at the will he was talking about. Wide-eyed, she stared down at the paper, recognizing her father's signature. She read the entire content of the will. Then, she stared cluelessly at Luca.
'Why did my father leave a will like this? Did he know beforehand that something was going to happen to him? And why did he leave me to the Romano?'
Raining questions kept pouring in her thoughts.
Juliette looked outside the window when the car stopped.
Philis International Airport.
"Yes, Miss Juliette," Dante said as if he knew she would ask. "We're flying back to Gracia."
It was Salvatore who stepped out of the car first to open the car door on Luca's side. Meanwhile, Dante opened the car door on Juliette's side. Still confused, she stepped out of the car as well and Luca was already waiting for her.
As soon as her feet landed on the ground, Luca circled his arm around her shoulder, leaned into her ears, and whispered. "When we get back to Gracia, you're moving in with me."
"What?!" she exclaimed in horror.
And he only answered her with a devilish grin.