'What is he doing here!!!' She screamed inwardly as she walked slowly towards them.
It was the handsome stranger from the bar. Who would have thought they would meet again?
"Who do we have here?" the stranger smirked mischievously while looking at her with his flirty eyes. He stood up and strode towards her side. He stood before her with his hands stuffed into his pants pockets.
Alyssa looked down as he was towering over her. Both men she found strange were incredibly tall and muscular, but comparing the two, Ryder was more taller and muscular.
"We meet again, fierce cat" he commented giving her his signature flirty smile.
Alyssa frowned.
'What's with these men and their strange pet names?' she thought inwardly.
"Why are you suddenly acting shy? You weren't that day at the bar" There was a hint of tease in his voice as he spoke.
Seeing she wasn't responding or saying anything to him, he decided to stop teasing her.
Who would have thought the fierce girl from the bar would become this shy?
"I'm Xavier by the way" he stretched out his hand for her to take.
Alyssa looked up at him as he mentioned his name, then looked at his outstretched hand.
"Alyssa" she took his hand for a handshake but instead, he leaned down and planted a soft kiss on the back of her hand, making her shiver.
He leaned up and gave her a soft smile, Well, that was the first time she saw his real smile, without the flirty one.
"A beautiful name for a pretty lady" he commented with a wink.
His comment and actions made her cheeks reddened and she looked away, not wanting him to see her flushed face.
"Dinner is served, I don't have all day" Came the cold words from Ryder as he strode towards the dining table.
Alyssa rolled her eyes at his cold and distant behavior.
"Oh yeah! Let's go have dinner before Ryder gets us crippled" he said aloud which she was sure Ryder had heard him but choose to ignore.
She thought, they must have a close relationship for Xavier to talk so casually with him, which he didn't mind.
Xavier drew out a seat for her and she sat thanking him, while he sat at her right side, with Ryder across them.
Alyssa watched as a maid served their food on a plate and poured a red liquid into both men's cups while she was poured an orange juice.
Seeing her confused face, Xavier smiled at her, saying, "You can't handle such alcohol but you can get one yourself from the cabins"
"No, it's fine. I'm okay with this" She gave him a light smile. She was grateful they hadn't given her a strong alcoholic drink, if they had, she would have embarrassed herself as she has low tolerance.
"Ryder, you never told me you got yourself a girl if I hadn't come here to see her myself" Xavier commented as he stuffed a sliced steak into his mouth.
"There is nothing for you to know about, she's just a price from a debtor," he said simply and drank from his cup.
Alyssa glared at him. She wanted to scream 'Hello!! I'm right here, but she didn't and only concentrated on her food, as the men talked.
"C'mon Ryder, don't take such a beauty for granted, If you're not interested in her, I can take her with me" he shrugged as he talked, but there was a hint of seriousness in his words, which meant he would do as he had said.
Ryder gave him a look, while Alyssa choked on her drink.
"Hey! Hey! Careful" Xavier rubbed her back lightly and gave her a cup of water which she collected and drank from it.
"Are you alright?" Xavier asked concernedly, and she nodded leaning away from him as their position was close and intimate.
"BANG!!!" They both turned to where the sound came from.
"I'm done" With that, Ryder walked in long strides out of the house.
Xavier hid his smile and continued his meals.
Alyssa turned to Xavier confused.
"What's wrong? Why is he angry?" She asked with a creased brow.
"Ah, he has to take care of something and it's urgent," he said simply, before adding, "Tell me about yourself"
Alyssa dropped her cutleries, "Well, there's nothing much to know about me. I am just a simple lady, with an ordinary life. The only child of my parents and we're also poor. I go on different part-time jobs to provide for my family's needs"
"Wow, you're such a hardworking and brave lady, I admire your confidence and commitment" he smiled at her and took her hand in his, rubbing it lightly.
Alyssa blushed. Her first impression of him was a flirty jerk and a womanizer. But staying with him for this little while, made her start to see the good part in him.
"What about you?" She asked. She had a slight guess of what they were and their occupation but she wanted to hear from the horse's mouth.
"Well, we're...Mafias, I mean Ryder and I, he is the boss and I'm the second in command"
"So you see, the outside world calls us the bad guys, I mean we're bad but not really bad, you can testify that right?"
He completed with a wink.
Alyssa scoffed,
"You're not just bad, you all are also strange, I mean who in the hell lives on the outskirts of the city?"
"And also, you mean to say I'm in the mafia's den?"
He nodded,
"Don't worry, Ryder isn't going to get you killed, at least if you don't do anything out of character"
"He's scary"
Her declaration of Ryder made Xavier chuckle.
"If you knew me well, fierce cat, I'm scarier"
Alyssa rolled her eyes.
"I don't see anything scary about you"
Before Xavier could respond, his phone made a ding sound.
He looked at it and creased his brow.
He then turned to Alyssa.
"I have to go now, there's something important I need to take care of, you should go to bed" As he talked, he stood up.
Alyssa wanted to ask what was wrong but she didn't.
"Okay, goodnight"
He gave her a smile before walking out.
Alyssa sighed, now she's all alone. She missed home and her family and also Skye. She wondered what his reactions would be when he found out she was taken away.
She climbed up to her room, with the thought of what was going to become of her tomorrow.
***
Outside, Xavier walked faster to a parked car and immediately got in to meet Ryder who was heavily smoking.
He ran out here immediately after he saw the message which reads: "Come out here or you get your legs disfigured"
Not like he was scared of him, but he had respected him and did what he was told because he knew what Ryder was capable of.
"Stay away from her!" Ryder finally said with a dangerously low voice.