Chapter 1

“Call the young lady.”

 

The maid frantically went up the stairs after the house’s patriarch said his command. She ran towards the young lady’s room and took a deep breath before knocking. 

“Young miss, it’s Celestina”, the maid greeted.

She heard the sound of heels clicking heading towards her and the door opened.

“Yes?”, the young lady asked, now in her dress and her hair fixed.

The maid was taken aback with their young miss’ beauty but she immediately recovered and cleared her throat.

“Your father is requesting for your presence, miss”, the maid managed to say in the middle of being intimidated by both the father and his daughter in front of her. 

The lady in front of her looked at her back to check the time and clicked her tongue. 

“It’s still one hour before the party. Is my father with mom?”, the young lady asked.

“I’m sorry, young miss, but she’s still preparing”, the maid said and started tailing the young lady whose now walking towards the staircase.

The young lady is now walking down the stairs with the maid behind her. She is preparing for a party thus all dressed up. She took the curve leading to the lobby and stopped on her tracks after she saw the person her father is with. The clicking of her heels made the visitor stand and looked ready to receive her. She continued walking until she was beside the chair where her father is sitting. She noticed how their visitor’s eyes were looking anywhere but her.

“You asked for me, father”, she said as she tapped her father’s shoulder but her gaze remained at the man in front.

“Orianne, my child”, her father started as he held her hand which was on his shoulder. 

“This meeting could be arranged in a better way but this young man had other thoughts. He insisted on meeting with you right after his transaction in China”, her father explained. 

“I can see that”, Orianne replied, as she can see that he’s still in an all-black uniform. She smiled at the sight of him, especially the bulge between his legs. She smirked inside and checked out his face. His face was clean, no hint of any facial hair but that didn’t reduce how dark he looked. His heavy eyebrows and sharp eyes were really intimidating. 

“Mahaaal”, a woman’s voice echoed around the lobby cutting Orianne’s father with what he’s going to say. Orianne turned around to her mother, Maria Odessa de Asis, who is now ready for the party.

“Oh, I’m sorry for intervening but I believe that I can already have my husband with me”, Maria Odessa said then chuckled after. 

“Reagan, we can’t be late for the party”, Orianne’s mother said as she pulled her husband out from his chair.

 

Now they’re all standing while facing their visitor. 

“Mr. Hachatrjan, my daughter is free and I’ll cover her absence in the party. I know you need some proper conversation seeing that you came here in a hurry”, Maria Odessa said as she grabbed onto her husband’s arm. Orianne on the side, minimally rolled her eyes at her mother’s actions but still maintained her smile.

“I should apologize, Mrs. De Asis. I should have known if you had prior engagements before coming”, “Mr. Hachatrjan” said. Orianne smirked inside, his voice is so deep that she couldn’t imagine how much more if it was his bedroom voice.

“I understand how busy you are but I’ll have to take my husband and leave the two of you.” Maria Odessa pulled her husband out of the scene but managed to give Orianne a wink before completely going out. 

“When will it be?”, she asked, as she sat on where her father used to. Mr. Hachatrjan took this a signal and also sat in front of her.

“Pardon, but what is it?”, Mr. Hachatrjan asked back. 

Orianne noticed on her peripheral view that Celestina was still at the corner, waiting for further instruction. She faced her and just nodded causing the maid to leave the lobby.

“The wedding, of course”, Orianne answered and faced the man once again. She wasn’t letting her pretend enthusiasm leave her face.

“I’m glad that you picked up quickly, Miss de Asis. And I’m sorry for interrupting your business tonight but I wanted to make our engagement official before I leave for Korea tomorrow”, Mr. Hachatrjan said before pulling out a matte black ring box from his pocket.

“Are we suppose to meet a deadline for us to carry on this fast?”, Orianne asked as she crossed her legs. 

“I need to prepare for my flight to Korea…” he looked at his watch, “in two hours so yes, we need to carry it on this fast.” Orianne noticed how his eyes were trying their best to look at her. In her mind, she knew that she had an effect on the man in front of her. His eyes were giving his feelings away.

Orianne stood up and walked towards the man, the clicking of her heels coming closer making him swallow. He looked, once again, anywhere but her since her tube top and thigh high slits are waking something inside him and let’s not forget the golden thigh chain on her right thigh. 

“We better make it fast then”, she said as she stopped in front of him. He had to look up and about to stand but Orianne grabbed his left shoulder, making him stay on his position. He swallowed at the sight since Orianne was bending a little.

He covered his mouth with the back of his left hand and Orianne didn’t miss how he swallowed again. His eyes were wavering as he tried his best to look at her. Orianne bended a little more…

“I don’t think that’s right, Miss de Asis”, he managed to say with a straight but still slightly quivering voice.

Orianne ignored him and grabbed the box from his hand. She stood up properly and opened the ring box. Just as she expected, a diamond ring with a look-at-me size. She got the ring and looked at it for a while.

“Here”, she said as she handed out the ring box to Mr. Hachatrjan. He held out his hand instead of getting the box from her. Orianne diverted her gaze from the ring to his hand and onto his eyes. Instead of staring any longer, she just dropped the box on his hand. She didn’t examine the ring any further and just wore it on her ring finger.

“That makes it official then, mister. You can now go and prepare for your flight and I’ll be proceeding to the party”, Orianne said as she admired the diamond ring on her finger, all smiles, and ignoring the person who gave it to her. The man in front him kept the box on his pocket and grabbed his cap from the sofa and wore it. 

“I’m sorry it had to be like this, Miss de Asis. A party will be held after I return and I will inform you of the details soon. Mind if I drive you to the party?”, he asked as a compensation. Orianne stood a bit further to let him stand.

“That won’t be necessary. I’m afraid I will delay your preparations for your flight and in addition to that, we have our personal driver so…”

“I insist”, he said with a stern voice which was very different from before but immediately averted his gaze when it landed on her body part where it should not have. 

“Fine then. You brought your car or?”, Orianne asked before turning her back on him.

“I called one”, the man answered. Orianne just left him and started walking towards the mansion’s main entrance. Mr. Hacahtrjan just realized that the woman is not going to wait for him so he jogged until he was behind her. Orianne continued walking out thanks to their butler who just opened the door for her and hander her clutch.

She stopped on her tracks when she saw what type of vehicle was in front. She looked beside her where Mr. Hachtrjan now stood.

“Not fit for a party but at least you’re safe inside”, the man beside her just shrugged his shoulders. 

He went ahead, descended the stairs, and opened the door for her. Orianne, still stunned, recovered and began walking towards the Paramount Marauder. She accepted his hand which was held out and climbed onto the front seat. She scanned around and tried her best to hide her shock when there was suspicious box strapped safely at the back. She heard the door closed and found Mr. Hachatrjan now on the driver’s seat.

“You carry a missile around, mister?”, she said, still her body positioned to have a better view of the back.

He was silent for a few moments which made her raised an eyebrow. She sat properly and looked at the man beside him. He was now looking outside the window, with his elbow rested just below the window glass and his hand covering his mouth.

“I—I was going to give it you as a symbol for being a part of our clan but a member of mine said that it was too unromantic, so I just---bought a ring on my way here”, he said, not looking at her, just ahead and started the engine.

Orianne was beyond surprised. She knew that the Hachatrjan mafia’s business is all about weapons but actually gifting her one and a missile at that is something she never imagined. 

“So you’re not giving it to me?”, she asked since he already gave her the ring and wondering if he will just take the missile back. 

“I brought the wrong one so I’ll give you the better version of it once I’m back, and that’s if you still want it”, he said as they now passed the mansion’s gate.

“You… brought the wrong one?”, she clarified after a short stretch of silence.

“I apologize since my men boxed the wrong one. I just picked it up from the our hangar when I arrived from China and didn’t bother checking it.” Orianne was amazed at how calm he’s talking about all of this. HE WAS GIFTING HER A FREAKING MISSILE AND NOW APOLOGIZING FOR NOT GETTING THE RIGHT ONE!

Orianne didn’t talk bother talking any further. They arrived at the grand hotel where the party was being held. They were now already late so all the people have gone inside. 

He stopped the vehicle and went out to open the door for the lady. She stepped out and was about to head inside when Mr. Hachtrjan held her arm.

“Wait for a bit.”

Orianne just nodded and watched him go inside and grabbed something. He went out with a black suit jacket just a moment after.

“The evening’s going to be chilly soon, so please wear this”, he said before going in front of her and making her wear the jacket just around her shoulders. 

“Enjoy the rest of the evening, miss.”

Confident in her heels, Orianne stepped forward and kissed him on the lips.

“You too, Amos.”