| Author POV |
The screen of the massive monitor in the boardroom flickered with the faces of the most powerful men in the industry. Angelo adjusted his tie, his expression cold and professional, while Aries leaned back, looking grumpy as ever but sharp-eyed. Percy was busy checking his reflection in a small hand mirror before snapping it shut to focus on the billion-dollar merge.Jaspher sir sat at the head of the chair, his presence commanding silence.
"Keifer," Jaspher's voice boomed through the speakers. "The logistics for the island assets are finalized. But where is—"
"I'm right here, Papa!" Jay Jay's voice chirped from Keifer's side. She was currently a blur of motion, her hair in messy pigtails. "But I forgot my wafers! Keifer said I couldn't have them yet, but he's busy talking business!"
"Jay Jay, sit down," Angelo warned, his voice softening despite the "strict" persona. "You'll trip."
"I'm fast like a ninja, Kuya!" she shouted, already sprinting toward the grand staircase of the mansion.
The men continued talking—numbers, millions, stocks—but their eyes kept darting to the background of Keifer's feed. Suddenly, a rhythmic.
THUMP–THUMP–THUMP—CRASH.
Echoed through the speakers.
"JAY JAY!" all four men roared at once, jumping out of their seats.
On the screen, Jay Jay was sprawled at the bottom of the stairs, her wafer packet tossed three feet away. She didn't move. She didn't cry. She just lay there with her arms out like a starfish.
Keifer was already there, sliding across the marble floor on his knees. "Jay! Princess! Talk to me!"
She opened one eye slowly, looking directly into the camera with a look of ultimate betrayal. "The stairs..." she whispered dramatically, her voice trembling. "The stairs did karate on me, Papa. They hate me."
Then, she let her head fall back and closed her eyes, "fainting" with the grace of a Victorian era actress.
"I'm coming to the island," Aries growled, already grabbing his jacket. "I'll burn those stairs down."
"Move, Keifer! Let me see her forehead!" Percy yelled, hovering so close to his camera his nose was blurred. "Is her skin okay? If she has a bruise, I'm suing the architect!"
"Sweetheart," Jaspher sighed, his heart rate finally slowing as he realized she was just being her mischievous self. "The stairs didn't do karate. You were running."
Jay Jay "woke up" instantly, pouting so hard her bottom lip nearly touched her nose. "No! It was a roundhouse kick! I need cuddles and ten more packets of wafers for my trauma!"
Keifer scooped his "bratty marshmallow" into his arms, looking at the screen with a 'help me' expression. "Meeting adjourned, sir,I have a karate victim to relocate to the sofa."
Keifer's heart was hammering against his ribs as he adjusted the laptop with one hand, tilting the camera down just enough so the brothers could see his stressed face and the top of Jay Jay's head, but absolutely nothing else.
Behind him, Jay Jay was wailing, her face buried in a cushion. "It's burning! Keifer, the stairs bit me! I'm losing my skin!"
"Keifer! Lower the damn camera!" Aries' voice was a frantic jagged edge. "I can only see your forehead and her hair. Move it down! Is she bleeding?"
"I can't, Aries! The... the connection is lagging!" Keifer lied through his teeth, his fingers fumbling with the hem of Jay Jay's top. "If I move the laptop, the WiFi might cut out completely. It's very delicate!"
"The WiFi is satellite, it doesn't care about the angle!" Percy yelled, his face pressed against his own camera. "Let me see her! She sounds like she's in agony!"
Keifer ignored them, focusing on Jay Jay. He gently lifted the fabric to inspect her ribcage. His breath hitched—a long, angry red streak was blooming across her side, stretching down toward her hip. It looked painful, and he knew if her brothers saw the proximity of the injury to her private areas, they would lose their minds—either from worry or protective rage.
"Keifer... it stings!" Jay Jay sobbed, her lungs working overtime. "I need my honey! My throat is dry from all the screaming! I'm going to dehydrate and wither away like a leaf!"
"Sweetheart, stay still," Keifer whispered, trying to keep his voice calm while the speakers blared with her father's demands.
"Keifer, show me my daughter's face!" Jaspher commanded, his voice vibrating with authority. "Now!"
"I... I can't, Sir! The lens is smudged!" Keifer blurted out the first excuse he could think of."And Jay Jay... she's very modest right now. She's huddled up. She doesn't want you to see her crying. You know how she is about her 'masterpiece' reputation!"
"I don't care about her reputation, I care about her bones!" Angelo roared. "Turn. The. Camera."
"No!" Jay Jay suddenly screamed, kicking her legs in a full-blown tantrum. "Don't look at me! I look ugly when I'm dying! I'm a mess! I only want honey! Keifer, if you don't get the honey, I'm going to roll off this couch and finish the job the stairs started!"
"See?" Keifer said quickly, looking back at the screen with a fake look of regret. "She's having a crisis. She's... uh... she's also covered in a blanket. Yes, a very thick, opaque blanket. You wouldn't see anything anyway."
"He's lying," Aries growled, his eyes narrowing. "I can see the back of the couch. There is no blanket. Keifer, if you are hiding a broken rib from us—"
"I'm not hiding anything! I'm protecting her... privacy!" Keifer snapped, his hand protectively hovering over her hip where the red mark ended. "She's hurting, she's grumpy, and she wants honey. I'm handling it!"
"You're handling nothing!" Jay Jay wailed, throwing a tantrum so hard she almost slid off the velvet. "You're just talking to a screen while I turn into a giant bruise! I want the honey! The one with the little bee on the jar! NOW!"
■ Angelo POV ■
I watched the screen, my knuckles white as I gripped the edge of the mahogany boardroom table. Beside me, Aries was practically vibrating with rage, and Percy was on the verge of a panic attack, but my eyes were locked on the movement of the camera. Finally, Keifer adjusted the angle. He did it perfectly—showing us just enough of his face and the top of Jay Jay's head to prove she was breathing, but hiding the rest.
I saw him handling her. She was wailing, her lungs working overtime as she threw a tantrum that would have sent any other man running for the hills. Even I, her own kuya, sometimes didn't know how to calm her when she got like this. But Keifer? He didn't look scared. He looked focused. He looked... possessive.
Then I saw it.
As he leaned over to "check her injuries," his right hand moved. It wasn't just on her back; it was high up on her side, dangerously close to the curve of her breast. My blood turned to ice.
I remember the day I pulled him aside and hissed into his ear: "Remember your limits, Keifer. She is a treasure, not a toy."
Through the grain of the video call, our eyes met for a split second. He knew I was watching. He knew exactly what I was seeing. And instead of pulling away, Keifer didn't flinch.
He didn't move his hand. He just looked directly into the lens and smirked.
It wasn't a smile of comfort; it was a challenge. It was his way of telling me that on that island, my rules didn't reach. He was the one holding our "fertile masterpiece," and he was enjoying every second of the power he had over us—and her.
"Keifer," I growled, my voice low and dangerous, "get your hand off her side before I fly there and remove it myself."
"Relax, Kuya Angelo," he said, his voice smooth as silk while he continued to stroke her hair with his other hand. "I'm just checking the inflammation. You wouldn't want me to miss a 'vital' injury, would you?"
Jay Jay let out another dramatic sob, clutching at his shirt, oblivious to the silent war happening through the screen.
| Author POV |
The atmosphere on the call shifted instantly. The fire and fury of the brothers seemed to melt away the moment Jay Jay finally sat up, leaning her weight back against Keifer's chest. Even at seventeen, with her sharp wit and growing independence, she remained their North Star. No matter how many billions were on the line, the boardroom went silent just to hear her speak.
"Sweetheart," Jaspher said, his voice dropping the booming command of an empire for the gentle tone of a father. "Stop crying, my girl. Papa's heart can't take it. If those stairs are poorly designed, I'll have the entire wing of the mansion remodeled by morning."
Jay Jay wiped her eyes with the back of her hand, looking exhausted. "It just startled me, Papa. One minute I was heading for my snacks, and the next, the floor was rising up to meet me. I think I'm just... shaken up."
"I've already called the best specialist for a virtual consult," Percy chimed in, his vanity forgotten as he leaned toward the camera.
"Check your skin, Jay. If there's even a hint of a permanent mark, I'm suing the flooring company. You're our peace, remember? When you're hurting, none of us can focus on this merge."
Aries, usually the grumpiest of the lot, rubbed his face and sighed, his eyes softening. "Just stay put, Jay Jay. Stop trying to be a ninja for five minutes. We're finishing up here so we can come check on you ourselves."
Then, the brothers' gaze shifted to the man holding her. Angelo, who had been ready to snap Keifer's neck just moments ago, noticed the strain in Keifer's jaw and the way he was carefully balancing Jay Jay's dramatic mood swings with the physical reality of her injuries.
"Keifer," Angelo said, his voice surprisingly steady and sincere. "Take care of yourself, too. We know she can be... difficult when she's in pain. Don't let her wear you out."
"He's right," Jaspher added, nodding toward Keifer. "You're the only one there to guard her right now. Make sure you eat and get some rest once she settles down. We need you sharp."
Keifer looked genuinely surprised, his earlier smirk fading into a look of tired gratitude. He looked down at Jay Jay, who had finally stopped wailing and was now resting her head tiredly against his shoulder.
"I've got her, Sirs," Keifer promised, his voice low and sincere. "She's my priority. I'm not letting her out of my sight."
For a brief moment, the billion-dollar deal didn't matter. There was just a family, held together by the quiet gravity of a seventeen-year-old girl who, despite her tantrums and mischief, was the only thing that kept their chaotic world still.
The moment the call disconnected, Keifer's face shifted from professional to pure, focused intensity. He didn't wait for permission. He moved with a suddenness that caught Jay Jay off guard, his hands reaching for the hem of her shirt.
"Hey! What are you—" she gasped, her breath hitching as he expertly eased the fabric over her head and unhooked her bra in one fluid motion.
She instinctively crossed her arms over her chest, her face exploding in a deep, flustered red. "Keifer! You can't just... you didn't even say anything! You just stripped me like I'm a doll!"
"I don't need to say anything to check on what's mine," Keifer muttered, his eyes dark as he gently pulled her arms away to see the damage.
His jaw tightened. The scratches on her ribcage were angry and raw, and a thin line of blood was beginning to trail down the side of her breast. The sight of her blood made his protective streak flare into a cold heat.
"Look at this," he whispered, his thumb catching a drop of blood before it could fall. "You're bleeding, Jay. My masterpiece is actually leaking."
Jay Jay's shyness immediately pivoted back into a pouty tantrum. "It's your fault! If you weren't so busy talking about billions with Papa, I wouldn't have had to run for my wafers alone! Now I'm a mess, and you're just staring at me like I'm a science experiment!"
Keifer let out a low, husky laugh, leaning into her space until she was trapped between his chest and the sofa cushions. "I'm not staring at a science experiment, Jay Jay. I'm admiring the view while I plan how to fix you."
"You're a pervert," she huffed, though she didn't pull away, her fingers tangling in the hair at the nape of his neck. "A mean, bossy pervert who won't give me honey."
Keifer smirked, his eyes flickering down to her lips before returning to the scratches on her side. "You're talking like I've never seen you without clothes, wifey. I know every inch of this 'scratched-up' body. Now, be a good girl and stop the tantrum so I can clean this up, or I'll find a much more distracting way to make you go quiet."
Jay Jay's eyes widened, her heart thudding against her ribs—partly from the pain, and partly from the way he was looking at her.
"Fine," she whispered, her voice small and sweet. "But the honey jar better be waiting for me when you're done."