(Sapphire's POV)
I froze mid breathe, my lips almost touching Damian's when the library door opened burst open with so much force that it practically shook the room.
Stanley.
There he was, leaning lazily in the doorway with that infuriating grin plastered across his face.
"Am I…interrupting something?" He drawled and stepped fully into the room, totally unapologetic about the fact that he might have disturb whatever we were doing.
His gaze flickered between us, sparkling with mischief.
I buried my face in Damian's chest. Please let the ground open up and swallow me!
I wanted to die.
I felt Damian stiffened. "Stanley," he snapped. "Did you not learn anything about knocking as a child?" He was pissed.
His friend only chuckled, completely unfazed by his tone.
"Oh, come on, you guys…I just came to say I'm leaving. Didn't expect to see you both in such a compromising position." I raised my head just as he gestured vaguely at our sitting position, smiling like he was enjoying my mortification. "Cute scene, though."
I squeezed my eyes shut, trying to vanish, but my husband's grip on my hand was tight enough to keep me here. "Relax," he whispered in my ears, then to Stanley. "I am a married man, and so you should expect anything, so you'll do well to knock before entering closed spaces in my house, because if you ever, even by mistake, see my wife's nakedness, that will be the last thing you ever saw."
I saw that look cross over Stanley's face again as he gulped.
He was scared, but also pissed at Damian's tone.
"I…I should go," I stammered, my voice barely above a squeak. I stood up from his lap as if it was a hot red iron and bolted from the room before he could respond or stop me, hiding my face as I ran down the hallway.
Once inside my room I threw myself on the bed and screamed into my pillow.
I was feeling ridiculously embarrassed.
But that was also the last time I would see Stanley in a long while.
__________
The next morning, breakfast was excruciatingly quiet. Damian sat opposite me, arms folded. He had gone back to his usual cold self.
I guess yesterday was a mistake.
I poked at my eggs with a fork, mentally rehearsing how to ask him the one question I'd been dying to ask him.
"Um…Damian?"
He just stared at me with one perfectly raised eyebrow.
"Can I…Can I ask Luke to come over?"
"Why?" He demanded.
"I…um…I'm bored, and I would also like him to see my studio." I stuttered.
He stared at me for an entire year before grunting what I guessed was a yes. Then he stood up from the table and walked away without a second glance.
I stared at his retreating back, slightly wounded and flustered. His silence was heavy and borderline terrifying.
Well at least he had approved my best friend's visit, sort of, so that made me happy.
Two hours later, I was lounging on a couch, surfing the internet, hoping magically that the world would entertain me when Fernandez suddenly appeared.
"Ma'am, a…man is here asking for you. His name is…"
Before he could finish, the door to the sitting room opened with the kind of force only Luke could muster. He swaggered in like he owned the place.
"Holla, residents of this wonderful villa!" He screamed.
I sighed, trying hard not to laugh so as not to indulge him further.
With hands in his pocket, yellow shirt buttoned halfway up, and eyes wide as he drank in every inch of the sprawling house.
"Wow! Okay…this is massive!" He exclaimed, clapping his hands in excitement. "I might need a tour, stat!"
I just observed him with a big smile on my face. Oh how I've missed him.
He turned to Fernandez. "Hey, fine man, do you give tours?"
I swear, the bodyguard's face went red, but Luke didn't seem to notice.
I giggled nervously, "Luke…"
He walked up to me and smiled playfully. "I know you've missed me, bestie, and I have missed you too, and we have a lot of catching up to do, but girl, let me look around this beautiful property first. You know, I thought the outside part of it was pretty, but then I stepped into this magnificent masterpiece! Can you believe that?" He was talking nonstop.
"I believe that, Luke. I live here now, remember?" I chuckled.
"Oh. Yea, that's right." He finally sat down beside me and pulled me into a big hug. The kind of hug only Luke could give me. "How are you, girl? Are you happy? Do I need to kidnap you or…"
"Step away from her now, sir." Fernandez snapped and came closer, but Luke didn't even budge.
"Fernandez, he didn't mean it." I laughed. "He is not going to literally kidnap me, so please step back and give us space."
The bodyguard was just doing his job, but I was also beginning to feel trapped.
"Of course, Ma'am. My apologies, sir." He said and stepped away.
"You are like a bird in a cage, my friend. Do you get monitored like this every minute?" Luke was no longer smiling.
"I am allowed to do whatever I want in this house, Lu. My husband just wants me safe." I reassured him.
"If you say so! That means he is a good man. Brooding and all that, but good." Luke teased me.
"So where is he?" He asked just as Damian walked in shirtless from the underground gym.
My eyes almost left their sockets when I saw his body.
Good God! I felt dizzy.
Luke whistled loudly. "What the hell, man?" He exclaimed. "Is your body even legal?"
"Luke…" I nearly choked on my juice.
Damian paused and turned to properly look at us.
His eyes moved over our sitting position and how close we were. Everything.
"You must be Luke." He growled.
"Jesus. Even his voice is intimidating, but also sexy as hell. Bestie, how do you cope with all this brooding piece of fine shite?" Luke asked, while dramatically fanning his face.
I facepalmed myself.
Damian's expression darkened as he walked closer to us, but Luke didn't even flinch, he leaned casually against the armrest and grinned broadly.
"Do you find my wife attractive?" Damian was never one to beat around the bush.
"What?" Luke was in shock. "Is your husband slow, bestie?" He turned to look at me.
Guns were suddenly on him. Well, he had been rude to their boss, so no offense taken.
"Oh, please, you guys. You're not going to shoot me in my best friend's house. So put the toys away." Luke dismissed them, then he turned back to Damian. "I have been hitting on you since you came into the room, and you're asking me if I find your wife attractive? I don't even swing her way at all! This girl is my baby sister and I would die for her!" He was yelling at THE Damian Blackwood.
Was this guy scared of anything?
Damian stared at him for a moment as if he was trying to read him, then to my greatest surprise, he chuckled. Actually chuckled.
What was going on?
"Nice to meet you officially, Luke. Enjoy your stay." He said and brought out his hand for Luke to shake.
Then he walked upstairs.
What just happened?