"What's swift? And who's that guy with an earring?"

"I thought you knew the hottie?", Quinn asked with a doubtful expression. "Anyway… the man next to the one who raced you is Lucas..." She told Samantha about Lucas' family background and that his family and Charlie's have been friends for a long time.

Samantha listened and got intrigued, 'How did Daniel get acquainted with this guy? Boss of an underworld organization? Why would he know someone like him?'

"And Lucas just introduced the hottie to Charlie as Swift. Oh, no wonder!"

"What is that?"

"Oh, right you haven't been here for a long time but many years ago, Lucas went to Country A and he met a friend. He said they became really close like brothers and before he came back here, they used to do a lot of things. One was car racing, and Lucas said Swift met a group of racers back then and the hottie won several matches consecutively. He had a McLaren 12C in Matte Black and one of the best racers in that group named him Swift. That man said that he was reminded of Swift birds which are known as the creatures of the air; swift birds apparently hold the record for longest continuous flight and is believed to be the fastest flier. If he's 'the' Swift, then he must be really skilled. No wonder you lost."

Samantha was surprised by this information; how did she not know this side of Daniel? Her thoughts went back to the times when they were together, she didn't really know a lot about him and when she thought of this, it hit her. She felt her heart throb after realizing that she didn't put a lot of effort into their relations.h.i.+p. How bad of a girlfriend was she?

She looked at Daniel again and at this moment, her eyes looked really melancholic. 'I'm really sorry, Daniel… I realized once more how unworthy I am of you.'

Daniel caught her gaze and saw the sadness in her eyes, his heart ached, "Excuse me, gentlemen...".

He walked towards Samantha..

Seeing Daniel approach her, she suddenly panicked.

"What's wrong?", Daniel asked with a voice full of concern.

Samantha looked away and composed herself, "What? Nothing."

"That wasn't nothing, what were you thinking?"

Samantha smiled at him, "Nothing, Mr. Cho... or should I say, Swift?"

Daniel shook his head and chuckled, "That's all in the past."

Quinn nudged Samantha on the side, "Hey Kira, don't be stingy and introduce your friend to me."

"Oh, um... Daniel, this is Quinn, She's a friend of mine."

"Hi.", Daniel gave Quinn a polite greeting but inside Daniel's mind, he was secretly happy that Samantha mentioned his name first; that means... he's important, right?

"h.e.l.lo, I'm gonna leave you guys for a bit. I'll grab us some drinks, Kir.", Quinn said before she left.

Samantha leaned her back on the bar and watched the guests having fun while Daniel stood beside her.

"What's with the name, Kira?"

"Charlie gave it to me when I arrived here. He said it means 'the dawn' or something."

"Hmmm.. it suits you, but I like Samantha better."

"So... why... did you leave?", Daniel tried if he can get something from her but of course, as expected it's not that easy.

Samantha raised an eyebrow, "We're not talking about that... we had a deal."

"Okay...", Daniel paused for a minute before he continued, "Don't you remember anything about me? Anything at all?"

At this time, Quinn came back with bottles of beer in her hands and gave one each to Samantha and Daniel. "Here you go..."

Samantha ignored Daniel's question and commented instead, "Wow. You and beer?"

"What? I can't drink beer?", he said before he took a swig from his bottle.

"I just thought you were only a whiskey kind of guy."

Daniel looked at her in the eyes, "Why? Do you remember something?"

Samantha bit her inner lip, 'You're so stupid, Sam.', she almost slipped. She only saw Daniel drank champagne, wine or whiskey before. Samantha didn't reply and just drank her beer while avoiding his gaze.

A tall brown haired man walked towards Samantha and started a conversation, "Hey, I saw your race earlier. My name's Seth. And you are?"

Samantha glanced at Daniel who was currently looking at her and the man, "Um... Kira."

Daniel moved closer towards them and spoke, "Hi Seth, I was in the race earlier too, my name's Swift."

Seth looked at Daniel, "Ah. cool.", and then turned to Samantha again, "So, do you race often?"

Samantha felt really awkward with Daniel beside her and a stranger trying to hit on her, "..." Though she never really had any intentions of conversing with the guy, her tongue seemed to have been caught by a cat.

"Oh yeah, she does, she races a lot with her husband."

"What? You're married? H-husband?", Seth had a puzzled expression on his face as he looked at Samantha who was currently glaring at Daniel. "Um... okay, I'm just gonna go.", he hurriedly left and Quinn laughed at the side.

"What the h.e.l.l are you doing?"

"Oh, so you wanted to be hit on? Do you want me to call him back?", Daniel innocently asked.

"No, but I could've handled it myself. And I'm not married, why would you say that?"

"It worked, didn't it?"

Samantha controlled herself from rolling her eyes at him.

Charlie's wife came out with a birthday cake and everybody started singing. Cheers filled the place and the atmosphere became really homey. Samantha suddenly missed her family.

While Quinn was talking about the new restaurant that Charlie opened, a woman in a cropped top, hot pants, and high heels strutted towards Daniel.

"h.e.l.lo... I heard your name is Swift. You must drive really fast.", she said before she bit her lip and played with her hair, Daniel just glanced at the lady and gave a fake brief smile before ignoring her.

Samantha saw that light smile and she got displeased even if she knew it was a fake one. 'How could you flash your handsome smile so casually?'

"Here, I brought you another bottle.", she said as she extended her hand in front of Daniel.

Samantha took the opportunity to get back at him, "Ooh, what will your pregnant wife say if you accept a drink from a woman?"

Daniel turned his head to Samantha and his eyebrows raised, 'my pregnant wife?'

"You must be really excited with her pregnancy... her belly's already 'ooof' so big.", Samantha said as she gestured with her hand to make a 'big belly' in front of her and Quinn couldn't contain her laughter.

"What? You're married? And you're wife's pregnant? ....B-but why?", asked the woman in hot pants with a worried look.

"I'mma head over there, laters... Swift.", Samantha spoke slowly before she left with Quinn.

The woman made a sour face, "So... you can't drink with me anymore?"

'I never intended to drink with you in the first place.', he thought but he didn't say it out loud. Instead, he rode on Samantha's joke, "You heard her, I gotta go... my wife's going to give birth anytime soon."

Daniel smiled to himself as he turned around and left. He talked to Lucas and Charlie for a few more minutes and looked around to find Samantha. He saw her by herself and she was about to open another bottle. After Daniel bid farewell to Lucas and Charlie, he went over to Samantha and s.n.a.t.c.hed the bottle of beer from her hand before she could drink it.

"That's enough. You're driving."

"But it's just my third bottle.", Samantha tried to reason.

"One bottle is the standard if you're going to drive. So stop drinking. Do you plan to drive while you're intoxicated?"

Samantha could only sigh. "Fine."

"Good girl."

After sitting in silence for 20 minutes. Samantha felt tired already, so she got up and said, "I'm heading home."

"I'm leaving with you.", Daniel stood up as well and both of them walked to their cars.

With Samantha in front and Daniel behind her, they convoyed until they reached the beach villas. When both of them arrived and parked their cars in their s.p.a.ces. Samantha got out and asked, "Did you buy that car only for the race?"

"Huh? No... this isn't mine, it's Lucas'."

"Oh... okay...", Samantha hesitated... she wanted to tell him something but she was nervous and Daniel noticed her delay.

"Do you... want to say something?"

Samantha bit her lip and looked sideways. 'How hard is it? Just tell him already!'.

"Samantha?"

"Uh... yeah.. um, tomorrow. 8 am, meet me at the cafe beside the sky diving center."

"Huh?", Daniel was surprised. 'Is she inviting me out?'

"I won't repeat myself. Also, wear comfortable gym clothes.", she said before she turned towards her door.

The corners of his mouth lifted upwards, Samantha looked so cute as she blushed in embarra.s.sment. "Good night...", Daniel said as he waved his hand, Samantha just glanced at him and nodded.

What could Samantha be planning? Did she really want to go on a date with Daniel?