Hiro flinched by her sudden reaction but asked her again the second time, also speaking in j.a.panese.

"Are you m-married?" He said and then cleared his throat right after.

"Is h-he your husband and your c-child?" Hiro added and replied in a mumble. He almost choke in his own words. He looked really interested but somehow afraid to know the answers. As for the reasons why, he also was not quite sure himself.

"What? What made you say that?" Laurice replied abruptly followed by an awkward chuckle. Her voice was a bit high pitched than her normal range. She pondered for a second and then mentally scolded herself for her stupidity the next.

How can the man not be suspicious?

A kid had just addressed her rather intimately. While a grown man was treating her just the same. They pretty much portray a picture of a complete family of three.

"No, no, no, no." Laurice said in repet.i.tion. Her eyes flew wide opened. She even answered by waving off her hand back and forth in denial. She could not be misunderstood. Especially not by him. Not by someone she personally know in the industry. Quite specifically, an investor and client for that matter. If news about this encounter was to spread and leaked out in public, then she was not afraid of the implications it might cause her but to 'that family' instead.

Laurice tried explaining the matter in hysterics, totally losing all composure. Hiro Mitsui attentively listened to her incessant chatter. Her reaction maybe a bit off but he undoubtedly believed her words. Well, he was relieved nonetheless. But he was still shocked that Laurice was acting weirdly anxious about it like it's too much of a big deal.

'What was she really afraid of?'

...

In the end, Laurice tried to convince the man by clearing her relations.h.i.+ps with the two person and told him instead while putting emphasis on her words, "Mr. Mitsui, i mean ... Hiro. It's really not what you think. It just so happened that the child is attached to me." Pausing a bit, she swept the silent man beside her a sidelong glance and continued, "So is the man, i guess."

Her lips were still quivering from speaking so much when a firm hand was suddenly gently rubbing her from behind. Her body relaxed gradually by the man's touch. But she was still a bit anxious to look at him at the moment.

However, she really wanted to know what kind of expression he is making right now. Does he even understand j.a.panese? Will he get upset by what she had just said about him?

Her worries started piling up once again.

"I understand, Laurice. No need to worry." Hiro Mitsui replied in english this time, dropping the honorifics as well. He held her gaze for a brief moment and then smiled genuinely in content. It was not his style to gossip and create hype so the woman should be rest a.s.sured.

He then tried to bid Laurice goodbye afterwards. Before he left, his eyes fell towards the man beside Laurice and saw something in his sharp eyes. He was momentarily dazed by his expression. No, he was more like ... petrified.

Hiro Mitsui swallowed a lump on his throat and said, "I'll be on my way then, Laurice. Glad to meet you again. I'll contact you regarding the engagement." He offered a handshake towards her as usual like how any of their other conversations in the past ended but oddly enough, he felt the air around him grew colder in an instant. He felt the chill was coming from a certain fellow near him. He unhesitatingly retracted his hand back and coughed awkwardly warding off the alarming feeling.

"Ah, let me introduced you two first atleast." Laurice felt relieved by the sudden turnout of events that she did not mind exposing the man's ident.i.ty.

Hiro Mitsui was startled by her words.

'No, thank you!' He almost blurted out.

With the way the other man's behaving, he's worried that the relations.h.i.+p between him and Laurice is more than what it appears to be on the surface and only Laurice wasn't aware of it herself yet. In his eyes though, he can tell that the man himself was in love with Laurice! And the way he was glaring at him at the moment with his cold front, was making him tremble in fear. It seems he's no ordinary man after all.

...

Laurice tilted her head up to ask for Sid's permission and was greeted by his usual cool expression. Her brows raised in antic.i.p.ation.

Reading between the lines, Sid reluctantly faced the foreigner. He wasn't faking any of his emotions. With a deep low voice he introduced himself, offering a handshake in his own behalf.

"Sid Walsh."

Hiro Mitsui was tempted to shove his hands away but he did not want to be rude. He accepted his offer and gave his name as well.

"Hiro Mitsui."

The man's grip tightened a bit. Hiro concealed the frown that almost broke out from his face. The man named Sid Walsh does not seem like intentionally doing it, but Hiro felt the man was cras.h.i.+ng his bones from the handshake alone. His strength was just too much for him to handle. He seemed upset about just everything. It was written all over his face. Also when Laurice wasn't looking, the man's gaze turned sharper towards him.

Hiro Mitsui winced from the sharp pain. Instantaneously, Sid loosened his grip and then released his hand mercifully.

Mercy? There was no mercy. Hero sneered in his thoughts.

The j.a.panese businessman finally regretted arguing about the case at hand. If this two people are truly an item and are both allegedly dating in secret, then he does not care anymore.

His eyes suddenly caught another piercing gaze directed at him. He was stunned all the more. Only now, did he realized that the child in Laurice's arms was also giving off an odd and oppressive vibe. It seemed like he was truly being ... hated!

Hiro Mitsui left in a hurry after saying goodbye with the couple.

Laurice was clueless about the men's telephatic interaction. She did not notice anything strange at all and just sighed in relief after the other man left. She was finally off the hook.

Or so she thought.

...

Sid was staring at Laurice with masked eyes. It looked cold in the surface but he was actually fuming mad from the inside.

That j.a.panese fellow's appearance ruined his mood completely. In the middle of the heated argument between that man and Laurice, Sid wanted to speak for himself and somehow defend himself but what for really? He could not understand a thing they were talking about at all. It was unfortunate that he was not fluent in j.a.panese. He only understands chinese amongst other european languages.

He waited impatiently and felt miserable like an idiot and an ignorant awhile back. Did Laurice purposely spoke in a different language so as to not offend him? What did she say about him then? It seems related about him and his son based on her eye movements. But he could not muster the courage to ask her the question. His frustrations are building up. He was feeling an overwhelming sense of frustration and insecurity.

Laurice noticed him winced. Her face softened in worry. She held out a hand towards him. She had long released Little Louie from her embrace and the child was now standing quietly beside the butler from a distance.

Sid caught her hands in a jiffy. His eyes could no longer hide the sharpness in them. He stared at her and was met with a pair of moist eyes and perhaps due to his suppressed frustration, he pulled the woman roughly in his embrace.

Laurice was not surprised at all.

She just let the man seized all of her in one swift motion.

Instintively, Laurice hugged him back.

"Are you mad?" She whispered in his ears. Although it was obvious, she still wanted to know. She wanted to hear his thoughts.

"Hmm." The man groaned as if in pain and nodded discreetly like a spoiled child. His embrace tightened around her waist while he bury his face in her hair.

Sid fought the urge but unexpectedly, his worst got the best of him. Suddenly, he found himself already biting Laurice on her smooth neck. Laurice flinched by new sensation but the man continued nipping her neck and her shoulders. With her hair covering those parts, no one else realized what Sid was doing to her. But it was surprisingly, driving the woman herself crazy! Laurice's body was heating up.

"S-sid." She called out to him, short of breath.

"Hmm?" The man mumbled but did not stop what he was doing.

"Don't leave marks! Are you crazy?!" She scoffed in a low voice, panic stricken. Her entire body was unconsciously responding to his love bites already. Or hate bites, she supposed.

Sid halted for a moment, suddenly realizing his reaction but did not regret it. It f*cking felt amazing. Her skin tasted sweet and luscious in his lips and mouth. He gave the woman a final lick which sent s.h.i.+vers down her spine.

Laurice shot him a glare, her breathing was uneven. She was almost panting. Sid thought she looked rather appetizing at the moment with her eyes blazing. Even his own body was reacting, good thing he was wearing loose boxers or shame on him for being a natural flirt and getting a hard-on in public.

Laurice felt his hot rod throbbing from below her navel. His hardness was poking from underneath his board shorts. A few more inches lower and she'd probably die from the hot sensation that the man ignited himself. She already felt her body burning in his warm and wet touch making her ache all over and now this. This is dangerous.

"Let's go back." Sid breathe heavily and muttered near her ears. Laurice was still in his arms and it made him feel so d.a.m.n good. His initial frustrations were fading away and was being replaced by an immense sense of desire to monopolize her at the moment.

"W-what about swimming?" Laurice reminded him hesitatingly. She was surprised however that even she herself did not feel like going for a swim anymore.

"I'll book another time. When no one's around." Sid replied nonchalanty. He gently nipped and nibbled Laurice's earlobe after he spoke.

" ...!!! "

Laurice s.h.i.+vered right in his arms. She felt something weird flowing from within her. Her body was getting out of control.

"E-enough Sid. Don't do this p-please." Laurice pleaded. Her voice apparently shaking. Laurice felt helpless underneath him. The man just won't stop flirting with her. But they were currently out in the open for goodness sake!

Sid ignored her plea and then buried his face alongside her neck once again and said something even more shameless.

"I want you, Laurice." He whispered. His voice laced with unspoken agony.