Serena was silent.
She looked up at him.
The man's alluring, almost demonic face wore an expression that said, "I knew it."
He tilted his chin up, exposing the long, elegant column of his neck.
"Serena, where do you want to look?"
"My Adam's apple? Collarbone? Pecs? Or..."
As he spoke, his gaze drifted slowly downward.
He was still holding her hand, guiding it along the path he described-Adam's apple, collarbone, pecs...
All the way down.
Until it rested on the chiseled, well-defined lines of his abs.
Serena was speechless.
Her fingers pinched his abdomen, and she said with a deadpan expression, "Do you know what you look like right now?"
The man's eyes crinkled at the corners as he looked at her with a smile.
Serena continued, her face impassive, “You look like a boy toy trying to seduce a sugar mama."
The man laughed, his captivating eyes shimmering with a dazzling light, utterly enthralling.
He squeezed her hand tighter, pressing it firmly against his abs. “Well, after the inspection, what does my sugar mama think? Are you going to hire me?"
He was really leaning into the role.
Did he have no shame at all?
As if reading her mind, Nicholas's narrow, alluring eyes curved into a brilliant arc. He declared with righteous confidence, "What good is shame? Does shame get you a wife?"
The word "wife" made Serena's ears burn slightly.
She pinched his abs again, harder this time, and glared at him. "Stop being so damn flirty. I'm trying to think about something serious."
At her pinch, the man's devastatingly handsome face twisted into an indescribable expression.
It was a look of... pure bliss.
He licked his thin lips, his brilliant eyes darkening slightly. "Something serious? You mean... when are you going to honor the engagement our families arranged for us?"
Serena was at a loss for words.
She gave his abs another vicious pinch. "Is your head filled with anything besides this nonsense?"
Nicholas let out a soft hiss, followed by a low, magnetic gasp.
But it didn't sound like he was in pain.
It was... quite sexy, quite pleasant to the ear.
The sound of his low groan sent a subtle shiver through her, its resonance strangely hypnotic.
Serena didn't notice the way Nicholas's gaze heavy with an unreadable intensity as he watched her.
The prominent, sexy curve of his Adam's apple bobbed as he swallowed, as if suppressing some powerful emotion.
He chuckled softly and leaned in, his lips close to her flushed ear.
"My head is also filled with... you."
His warm breath washed over her, and Serena felt as if his lips were brushing against her ear.
Serena turned her head away,
avoiding his intoxicating breath, and
shot him an annoyed glare. "You
should really stop watching
Whatever cringe videos are on your phone. You're getting way too cheesy."
Before the man could peacock any further, Serena cut straight to the point. "I was thinking about how to completely eradicate those flies from The Black Rose Syndicate."
If those pests kept sneaking into Elyndor to seek revenge against her, and if they kept causing major problems like today's incident, it would be a constant headache.
And what if her family got caught in the crossfire...
Although they had squeezed every last bit of information out of the operatives caught in the garage, and Elyndor had officially dismantled the organization on the grounds that it's action's harmed the interests of both nations, there were still hidden threats lurking in the shadows.