The Winter Bride (TSBS-2) COMPLETED

Chapter Four

"I sustain myself with the love of family."
- Maya Angelou

Ashley Davis

"You're a smart girl. Do the math yourself."

I wrecked my brain, to remember any episode related to what this vicious man had said but came up empty.

"No." I shook my head in denial, unable to comprehend his information. "Papa never said anything about this. You have wrong information."

"Trust me, princess. These are as right as they come." He smirked, flipping the spreadsheets once again. "And as far as I heard about your Papa, he never discuss business with his family. Am I right?"

Who is this man? And how does he know Papa so much?

"You still have not mentioned who you are and what is your relation with papa?" I inquired, crushing my nervousness at his mysterious golden eyes.

In all my life, I had never been as close to any man as I had with this man in a first meeting.

Wearing a fine tailored suit with branded cuff links and watch, this man had to belong to a wealthy family but I had never seen him in any of the elite parties.

The dark blond hair, fashioned into a neat style enhanced his sharp facial structures but the stubble on his jaw gave him a reckless look. He was tall, taller than me with at least five inches.

Turning away from me, he unbuttoned his jacket before dropping it on his majestic chair and started folding his sleeves until his wrists, elbows were exposed.

My heart quickened when I noticed a pattern of black ink disappearing under his sleeve on his bicep.

Tattoos were forbidden in our family but they intrigued me relentlessly.

"Should I do it again?" He asked as he flexed his arms, amusement lit up in his dark eyes.

I stepped back and cleared my throat, embarrassed at getting caught by him. "Are you going to say anything about you?"

Crossing those firm arms over his shirt and waistcoat, he shrugged. "Let's just say I'm a gentleman who's going help you and your family."

I laughed, humourlessly. "Your behaviour tonight hardly declares you as a gentleman."

Never in my life had I been that angry when two massive men abducted me. I knew I would had been fine because Papa was going save me, but meeting the man behind my abduction crushed my hopeful heart.

Since we were in a corporate building, I had thought of him as a well-mannered businessman but as soon as he uttered I want you, my mind blanked.

His touch had been unwanted but thrilling. I should be ashamed to feel any excitement caused by this brutal man, but never in my life, someone had spiked up my blood flow like he had.

You have a fiancé. This man abducted you, hurt you.

Not as hurt as I had shown him. Yes, his grip had been painful, but after he screamed out an unknown female's name and jumped away from me, he looked ashamed at his deed.

That hinted, maybe he was not as bad as he seemed. I knew from the faraway look in his hazel eyes that his mind had been somewhere else, but I had clamped down my sadness at his anguished expression because he did brought me here against my will, he did misbehave with me.

"And my apologies for that." He gritted out, caressing my chin with his mysterious eyes. "But you shouldn't have slapped me."

"Then you should not have touched me." I retorted back.