Dangerous Temptation

MARGAUX ALMOST KISSED THE FLOOR WHEN HER HIGH HEELS BROKE. Her mind began cursing from A to Z, regretting why she even chose to wear that pair. She kicked off her heels and watched them glide across the floor a few inches.

Getting to the Montenegro Group's offices had already been a nightmare: a late flight, a long commute, and adverse weather. She even thought God was drunk when he created Manila. Who, in his right mind, would build a civilization in a country with bipolar weather in the first place?

Sweaty and exhausted, it took Margaux one more eye-roll to get over her shoes. With her lips tightly pressed together, she picked up the high heels again and let them dangle in her hand. She continued to drag her bags down the marble corridor, passing gigantic artworks one after the other.

What the... Where's everyone?' she asked herself, realizing how hollow that floor was. Other than a single guard outside the building, it was odd that none of their employees were around at all. Shouldn't their business be open until five?

She shrugged her shoulders at the eerie observation. A few seconds later, she reached the grandest door on that floor. She took another deep breath to calm her nerves. Millions and gazillions of thoughts were suddenly rushing through her mind at once. It was just then that she realized how unconsciously she was wiping her sweaty palms on her jeans too. She was becoming anxious.

'Easy now. He is still your dad. You will be fine.' She deeply sighed before raising her hand to knock. However, her hand stopped midair upon noticing her shoes were still dangling from her hand. She dropped her heels and tried wearing them again. She struggled to balance her entire weight but still managed to stand up straight.

It was only after those things that she decided to knock again. "This is Margaux. Can I come in?"

She swallowed upon hearing her voice echo through the empty hall. She waited for the door to open, but nothing happened. She found that odd, but then, she just shrugged and knocked again-harder this time.

"Papa? Are you there? "

Same silent result.

Sensing that something was off, Margaux curiously leaned her ear against the door. She straightened up and balled her fist afterwards. She heard some rustling from inside the room. The sound was low, but enough for her to understand that someone was inside it.

She readied herself to give the door the hardest knock she could muster. However, just a few inches before her hand touched the wood, the door in front of her suddenly creaked open, revealing the silhouette of a man behind the little gap.

She immediately put her hand down and awkwardly smiled. Trying to hide her embarrassment, she cleared her throat and asked, "Hi. Can I speak with my papa? "

She politely offered a handshake to him. Thinking that the man was new to the company and must be wondering who she was, she introduced herself, "I'm Margaux Montenegro. Alejandro's only child. "

It was unfortunate that her pleasant introduction didn't fly with the stranger. Instead, he just continued to look down at her silently, without even welcoming her in.

That made Margaux slowly pull her hand away. Disappointed with the treatment she was getting, she raised her chin and gave the man a scrutinizing stare from head to foot, then backward.

He was wearing black shoes paired with jeans. He also had their company's uniform on, which screamed that he was one of their employees. He was tall. She could tell it by the way her neck strained a little when she looked up at his face. Although he was still mildly hidden behind the door, the way he stared back at her made her feel as if she were choking. His nose was aristocratic, his lips were thin, and he had the coldest pair of amber eyes she had ever seen in her entire life.

'Amber?' Margaux blinked a couple of times to confirm what she saw. Amber may be a regular thing in other countries, but certainly not in that place.

"Sorry for bothering you, but could you at least tell my papa that I'm here?" She attempted to break the silence that engulfed them.

"I just came from a long flight and..." Then she shut her mouth upon noticing that the odd man wasn't listening to anything coming out of her mouth.

Finally, reaching the end of her string, Margaux waved her hand dismissively and picked up her luggage again. She bet she would get more sense if she talked to a wall compared to the man.

She was already about to step away when something suddenly grabbed her shoulder and, to her shock, stopped her from going anywhere.

With her brows knotted, she glanced at what was firmly holding her and then saw a huge bloodied hand desperately trying to cling to her shoulder.

'What the-' She was already panicking when she tried to wiggle the hand off. But then his grip on her just got tighter, clearly showing her that he had no plan to let go.

"Let go!" Let-Oh my God!"

and then that was it. Just before she could even take a single step away, the amber-eyed man had already passed out behind her, knocking both of them to the floor as she screamed, "Help!"

MARGAUX WAS SILENT AS SHE SIT IN THE LOBBY ALONE. She was too absorbed in her thoughts while playing footsie with her broken shoes. There were hundreds of questions inside her head, and the worst of them was about what happened just hours ago.

Everything came in a rush. The bloody, amber-eyed man passed out, and then things went out of control.

She was scared for her life at first, but that changed when she heard his faltering breath. In an instant, she knew that he was dying.

She couldn't remember how she managed to push his weight off her before she ran down to the guardhouse. She was shaking when she undressed him inside the company's car. Especially when she checked on his wounds and attempted to stop them from bleeding. He was shot twice.

'Undress him...' She shook her head when his half-naked image crossed her mind. She then reached down to her calves and began messaging them. She couldn't just sit there and admire a dying man, right? That's too awkward.

"Miss?"

A woman's voice made Margaux jerk from her seat. She turned in the direction of the operating room and saw the doctor walking towards her. She immediately cleared her throat and sat straight. "How is he?"

"He's safe." The doctor smiled in a comforting way. Mistaking her exhaustion for worry, the doctor felt compelled to assure her. "He is one tough guy, you know? He could have died if the bullets had hit him a little higher. You did a good job giving first aid to your man-"

Oh, you got it wrong. He is not with me." She dismissively evaded the doctor's stare. Although she admitted that the man was quite a stunner, she was sure that staying close to him would bring her more trouble.

With that in mind, Margaux gazed at her watch and made an excuse. "I'm leaving since everything's okay. I still have someone important to meet, and..." her voice faded before she looked at the lady doctor again. She sarcastically chuckled. "Stop watching too many movies. I don't even know the man. He's a complete a stranger."

The doctor's mouth opened and closed. She never expected that the angelic-looking lady would be a spitfire. She nodded after a while and said, "Okay. I will have the nurses look at his things later to see who he is then."

"Where is he?" That was when an authoritative voice boomed through the hall.

Margaux's eyes widened as she made a sharp turn. The voice sounded very familiar to her-so much so that her mind screamed, 'Papa?'

"Is this the room?" Alejandro looked regal as he strode through the lobby. His steps were fast, and yet he displayed superiority. He had four guards following him-all of them were wearing black business suits, with only the old man wearing a Figaro hat on his head. He was undeniably an elite when he passed her and the doctor as if he didn't see them.

"This is the room, señor," one of the guards informed. Alejandro went straight to the door where his guard pointed and, without any warning, grabbed the knob to open it.

Alarmed, the doctor jumped onto the scene and grabbed Alejandro's sleeve. "I'm sorry, sir. You can't just come into the operating room. We have a procedure going on, and that's against this hospital's protocol-"

"Hands off." One of the four men immediately pulled a gun from his coat and pushed its nozzle against the doctor's forehead. The poor doctor, visibly turning pale, let go of the old man at once.

Alejandro, however, just looked at the doctor. Then, as if he didn't hear her, he pushed the door open and marched into the operating room. In less than a minute, a group of terrified nurses came running out of the room as if they had seen hell.

'What's going on?' Margaux wanted to ask, but her mouth felt too dry to talk. She just stood there idly, watching all the commotion around her.

Soon enough, the operating room's door swung open, and Alejandro stepped out of it casually. He had a white towel in his hand, wiping his bloody palm. He then threw a cold glance at the doctor and ordered, "Let the doctor finish what she was doing, then take the doctor with him. We'll leave this place as soon as she's done."

"Papa!" Finally, Margaux found the guts to call him out.

Alejandro turned to her, and she saw how his eyebrows instantly furrowed upon seeing her. In less than a second, the recognition on his face had turned to confusion. "Margaux?"

"Y-yes." She smiled. Her questioning eyes fell on Alejandro's bloody hand and then back on his face.

As if frustrated, the old man let out a sigh. It was evident that he wasn't happy to see her there. He gritted his teeth while thinking of what to do next, then looked at one of his guards. "Take her too."

Without any more words, the Don turned and started for the elevator. Margaux wanted to run after him, but her confusion paralyzed her feet.

"Papa! Where are we going?"

"Silence!" Alejandro's roaring command tore through the air. He then walked into the elevator with two of his men, leaving the other two guards with her. Then, just before the elevator closed, he turned to Margaux one last time and commanded...

MARGAUX WAS STILL CONFUSED when she turned her head to the car's window. She could barely see the droplets of water hitting and rolling down the heavily tinted glass. They had been driving for hours, but she still didn't know where they were headed.

'This day didn't happen? What does he mean by that?' Exhausted, she let her back fall against the seat. She was hungry, dizzy, and tired, but she couldn't complain a bit. Instead, she just looked down at her hands, which were resting on her knees.

They were already a few miles outside of Manila when the guards received a phone call from her father. The next thing she could remember was how one of the guards dragged the doctor out of the car forcefully with a gun pressed against her head again.

The doctor begged for her life, cried aloud, and tried to escape. She wanted to help the lady back then, but she couldn't. The guard that was left with her was eyeing her closely. Terrified, she turned in the other direction and pretended not to witness everything. God knew how staying quiet back then made her feel so worthless. Her conscience was killing her.

That was the last time she saw the doctor, and she couldn't even tell if the doctor was still alive or not. The only thing she was sure of was that her father didn't want anything wrong to happen to the amber-eyed man.

Alejandro might have ordered the guards to kick the doctor out after ensuring that the man survived the long trip.

She closed her eyes when a sinister thought crossed her mind. She wasn't close to her father. She didn't even know what her father usually ate for breakfast. However, she grew up being told that Alejandro was a good man. Her mother never failed to remind her of that.

"A good man?" Margaux snorted. What good man keeps a half-dead man inside his office and orders his guard to abduct a doctor?

"Kindly stay here, Madam Margaux. I'll get you a coat." It was that low voice that woke Margaux from her trance. She blinked a couple of times without saying a word, and then turned to the tinted window. It was only then that she noticed that the car had stopped. A little scared, she turned her head to the driver's seat and saw the guard open the door. He walked out of the car, locked it closed, and then rushed through the heavy rain.

'Chance!' her mind screamed upon seeing the guard leave. She quickly leaned against the window to observe where she was. With her eyes squinting, she gave a once-over to what was outside the car. She wanted to figure out where she was, but the dark-colored window made it almost impossible. She barely saw anything.

It was a few seconds more before her eyes landed on what looked like a villa nearby. With renewed curiosity, she pressed herself a little harder against the window of the car, hoping to see more. She could tell that there were many trees in that place, but the view was too dark. Although there was a light post close to the villa, its light was dimmed by the heavy rain, and she could only make out shapes.

Still staring and thinking, Margaux's eyes suddenly widened as she finally identified where she was. 'Mama's old villa-'

"Oh!" Her own yelp cut off her thoughts. Something heavy fell on her back and pressed her hard against the car's window.

She was pinned and couldn't move. She quickly turned her head to see what was trying to suffocate her.

The first thing she saw was her medium-brown hair, soft and unruly. A loud, exasperated sigh escaped her chest upon realizing who owned it. Gracious! How could she even forget about Amber-Eyed?

Trapped in another sticky situation, Margaux rolled her eyes. Should I take this man with me as I escape?

The currently senseless guy lost his balance in his seat. The guards didn't put a seat belt on him earlier, seeing how sensitive his condition was. Half of his body was wrapped in bondage, and he smelled heavily of medicine.

Margaux bit her lip while thinking. Then, with one deep inhale, she tried to push his weight off of her back, hoping to get more space to move.

She wasn't able to anticipate what her movements would result in. With a loud, painful roar, the amber-eyed man's hand mindlessly grabbed the hollow of her waist out of reflex and gripped her hard.

She almost lost her breath when they both fell back onto the passenger seat with a loud thud.

"Aww!" "Cazzo!" Two voices echoed inside the car, one weaker than the other.

Losing her mind again, Margaux tried to wobble away. However, the man's grip on her tightened even more, along with more painful grunts. It seemed that he was venting his pain on her, and the more she hurt him because of her movements, the more he choked her.

She wanted to move fast and run away, but the car's confinement made it impossible. Although she was petite, the man with her was huge. The car's backseat was choking with them squeezed in there.

One of the unconscious man's hands landed on her chest, the other around her waist. His face was buried on her cheek, and she could feel how his overnight stubble was grazing her skin. She hitched her breath upon feeling a bulge under her buttocks. It didn't take a rocket scientist to know what that bulge was. Their legs were oddly intertwined in a rather intimate way. One of his knees ended up folded between her open legs, accidentally rubbing her.

Given another situation, she swore that she would give this man a twin-slap-no, make that a quadruplet-slap. However, the vulnerability and innocence of his responses made it clear to her that he wasn't aware of anything at all. He was drugged.

Not knowing what to do, Margaux checked if she could pull her arms from under them. Unfortunately, what she did earned a tortured cuss from him. Her wrist was pressing on his left side, and that was where his wound was. He stirred a bit under her, and she gawked when his knees accidentally rubbed between her legs again.

She was shocked and afraid. She swallowed hard to control the foreign sensation in her center. Then, she quickly turned to him to check how he was, completely forgetting their proximity at the moment.

Their faces brushed against each other, and it was too late to pull back. Her lips had already landed in the wrongest place possible-his cold, pale lips.

Her eyes were still bulging out of their sockets when a clicking sound came from the driver's seat door, and the guard from earlier peeked in.

"Ma'am Margaux, here's your... coat."