Engaged to The Mafia King's Nephew

I was running out of time.

I didn't know when they would arrive, or if they would even come to rescue me. I glanced at the ticking clock and struggled against the ropes tied around my arms. The cloth in my mouth was drenched in saliva. My screams rose up but the cloth blocked all sounds out except "mmph!"

The door opened, flooding the tiny room with light and my body stilled.

I watched as my captor stood in front of me. He took a lighter out from his pocket, smiling. Calm and collected. As if this was a nice dinner meeting at a good old restaurant. Only it wasn't. I was 'dining' with a psychopath.

My captor flicked the switch on the lighter and a flame appeared.

"How about this? I'll give you a head start, see if one of your little lovers make it before you perish. Good luck," he said.

I saw the look in his eyes before he ripped the cloth from my mouth.

"Oops. Almost forgot. I'll come back, with some good old gasoline. You want to know where I'll put that, don't you? Well, you'll have to wait and see."

I kept begging for someone to show up, anyone to rescue me. As the tears slid down my face, I thought of my impending doom.

Would this be the end for me?

The liquor store was silent save for Grayson's soft snoring.

Rows of wines like Pinot Noir and Chardonnay were stacked neatly on shelves attached to the wall. Kegs were in the storage room and a bar stand stood in the center of the room. The darkly lit room was quite sleep-inducing, so much so that my eyelids were beginning to droop.

Getting to work with my brother at his liquor store was not really a childhood dream, but it certainly helped with pocket money. I had enough to buy myself new sketchbooks and supplies for the new school year.

As I ruminated, I fanned myself with an advertisement pamphlet. The summer was almost over, and yet the heat was not. Even with the air-con switched on, it was like my armpits and scalp were having a competition to see who could sweat the most.

The little golden bell on the top corner of the glass door jingled and my head perked up.

I nudged my brother's shoulder and he hiccupped in his sleep.

I said, "Hey Gray, we have customers!"

"What is it, Sunny? Get dad to do it," Grayson mumbled in his sleep.

I pushed his shoulder a little harder but he just waved me away. As the door opened I pushed my brother's swiveling chair further into the corner of the bar stand.

I looked up, and I was met with two pairs of amused eyes.

They appeared to be twins, though one of them was a little taller than the other. They had dark brown hair, and eyes speckled with amber. There was a storm in their eyes, and I wasn't sure if I wanted the rain. Both of them stood upright, like a pair of graceful, menacing swans.

"Hi, welcome to Gray's. What can I get for you?" I said.

"I need these and this." The taller one slid a list across the bar stand. His voice was rough. When our eyes locked, his eyes widened.

I moved my head to the side, wondering why he was staring at me. I snapped out of my thoughts, remembering my job.

"Sure thing, can I see your ID please?" I said.

The shorter guy raised an eyebrow but his face remained quite impassive. The way his foot tapped against the floor and his folded arms told me he was impatient and wanted to leave.

"Can we see your ID?" The taller one said.

I shrugged and I said, "if you guys don't show any proof of age, I can't be sure if you are minors or not. I can show you my ID if that would help."

I flipped through my wallet to show them my ID, but a hand across my wrist stopped me.

I looked at my brother quizzically. If our two customers weren't here I probably would have said something like, "ah, the sleeping beast hath risen!"

Grayson said, "You don't have to show them your ID, Sunflower. I've got this."

"Sure you got this. You have a little something on your chin though, just so you know," I told my brother.

Grayson wiped away the drool in a hasty swipe. His frown told me I would be getting payback soon.

Both boys glanced at me when my brother said my name.

The shorter one said my name under his breath, rolling the words out, "Sunflower."

I tried not to pay attention to the fact that these two boys were incredibly handsome yet strange in their lack of emotions. I noticed the taller guy had a piercing on his eyebrow and the shorter one had a tattoo peeking out from the line of his t-shirt.

"Hi, welcome boys. What can I get for ya?" Grayson said.

The taller guy repeated the items on his list and Grayson nodded, asking for their ID once more.

I looked over my brother's shoulder to see what these two boys were called. I almost expected their names to be something like Dick and Harry.

A pit of dread formed in my stomach when I saw who they were.

Nero and Blaise King.

"Y'all having a party?" My brother asked them.

"Yeah, something like that," Nero, the taller one, said.

"Cool. Hey Sunny, help them get what they're looking for, will you?" Grayson was preoccupied with the cash.

The guys paid Grayson using their credit card.

I walked past them to the storage room with my work phone. I opened the door and I scrolled down to the inventory part on the phone.

I was still looking at my phone, about to check the actual inventory when a voice made me jump in surprise, "Sunflower."

I turned, and in front of me stood Blaise and Nero.

"That's your name, isn't it?" Nero said.

"Uh, yeah," I replied.

"Your brother told us to get the kegs from here. We can handle it." Blaise said.

I ran a hand through my hair and I said, "okay, yeah. Wait, how do you know that was my brother?"

"He told us. He also told us to invite you to our party." Nero said with a straight line on his lips and his perfect jaw moving in sync.

A small smile ghosted across his lips after he spoke.

Damn it, Grayson Keynes!

I checked off the inventory as their buff friends came into the store to haul the kegs on their shoulders. Just as I was about to close the storage door, Nero turned back to face me.

"Come to our party."

I looked at these two handsome swans and I thought, "what did he just say?"

It sounded more like an order than an invite.

I looked at the twins again, with a wary look. Then I said, "No, thanks."

Somehow, my brother heard this with his super ears.

"Yeah, she will come with you! Give her the address, and twenty minutes." Grayson answered for me.

Grayson twirled a pen in the air as he spoke the casual reply to the two brothers.

I glared at my brother and I mouthed, "what are you doing?"

"Your shift is over and I know you have nothing to do anyways. You'll thank me later." Grayson said.

"No I really can't," I started to protest.

"Come to 13 Electric street. Eight pm." Nero said.

They walked out of the store and my jaw dropped.

"What the hell, Gray! Why would you say that I'll go to their party? I don't even know them!" I said.

My brother's face twisted into a grimace.

He replied with five words that would soon change my life, "you never refuse a King."

If power was something you could touch, Nero and Blaise King would be prime examples.

Everybody knew about the prestigious King family, with the King mansion being one of the most exclusive, elite places only VIPs were invited to.

I'd heard stories about Nero and Blaise even when they were going to Rose Academy near Rose High. People said that Nero and Blaise lived in their own big house and now for some reason, they'd invited me to go there. The twins had quite a reputation for being party hosts. One of them was apparently a heartbreaker on the regular. Then again, I'd also heard that the twins hid drugs in the girls' bathroom and that they looked like baboons.

As I was about to press my brother further on what he meant, the door jingled once more. We were quite busy until closing time at six-thirty pm.

As Grayson started closing shop, he said, "I'll give you a ride to that party, Sunny. As a thank you for working part-time with me this summer. Milly's coming back soon from her maternity break and you'll be starting at Rose University, eh? Proud of ya, sis."

My brother tousled my hair and I batted his hand away.

"Ugh, fine. Thanks, Gray. I need to stop by home to put something decent on." I replied.

"Okay, gotcha." Grayson ushered me out of his store and he made sure everything was locked before we left.

As my brother sped off from the King boys' driveway, he blew me a silly kiss face. He called out, "do everything I would do, baby sis!"

I rolled my eyes and waved goodbye to him.

The house Nero and Blaise lived in was so pretty. Someone had put tiny bright lights over the exterior of the almond and cream-colored house. On the outside, the house seemed pretty normal, with a garden and a cute ceramic gnome.

As I rang the doorbell, I fidgeted with my hair. The door opened and a girl wearing a black dress with a cup in her hands welcomed me in.

"Hey, I'm Mads. You must be Sunflower. Come on in," she said.

I followed her through the front door and down the hallway. Her dark red hair was wavy, unlike my straight blond hair. I watched the way her hair swished back and forth as she led me into the living room.

The living room was large and pristine, and also devoid of people. I was surprised that there weren't many people around, considering the kegs that Nero and Blaise bought from Gray's.

"Where is everyone?" I asked.

"You're quite early. My cousins don't usually invite people over early." She turned to me to note her observation.

"I am? I thought the party starts at eight?" I asked.

"Oh yes, it does. For family and close friends. The official party starts later. Take a seat anywhere. We have free-flow drinks, just come to the kitchen around the corner to help yourself," she said.

I glanced at her as she walked away, trying to figure out if she was being nice or not. I decided to walk around the living room.

The living room seemed to be twice the size of my parents' living room. It was clean and neat, with a long couch and shelves containing various photographs.

I heard a sound from my right and I looked towards the direction of the noise. There was a winding staircase near the living room.

The hairs on the ends of my arms rose as I saw Blaise King descending the stairs, followed by his brother Nero. Blaise wore a white collared long-sleeved shirt and skinny black trousers. Nero was decked out in what looked like a navy suit complete with a swanky tie. They reached the end of the staircase and Blaise came to stand with me, whilst Nero went towards the kitchen presumably.

I breathed in as Blaise's eyes raked over my appearance.

"You look..." he began to say.

"I underdressed, didn't I? I didn't know the dress code was formal, otherwise, I definitely would have," I started to blabber.

"No, you're fine. In fact, you're beautiful," Blaise complimented me.

"Huh?" I stopped and blinked, not comprehending for a moment. I looked down at myself and the royal purple color of my dress.

"I meant what I said," Blaise replied, a sweet smile gracing his face.

Double take. What was going on?

"Uh, thanks!" I smiled back, feeling my heart rate increase a bit.

We stood there for another few seconds as soft music flowed around us. I glanced up at Blaise and then I opened my mouth. It was like he knew I would because he turned to stare at my lips.

"Can I ask you a question, Blaise?" I asked.

"Yeah, you can," Blaise said, running a hand through his hair.

"To be honest, I didn't think you would even want to talk to me, it seemed like my brother's store was the last place you wanted to be in, so why would you guys invite me over?" I enquired. I leaned against the back of the sofa.

"Isn't it obvious?" Blaise replied.

"What, what's obvious?" I asked.

Blaise straightened and took a step forward to me, and I stepped back, almost knocking my knees against the coffee table.

At that moment, Mads flounced into the room and Blaise moved away from me. I coughed, trying to be subtle but the side cough turned into a real one. The corners of Blaise's lips were still bent in a mini smile. Fortunately, Mads didn't seem to notice.

"Okay, I'm super bored. Oh, I've got an idea, how about we play a game of questions and dares? Nero!"

Nero came into the living room as well, and Mads produced a bottle from somewhere. We played a few rounds of questions and dares and I found out quite a lot about the dynamic between Mads and her two cousins in between playing. Mads was actually called Matilda, but her response to why she called herself Mads was, "well, I couldn't possibly call myself Matts, so it's got to be Mads!"

Mads was younger than Nero, Blaise, and I. She was going into her senior year at Rose Academy. The twins adored their cousin, I could see it through their subtle smiles and inside jokes with her.

"No, that was last year's New Year's ball! God, what a night," Mads wiped away tears of laughter from her eyes.

"Okay, it's your turn to ask Nero something, Sunflower," Mads said.

"Why are you wearing a suit at a party? Do you always wear one to parties?" I asked Nero.

Blaise said, "it's his trademark party host costume."

Nero shrugged and he nodded.

I didn't even notice when the alarm on Nero's phone rang.

"Oh hey, it's almost ten. Last round of questions and dares," Nero said.

As Mads spun it on the coffee table, the bottle swerved until it landed between Blaise and Mads.

"Yay! Question or dare?" Mads questioned.

"Dare," Blaise said with apprehension, the emotion in his eyes was hooded.

Mads grinned and she dared him, "I dare you to walk up to Sunflower and kiss the living daylights out of her."

Blaise still didn't show any sign of emotion but Nero's lips turned into a thin line.

"Uh, no Mads I don't think that's a good ide-" I stood up and I began to say I needed to go when Blaise got up from the seat he was in.

It took him two strides to reach me.

His fingers spread across my cheeks in soft touch and he leaned into me, pressing his lips against mine without hesitation.

At first, I was going to pull away, but his mouth was insistent. He pulled me closer and I placed my arms on his chest.

Maybe I was supposed to feel the sparks, and maybe I was supposed to die from the attraction. But it had been a long day, and my brother pulled some shit and now these people I barely knew were pulling some more shit.

All the shit was happening today, and I also needed to go to the bathroom.

I pushed him away, a quick but firm push.

He jumped back as if I had an electric touch.

I was panting for breath, and Blaise's gaze scorched into mine. I could barely hear Mads' faint cheering because of the blood pounding in my ears and the high energy buzzing through my skin.

I muttered, "I've got to, um, go. I can't stay too long, my um, parents, tired, yeah,"

I backed away from the three of them, feeling the high crashing down as quickly as it came.

"What, aw no, you're leaving so soon! At least let me get your number!" Mads said.

"Let us call you a cab," Nero said.

Blaise was still looking at me, and all I could think of was, "What. The. Fuck."

I put my number in her phone, thanking the three of them. I grabbed my bag, feeling the red flush in my cheeks getting warmer. As I headed out of their home, I walked past a black sedan with tinted windows parked across the street. I wrapped my arms around myself for a moment, trying to get the goosebumps to go away. I touched a hand to my lips.

My lips had breathed against undeniable power, and I was sure that sooner or later, I would get shocked by the voltage.