Chapter Thirty-five : The successors

Maya's Pov

I definitely knew whom those eyes belongs to, mischevious burning amber eyes.          

Izzy

I felt goosebumps all over,  what's her plans this time with the camera? But no matter how hard I thought , I couldn't come up with an adequate reason so I became uneasy. 

"Nik" I called out but the guy didn't give me his attention, instead he boldly slipped his hand into my shirt, lifted it up and started trailing feather kisses down my stomach 

I became exasperated when this guy continued his thrilling journey so I pushed against his chest - with no success 

"Seriously Niklaus cut it out "I chided, emphasizing on his full name but he pretended not to hear my order and I had to resist the urge to moan cause it'll give him the liberty to continue his act further. 

"Nik! "

"Hmmm?" he hummed absentmindedly . He didn't even give his ear to me for a moment until I snapped .

I didn't know how my hands curled into fist nor when it moved, only I saw my hands raise and next, I floored him with a suckerpunch which totally knocked him out.

I know I took self defense class in the past but I never thought my skills reliable and efficient until now. 

"Oof!" I let out air when his heavy body slumped on mine.Even during our passionate make out I never considered him heavy until  now. 

I flipped him aside gasping with the effort but releasing a sigh of relief I was finally free. I slowly bent and placed my ear on his chest trying to make out his heartbeat incase I had unknowingly killed him. 

His heartbeat was steady but just to make sure , I checked out his pulse which thankfully was ok too.

He was just having a little nap. 

I dragged out a heavy breath but my gaze shifted back to the handsome man sleeping innocently on my bed.

I leaned further to discover dark circles around his eyes making me frown, has he not being getting proper sleep the past few days? 

Maybe me knocking him out was a good thing after all? 

I checked myself out on the mirror making sure to arrange my ruffled clothes and tousled hair till I was good as new. 

I had barely stepped into the living room before everyone threw questionable gazes on me well save Izzy, who knew what happened already and Eden who was nowhere to be found 

"What? " I blurted out when the inquisitive gaze became too much

"What have you being doing upstairs?" Emily asked suspiciously, her gaze nearly burning me. 

"A-attending to your bossy brother whom by the way is sleeping on my bed for the record "

I responded without thinking and with a frown, noticed how ambiguous my words sounded.

"Really? " She asked, her eyes lit up with surprise "How did you get him to sleep, Nik is very cautious on where he places his head on ..... " Emily trailed off as her sight landed on my neck and she let out a confusing  "oh? "

I was surprised at her change in demeanor until a bell rang in my head and I realised everything at once. 

Hickeys 

I facepalm mentally, Nik you bastard !

I blushed scarlet red embarrassed to the core, it wasn't enough Izzy caught us in the act now he purposely put hickeys on my neck to advertise to everyone we were doing adult stuffs in my bedroom 

"Where's Eden " I suddenly asked trying to divert her attention and saving myself from this embarrassing situation .

"Ah!" She exclaimed as if remembering something important "Something came up at work so he had to Leave"

I nodded in acknowledgement admiring his passionate and hardworking nature, unlike a certain person who claims to be busy but in reality was lazing around on my bed.

Thankfully Emily had a one track mind, soon enough she forgot all about Nik nor did she notice I had purposely diverted her attention. 

"Breakfast is ready" Emily announced snapping me out of my thoughts 

I turned to her saying softly "I'll help set up the table "

"No " She replied startling me 

"Excuse me? "

"We've imposed on you a lot , so we'll handle this little chore all by ourselves "

"Count me out " Izzy made her stand clear the moment Emily made her intentions known. 

"I'll help out " The ever-cheerful Annabelle announced waving her hands excitedly .

Though Emily is soft and kind but she's quite sturrborn once she makes up her mind so I had no choice than to give in. 

"Fine, its not like I can stop you both anyway "I stated knowing Emily and Annabelle in cahoots was like a goat and a pig in collaboration , both weren't the strongest in the animal kingdom but were extremely tough to deal with. 

While Annabelle leaped excitedly to go help Emily, I walked gloomily towards Izzy. 

"What are you up-to this time? "

"As if I've ever told you my intentions "She retorted, not even passing me a glance as she glued her eyes to the screen of her phone watching a sci-fi movie. 

I furrowed my brow scrutinizing this little girl in front of me, I've always had this disturbing feeling that this girl could read my intentions as absurd as it might sound 

"Are you a sadist ?"I asked untentionally, I had meant to ask that mentally but I didn't when it slipped right out from my mouth. 

Izzy froze, then she stiffly paused the video and turned to face me with an apathetic gaze "Excuse me? "

For some unknown reasons, I felt chills all over to the extent I didn't carelessly let out a breath

"Y-yo seem to take pleasure from my misery " I stuttered 

She let out a cold smile that didn't quite reach her eyes and murmured  " Trust me if I was a sadist, then your misery hasn't started "

Suddenly like a bipolar patient, she let out a vibrant smile that was capable of shaming even the sun. How could someone blow hot and cold at same time?

But then she assured me

"Don't worry, as my future mother I'll hold on to the picture as a reminisce of your romantic days with Mr Nik "

Even though that was supposed to be viewed as a compliment but instead I was scared to the bones. I couldn't help but notice  one thing about this little girl -  She's full of darkness. 

It's no surprise that Adam made her the  future successor of his company at such a young age.

He knew also of her darkness,  he knew of the inexplicable extent of her abilities , he knew quite well she would be crueler than her father. 

An unknown fear came upon me as I came to a startling realization.This was why Nik wanted me near her, he sees me as her saviour, as the sunshine that will light up the darkness inside of her .

I chuckled inwardly , Adam was quite a good mastermind. Even though the Spencer's have a good public image but it wasn't quite difficult to guess their affiliation with the underworld. There was no way one would be able to create such a huge conglomerate without soiling his hands in one illegal activity or the other.

To have survived so far, a lot of skeletons was obviously being kept in their wardrobe which is why, a person with a "lion heart" can only be the leader of the family and judging from the scene unfolding , the next successor after Nik's reign was obviously Izzy. 

Eventhough Nik has being kind to me so far but I knew beneath that facade is a cold being willing to clear every hindrance on his way to his achievements. 

But I obviously could tell, if Nik was a born  leader then Izzy obviously was a born dictator and that's what Adam wants, a dictator not a leader.

So how in the world am I going to change this domineering darkness into light without ending up as the collateral damage? 

"Breakfast is set, everyone to the dining " Emily announced and I murmured a thank-you mentally to her.

She just saved me from going crazy from my absurd thoughts.  

I didn't know how I found myself on the dinning table nor how the meal went but I expressed relief when Emily announced she was leaving with the kids.

"Papa wants to see them " Emily said and I saw a blinding gleam in Izzy's eyes causing me to frown .

Even though Mr Adams might poise as a man way past his prime but I know he wasn't that simple, the man even though aged a bit still wields much power behind the scenes and the fact he has his eyes set on Izzy means there  might be a power struggle in the future between Izzy and her dad when she comes of age .

From the adoring glint in her eyes, I could tell Izzy loves and worships her grandpa so separating them would definitely be a bad idea at the moment 

To prove that, Izzy didn't wait for Emily to finish her statement, she had already walked out the door anticipatedly without even a thank-you to the host who housed her for the night or to her so thought future mother. 

"Don't mind her manners, Izzy loves papa so much. The both are inseparable " Emily  explained while I gave out a dry smile 

"I can see why " 

" So"

"So? " I asked back not understanding the expectant look on her face 

"I would  love for you to join us the next day we'll visit my papa, he talks about you quite a lot and I'm  sure he will love to see you again "

A nervous smile made itself known on my face as I replied 

"I'm sure he'll would "