Fate

After the call, Jacob received a text message from J that she will be home late and that he should not wait for her for dinner.

Jacob smiled at the thought of J making an effort to inform him that she can't make it to dinner to not make him wait. He replied, "I'll pick you up."

J saw Jacob's reply but wasn't able to reply when Lily noticed her looking at her phone. "Urgh... does he keep on checking out on you? As if I am going to abduct his beloved wife."

J gave her a genuine smile. All through the night, they talked mostly about country music, Kane Brown, and his brother. The two never had a dull moment. J enjoyed Lily's company. She never had a good time with another person before except for Lance and Diana.

Well, Jacob is an exception. Her moments with Jacob cannot be compared with Lily, Lance, or Diana. Though she didn't know yet how to describe how she feels whenever she is with Jacob, she is certain that it is different from how she feels when she is with Lily, Lance, or Diana.

The two of them went out of the hotel. Lily keeps on insisting that she should give her a lift and take her home but J keep refusing.

Jacob, who was inside his SUV, saw the two walk out of the hotel. He frowned when he saw his wife. Good thing he decided to pick her up. With her looks tonight, he doubts if there is any man who didn't take a second or a third look at her. Some may probably stare at her.

He immediately gets out of his SUV and walks towards them.

Lily was not surprised to see her brother coming their way. "Hmm... as expected."

J confused, looked in the direction that Lily is looking. There she saw the most gorgeous man she had ever seen walking towards her although she can see the frown on his face. Is he mad? She thought.

"It's late," Jacob said looking at Lily with a cold gaze.

"Yeah, we know. That's why we are going home now. Good thing that you are here to pick her up. You know... sister-in-law is too gorgeous, others might be tempted to steal her." Lily said mockingly then quickly ran towards her car.

"Lilybeth Parker!" Jacob clenched his fist in annoyance. The thought of others stealing his wife irks him to the point that he wanted to squash someone.

He turned to look at J. He sighed... damn it! I have to take her away before someone steals her from me. Jacob thought to himself. But the annoyance in his eyes suddenly turned into tenderness. How could he stay mad at a sight like this?

J still was looking in the direction where Lily was, then turned to look at Jacob who is now staring at her. Their eyes met.

Jacob sighed then he took J's hand to his and said, "Let's go home." That's the most he wanted to do right now, take his wife away and keep her home in his arms so no one could steal her from him.

J's heart hitched when she felt Jacob's skin in hers. Jacob dragged her away from the hotel and walked towards his SUV.

J looked at Jacob's back and a flash of a smile appeared on her face. She is starting to get used to this affection that grows inside of her, though she tried to warn herself, she can't help but be hopeful.

Jacob opened the door of his SUV and helped J get in. He walked around the SUV while sending a message to Arthur before he got in.

"I'll take it from here. You can go home and take a rest." Arthur read the text message that his Boss sent him and relayed it to others through their communicating device.

Daniel, Stefan, and Arthur were at a loss at first. They are used to working, guarding their VIP 24-hours 7 days a week. Having a chance to go home after a day's work is very unusual for them. Maybe this is their Boss' way of caring for his wife, he wants her to be protected whenever he is away from her and once he is with her he will be the one protecting her personally. This is the other side of their Boss that probably no one from the Twelve Army has ever seen yet.

"Actually... you can let go of my hand now," J said looking at Jacob and then to her hand that Jacob is still holding. Since Jacob gets in the car, he holds her hand not letting it go while the other hand maneuver the steering wheel. J felt a little bit uneasy afraid that she can no longer control her heart that has been beating irregularly.

"I'd like to keep it this way..." Jacob replied, not looking at J.

J was flustered. How she wishes they would arrive soon at their apartment before her heart explodes.

Until they reached their apartment Jacob never let go of her hand. He unlocked the door with his other hand and pushed it with his feet. As soon as they got in J tried to let go of her hand.

But instead of letting her hand go, Jacob pulled her forcefully to his chest. In an instant, J felt Jacob's hand wrapped around her waist while the other hand was in the back of her neck. Her eyes widened in surprise when Jacob's lips touched hers.

Jacob kissed her softly yet passionately. J was frozen at first then she felt her knees weaken. Before she knew it, she had closed her eyes and returned Jacob's kiss which made Jacob smile in the corner of his mouth in between his kisses.

J never kissed before, this sensation is very much new to her and it brought her a tingling sensation throughout her body.

After they shared their first kiss, Jacob kissed J's eyelids that remained close then said in a gentle tone, "I'm honored to be your first kiss and hoped to be the only man to kiss you."

J opened her eyes in amazement, her cheeks turned pink when her eyes met Jacob's eyes. She felt embarrassed. How did he know that it was her first kiss? J thought to herself.

Jacob gave her a teasing smile that made her more embarrassed. She furrowed her brows and pouted her lips. With both her hands she pushed Jacob in his chest giving her a distance from him but Jacob tightened and wrapped her in his arms instead.

"Stay put. Just a minute." Jacob's gentle yet authoritative tone made J frozen yet warm in her place.

Jacob inhaled her unique scent then sigh, "Honey... what am I to do now without you." Jacob was too afraid to lose her. Not wanting anyone to lay an eye on her. Possessive as it may seem but it is more than that, she loves this woman. They may be imperfect with each other but he will never let her go. He would do anything to make her fall in love with him.

But what he didn't know is that he already did. Strange how she planned to take another road to avoid it but, in the end, she met him on that road. Indeed, fate doesn't care about your plans. It is terrible that she cannot escape it. But though fate has already knocked on her door, she's just not yet ready to answer it.

"I-I should get changed...." J felt her throat tighten as she stuttered when she said that. Although she doesn't want that warm sensation to end yet she has to stop there to avoid getting drowned.

Jacob loosened his arms around her, he gave her a gentle smile before he finally let her go.

When she got into bed, Jacob pulled her close to him and let her rest in his arms. This is unusual because he would usually wait for her to sleep before he would secretly pull her close to him until he falls asleep. J looked at Jacob's closed eyelids. This handsome husband of hers is making her heart fall out of place every second she is with him. She wrapped her arms around his waist which made Jacob tighten his embrace to her.

The next morning, she came to her duty at the hospital, then after her shift, she went back to her apartment to prepare herself for her appointment with Dominic Sloane. She will just inform Jacob that she cannot eat dinner at home and that she will be late later to avoid more questions.

Their meeting place is in a private room of a five-star restaurant. When she arrived, she approached the girl in the reception and said with a gentle smile, "Hi, is there a reservation made by Mr. Lance Kho? I'm Miss J."

The receptionist immediately recognized the names that were mentioned and delightedly replied, "Oh... yes Miss J. Mr. Sloane is already waiting for you. Please follow me."

J followed the receptionist as she led her to the private room where Dominic Sloane was waiting.

Although the five-star restaurant is known to be very diligent with the confidentiality of their customers, Lance made the reservation to make sure that the meeting between Dominic Sloane and Miss J will not look suspicious and will not be given an evil connotation by the staff and onlookers inside the restaurant. Lance made it a point that Jenny Do's name will not be brought up to keep her identity protected.

And knowing the reputation of Dominic Sloane in the industry of politics, no one will dare make a rumor against him.

Entering the private room, a man wearing a light blue dress shirt that is folded until the elbow tucked in black slacks immediately stood up upon seeing J.

J waited for the receptionist to leave the room before she walked with a dignified aura towards the table and sat in front of Dominic Sloane. She looked at the man in front of him. This is the first time that she had a close-up look at him because the first time they met, she avoided looking in his direction to avoid suspicion.

He has a square face, small eyes, slightly curled hair yet neatly polished, his beard tracing his prominent jawline is trimmed with a floating mustache. The man looks charming and smug despite his age but cautious probably because he is now facing the heiress of The Robin Hood Society which no one has ever met before.

"It's an honor to meet you, Miss J." Dominic Sloane who was still standing in front of J said as he bowed his head.

"Please.... drop the formality, Mr. Sloane," J said, not being used to being treated so highly. "And please sit down. I want this conversation short and straight."

"Have you told them about me and Jacob?" J asked.

Dominic Sloane nods his head.

"I hope you understand. My loyalty is to the President. And they have the right to know about that since it involves their daughter."

J sighed then replied in a dismayed tone, "I understand."

"But... I guess they already knew." Dominic Sloane continued that J's brows snapped together.

"What do you mean?" she asked eagerly.

"When I told them about your marriage with Jacob, they're not surprised at all." Dominic Sloane told her about their conversation skipping the part that he was ordered to watch over her while she is with the Parkers.

It turns out that her parents already knew about her marriage to Jacob even before she met Dominic Sloane. She wondered how they found out. Only the Parker's including Sloane knew about it. While no one in the Society except Lance knew it, she was certain that Lance would never tell them.

Not unless her parents were involved with the marriage arrangement that their grandfather did.

No matter how much J thinks about it, she cannot come up with an answer.

A moment later, she asked, "How are they?"

That's a question that she has been meaning to ask Diana and Leo but she just cannot speak the words.

"The President and Madam were doing fine, but recently, Madam has been heartbroken while the President is in a bad temper due to the death of one of the society's members."

"They already ceased all operations to avenge him. You know how your parents feel about the life of each member of the Society. It is the most important. It was like a family member died, and avenging him is not enough."

J felt the same. That is the one thing that she doesn't like about the Society, each member's life is sure to be implicated.

"How did he die?" she later on asked.

Anger flashed in Dominic Sloane's eyes. "He was killed. He was a young policeman. That time he was off duty. He was shot multiple times mercilessly without giving him a chance to defend himself."

J clenched her fist. Then something snapped in her memory.

"What's his name?"

Dominic Sloane gave a name that J recognized instantly. It was the boy who died during the surgery that night. The boy who sustained multiple gunshot wounds. She would never forget that. The scene where Dr. Aaron was trying to revive the life of that boy keeps replaying in her mind whenever she is alone in that OR theatre.

"Have you found out who killed that boy?"

Dominic Sloane nods his head. "It was the Sano Twins. As for why they killed him, we are still investigating."

J felt her blood rush in her face due to anger. If only she could avenge that boy.

"We also have reports that the Sano Twins have been looking for you. So, I suggest that you take extra caution." Although Dominic Sloane knew the capability of the Parkers, especially Jacob, he was not sure if they knew that J is the heiress of The Robin Hood Society so he added, "Have you thought of telling Jacob your identity?" knowing that if she did, they would probably protect her.

J looked at Dominic Sloane and said, "No. At least not now." She probably didn't know about the Parker's business and capabilities. Dominic Sloane thought to himself.

"After this, treat me as your sister-in-law and not Miss J." with that J left the place before saying goodbye to Dominic Sloane.