Embrace

Berlin was stunned to see Karlos. She could feel his anger and the dangerous glare he directed at the fat man and suddenly at her.

She felt frozen.

"She is mine! Find someone-" Karlos stepped forward and continued to punch the man who kept blabbering nonsense.

Seeing the man look partly conscious, Karlos finally stood up and turned to look at her with anger because she hadn't been careful.

"Ouch" winced the person whom Karlos had hit in the face several times..."Who do you think you are?!" Richmond asked in anger as his eyesight had turned a little blurry from the punch.

Ignoring his outburst, Karlos spoke. "Let's go"

"Hey you, I am talking to you. How dare you ignore me?" Richmond was pissed beyond compare, standing up from the ground, feeling dizzy and bruised.

All the while, Berlin's gaze did not peel off Karlos's face as her mouth still parted a bit unable to form words and sensing his anger.

"Didn't you hear me? Let's go."

"I - I am talking to you," Richmond spoke yet again.

Without saying anything more, he grabbed her arm, ignoring the ranting young man close by.

Realizing he was completely being ignored, Richmond held the intruder's shoulder, preventing him from advancing forward and taking away his prey. And was about to hit the handsome stranger when he turned to face him and gave him another punch. Richmond stumbled back onto the ground and immediately held his broken nose, only for a red liquid to ooze out of the broken nose.

With a pained, and panic-stricken face, Richmond looked up at the person that dealt him the blows and was about to lose consciousness. The face he saw left him tongue-tied.

"Karlos Wayne!!"

The next thing Berlin and Richmond knew, another young man walked in and made his way towards where they stood.

Richmond's eyes widened in shock at what was about to happen to him, "I - I am s - sorry." Richmond apologized.

"Not the answer I am looking for."

"Take him out of my sight"

"Noted." The guard took one look at his boss and his stunned and confused wife before walking past them and went to stand at the side of the man who had been beaten to a pulp.

"Please, Mr. Wayne. Have mercy."

"Not good enough." With that, Karlos gave the guard a nod and walked out of the terrace, pulling Berlin along with him.

As Richmond heard the order, he began to feel more ache and drowsiness, causing him to lose consciousness.

Her molester was now lying motionlessly on the cold floor.

They got outside and his car was waiting for them. One of his bodyguards opened the door for them to enter before closing it and entering the front seat then they drove away.

Berlin turned away from his gaze to look outside the window at the sky, the stars that had settled in the sky just like when they had left for reunion shined brightly in contrast to what she was feeling. She wondered how he found her and she hoped he hadn't placed a device into her skin. There was no way she could confirm it but a part of her was glad he had come in for her and another part made her feel he only helped her to save his reputation.

She wasn't sure if she could ever trust him or anyone after what they had put her through. Maybe she could make enough money and run away from all this.

When she looked back at him, she found him looking outside the window with a tranquil expression with a little anger still brewing on the surface. He must have felt her looking at him as he turned, instantly his eyes met hers. They stared at each other in silence.

There were too many thoughts weighing on her mind but right now in this instant, she felt safe and it had to do with the Greek god sitting beside her. Was it because she was in love with him? Was that the reason why she felt so at ease around him at times? Somewhere she believed she would be always safe around him, he was the most powerful man in the country and she married him. Slowly her eyes darted away as blood rushed through her neck, making its way to her cheeks as her heart pounded slowly.

"What were doing there?" Karlos suddenly asked out of the blue. "Answer me Berlin why were you there?"

Berlin felt her mouth open but no words came out. She didn't know if he was blaming her or if he was as concerned as the expression he had on his face now. She finally regained her voice and said,

"How is any of this my fault? ... Are you shouting at me?"

"Yes, I am. You are a stubborn mule. This is why you are not supposed to go anywhere without the guards. If anything happens, I can rest assured you are okay and he can reach me easily and stop stressing Mother. But no, Berlin wants to go out on her own."

Thinking back on what happened made her sick. She was nearly raped, she would have been if Karlos hadn't come in.

A part of her knew that he was right and that was why she ended up in the accident and now this but she had made sure to stay out of trouble but trouble found its way to her. She did not like to be controlled as well and that is why she sometimes just went out without anyone's knowledge.

Without another word, Karlos looked away from her. He could not deny the fact that he saw the pained and confused expression on her face and knew what she was thinking.

It seemed like punching the bastard had not been sufficient.

She stopped thinking and struggling to argue.

And she turned to face him.

"Where are we going?"

"Home." Deadpanned Karlos.

The silence that followed was thickened as he stared into her lovely eyes with his dark ones, exuding terror in them.

She nearly got abused and he did not like it. Berlin was shaking to her bones by the intense gaze she was getting.

This was not the usual calm side she knew. Even when he was angry, he still never showed her this.

No one spoke, eyes staring into the other, daring the other to retaliate again and the other too shocked at the recent attack.

He blinked and as quickly as those dark and dull yet harmfully daring eyes came, they reverted to his normal peaceful cold eyes.

All through their drive, no one spoke to the other. They all kept quiet.

'Did she anger him so much? Was interrupting his moment with Tasha the problem?' She did not know much but she knew it wasn't good to be on the receiving end.

Minutes later they arrived. And the driver opened the doors for her but Karlos remained in the car.

Following the awkward silence, she didn't know what to say other than...

"Thank you. Good night."

With that, she turned away and heaved a sigh before taking a step and the next away from the car, her peach dress still floating behind her, making her look like an angel walking in the night.

Even that, Karlos did not say anything neither did he come down from the car.

Taking each step forward, one at a time, Berlin ceased her breathing and kept on moving forward till she got to half of her journey and she heard the sound of the car door slamming shut.

Her heart skipped a beat but she kept walking away. And willed herself not to stop. And she did not cease.

By the time she took the fourth step forward, she felt a hand holding her and she stopped.

She waited for a second. He turned her around swiftly so she was facing him but her eyes remained fixed where they were, on his chest, not daring to look at him.

He inhaled deeply, taking in her scent with the evening breeze and letting his eyes shut close he pried them open again.

It was as if he was preparing himself for what he was about to do. He checked her hand, looking at them and then her face before pulling her into his embrace.

The panic, the pain and the fear that she had experienced, that she had tried to hide within herself until this very minute, slowly started to come out from her. She brought her hands up, holding his shirt before gripping it.

Soon the tears that she had tried to hold back started to spill out from her eyes.

Berlin didn't mean to cry. She had tried to be strong, but seeing and feeling Karlos and his actions had melted her heart.

It was as though she couldn't get enough of him and just wanted to enjoy his cologne as long as she could.

Suddenly the next second, Berlin found herself being kissed. His lips were soft, tasted of wine and they were very gentle as he kissed her. And if possible Karlos took another step to close any gap that was left between them, pressing against her body intimately.

Berlin felt him suck and kiss her lips, nipping the tender flesh over and over before he pried her lips open for him to take. His tongue was hot as it entered her mouth, rubbing her tongue with his erotically to bring out a moan from her mouth.

When he pulled away from her, Karlos saw Berlin's face had turned slightly pink and flushed from the crying and mostly from the intense kiss.

Raising his hand, Karlos wiped the tear-streaked cheeks of hers. Berlin mumbled under her breath, "I am fine now."

"Mm, I know," replied Karlos, where he could only imagine how scared she might have been at that time.

Both of them awkwardly stared at each other not being able to say anything more. After all the atmosphere was dense prior.

Three minutes passed and both of them were still in that position.

Clearing his throat, he spoke, " You should head back inside."

"Sure..." replied Berlin to him and went back inside.

When Karlos started to walk away from where they stood earlier, the faint smile on his lips disappeared. Taking advantage of his absence while she had been left unprotected.

The anger in him lit like an inferno that wasn't going to extinguish until he settled the score.