"Relax and drink the tea. It will help to heal your bruises and soothe your pain." Kaiden advised her as he pulled her towards the sitting area around the fireplace.

Emily soon found herself sitting with a cup of hot herbal tea in her hands.

A small smile appeared on her lips as she closed her eyes and inhaled the fragrance of her favorite tea.

"I never got the chance to thank you for the tea that you gave Daniel last time in order to help me heal quickly from all these bruises. Really...his, thank you."

Her smile was sincere and so was the innocence in her sparkling eyes.

Kaiden nodded his head slightly in return with a soft smile playing on his lips before he took a seat on the sofa at her left side.

They were still sitting close enough that Kaiden could easily touch her if he stretched out his hands towards her.

"Miss Alessandro, did something strange happen in these last few days?" He finally asked after a few moments of silence.

Emily noticed how he once again started using formal language but decided to stay silent about it.

She pondered about his question for a few seconds before she slowly shook her head in denial.

"Nothing. Why? Is something wrong?" She asked as she looked at him with curious eyes.

She watched as a frown appeared on his face, making him appear even more lethal than usual.

"Not really. I probably overthought it. Don't pay much attention to it." Kaiden finally replied to her questions as he gave her a warm smile.

Something was telling her that he was not speaking the truth but once again she decided to stay quiet about her doubts.

She was curious about what made him initially pull away from her in shock but when she had asked, he only ignored her question.

For some reason, she knew that he still was thinking about whatever that mystery was.

Emily kept silent as she focused on drinking her tea and healing her angry bruises.

Kaiden watched her as she slowly enjoyed the hot liquid as if it was her favorite drink. It made a soft genuine smile appear on his lips as he gazed at her with warmth.

The need of getting close to her and wrapping her in his arms grew stronger as he watched the bruises on her hands that were slowly fading away.

"There's still a long time before you will finally turn eighteen," Kaiden mumbled softly with a sigh.

It was supposed to be a whisper but somehow she ended up hearing him.

"Umm, yeah."

Emily slowly nodded her head even though she was aware that he was actually not asking her.

A twitch appeared on his beautiful lips as he gazed at her with his intense eyes as he spoke, "Looks like I've to wait for quite some time."

"Huh?"

Emily was totally clueless about what he was talking about. Moreover, it looked like he was talking to himself rather than her.

Kaiden shook his head her confused look before he stood up from his seat, making the girl follow his suit.

This time he did not try to stop himself as he walked closer to her, closing the distance between the two of them.

Just in a few blinks, he was standing right in front of her. His tall body towering over her as she craned her neck to look up at him.

He did not even realize what he was doing as one of his hands moved to grip her neck from behind.

The other one moving at the same time to cup her soft cheek which had turned slightly pink, creating a natural blush on her milky skin.

"I have never hated the boundaries that separate the two provinces of this city ever before in my life. But currently, all I want to do is to get rid of those stupid rules that forbid me from stepping into your territory."

His voice was raw with emotions as he let his guards down around her for the very first time. Letting her see exactly how much he wanted to disperse the problems that were keeping him away from her.

"Are you okay, Mr. Sullivan?" Emily asked softly as she saw the sadness that suddenly was so easy to detect in his icy blue eyes.

Kaiden did not reply as he kept gazing at her without even blinking. It was like he wanted to capture her in his memory.

Very slowly, he let his forehead fall against hers as he found her got breath fanning his cheeks.

"I'm sorry for overstepping my boundaries today. It's just........I'm just taken by surprise after finding his scent on you. I promise to not...FUCK THIS!"

Emily was listening to his apology as he tried to tell her something. His breathing was fast and so were his heartbeats. His warm breath caressing the skin of her jaw, making her shiver in return.

But she definitely was not prepared to suddenly hear him curse out so loud.

Just when she was about to pull away from him to see what was wrong, she found him pulling her face to a standstill as he planted a warm and powerful kiss on her forehead.

She was so shocked by the sudden kiss that she was left spellbound by him.

Her breath got caught in her throat while her heartbeat accelerated to such a point where she almost became deaf because of its harsh pounding sounds.

As those warm and soft lips left her forehead, she immediately found herself pulled against his chest.

His strong arms circling around her as he pulled her tighter in his embrace.

Emily could barely find her voice due to the surprise that she had received from the actions of the Young CEO.

She was still caught in her thoughts when she heard the door of the official opening and she immediately recognized the familiar sounds of footsteps.

Her heart almost dropped to the pit of her stomach in fear as she heard the sharp and angry voice of her brother.