Ordinarily, he loathed it when women flung themselves at him. They had tried all sorts of methods from the 'I am not interested' to the 'coquettish' type.

All disgusted him to no end.

However, when Sayuri teased him with those words, he didn't find it repulsive. That was a testament to how comfortable he was with her.

Guess the ninja ties ran far deeper than he realised.

"And you can say that with such a straight face, too," Kyle said impassively, "Truly thick-skinned indeed."

Sayuri propped her chin on her arm as she smiled sweetly at him, fluttering her eyelashes dramatically, "Of course. If I didn't, you'd never get out from behind that desk and eat. Anyway, I worked hard to convince Uncle, you know. You owe me a reward."

"Such shameless behaviour," Kyle mused as he got up, "Are you sure you're the next CEO?"

"What? Demanding what I am due is only natural, not shameless," Sayuri quipped, getting up as well, "Unless you are saying I have to be a cold CEO like you?"

Kyle stopped for a second, then resumed his walk to the door, "Well, this is just how I am. I can't pretend to be something I'm not."

"Oh, I know," Sayuri said softly beside him, "I don't mind it at all. After all, you're still you."

Kyle opened the door and let her through first, saying, "Really? Even Kay says I've changed. I'm not the brother that I once was."

"Yes, you aren't," Sayuri said as she walked by, "But you're still you."

Kyle stared at her back, his eyes lowered, hiding the slight emotion that flashed through his eyes.

"Beatrice, I'm taking Sayuri out for lunch. Please book a table for two at the usual place."

"Okay, Sir," Beatrice replied.

"And how many times must I tell you, about calling me Sir?" Kyle asked exasperatingly.

Beatrice looked at Kyle, then around the office then back at Kyle, "And how many times must I repeat myself? At work, you're the boss."

"When it's just amongst us, what's wrong with calling my name?" Kyle asked, staring at her.

"At work, you're the boss, Sir," Beatrice said unwaveringly.

Sayuri laughed and tapped Kyle's shoulder, "Give up, Kyle. She's always been very formal, right?"

Kyle shook his head and just about then, there was a huge wail at the door, "Sayuri!! Kyle!!"

Kyle's head whipped up and saw Xing Han coming over, being flanked by Yuri and Zack as he ran over.

Xing Han grabbed onto Kyle and hid behind him, pointing at the twins, "Kyle, you're my last hope! Tell them!"

Of course, it's not like the lean frame of Kyle actually hid the fluffy Xing Han, but the coldness emitting from Kyle did make the twins stop.

"What's going on?" Kyle asked coldly.

The twins looked at the scene in front of them helplessly.

"Little Boss, please, can you not do this?" pleaded Zack at Xing Han, "Please come back with us."

"No!" Xing Han shouted as he peered behind Kyle's shoulder, "You go tell him that I'm here with my best friend! I'm not going back!"

Beatrice's eye twitched.

Xing Han may be a board member and leader of Cosa Nostra here, but unlike Kyle, his behaviour did not change at all. It was only during meetings that he appeared serious but otherwise …

He was exactly the same as he had been in school.

"Ice...hhhh," Zack stammered, making the initial word 'Ice' sound like 'aish' instead as he turned to Kyle, "Please, can you coax Little Boss to come home?"

"I dun wanna," Xing Han insisted, flinging his hand on Kyle's shoulder, "I haven't seen my BFF for ages! He can't tell me what to do. Humph."

Yuri stepped forward, saying, "Please understand. Boss .. is just jealous."

"That's HIS problem, not mine!" roared Xing Han, "How can he be jealous of my BFF?!"

Xing Han hugged Kyle tightly in front of the twins who were fidgeting, "I've been with Kyle since forever and if there was anything that would have developed between us, it would have happened long ago!!"

Xing Han pointed a finger at Zack and Yuri, "Both of you can go back to that Green Cookie that THIS Fluffy Puppy is staying right here."

"Well …" Zack said, rubbing the back of his neck, "Can you at least not have so much skinship? Boss wouldn't be like this if you didn't …"

"What? What? THIS bothers you, is it?" Xing Han sneered, "So what if I did this?!"

Xing Han brought his face close to Kyle and started rubbing his cheek on Kyle's cheek. Yuri and Zack visibly flinched and Beatrice finally couldn't help the laughter that escaped her lips.

Yuri and Zack immediately turned to look at her, annoyed, then stopped.

They gave a quick look at each other before looking back at her.

It had been an uphill battle in trying to get Xing Han to get back with them.

Nitocris had roared at them to get his puppy back and they ran. However, they couldn't convince the indignant Little Boss to follow them and they couldn't grab onto him. Boss would kill them if they did.

So, in the end, they just kept on following Xing Han from behind, trying to coax him back. They had been so focused on the figure in front of them that they did not look at anyone else. They were aware of their surroundings, but they were just not looking on actual faces.

Now, however, there was someone really intriguing right in front of their eyes that caught their attention immediately.

The way she stood there, all prim and proper while snickering at them was really alluring. She wasn't even afraid of them, staring at them in disdain.

They found it utterly fascinating.

They were well aware of the aura and image they gave out. People feared them.

"What?" Beatrice asked them unflinchingly as they stared at her.

Truly interesting indeed.

The twins grinned.