"Sir, you have a very special visitor today", Carla notified as she stood on the doorway of my office, excitement evident in her voice a little

"Who?"

Her lips curved up in a smile. "Your brother, Quinton".

"Does Quinton have an appointment?", I asked mischievously, and she frowned for a second. "Just because he's my brother it doesn't mean he has to get any special favors Carla"

She heaved a sigh, placing a hand on her hip. "I didn't think he has to have an appointment to see his older brother"

"I'm just kidding", I laughed. "You can send him through", she nodded her head in agreement and closed the door behind her. Minutes later Quinton walked in my office with a smile on his face, I couldn't tell whether he was mocking me or he was actually happy to see me resulting from our ahem, recent encounter where I beat his ass for putting Layla's life in danger.

"Has your receptionist always been this weird?", he twisted his lip to the side as he sat down. "She's been grinning at me the second I go here"

I laughed. "She sometimes acts weird but I have gotten used to her behavior now, and it's obvious that she has a crush on you"

He chuckled, shaking his head a little. "She seems like a nice girl, I'm just not interested"

"Don't tell me you still stuck up on........what's her name again?", I asked about the girl in our neighborhood he had a crush on her ever since we were kids. He hasn't been in a serious relationship in his life because of that girl.

"Her name is Amy, and I'm not struck up over her. I really, really like her", his eyes softened by the mention of her name and I made a puppy dog face.

"Aww, that's adorable. You're in love", I clapped my hands together making kissing sounds.

"Eww, that's disgusting", he crinkled his nose, making a disgusted face and I laughed

"Have you finally changed your mind about joining the company?", I wiggled my eyebrows at him

He chuckled. "Never"

"So why are you here then?", I noticed the smile fade on his face as he cleared his throat and leaned back on his chair. I just knew right there and then that shit was about to get real.

"Daniel contacted me again", he breathed out and hearing his name made my veins burn up in anger, I felt my blood boil

"What did he want?"

"He made it clear that he's out for blood Damon, your blood"

"He's finally ready to take revenge on me, isn't he?", I watched him nod his head in agreement

"He's planning something huge", he heaved a sigh. "He's going to hit you where it hurts the most, and I'm sure you're aware who is the first person he'll target, right?"

"Layla", I said quietly as I stood to my feet and walked to the window. She can't get tangled up in my mess. "Did he say why he's involving you in this?"

"He thinks I want to avenge myself because Grandad chose you to run the company instead of me"

My eyebrows ceased in confusion. "I'm the firstborn though, meaning I'm entitled to run this company first"

"I'm not even fighting that, but surely Daniel doesn't think the same way everybody does, I just had to play along so that I could be in the inside. He's clearly using me because I'm a close member of the family, meaning that if anything happens to Layla....", he trailed while raising his brow for me to get a hint.

"That means you'll be least suspected"

"Ding Ding Ding! Two points for you", he said playfully, and I threw him a glare.

"This is not the time for your stupid jokes Quinton. We're dealing with a sociopath here"

"Every thing is under control, Damon. You just need to trust me", his voice was soft and reasurring.

"How can you be so sure of that? Anything can happen"

"Despite our differences, you are still my brother, and I'll always have your back", he tilted his head to the side. "You know that right?"

"Yeah, I know", I nodded in agreement, and he grinned in response and I softened up a little, his smile surely did wonders. I wonder how Amy hasn't fallen for him yet when Carla certainly did.

I leaned back on my seat. "So what now?"

"I need you to take Layla somewhere far away, buy me enough time to come up with something concrete"

"Okay I get that but where do I take her?", I looked at him hoping he could give me a few suggestions, and he rose his hands in surrender, backing away from mentioning any suggestions

"I think it's best if I don't know where you plan on taking her. If

Daniel clicks that I tipped you off, he's going to torture the truth out of me".

"It's also not safe for you here Quinton. He is capable of killing you if he doesn't get what he wants".

He shook his head. "I'm one of the few people he trusts. I have to stick around to buy us some more time, feed him the wrong information or something".

"Quinton-"

"It's going to be too obvious if we all disappear at the same time"

I hesitated. "I'm not going to let you sacrifice yourself on my behalf"

"I'm going to be okay Damon", he reassured as his lips curved into a smile. "I promise"

Daniel wasn't a difficult individual to figure out. He was unpredictable sometimes, but it wasn't that hard to read his mind. I've known him a long time to know how he operates.

"You know if we play our cards right it won't be necessary to feed him the wrong information", a smile played on my lips when an idea came to mind. "What if I told you we could beat Daniel at his own game?"

Quinton's eyebrows knitted up in confusion. "What do you mean?"

I took out my phone to dial a number, "I think I have a plan"

I arrived home to find it was a lot quieter than normal. Layla was usually on the couch reading her books at this time of day, but today there was no sign of her. When I closed the door behind me, a pair of feet thumped down the stairs.

"What's going on?", she stood in front of me with her arms folded. "Why do I have to pack my bags?"

"Don't I even get a hello?", I rose a brow at her, and she rolled her eyes

"Hello", she grumbled. "Why do I have to pack my bags? Where are we going?"

"My day was okay too, thank you for asking", I said sarcastically as took her face in my hands to peck her softly on the lips

"Damon", she whined a little, growing irritated with me not telling her what was going on. "Tell me what's going on"

"We're going away", I smiled, my hands traveling down her arms to pull her in close

"Going away where?"

"Patience Mrs Kingsley, you'll soon find out"

"Okay?", she didn't sound convinced. "Why now though all of a sudden?"

"I wasn't aware we needed to have a reason to go on a trip as a married couple"

She heaved a sigh. "I don't mean it like that, I'm just saying the timing is a bit wrong considering there's a baby on the way, and I'm still busy decorating the nursery"

"This is why we need to go on this little vacation, to blow off some steam a little just before the baby is born because once the baby gets here, things will never go back to being the same again"

"It's still a little short notice though"

"We'll still have time to prepare ourselves for the baby's arrival. Let's just focus on us for now and take things one step at a time, hmm?", I leaned to peck her on the lips. "Come with me, please?"

She locked eyes with me before her lips spread into an adorable smile.

"If you put it like that then I guess I can't say no-", she squirmed a little when I suddenly lifted her up, hugging her close to me, and I could felt her arms wrap around my neck

"You're the best", I smiled at her, and she wrapped her legs around me, waving her fingers in my hair

"Yeah, you're not so bad yourself", she reciprocated my smile. "So, when are we leaving?"

"Tonight"

Arriving at our destination just before noon, Damon was still checking the maintenance of the beach house we were residing in for the duration of our stay, making sure that everything was working and that the doors were secure enough so that we didn't experience any break in's

To keep busy, I started unpacking my clothes into my side of closet and came across a piece of clothing that I was sure I didn't put in there just when I was about to finish. I took the garment out, strangely staring blankly at with while studying it. The attire was a see through, lace decorated breast area dark mixture of black and red baby doll nightie that had a flowy bottom, and it would probably hit above my mid-thigh if I wore it, and it really looked sexy and tempting.

I had absolutely no idea how it ended up in my bag

Hearing Damon walking towards our bedroom, I quickly stuffed the nightie into the bag, and he appeared in sight just when I was about to stand up, nervous as hell and I saw his eyebrow arch up in confusion

"Are you okay?"

"I've never been better", I forced a smile, taking the bag to put in the closer and his eyes dropped from my me the bag suspiciously, clearly not believing me but nodded a little in my direction

"So do you like it?", he asked and my eyes widened a little in surprise, was he talking about the lingerie? Did he put it in my bag? What does he expect me to say?

"Layla?", worry was evident from his face as he was now standing next to me and I realized I didn't answer his question because my mind was all over the place

"Yes?"

"Where is your mind today?", he laughed softly. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I'm fine", I laughed nervously, and he hummed in response, so to distract him from his question I pulled him for a hug and heard him breathe a sigh of relief, tightening his grip around me a little and planted his lips on my forehead just when he was about to release me

"So I'll take that as a yes?", he quirked up an eyebrow and my eyes lurked around in confusion, I was so confused it wasn't even funny

"A yes to what?"

"That you like the island"

"Oh", I breathed out a breath I didn't even notice I was holding it before pulling away from him to stand by one of the large windows in our bedroom to look at the view outside. The ocean water reflecting the rays of the merciless southern sun, waves crawling gently to the shore, I could wait to let my feet sink in the golden sand. The green surrounding the island seemed to have a healing power to soothe and relax the mind. It was so quiet and calm. The view was just so breathtaking, I could just look at it the whole day.

"It's really beautiful and so far I love it", I felt Damon wrap his arms around me, hugging me from behind

"It was Grandad wedding gift to us. We were supposed to come here for our honeymoon, but I cancelled the trip a few days before our wedding", I felt him heave a sigh and turned to face him. "I've made many mistakes in my life Layla and being a jerk toward you is not something I'm not proud of, if only I could take back all the pain I've caused you, I would in a heartbeat-"

I interrupted him by placing my index finger on his lips. "We're way past that now"

"I'm really sorry though", he seemed sincere, and I wrapped my arms around him, embracing him in a warm hug and I could feel him relax under my embrace

"It's okay", I whispered against his ear, staying in that position for a few minutes before pulling away from each other, and he took both my hands in his, lifting them to his lips to plant soft kisses and I smiled

"Come let's go", he pulled me behind him. "I want to show you around the island"

On our first morning on the island, I had got up a little earlier than I was used to getting out of bed to make some breakfast, leaving Damon still very fast asleep on the bed, tired from yesterday's tour. I didn't want to make any noise with the TV or radio to wake him up, so I plugged my earphones in, jamming to some music while I found my way around the kitchen, also because music helped me to get things done a lot faster, even though I would dance to it half of the time. While whisking the eggs together, I felt Damon circle around my waist, hugging me from behind and planted a soft kiss on my temple.

"Good Morning", I took one earphone out, finding satisfaction from being covered from the warmth of his body, the feeling was honestly out of this world and comforting. I would be lying if I said it didn't feel good.

"Good Morning", his breath fanned the side of my face before feeling his press his lips on the nape of my neck.

"Did you get enough rest?"

"Mh-hmm", I hummed in response, already shivering a little under my skin as he continued planting soft kisses in circles around my neck. "Did you?"

"I did, but it was a little disappointing to wake up and not see you laying besides me", he whispered against my ear and goosebumps started spreading rapidly on my skin as I felt one of his hands travelling down a little to rub against my hip slowly, and I bit hard on my lip when he started biting gently on my neck and a soft moan escaped my lips

"Shhh", he cooed softly. "Not too loud"

He turned me around swiftly and pulled me close, tilting his head to the side a little to capture his lips with mine for a slow, knee weakling passionate kiss that had me trembling

"What are you making?", he whispered against my lips before pulling away just a little so that we grazed into each other's eyes, and I was lost for words a little as I stated into his stormy orbs, luring enough to get lost in. The look in his eyes, my god! I belonged to him and it showed.

"Um, pancakes", I muttered

"Oh great", his lips turned up into a side smile. "I absolutely love your pancakes, am I too late to help you make them?"

"I was just beginning", I was still very much under his hold and his eyebrows knitted a little in confusion

"Are you okay?"

"I'm fine", I pulled away from his grip, pulling my shirt a little to fan my skin a little. "It's just a little hot in here"

"Really?", he seemed amused. "Do you want me to turn the air conditioner on?"

"No need", I laughed nervously. "I'll be fine"

"Okay so, how can I help you?"

"I'm managing just fine, thanks"

"You don't want my help?"

"No"

"Not even a little bit?", he promoted, and I shook my head. Next thing I knew, I had flour on my cheek because he claimed I had something on my face.

"Oh", his voice was apologetic. "It's spreading", he snickered to himself as he continued caressing my cheek and I saw the flour really spreading across my face. He must have dipped his hand in the flour before caressing my cheek. Clever bastard.

"So this is how you really want to play huh?", I threw a fist full of flour on his face and he grasped in shock before a wry smile started to appear on his face

"Okay, you asked for it", he took two fists full of flour and rubbed it on my face, laughing so hard as I stood there, clearly looking like a ghost. He immediately stopped laughing when he saw me grab the flour container and emptied it on his head and he screamed in horror, jumping all over the kitchen while running his hands frantically through his hair. It didn't make this any better for him when I started laughing at him, and he stared at me for a good minute, watching as I struggled catching my breath from all that laughing.

"You are so going to pay for that", he started chasing me all over the kitchen, but I managed to dodge him for a while until he eventually caught up with me and I started apologizing when he threatened to tickle me, so that I had something to laugh about. When he was satisfied with ticking me into I was out of breath, unleashing my ugly laugh and everything, he picked me and threw me over his shoulder.

"Where are we going?", I asked when we ascended up the stairs, and he kept his grip tight around me

"You're going to wash my hair, I look like a cake with all this flour in it"

"You started it", I laughed again, and he put me down when we reached the top of the staircase and held me firmly in his arms so that I didn't escape. My eyes widened when I saw all the mess we made in the kitchen downstairs, from all the way up here, it really looked bad.

"Look at that, it's a mess"

"We'll clean it after you wash and condition my hair"

"Never", I stuck my tounge at him, and he suddenly towered above me

"What did you say?", he dared me to repeat myself to him and I wasn't fazed at all

"I'm never going to wash-", he crashed his lips into mine in a long, lingering kiss and I ran my hands in his messy, flour coated hair, pulling myself to his height. The kiss lasted for a while longer before I pulled away abruptly, feeling the urge to sneeze.

"Bless you", he cooed in a baby voice. "See why you need to wash my hair?"

I sneezed again. "I can live without kissing you"

"You can, but I won't", he dragged me into the bathroom, with me holding onto the doorway for dear life before he peeled my fingers off and locked us into the bathroom

Later on that night, after washing his hair, sightseeing for a few hours and him making us dinner, I laid on top of him on the couch, with my head rested on his chest and I felt every heartbeat pounding against my ear while he stroked my head softly, enjoying the warmth of the fireplace. He had his eyes closed the entire time, humming to the sound of the soft jazz music that was playing in the background.

"This is perfect", he said quietly, opening his eyes to find me already looking at him. "I've always wondered how it will be like to do this with you"

"Why haven't you?"

"So that you can tell me to go to hell?", he chuckled. "I don't think so"

"I wouldn't have said no"

"Of course you wouldn't have said no because you're into the romance tactics. This is kinda your thing, right?"

"Not really but this is nice though"

"So would you say I romantic?", he wiggled his eyebrows at me

"No"

"Rate me out of 5"

"Zero comma five"

"I can't be that bad", he chuckled softly, pulling me up with him as he sat up straight. "Okay tell me, what do you regard as romantic? "

"A lot of things"

He rose an eyebrow. "Like?"

"Are you sure you want me to go through the list?", I raised a brow, and he twitched his lip to the side, shrugging a little

"How long is it?"

"Very long"

"Okay, I have time", he adjusted in his seat. "Amuse me"

"Being romantic is pretty simple", I started, and he scoffed mockingly

"Simple?"

"Yes simple", I glared at him for interrupting before clearing my throat. "For instance you could write me a poem, cooking dinner for me and wash the dishes afterwards-"

"The fuck?", he interrupted me by laughing out loud. "That's just plain ridiculous. Why do I have to wash the dished if I cooked?"

I quirked up an eyebrow "Don't you want to earn free brownie points?"

"Oh, so there are browny points involved?", he asked amused, and I nodded my head. "I like where this is going, please continue"

He invisibly zipped his mouth shut, motioning I carry on

"As I was saying before being rudely interrupted", I threw him another glare, and he started snickering. "You could buy me a bouquet of flowers every once in a while, accompanied by lots and lots of chocolate"

"Okay I hear that but let's talk about you, what do you want?"