I hadn't expected to ever go to dinner with Ben Capra, but here I was, mesmerised with the way he ate his grilled veal fillet steak.

He had clearly been hungry, and concentrated fully on eating instead of on me. This, of course, was more than fine, since it abled me to study him.

He had slipped his suit jacket off once we entered, before we were led to the table I had originally reserved for Tony and myself.

"Are you not hungry?" He raised his dark gaze up to mine, oblivious to how everyone here was fixated on him.

"I, uh... no, not really," I offered him a tight-lipped smile and quickly glanced down at the small dish of smoked chicken, mozzarella and olive pesto salad I had ordered.

"I haven't had proper haute cuisine in a moment," he seemed so in-control and casual, even in a gourmet restaurant like this, "only problem is the portions are so damn tiny."

He understood his own authority and power, and knew he didn't even need to lift up a finger for anybody.

I laughed quietly and nodded once in agreement, "true."

"How old are you, Sofia?" He asked once I finally began eating my dinner, "if you don't mind me asking."

It didn't take long for him to finish his main course, and now proceeded to watch me slowly eat mine as I had done with him.

"I'm 22. What about you?"

His brows raised at my answer, before he sipped his red wine.

"29. You're way too young to be working as a..." his voice trailed off as he looked for a better word than the one he was thinking about.

I knew he thought of me as a sort of prostitute, and the idea of him seeing me like that caused me immense anxiety. Not because I cared about what he thought of me, but because I wanted to greatly distance myself from the title.

"Mr Capra, I—" I began with a small shake of my head, growing rather protective of myself.

It was my life, he shouldn't judge me by what I did for a living. If he only knew what I used to do, he'd lose his mind.

"Ben," he cut me off, and my brows furrowed.

"What?" I cleared my throat quietly and placed down my cutlery to fully focus on him.

"Call me Ben. You won't work for me for long anyway, it won't hurt anybody," he shrugged while I continued hesitating.

"Alright," I slowly agreed, "Ben."

The sides of his lips pulled up into a small and sexy grin. He leaned back in his seat casually and motioned for me to continue with an answer to his question.

"What I do is crucial for your family's... business," I avoided the word 'mafia' in the nick of time, knowing very well the people around us could hear as they all seemed interested in Ben Capra being here, "you might not see it, but without me, many of your accomplishments wouldn't have happened."

"I know how important you are for us, sweetheart, don't get me wrong," he chuckled to himself, his low voice causing my core to clench with sudden need, "I just... how did you end up here? Didn't you have other aspirations in life?"

I didn't, actually. This job was better than I could have ever dreamed of having. But he wasn't going to know that.

"I studied to become a ballet dancer," I lied and pulled out the only card I knew how to use in situations like these, "your father found me and we became friends. He offered me a job and I willingly accepted, aware of what it entailed."

Just like with all the men I used the ballet dancer story on, he seemed very interested.

"Really?"

"Yes," I sipped my red wine.

"You gave up being a ballet dancer for this?" The fact confused him.

I simply shrugged, "everybody has their preferences."

"I gave up working on a PhD in law for this," he replied, his tone one of showing off. I hadn't a clue what having a PhD in law meant, with my measly high school education, but it definitely sounded like something to be proud of.

He was highly educated, there was no doubt about that.

I smiled, "law? And now you're head of an illegal mafia... bit ironic, isn't it?"

I had lowered my voice considerably, making sure no-one heard. Ben laughed.

"It is. I have an advantage, though. I know all the loopholes," he winked, "besides, I didn't have much of a say in it. I would have rather continued studying."

"Sure," I tried to calm down myself thanks to his attractive wink, but ended up glancing down at my lap to hide my expression.

"Tell me more about that ballet of yours," he requested once I met his dark eyes once more.

I tilted my head at him after shaking my head, "I'm a very private person. I get very uncomfortable when people ask me too many questions."

"Am I asking you too many questions?" He raised his brows at me questioningly.

"Yes."

__

After dinner with Ben Capra, which turned out to be more of a positive experience than I'd expected, he drove me home.

"Thank you," I gave him a small smile, thanking him for making me forget Tony for a few hours, paying for dinner and also driving me.

"My pleasure, Sofia," he was carefully observing me as I grabbed my bag and unbuckled the seatbelt.

"I had my number added to your new phone before I gave it to you," Ben cleared his throat with a small chuckle, "just incase you need anything."

"Oh," I met his eyes for a moment before he looked away into the darkness of my street, "sure. Thanks."

Just as I was opening the passenger's side door, he reached over to take a gentle hold of my wrist, stopping me.

I already had one leg outside on the pavement, but turned back a little to see what he was up to.

"You're beautiful, do you know that?" He murmured lowly, his eyes flickering down to my lips.

My eyes widened a little and I felt heat creep up my neck when I realised he was beginning to lean in, his hand moving from my wrist to cup my jaw.

"Tonight was nice, thank you again," I fumbled over my words, panicking suddenly, "good night."

Without letting him reply or even process my words, I rushed to get out of his car.

My heart was racing, eyes still wide as I had no idea how to feel about what had just almost happened. Ben Capra had tried to kiss me.

After closing the car door, I rushed into my building and to my flat, unable to rid his overpowering presence from my mind.

The most powerful man in the world had just tried to kiss me, and a part of me had gotten very excited by the idea.