17 - Erik Black

-Clear…

The named one stood up from the ground, almost tripping over the long fake one that got tangled in her heels. She still wasn't able to direct her gaze towards her boss, she was embarrassed, but worse still, she was hurt and very jealous of the beautiful woman she had been with her boss.

"How long have you been there?" She asked uncomfortably. "D-did you hear something?" She said, fearing that if she had done it.

"No..." she answered curtly. "I just arrived, I just tripped over her stupid dress," she cleared her throat uncomfortably and swallowing her tears.

-Oh I see. –

This was definitely not the way she had imagined crossing paths with Helena. He had thought about watching her walk in slow motion, as if she were in a dream, that she would wear a radiant smile that was directed at him, just for him, and she would reach out and take her arm as they walked together to the car. .

Instead, she Helena wouldn't even look him in the eyes and she seemed to hate her dress.

"Well, come on, it's getting late," the man said, getting out of bed in one movement.

Helena looked away from her even more when she felt Ivan approaching her. She felt her heart beat against her chest when the man was just a few inches away from her body.

She imagined that now she would offer him her arm and with a dimpled smile she would say, “Let's go?”

But he never passed, he felt the raven gaze on her, a heavy sigh and then he followed her path leaving her room.

-I will wait for you downstairs.

Helena was shocked, looking at her hands trembling with rage and also with the sadness that invaded her. She really was very naive to believe that things would turn out differently.

Ivan got into the car in the back seat and looked out the window waiting for Helena to walk through the door.

Why had he thought it could be like a first date? He had to remember that she was only there because it was her job and that, if she had worn the beautiful dress, it was because he was her boss and obeyed her orders, she felt like an idiot for believing that. she would gladly do it. He was delusional.

Helena finally appeared in his sight, and although he knew it was all in his head, he couldn't help but catch his breath seeing her descend the stairs with such grace and beauty, for him it was seeing her in slow motion, with her skirt flying in the wind. , her rebellious locks finished in curls and her tense but beautiful look.

All his daydreaming ended when Helena got into the car and slammed the door shut, bringing him back to harsh reality.

"Well, let's go," the young woman said dryly.

Ivan looked away from her and gestured for her driver to start.

The first half of the trip they were both silent, each looking towards her window. Suddenly everything was uncomfortable, it was not a silence that is enjoyed, but one that the young man needed to end, he needed to say something, anything, to fix things, although he did not know what he had done wrong.

-Helena I...

"Okay, Mr. White, what you do or don't do in your private life is none of my business, let's pretend that I didn't see anything," she exclaimed before she could finish speaking, but still without looking him in the eyes.

“Mr. White,” her words had stuck like needles throughout her body.

Ivan was taken aback, he wanted to tell her that nothing had happened with that woman, although in reality he did not understand why he would have to give her explanations if they were nothing, but for some reason her heart asked him otherwise.

"Nothing really happened," he hastened to say.

Helena fell into silence that felt like an eternity.

"You don't have to explain to me," she finally answered, still looking out the window. "I'm just her bodyguard."

What Ivan didn't see was that a timid, crystalline tear fell from his face and that he surreptitiously wiped away.

“What if I want you to be more than that?” He thought inside her, but said nothing. He sighed heavily and stopped looking at the girl's beautiful neck.

-You're right, I shouldn't explain anything to you-

Helena nodded her head and they didn't say anything else, it was the most uncomfortable trip of their lives.

On the one hand, Helena was mentally repeating to herself that what she hadn't even started was over.

On the other was Ivan who kept telling himself that his priority was the family business, and that that woman had distracted him a lot, he had to go back to being his old self.

A man without a heart.

They finally arrived at the event along with another car that carried their other bodyguards, they all got out and walked along an elegant wine-colored carpet. Ivan walked in front of her, and although he turned towards the young woman, wishing that she would at least walk alongside him, she seemed more focused on covering her back and looking around with a cunning, feline gaze.

Ivan sighed and continued on his way into the event hall.

There he met many important people to whom he gave a few minutes of his time to talk astutely and always taking the opportunity to do some business.

His and Helena's men had placed themselves in strategic places in the room to keep him under surveillance in the best way.

The brunette had received an earpiece from which he could talk and listen to his companions for anything that happened. His honey-colored gaze was attentive to all the guests, although from time to time he could not help but stop at that man whom he was protecting with his own life.

Ivan White was a handsome man, there was no doubt about that, but that night he was particularly resplendent, his smile was more radiant than ever and she had even heard him laugh several times in a melodic voice that had made her blush. .

What caught his attention was that his black two-piece suit and dark gray shirt were combined with a gold tie and a handkerchief of the same color. Just like his dress.

He couldn't help but think that they seemed like two pieces of the same puzzle, husband and wife, the couple of the night.

It's a pity that all that was only in his twisted and childish mind.

Suddenly, Ivan's dark and deep gaze moved towards where Helena was, but without stopping talking to his partners. Embarrassed, Helena pretended to be listening to something in the receiver and nodded her head as if she hadn't been looking directly into her boss's face the entire time until she punched a hole in her forehead.

She swallowed nervously and promised herself not to look again, even for a while, so as not to reveal her feelings.

-What is such a pretty woman doing without company?

A voice from her had brought her out of her thoughts, she quickly turned towards the person, finding herself with a boy who looked the same age as her, with brown hair curled to his ears and bright brown eyes.

A smile was drawn on his delicate but handsome face.

-I'm sorry, it was a very cliché phrase, wasn't it? -He exclaimed embarrassed.

Helena couldn't help but smile when she saw his blush.

"A little bit, yes," she replied, following the joke.

-I'm sorry, I didn't know what else to say to get you to pay attention to me- she said smiling- by the way, my name is Erik.

-Helena, delighted.

-Do you think I buy you something and we can chat for a while, Helena?

"I don't drink alcohol," she responded suspiciously.

She would never drink with a stranger again, not after what had happened at the club where she worked, plus she was on duty, she had to have a clear mind.

-No problem with that, you can have something without alcohol- she said smiling.-

Helena looked at him as if scanning him, he didn't seem like a bad guy, plus she couldn't tell him that she was working, she was supposed to be undercover, so she would just continue pretending that she was just another guest and wouldn't take her eyes off her boss. .

-Okay, a glass of water could be.

"A glass of water comes out then!" the man shouted, making the young woman laugh.

After talking with Erik for a while, he turned out not to be a bad guy, he didn't seem to have any dark intentions with her and he hadn't tried to win her over all night. That relieved her, for some reason she felt like she would have betrayed Ivan if she didn't respond to his flirting.

“Why do you care about what he thinks? Remember, they are nothing” The cruel voice in her head told her.

---

Ivan had finished a grueling talk with one of his suppliers when he was finally able to shake hands and step away from the circle in which he had been surrounded.

He searched with his gaze for Helena, realizing that he was no longer in her position.

“What the fuck?” He thought worried and alarmed.

“Maybe he went to the bathroom” he thought to himself. But that didn't calm him, so he approached one of his men and whispered in his ear.

-Where is Helena? -He asked without further ado.

"She's at the bar flirting with Erik Black," the young man said, knowing that Helena would be in big trouble.

Ivan's black eyes burned with flames just by hearing the name of his greatest enemy, the head of the Luna Group, Erik Black.