PRETTY TROUBLE 2

Somewhere on the way, Cassandra had stirred in her unconsciousness, and it had pacified Eros. He has never been this out of his mind seeing someone hurt before.

   When they got to the mansion, he got out of the car, took Cassandra out of the car with Leo's help, and carried her bridal style toward the house. He kept looking at the perfection that was her face as he approached the front door. The cut on her forehead didn't mar the beauty and it drew him in more. The pronounced lines of her eyebrows, her lush eyelashes, her straight, small nose, the beautiful contour of her cheekbones, and her slightly parted lips, she was all shades of beauty and mystery to him.

    Bully and Apollo came running out to get Cassandra from him, but he restricted them, shoving Cassandra away from their outstretched arms.

    "What happened to her?" the guy Apollo asked concerned.

    Eros ignored him, but something shifted in him, something was not sitting right with the concern in the guy's voice. Eros didn't like that this guy was concerned about Cassandra. But that was not an important case right now, Cassie was and tonight, he was taking care of her.

    He stopped when he saw a fuming Dimitra in the living room, waiting with her hands on her waist. She eyed the woman in his hands but remained quiet, watching him move ahead. She dares not stop him to ask unnecessary questions when she could see he was pretty occupied and in a hurry.

    Javier and Carlos came out of the kitchen and were surprised to see him carry a woman in his arms. It was almost unimaginable, and they all stood in different corners of the living room watching him like he stepped out from a whole different planet as he made his way up the stairs.

     "Bully, get me the first aid box from Grandma Adella's apartment, you, Apollo, get it to my room and get the maids to give you aspirin."

     "Yes, boss," Bully and Apollo chorused and dashed out of the living room immediately.

    Eros got to his bedroom door, and inserted the key card into the door, a beep sound indicated that it has been unlocked, he turned the knob and kicked it open with his foot. His room was dark, but once he stepped in, the lights came on their own. He moved to the giant, luxurious bed in the middle of the room and gently laid her. She muttered some unintelligible words and turned to lie on her side, snuggling up.

    He sat on the side of the bed, looking at her face and pondering why he was so attracted to her. He pushed a strand of hair away from her face, gently tugging it behind her ears. Her face seems to have charms of its own because he wasn't able to remove his eyes from her.

    In no time, a faint knock came on his door, he snapped his head towards the door, removing his gaze from Cassandra for only a few seconds, and returned them to her face before answering.

    "Come in," he barked. "Code is 1475887."

Apollo came in, holding a first aid box in one hand and a tray of medicine in the other hand. He was so interested in watching Cassandra that he didn't see Apollo's clenched jaw and his fist tightening around the first aid box.

   "Drop them and leave us alone," he said to the new guy.

  Apollo dropped the first aid box and tray on the nightstand and started to leave, his feet pounding heavily on the floor.

     "Er...do you happen to know anything about the treatment of wounds?" Eros asked bringing him to a halt. All Eros knew about was how to inflict wounds and not do treat them.

    "I can do it for you if you want, boss," Apollo replied.

   The thought of standing there watching another man touch Cassandra in his presence made him shake his head and wave him off.

    "You may leave."

  When Apollo was gone, he fished his phone out of his pocket and went on YouTube. Surely, there must be a video or two about tending to small cuts. While watching the videos, he kept convincing himself that the only reason he cared was that he was responsible for the cut on her head. But since when did he even care?

    After watching multiple videos of treating small wounds on YouTube, he kept his phone and set out to work on his first patient. He pushed the pillow closer to her head, making sure her head was resting well on it. Warmth exuded from her, drawing him even closer. The streak of blood along her temple was dried and the cut on her head was coated already.

    He was mesmerized by the girl, not only because she was beautiful, but because she mystified him. What was it about her that kept him interested? If he didn't drag himself away from her, he might have to spend the whole night staring at her face while she slept. Her whole unique aura made him want to find out what it was about her that drew him in so much.

  He brought warm water from the bath and soaked a hand towel in the bowl, wiping at her forehead and her temple where blood stained and cleaning the wound. He made sure he was gentle enough not to wake her as he cleaned her up.

   When he was done putting the band-aid on the wound, he made sure she was positioned well on the bed and drew the covers to her chin. He watched her for a while and decided to freshen up.

     After throwing on his pajamas, he lay beside her, on his side, watching her and contemplating if he should put his arm around her or not. What will she think if she woke up to find him wrapped around her? He didn't think she would find it appealing, so he lay on the other side of the bed, watching her sleep. For some weird reason, sleep refused to cross his eyes. No woman has ever slept on his bed and it was ironic how the same woman that stabbed him was the one he trusted enough to sleep by his side.

    It wasn't fear that kept him awake, he was elated by the sheer thought of having her grace his bed for the night. As if she knew he wanted to see her pretty face, she turned to face him, lying on her side. A soft moan escaped her mouth and she was still again. Eros didn't know if he stiffened or if he had thought that in his head. His eyes fell on her parted lips and rested there as the memories of their lips sucking each other haunted him.

  He leaned closer to her, his eyes running all over her face. One of his hands supported his head and he reached out to her face with the other hand, stroking her cheek, while his gaze remained on her lips. For some reason, he wanted to feel them again, he wanted to taste those lips again, he wanted to savor them again, and thinking about it made him lean closer to her until his face was just inches from her and he felt his member pulsing.

  Then reality hit him, it stung him like a bee. What was he doing? He quickly withdrew his hand from her face like her skin just burnt him and shot up from bed. Why was he letting his guard down around this woman? He wasn't going to trust women, she couldn't and he shouldn't. What kind of power was she holding over him?

    He quickly slid his feet into his slippers, dragged one of the pillows from the bed, and made for the closet to get a comforter. He bore a grudge against women and he shouldn't let his guard or his father down. He was only letting her sleep on his bed because he made her injure herself and come morning, they were going to talk about all those things she spitted from her mouth tonight about him being a monster.

   He dragged the comforter downstairs. No one was in the living room now, except for Javier who was hunched over his laptop at the dining table. He wondered if Javier ever sleeps. Ignoring the man, he went over to the longest couch in the living room lay down, and drew the comforter over him. Never has he slept on a couch before.

     Just as he knew, Javier would not just mind his f*cking business. He still ignored his best friend when he came and stood in front of him.

    "Are you sleeping on the couch?" Javier asked, pushing down his spectacle to the bridge of his nose.

    "No, I'm swimming in the pool. What does it look like?" he barked and turned away from Javier. It was easier to keep calm without looking at his face.

     "You are not going to punish Cassandra for embarrassing you at the meeting? I heard everything from Leo."

  Eros' fists tightened. He knew what Javier was doing, he detected the tease in his tone, but he was going to humor him and next time, he would forget his fist on Leo's mouth to keep him shut.

   "She is drunk and unconscious."

    "And you let her sleep on your bed?"

    "Do you have a problem with that?" He could almost hear Javier snickering.

     "It's...it's..."

     "Just f*ck off, Javier. Leave."

     "Yes, boss," Javier mocked.

     "Remind me to rip Leo's tongue out of his mouth tomorrow for singing like a f*cking nightingale."

    He heard the faint chuckle from Javier as the man retreated to the dining to bury himself in work.