The Taste of Seduction

He was beyond handsome; his beauty was austere and sinister that made him very attractive. He was the ultimate bad boy or dangerous man ever describe in all books.

She was utterly impressed. She has never met a man who screamed danger by just standing there. If Atlas radiated cool calculated aura his brother was the exact opposite-chaos.

He also looked back at her and raised his eyes at her.

Meredith\'s cheeks heated up and she quickly looked away, embarrassed that she had been staring for too long.

"Hello." His deep voice caught her off guard. It was so dark. Chills ran down her spine.

Meredith swallowed before she replied, "H-hi."

Ace looked at the knife on the floor and a smirk graced his lips.

"Interesting."

Meredith followed his gaze and saw him staring at the knife. She blushed in embarrassment.

"Aceyou are?" He placed his hands in his pocket staring at her. Meredith knew he was trying to lower his aura not to intimidate her but it was hard when his eyes pierced through her as if he was trying to look into her soul.

"M-meredith"

"Meredith.." he repeated her name as if it was a foreign word.

"My brother\'s...." He trailed off as his smirk held for a few seconds while his eyes narrowed at her.

"S-secretary." God why was she stuttering so much. Maybe it was the fact that it was the first time she was meeting Atlas\'s family member.

"Secretary?" He broke into a full, rakish grin as an unknow emotion fleeted across his eyes. It was hard to read him when he showed nothing on his face.

Meredith was nervous about his impression about her. If he didn\'t like her would Atlas leave her?

"Are you nervous?" He questioned.

"Yes." Meredith admitted. There was no need to lie when he could read her like an open book and the slight tremor in her voice betrayed some of her nervousness.

His brows rose in surprise, his green eyes glinting with amusement.

"Well don\'t be. You\'re my brother\'s woman and I have no plans on harming you. Believe it or not you\'re now under the Martini\'s protection no one would dare harm you unless it\'s your own personal enemies. "

He uttered staring at her with a curious look.

Meredith\'s heart fluttered at his words \'Brother\'s woman.\' Does this mean, he accepted her?

"Thank you." Meredith said and gave him a soft smile.

"Hmmm where is Atlas?" Ace asked glancing around,

"Oh, he left just a few minutes ago. He said he was going to the office."

Ace nodded, "How are you feeling now?"

"Good. You?" They both had woken up from coma so she didn\'t really know what to say to him.

"Still recovering from losing one year of my life." Ace shrugged.

"I\'m sure everything would be fine soon. You look like a strong person, you will survive."

Ace just stared at her without any emotion on his face. He was like a stone; it was hard to see what he thought. After a few seconds, his lips curled up.

"I\'m happy my brother had you when I wasn\'t around. Thanks to you, he looks happy than I have ever seen him these past few days. I was afraid he had forgotten how it was like to live but since he met you, he has glow up."

Meredith saw the love flowing for his brother in his eyes and it was the almost beautiful emotion she has ever seen in someone\'s eyes. Brotherly love.

"He deserves to be happy and I haven\'t done anything. I can\'t take any credits" Meredith smiled at him.

"You should. It quite obvious. You should have seen him when you were in a coma. Whether you like it or not, you\'re now my brother\'s hope in this world so please don\'t let him lose this hope. You\'re the light at the end of his dark tunnel and he has finally found you please don\'t hurt him."

Ace pleaded, his dangerous and intimidating aura vanished replaced by a brother who would do anything for his brother.

Their love for each other was really beautiful.

"I will do my best even though the future is uncertain."

Ace nodded.

The door bell rang and Meredith glanced towards the door.

"Let me get that, it must be Sofia."

Meredith saw his jaw tensed but she really didn\'t pay attention to it.

She walked towards the door, peep through the hole and saw her friend.

"Merri!!" Sofia exclaimed in excitement when Meredith opened the door.

She pulled Meredith into a hug and Meredith laughed hugging her back.

"Come in." She said and opened the door wider.

Sofia entered and followed Meredith into the living room.

The smile wiped out from her face and her face suddenly turned ashen.

"A-Ace?" She croaked out. The overconfident Sofia was trembling over a guy\'s name.

Well, this was something new.

"Sofia" Ace nodded in a detached tone.

Sofia bit her lips and her eyes turned glassy.

"I will take my leave now. It was nice meeting you Meredith." Ace said with a small nod.

Meredith smiled, "Same here. I will inform Atlas you visited."

"No need, I\'m going to the office. See you around." Ace said hastily. It was like he was in a hurry to leave the room.

Ace walked past Sofia, his shoulder brushed against her and she trembled.

"Okay what was that?" Meredith raised her brows as she stared at Sofia who seems to be in a trance.. Her clenched fist was shaking and she seemed to be holding back her tears.