𝙁𝙊𝙍𝘽𝙄𝘿𝘿𝙀𝙉 𝙁𝙍𝙐𝙄𝙏 𝘭𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘰 𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘳𝘪𝘴

𝙎𝙀𝙑𝙀𝙉

𝙁𝙊𝙍𝘽𝙄𝘿𝘿𝙀𝙉 𝙁𝙍𝙐𝙄𝙏 ᯓ★

𝙀𝙇𝙀𝙉𝘼'𝙎 𝙋𝙊𝙑

I had a master plan.

Avoid, avoid, and avoid.

The event room was large and a good amount of people mingled around, it would be easy to hide between bodies and avoid bumping into him.

We hadn't ended off on a good note and the last thing I wanted was conflicts from my past spilling into my present. He found a way of always coming back and it was time I stopped letting him back in. Our last few weeks together he'd started showing his true colors.

I tugged on Oscar's arm, his gaze locked on Brodhi with rage. "Let's just go somewhere far."

He complied, pulling me away into another direction. "If he so much as looks at you, you tell me."

"I can protect myself," I assured him. "Not that I'll need protecting. This is a professional setting he won't pull anything here." He had a habit of causing scenes when he didn't get his way. I just hoped the environment would stop that from happening if the opportunity rose.

"Yeah, I remember." Oscar had grown tense, like the sight of Brodhi had all the sudden made him more aware of everything.

Noticing this, I unlooped our arms with a smile. "Why don't I get us some drinks?"

Oscar nodded. "Sure. I'll go find Lan."

I walked to the bar area to fetch us some drinks in hopes it could help loosen us up. The sight of him had done a number on both of us and I just wanted to get back to normal. I watched the bartender make the concoctions knowing I'd need several of those if I was going to feel anywhere near okay tonight.

Then I felt a hand, cold and encompassing, creep at my waist and I despised the familiarity in how it felt.

"Princess." His voice was a silk smooth that I'd fallen for years back. Now I knew better than to fall for any of his charming tactics.

"Brodhi." Suddenly all plans had gone out the window, I turn my back for one moment and his breath is on my neck, a hand trailing the curve of my exposed back.

"This is a delightful coincidence." He took a sip of his drink and I not once looked at him. "What brings you here?"

"Work." I wanted to keep my responses short and sweet so I could get the drinks and go, but I knew Brodhi. Now that he'd seen me, he would linger all night.

"A little tense are we?" His fingers ran up my neck, pulling a framing piece of hair behind my ear. "I can help with that."

A chill ran up my spine. I didn't want him to cause a scene, I just needed an excuse to leave. "Not interested."

He chuckled and I finally turned to him thinking to myself, the audacity of this man.

"You sure?" His gaze met mine and I remembered it wasn't his voice I'd fallen for, it was those deep green eyes.

All the sudden my sureness had fluctuated, but I didn't let it show. "Positive."

The bartender was taking too long and I looked around the room for my brother, hoping he could appear and help me out of this.

As my eyes scoured the room they landed on someone else. Norris who seemed to be watching from across the room. Bodies covered my view of him occasionally as he talked with Carlos Sainz and Daniel Ricciardo, but his focus wasn't on the conversation, it was on me.

I looked away, turning back to a still very touchy Brodhi. "Look I-"

"Sh." He placed a finger on my lips and my eyes widened. "Me first."