Back at Victorian Heights...

"Ali? Where are you?"

The moment that familiar voice rang through the apartment, Aliana’s dazed eyes blinked rapidly, snapping her instantly back to reality.

Slowly, the haze cleared from her mind, and her eyes widened as it registered exactly who the voice belonged to.

A sharp gasp left her lips, and she whispered, "Mom!"

Gavriel, who had been staring at her intently while waiting for her answer, immediately furrowed his brows in displeasure.

Of all the responses he expected from her, crying out for her mother was certainly not one of them.

He raised a brow as she tried to pull her hands free from his firm grip before hissing in a hushed voice, "Gav, you need to let me go now!"

"Ali? Ah, it’s so quiet in here that it almost feels like a ghost lives here instead of my daughter," Portia’s voice floated up from downstairs.

"Maybe she’s in her room," another voice followed calmly.

The second Aliana recognised her father’s voice, her heart nearly launched itself out of her chest.

Oh God.

Her parents had come together!

"Fuck!" The curse burst from Ali’s lips as she stared at Gavriel, panic flooding every inch of her expression.

Not only did the man look annoyingly amused, but he was making absolutely no effort to get off her while her parents casually roamed around the house. As if it were completely normal for him to be caught pressing her against his body on her own bed!

"Let go. Now, Gav!" she hissed at him, her voice strained with panic as a scowl settled across her beautiful face. "My parents are here, and trust me, they’ll come upstairs looking for me any second!"

Gavriel tilted his head slightly, as if watching her lose her signature calm composure was the most entertaining thing he had experienced all day.

Instead of granting her request or moving away, he leaned in closer, his lips brushing the shell of her ear as he whispered sinuously, "I am still waiting for my answer, Aliana."

"What?" she breathed out, her voice caught in her throat as the devil dragged his nose slowly down the sensitive skin below her ear, threatening to make her lose her mind all over again.

"Ali? Honey? Are you up there? I’m coming up," her mother called from downstairs.

At that exact moment, Aliana became painfully aware that this was about to rank among the top three worst situations she had ever been caught in by her parents since childhood.

"Oh God..." she gasped when the absolutely demonic man above her suddenly swirled his wicked tongue around the shell of her ear before lightly nibbling it, effectively turning her brain into soup.

"Gav... please," a soft, pleading whimper escaped her lips.

Only for him to bite her ear a little harder in response, making a startled yelp leave her mouth as he pressed darkly against her ear, "Your answer."

She squirmed helplessly beneath him while desperately clinging to the last shred of her sanity before somehow managing to stammer out, "A-are you serious right now?"

"W-we can talk about this later, okay?" she whispered hurriedly. "I promise."

Meanwhile, the sound of approaching footsteps began drawing closer and closer outside her bedroom door. Making Aliana feel an overwhelming desire to dissolve into the mattress and become one with the bedsheets because absolutely nothing about this situation could be salvaged anymore.

"Not convincing enough," he murmured against her skin, tightening his grip on the fingers interlaced with hers.

"Wh-what do you want? I’ll agree to it if you let me go right now," she stammered. Her business mind kicked in even in such a frantic situation, desperately trying to negotiate with a man who seemed entirely aloof to the approaching danger.

Gavriel stilled.

Thinking that her tactic was working, she quickly pushed further. "Just do this for me, and I promise you anything. I will give you my answer later when we are alone, alright?"

He pulled his face away from her neck, looking down into her eyes as if genuinely contemplating her offer.

He saw how flushed she was, her pleading gaze begging him to show mercy. To him, she looked like the sweetest dessert that he wanted to devour right now.

They heard the footsteps stop just outside the door, and she whispered a final, desperate, "Please."

"Anything?" he asked, a dark gleam in his eyes.

Aliana knew that making any sort of deal with him never came without a cost. The last time, he had asked her to marry him, so she knew whatever he wanted now would not be simple either. But at this point, she was so desperate that she felt ready to hand over half her inheritance to him if that was what it took for him to let her go.

She nodded vigorously, waiting impatiently for him to state his terms while her heartbeat pounded loudly in her ears.

Gavriel studied her for a long, agonising second before finally parting his lips.

"Fine," he said.

Her entire body stiffened in response, readying herself for yet another ridiculous demand.

But what he said next struck her like lightning right over her head.

Just then, the footsteps paused right outside her room, and a sharp knock shattered the silence.

"Ali, we are coming in," Portia announced from the hallway, already turning the doorknob to open the door.

...

In the large living room of the Victorian Heights penthouse, the atmosphere was strange, to say the least.

Beneath a pin-drop silence, the only sounds filling the space were the raindrops that had slightly slowed outside, along with the faint clink of teacups occasionally being placed back onto their saucers.

After taking a small sip of her tea, Aliana lifted her eyes to sweep over her mother and father sitting across from her, each harbouring a completely different expression.

While Portia continued to observe the man seated next to her daughter, her eyes were shining with blatant curiosity and excitement.

Whereas her father looked as though he could drill bullets straight through Gavriel’s head just for being present in his daughter’s apartment, let alone having been inside her bedroom not too long ago.

And then Ali’s eyes finally shifted toward her husband-to-be, seated beside her, looking completely unbothered by the probing stares directed at him.

The man leisurely munched on a slice of rich buttercream chocolate cake with the satisfaction of a cat that had just been handed an entire platter of tuna.

Aliana’s eyes twitched at the sight.

Even now, she still could not wrap her head around the fact that Gavriel Valentine, a man who was practically the embodiment of sin itself, had demanded chocolate cake in exchange for getting off her and allowing her to save dignity in front of her parents!

’Like, what in the world!’ she screamed inwardly.

She had assumed he would ask for something entirely different. Something kinky, or who knows, something business-related.

But no.

The devil wanted dessert!