Chapter 2 His Strange Feelings

Rafael's POV

I loosened my tie, scanning the crowd for Natalie. 

Strange. She should’ve been everywhere tonight—checking details, fixing problems, making sure everything ran perfectly. That was her style.

Yet I hadn’t seen her once since the party started.

I sighed… 

Heart of Steel. That was what they called me. A man without emotions. A man who only cared about power, deals, and expansion.

They weren’t wrong.

The only things that ever stirred something in me were work… and the darkness I kept locked behind closed doors.

My red room. 

My soul’s dark scars.

Everything else? Irrelevant.

Including her… Or so I believed.

My gaze swept the backyard again, and then I saw her tall curved figure. 

She was standing alone. Still. Quiet. Distant.

Her friends laughed a few steps away, glasses raised, voices light. But she wasn’t part of it. 

Usually, she would be the brightest one in the room—talking, smiling, dancing. And I’d be the one keeping an eye on her, making sure she didn’t drink too much.

I let go of Debbie’s waist without a word and walked toward Natalie.

“Rafael…” Debbie mumbled, but I already was between the crowd, and she smiled back to the Paparazi cameras.

Why wasn’t Natalie on stage with us? She was the one who made this entire event happen, and deserved to be on the lights spot. 

As I got closer, I noticed the slight sway in her posture. Drunk.

My jaw tightened, and shook my head.

She raised a glass and took another sip.

I felt irritation spike through me.

How many times had I told her? Her body couldn’t handle alcohol well.

Two more steps…

Then I heard her stammer, "I wanna have sex with him..." Her voice was soft. Barely above a whisper.

And for a second, I froze.

My body reacted before my mind could catch up—a sudden, unfamiliar heat spreading through my body.

I stared at her, disbelief settling in.

Natalie? My innocent Natalie… 

 The girl who used to follow me around like a shadow… talking about sex?

The thought didn’t sit right.

Did she have a boyfriend?

The question hit harder than it should have.

‘Of course she could,’ an inner voice mocked me. ‘She wasn’t a child anymore.’

But something about it twisted inside me.

A dangerous image formed in my dirty skull—one I had no right to imagine.

Her red cheeks, daisy look, parted lips, reaching her orgasm while she was tied up to the roof. My stick played with her. How would she look?!

I shut it down instantly.

My jaw clenched.

What the fuck was that? What was wrong with me?

She turned. And froze when she saw me.

Our eyes locked. For a moment, everything around us faded—the noise, the lights, the people.

Her cheeks flushed. Her lips parted slightly, caught between shock and something else I couldn’t quite name.

I expected her to look away. To run. To hide. As she would always do.

Instead… she smiled. A slow, unsteady smile, surprising the fck of me, and walked toward me.

 She closed the small distance between us. The faint scent of her perfume reached me before she did—soft, warm, dangerously intoxicating.

Then she leaned in, pressing her lips against my cheek.

It was a slow. Too slow kiss. Her lips were so soft against my hard skin. 

I felt it. Not just on my skin—but deeper. Lower. Like a spark dragged across something that had no business waking up.

I stilled.

We had never been this close before. Not like this. Not as adults.

She pulled back slightly, murmuring something under her breath that I couldn’t catch. 

Fck.

She stepped away. And just like that, the moment snapped. Leaving me standing there, watching her disappear into the crowd.

Shit. I didn’t even tell her what I was going to say. 

I exhaled slowly, forcing control back into my body.

This was wrong. Completely wrong. What I felt was worng. I was not some freak psychopath. 

It just was… like I was seeing her for the first time. Not the girl I grew up with. Not the responsibility my father left behind.

I frowned, putting on a gloomy expression. Didn’t like the shift forming in my head.

I cleared my throat and forced myself back toward a group of businessmen.

I didn’t feel like I wanted to be in the spot lights next to Debbie right now.

Unintentionally, my attention drifted—again and again—toward the entrance she had disappeared through. 

Once.

Twice.

Too many times.

Until finally…

 She appeared. Our eyes met across the distance. This time, she didn’t look away immediately. She held my gaze.

Her face was blushing. I think she was embarrassed. She should. Because for real, who was the fcker she had been sleeping with?

I took a step forward. I must ask her who that asshole and since when she had been fcking him?

But the moment I took the first step, she turned, moving straight toward my grandmother’s group.

I smirked. ‘Smart move, Natalie,’ I thought.

Hiding. Or why on earth would a young girl full of energy find excitement with gaffers at an engagement party?

Engagement party? For a moment, I forgot it was my engagement party.

“Mr. Merrin?” 

I blinked, dragged back to the present. The man in front of me was waiting for an answer about a deal we were discussing.

Instead of replying, I handed him my glass. I noticed Natalie was standing alone. 

“Excuse me?” the man asked, confused.

“Just a moment and I’ll be back,” I said. 

I walked toward her. One thought repeating in my mind. I needed to know. Who was he? Who had she been thinking about like that? Who had made her say those words?

I had to know about him. Who knows? Maybe he was a stalker, or bad guy and would hurt her.

She was still naive and could not take a good care of herself.

By the time I reached her, she was standing slightly apart from the group. Alone again.

Good.

I stepped behind her, close enough to catch that same scent.

“Dance with me,” I said quietly. Not a question.

More likely a command.

She turned, frowning slightly, confusion flashing across her face.

But I didn’t give her time to refuse. My hand settled on her waist. And I pulled her toward the dance floor.

The music was slow. Smooth. Deceptive.

I placed my other hand lightly at her back. Kept just enough distance. Just enough control.

But even that felt dangerous. Too close. Far too close.

Every nerve in my body was suddenly aware of her. The warmth of her skin. The subtle rise and fall of her breathing. The way she kept avoiding my eyes.

My gaze dropped to her lips. Full. Soft. Tempting…

I clenched my jaw. This was crossing a line. A line that should never have existed in the first place.

Yet I didn’t let go. Didn’t step back. Didn’t stop. I didn’t want to.

“Natalie,” I said quietly, staring into her eyes. Cutting the tension—or raising it.

She finally looked up at me.

My grip on her waist tightened slightly. “Who were you talking about?”

Her brows furrowed. “What?”

I leaned close to her ear. “The one you want to fck you.” My voice dropped lower. Colder. “Who is he?”

She froze. Her lips parted.

I felt the urge to invade this little mouth of hers. I wanted to taste it.

That fact hit me hard.

“Rafael… I…” she whispered, licking her lips. Her voice trembled.

My gaze burned her mouth, tracing every move of her lips and tongue.