CHAPTER XVII
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SOPHIA STARED AT the tons of clothes in front of her, trying to pick out which one to wear. There was a party and well, Chase, his cousins and fiancee had been invited but then, typical Chase had insisted that she followed them and there was no way she would have gone against him. So, there she was thinking of what clothes to wear.
She wasn’t the party type. Not even in high school when the school jocks threw parties did she ever attend. The only party that she had attended throughout her life except for the ones her dad used to throw for her on her birthdays, was the high school prom party. Nothing else. Not even the ones her dad used to throw with his friends and business associates as he claimed she was still too little to attend such parties. He used to say she wouldn’t understand those types of parties until she grew up.
Her dad. She hadn’t realized that a lone tear had cascaded down her cheeks until she felt it rolling down her chin, and she quickly wiped it off.
She was broken out of her thoughts when she heard a light knock on the door and she slowly walked towards the door to open it. Valerie was standing there, dressed in an off-shoulder mid-thigh, red dress that hugged her perfect body in all the right places. Her dark hair was pulled into a tight bun revealing the beautiful shape of her pretty face. She had silver jewelry on and was holding a black clutch while her legs were strapped in a pair of stilettos.
Sophia blinked her eyes away from Valerie’s dress when she heard her gasp, and she gave her a confusing look.
“You aren’t dressed up yet! Don is going to be mad,”
Sophia shrugged lightly and released the door before turning her back and walking back to her bed. On cue, Valerie followed her in.
“Your bed is a mess,” Valerie dropped her clutch on the bedside table and accessed the whole room. “Don’t tell me you don’t know what to wear,”
“I don’t,” Sophia said and sat on the bed. “I’m not exactly the party type and well haven’t attended parties in my life except the ones papa used to throw for me when he was still alive and the one I attended for high-school prom,”
“Okay then,” Valerie began to fiddle among the clothes on the bed. “Why don’t you go and have your bath while I use that time to help you find clothes to wear? By the time we’ll be back home, the maids will have taken care of the mess in your room,”
Sophia nodded. “Okay,”
~~~
Chase lit his cigar and slipped the lighter into his pocket as he dragged in smoke from the cigar between his lips.
“Haa!” Luciano’s cheerful voice reached his ears. “She’s finally here,”
Chase turned his face towards the staircase, and true to his cousin’s words, Sophia was walking down the stairs shyly with a confident Valerie beside her.
She was putting on an ankle-length maroon dress. It was simple yet elegant on her. It was round-necked and sleeveless, showing off the smooth and flawless skin of her arm and upper part of her neck up to her collarbone. She had a stud earring and her hair was pulled into a bun while a few strands fell at either side of her face with loose curls, kissing her soft, delicate cheeks.
Chase was sure he heard Lucas snicker at her appearance beside him and that seemed to pull him out of his trance. He turned away, trying hard not to let anyone see the pure lust he was feeling at that moment in his eyes. He had been celibate for a long time, so reacting like that was bound to happen.
“Can we leave now?” Valerie asked.
Everyone nodded, and they made their way out of the mansion where there were many cars lined up waiting for them with Chase’s men settled in.
Before Sophia could enter the car she was to leave in with Valerie, she managed to peek at Chase, who was about to get into another car through her eyelashes.
As usual, he was dressed in a black button-up shirt, waistcoat, and suit coat. His hair was sleeked backward and he managed to look hot like that with his expensive Rolex wristwatch wrapped around his wrist and those stainless rings on each of his fingers. As if feeling her shy gaze on him, Chase looked up at her and they locked eyes.
Damn. He silently sucked in a deep breath. He was already trying hard to recover from the raging erection in his pants and her eyes had suddenly made his condition worse. Her eyes were innocent, gullible, and pure of anything sinful. He wanted to taint her. To taint that innocence and make sure she didn’t only look at him with innocence. There should be the same lust he was feeling in her eyes too.
Chase watched as Valerie tugged on her arms, and she turned away from him, then entered the car they were leaving in.
“Don,” Lucas called from beside him. “We should leave. It’s getting late,”
Chase nodded. “Hmm,”
~~~~
The chattering, giggles of sophisticated ladies, laughs of men, and clicking of glasses, in the hall went dead silent as a graveyard the moment they stepped into the hall. Courtesy of Chase’s presence which evoked silence wherever he went. The air was still and everyone there had their breaths stuck in their throats.
“For a moment, I was thinking you wouldn’t come, “The host of the party chuckled as he stood by the entrance talking to Chase with his wife beaming beside him. She shouldn’t be beaming. Not in Chase’s presence but then, she had to do it for her husband. They all wanted to impress Chase one wanted to be in his bad books.
Chase ignored his remark and brought out his cigar and lighter from his pocket to light it.
“You seem to have an extra person here tonight with you, “The man said running his gaze over Sophia who was standing beside Valerie but cowered behind her at his gaze. He returned his gaze to an indifferent Chase. “I’d love to know where you got her from. Pretty innocent, quiet, smallish, perfectly submissive,”
Chase finally looked at him dead in the eyes. “I think you’re suddenly interested in being in my bad books,”
The man cowered and gulped lowly with his flushed wife.Property © NôvelDrama.Org.
Fucking set of cowards. Chase resisted the urge to sneer at them. “Let’s get this party done with, Ricardo,”
“S-sure,” The man stuttered. “Come in,”
Soon, Chase and the rest were guided into the hall to their round table. Chase sat between Lucas and Saige while Sophia sat between Luciano who was beside Lucas and Valerie who was seated beside Saige. That technically meant she was opposite Chase.
Sophia couldn’t help but wonder why the hall suddenly became silent in their presence. She was sure it was Chase who only had the right to make that happen, almost like he was the one who controlled everyone’s minds from the way she saw the host cowering when Chase said something to him by the entrance and it was beginning to claw at her mind what kind of business they were all running. She knew it was illegal but it just didn’t fall into place in her mind.
Something about the whole party seemed off. The people in the party didn’t look like normal high-class people. Their smiles and everything about them were fake, dangerous, and sinister. Most of the men were dressed in black and from what she had studied so far, they had guns in their trouser holsters just like Lucas, Luciano, and Valerie had when she had seen them for the first time. Heck, she had also noticed the guns with Lucas and Luciano as they made their way to the hall earlier. That was enough to make her wonder if Valerie had one with her too.
“Are you okay? You look flushed,” Valerie whispered to her.
Sophia blinked her eyes suddenly feeling Chase’s intense stare on her and turned to Valerie. “I-I’m not used to crowds like this, “She whispered back and wiped her clammy palms on her dress. “Can you show me the bathroom please?”
Valerie looked at Chase, then back at Sophia. “Okay, come with me,” Valerie stood up and Sophia did the same too. “Excuse us,” She tipped them all a small smile.