“Do you think they’ll be worried about us when we skip breakfast?” Evie asked and helped Ren packed his clothes. They were finally going home later after lunch.
Ren sighed and rubbed her back. “It’ll be okay. I’m sure they’re still busy having fun in the beach, enjoying their last time here.”
Evie was worried. Now that the flames had died down, she couldn’t look Ren in the eyes. Or anyone at that. If they questioned her about why she slept in Ren’s room the whole night, then she would literary die of embarrassment.
“But–”
Ren cut her off with a kiss. It wasn’t long before Evie returned it. They both knew that they could take things forward to the next level. For now, there was no harm in indulging themselves.
The kiss grew passionate until Ren pulled back. “We should go out somewhere,” he suggested. “We still have four hours till we get home. You can pack up first. I’ll take over from here.”
Evie nodded and smiled. “Okay. I’ll meet you downstairs after thirty minutes.”
When Evie got back to her room and finished packing up, she went downstairs and was stunned when she found Sumeri prompt over the sofa with a tablet in her hand.
“Evie, is that a hickey?” Sumeri asked with a meaningful look.
Evie looked away and covered her neck. But she didn’t know which hickey Sumeri meant. There were just too many. Ren had left too many on her skin. “N-no . . . It’s a mosquito bite?”
Ren walked in and found Sumeri. He greeted her with a nod.
Sumeri beamed and greeted back, “Morning, mosquito.”
Ren frowned. Mosquito?
Before Ren could ask, Evie pulled Ren outside in a hurry.
“L-Let’s go?”
The couple enjoyed their remaining time on the beach until, eventually, it was time to go back home.
Inside Isolde’s private plane, Evie’s head was parched on Ren’s shoulder while they were holding hands.
Inside was the usual gang of World Conquerors with the absence of Ragnar. He went back first yesterday because of an emergency meeting.
p
She and Ren shared something wonderful like their soul was connected. Like romance seemed trivial, and love could no longer define it. She felt that this happiness wouldn’t last, and she was paranoid because she didn’t tell Ren the truth about her.
“Ren . . .” Evie decided to tell the truth, though she didn’t know where to start.
“Hmm . . . ?”
“What if . . . what if we got separated in the future?”
“Separated?”
Evie stared down at their intertwined hands. “I mean . . . what if . . . I had to really leave you one day?” She had already exposed herself. It was only a matter of time.
“. . . Is this about your real identity?”
Evie looked at Ren, and she gasped at the love overflowing in his eyes.
“Yes . . . I’m . . .”
Before Evie could finish her sentence, Ren held her hand tightly.
“No matter your past, in the present, you’re with me. And in my future is where I want you to stay. And if we’re going to be separated, I will always find a way to be together. You can count on it.”
Evie sadly smiled. “Don’t you think that . . . our relationship is risky? You don’t even know me.”
Ren only smiled and kissed the back of her palm. “You’re a risk that I will always be willing to take.”
Ren had such a cute smile, but there was a promise and danger behind it. Evie thought she might like that gap more than she wanted to admit.
And when he did this thing where the left side of his lips went down when he talked. Evie loves it. It got her.
Evie wanted to hit her head. Here she was trying to explain to him the circumstances of her birth, but Ren just had to be handsome, and now she was losing her brain and tongue.
Evie shook her head and refocused on the problems at hand. She had to tell Ren before everything was too late.
“Ren–”
Evie stopped when warm lips pressed against hers. Her eyes widened, and it took approximately one point three seconds to realize Ren was kissing him and a further three point eight seconds to realize that she was kissing him back.
Evie’s eyes have fluttered shut, and in the dusk, she saw the light exploding. His lips were chapped, and her bones were aching, and she could taste the metallic tang of blood, but she didn’t care because all she could focus on was the liquid warmth that was quickly spreading through her body.
Ren’s focus was on Evie. On the soft moan she just made, on the intoxicating feeling of diving head first into the clouds, and most of all, the way she tasted like cotton candy and midnights under turning galaxies. The kiss was long, his mouth was hot, and her heart was full.
“Get a room, you two.”
At the others whistling, cheering, and teasing, Ren and Evie pulled apart. Evie was red all over and shrunk beside Ren while the latter’s piercing glares shut everyone up, and they went down on their seat.
The travel was about an hour long, and eventually, Evie forgot about her initial plans of telling Ren everything about herself. She was still sore all over and tired from what happened between them last night, so she fell asleep within seconds.
Before Evie knew it, they were already traveling back to Diamond Palace.
After saying goodbye to the others, Ren and Evie entered their room. The couple was tired and wanted to sleep some more and worry about the future some other day.
Ren was the first to enter the unit, and the moment he did, he felt a ripple from his right, and before he could think, his body had already reacted. He grabbed the sudden hand that aimed for his neck and threw the man to the ground like he weighed nothing but air.
A loud crash woke Ren and Evie from their groggy state, and the next thing they knew, the assailant was on the floor, prowling on the broken glass of the table.
Even Ren was surprised at his newfound strength. The man who assaulted him was twice his size, and he didn’t even broke a sweat when he threw him like a sac.
But Ren didn’t have time to ponder when dozens of men in white clothes and sunglasses surrounded them from all sides, each with guns in their hands.
“Stand down, Ren.”
Ren and Evie shifted their attention to Ragnar, who was standing on the side together with a dignified old man with white hair and silver eyes.
Evie was stunned and muttered.
“Father . . .”
