|| XAVIER'S POV ||

" Thanks for the rescue! I mean, I do appreciate that."

Iris struggled to answer. As much as I wanted to fire her instantly, the thought of her inside made my heart uneasy. She wasn't supposed to be there. Even the part of her kidnapping sounded unconvinced to me. As a normal girl, she should be shaking in fear after being caught by some local gangsters. Yet she looked so uneasily comfortable.

She attempted to leave my car. I stopped her surprisingly, pausing the car door to hang midway,

" Don't leave. You should stay at my place in case your kidnappers come back."

She looked baffled out. For a split moment, I sounded so whinny but she hesitated before answering,

" Is..is that okay with you?"

I gave her a small nod in which she sat back, phrasing her formal thanks again,

" Thank you! I have no words to say how much I am grateful. I mean, I was a little scared to get back to my lonely apartment."

It sounded reasonable but the blast left me shocked. That area was mostly owned by the local criminals. It was not surprising but the fact that they had targeted Iris, I was worried. I wished that it had nothing to do with me.

My security guards made a remarkable face as soon as I appeared with Iris. Much to their surprise, I never brought any woman in my place. It was no secret that I was asexual. After I was kidnapped in my childhood by a crazy woman, my trauma with women went on. It felt though I suspected each woman around me except my own family members.

Her eyes dwelled around the corner of the house. Apart from being shocked, she seemed mesmerized to see the space. My house wasn't exaggerating but it was definitely eye-catching. I pointed at the stairs, giving her space to get comfortable,

" Your room is on the second floor. Take any one that you like."

She bowed once again before making her way upstairs. Right after she left, I turned to my assistant to order coldly,

" Find out who has kidnapped her. How dare they touch my people?"

My assistant left after getting my order. Maybe he felt it was weird as well since I barely cared about people around me. But something was off with Iris. I couldn't stop myself when she was in danger. I felt the need to protect her.

__________

|| IRIS's POV ||

" Guess! Where am I?"

I grinned bashfully at Artemis on the phone. He was like a brother to me and always very supportive. It was probably my second step to get into Xavier Gray's house. But I was lucky enough to get into it so fast.

Artemis let out an annoyed snort then he spoke again dramatically,

" Wait! Don't tell me that....you..you are already in bed with Xavier Gray?"

I almost choked myself after his wild imagination. Please.. Didn't he wish to live longer?

Rolling my eyes, I replied, clicking my tongue out,

" Oh please! I wish to stay alive, dear brother. Whatever..I am at his house for the whole night. I know, it's too fast but do you have any plans here?"

Artemis squealed in excitement, his voice coming out dramatic,

" Ohhh! Hold on! Hold on! Did you really say that you have gone to Xavier Gray's house already? Fuck! This is a jackpot already, Sista. I am so freaking proud of you. Wait a second! Let me see if you can do anything there!"

I grinned hugely, rolling on my soft bed. I took the room next to the President. The walls were pink here, big and decent. Artemis came back after a few moments as he passed his order to me from his boss,

" You have to install a camera personally. Before this, we never managed to get in there. We are counting on you, sista!"

My brows furrowed hard at his command. Putting a camera could be a huge risk. It sounded like an old damn idea but who could disobey the man?

I lowered my voice to confront his decision,

" What?? How are you going to do that? We can be caught. Besides I don't have a camera to install here, idiot."

Artemis replied in a lazy tone, probably enjoying his vacation on the lake side again,

" You don't have to worry about that. It will be sent on your doorstep within an hour. You need to put it inside Mr.President's office."

I hummed softly but the fear in my heart didn't fade since I could be shot dead here if they found me successfully.

An hour later, a packet was delivered to me through the space of the door. I opened it up and found a little camera there. It was super mini around the bottom size. Putting it aside, I changed back to my home clothes, carefully clothing since the house was full of men guards. After being done, I made my way to the President's house, using the excuse of talking about my kidnapper. As I reached the door, his bedroom door was already open from the beginning.

I knocked twice but no answer came. Even no guards were seen on the whole second floor. Perfect Timing! I slipped inside the room, a little nervous yet excited to execute my first order. My eyes scanned the room, searching for a perfect corner to leave the camera. Then I saw a flower vase, made of golden elements. Smirking, I moved to get the vase effectively. I bet, he wouldn't even bother to take a look of his vase.

Just as I grabbed the vase and removed the flowers to put the camera in it, a door was clicked open. Before I could hide the camera, his cold magnetic voice captured my soul,

" What are you doing in my room?"

Damn..It was Xavier Gray!!! My doom!!

|| IRIS's POV ||

The sound of his raw voice snapped me back to reality. I was so horrified by his presence that I almost slipped the camera out of my hands. Thankfully, I managed to hide it in my waist at a remarkable speed.

As soon as I turned, my cheeks turned warm from the sight. Mr.President was standing with a bare chest. His well furnished muscles were now dripping with waterdrops. It seemed like he went to the pool for a late night swimming.

I stumbled over my words, playing with the edge of my clothes,

" I...I...I came to see if you need anything. After all, I am your secretary."

He flashed me a glare before examining the place. Once he found it okay, he began to speak, walking into the room lazily,

" You don't have to. I have plenty of people to watch over me here."

I nodded in understanding but my heart was still thumping wild. I was so close to getting caught. Then I would have been kicked out of the organization as well for failing the mission. After clearing my throat, I started to speak again, hoping to make a comfortable atmosphere between us,

" It's my duty, Sir. I hope, you don't mind me finding you."

He rolled over the couch with a snort. Even though I was trying to be professional, my eyes were distracted from his taut muscles. He could be a film star without any debate. He replied, keeping his gaze on me,

" I don't mind as long as you don't cross my boundary. I prefer to see you here when I am here. I don't give access to the people for entering my room. Anyways, I have a special task for you, Iris. Consider it as your first task of being my assistant."

Relief washed over me after he changed the topic. I thought that he was going to interrogate me about my arrival in his room. Walking briskly to the mini bar, I poured wine for us, allowing him to talk,

" Anything, Sir. I will try my best!"

He started speaking as I offered him the wine, visibly shaking under his hot eyes,

" There is a reporter who keeps writing about my sexual preference. He keeps making posts that I am gay. I have failed to stop him or convince him. I want you to put it inside his head that I am not a gay and stop making rumours."

I pressed my lips together to not burst out into laughter. Anybody could suspect him since he always avoided contact with women. But winning his trust was more important than anything else. I replied with a sly smirk, mentally planning to kick off the reporter,

" I would like to give it a try, Sir. Allow me to prove myself."

__________

Morning News Office

" So..Miss..."

He groaned then looked up at me sharply once. It was Alex, the editor of the Morning News who had been writing about Xavier Gray's personal life too much these days. After he passed his order to me last night, I had been reading Alex's articles for the whole night. It turned out to be that he hated Mr.President to death. If he appeared in a gathering without any woman,Alex would be releasing an article about how Xavier Gray had kept his sexual orientation hidden. As much as I didn't want to meddle in this affair, Alex's articles got on my nerves. He was hungry to grab attention.

I added, giving him a cocky smile,

" Miss Young!"

Alex pushed his glasses down. Secretly I adjusted the speaker which had been lying between the bottoms of my shirt. Mr.President wanted to be updated in each second. Thus, I carried this inside me and let him hear the whole conversation.

Alex spoke, wearing a knowing smirk,

" You are here for the president. He has tried all the methods already. Apparently nothing worked. I wouldn't stop telling the public how he is behind the mask. What makes you think that you would be able to convince me?"

Jerk as I expected!

I replied calmly, crossing my legs confidently,

" I am not here to convince you, Mr.Alex.Those things which aren't true, you aren't allowed to write that legally. You say that Mr.President can't interact with women. But look at me. I work by his side perfectly. I am the right example, isn't it ?"

Alex gave his witty smile as he spoke, pushing his glasses down a little,

" You are just his secretary. How do you know about him so much? Probably you don't even go near him. Your existence doesn't prove anything, lady. Go back!"

I squeezed my fists tight. I couldn't be failing at my first task. After taking a deep breath, I began to speak again,

" What should I do to make you believe that Mr.President isn't a gay?"

Alex's lips pulled into a malicious grin. I had a bad feeling about his next words that would be coming out of his mouth. He replied, leaning on the desk a little,

" Maybe..a night with you..is enough to bribe me. You are hot. I like your badass attitude."

I stared at his audacity speechlessly. I swear if I wasn't with the president, I would have blown his head out already. Before I could give him an answer, I heard a click on my speaker. Mr.president hung up his phone just like that. I was flabbergasted by his sudden change of attitude even though we promised to keep in touch the whole time.

Was he embarrassed of me?

Just when I was thinking about a hard slap to Alex, the door of Alex's office burst open immediately. My eyes went wide to see the person standing there. It was Mr.President himself without any bodyguards around. The whole office raced behind him crazily as he marched inside the office before grabbing me up by my arms.

" Are you done with your negotiation?"

|| IRIS's POV ||

My eyes went wide in alarm. It was never our plan to appear here especially Mr.President. This huge office was full of reporters and media. By appearing here, Xavier Gray had literally risked his reputation. I warned him immediately, Alex looked stunned by his presence as well,

" What are you doing here? Go back please. I can handle him."

Mr.President only tightened his grip around me, his eyes glowing with murderous gleam. He sneered at Alex before shooting,

" I thought, you would like to switch your job into a man whore. Wanna join my club for service, Alex?"

Alex seemed terrified by his mighty presence. Probably he thought that it was easy to handle the president of the whole nation just like that. He tried to be arrogant, glaring back at Mr.President,

" You are disrespecting me, Mr.President. You don't know what I can do to your reputation.."

Mr.President cut him off, punching on his desk loudly,

" You don't know what I can do to you? Will you prefer it more if your wife finds out how you had been cheating on her with her sister?"

My mouth went dry in shock as Alex looked troubled as well. Clearly he didn't expect that Mr.President would dig out such confidential news of his life. Alex stuttered, still being an arrogant brat,

" Non.. Nonsense...You are just trying to frame me so that I don't write about your staff anymore. Let me tell you! I will write again tomorrow that you are a gay and a pussy to women."

His words turned the fury inside me. I looked back at him smugly, wishing to punch on his face but the whole office was already watching. Without thinking too much, I grabbed Mr.President by his collar and pressed our lips together into a kiss. The whole crowd gasped in uproar. I barely cared and kissed him short and rough. To my surprise, he returned the kiss more passionately. One hand holding my head, he deepened our kiss in a lovely affectionate manner.

Dead silence ascended around the room. After the kiss ended, I turned to Alex to reply to him sharply,

" I think, it's now enough for you to prove that he isn't a gay. Right, Mr.Alex?"

Mr.President looked shocked as well but he got back to his senses fast. Wrapping a hand around my waist, he added sharply, glaring at Alex who stood there, hanging his mouth open speechlessly,

" Also make yourself worthy before offering my woman. Your rat-faced attitude won't give you anything."

___________

|| XAVIER'S POV ||

" That was a good show!"

I stumbled over my words weakly once we were back alone in the car. The whole drama of false news had died down once we kissed in the office. Multiple eyes witnessed that Xavier Gray wasn't a gay as per what Alex said always in the news.

Iris had been having a hard time facing me. After we finished the show, we sat in the car awkwardly for a while. I didn't regret being there. When I heard how Alex was giving her an indecent offer, I lost control over my temper. I couldn't clearly remember when it was the last time that I acted so recklessly. Apparently my presence there created a big mess.

Iris finally replied, her eyes watching the passing trees outside,

" You shouldn't have gone there. We have been successful but it will create more drama. The editors will now believe that we are in an indecent relationship."

I shot her a quick glance. She looked visibly upset for being kissed by me. I understood her hard. Any woman of this nation would be dying to be kissed by me. For some stupid reasons, her unhappiness pissed me off. The kiss kept playing in my mind. I would be ashamed to admit that it didn't turn me on. I had a hard time stopping kissing her. She tasted like strawberries, so soft and jelly. I wouldn't be a fool to say that I didn't enjoy kissing her. Ever since the kiss happened, she was always in my mind. It was strange how I got attracted to her from our very first meeting.

I assured her, using my casual voice,

" Money can fix everything. Your republican is safe with me. Also thanks for today. The idea was iconic."

She kept her lips shut which annoyed me a bit more. After tugging my tie off, I blurted out breathlessly, trying my best to sound rational,

" Are you upset with me for kissing you back? We are adults. It's no big deal."

Still she stayed silent the whole time. I gave her space, switching my focus on the tabloids which advertised the latest news of our project. Half an hour later, her voice pulled me in,

" Stop here. I have to get down."

She murmured 'Thank you' then got out of the car without looking at me. I still had to say something but she practically fled away from my vision. My heart grew upset by her cold behavior. When did I start fucking care about other's feelings, please?

My car started running again. I couldn't forget her face after the whole kissing drama ended. Before I could sink into my thoughts longer, my mother called me all of sudden. As soon as I picked it up, her cry from the other end,

" Xavier!!! Rose!! Rose got into a car accident! Please come back to find her at once."

My heart froze in panic. Shouting at my chauffeur, I urged to head to the hospital,

" Clover! City hospital, fast!! Faster!!"

All my thoughts blanked away. As an experienced driver for nearly five years, how did she get into an accident? Rose was always careful about driving her own car. She was praised as the safest driver in the family. I just wished that it wasn't any of my enemies again who targeted her in order to weaken me.