That night had gone from the best night to—hopefully not the worst, but it still made the acid in Angela's stomach burn her insides. Alvaro, the second guard who accompanied them to dinner, escorted them to the VVIP lounge. She was told that it was Gael's exclusive section that wasn't available to others when Ruth kindly served them earlier.

Nina sat with her and tried to calm her down. "I'm sure it will be okay."

​​

Angela chewed on her bottom lip. Things escalated quickly a couple of minutes ago. That guy came out of nowhere and suddenly slid his hands around her from behind and grabbed her chest. If it were Gael, she would immediately recognize him, but that split second that she realized it was a stranger, her first instinct was to slap him across the face. The audacity of the sleazebag when he grinned like he enjoyed her reaction was outrageous.

She could still feel the sting on her palm and the hoarseness of her throat since she and Nina cursed and yelled at the guy to back the hell off. It still wasn't enough. The reminder of an unwanted feeling of being touched beyond her liking crept up on her, and she wanted to murder that man. Trigger coming over to grapple the guy a few seconds later snapped her out of that stupor.

And then she felt him. Gael. He was there somewhere in the club, and when she saw him, he was already following his men towards the back door exit, wearing a murderous halo above him. She sprinted to stop him, not wanting him to do anything that would put him in danger—not that she didn't trust he was capable of saving himself, but the thought of him being in that sinister state caused her heart to pound against her chest.

Before she knew it, Alvaro had already brought her to the VVIP lounge. Now all she could do was wait and pray that Gael would be okay. A minute later, Trigger came with a scowl on his face as he dropped on the couch to her left and lit a cigarette to his mouth. She stared incredulously at him for a second before she whipped her head to where he came from, only to be disappointed that Gael wasn't behind him.

"Where is he?" Angela questioned.

Trigger glanced at her, blew out smoke as he sighed, and his expression slowly softened as though he remembered who she was. "Out the alleyway."

"What happened?"

He shrugged. "I don't know. He sent me back."

"Well, what do you think will happen?" she wondered, certain that even though Trigger wasn't out there, he'd know.

"What do you think?"

His response made her shoulders slump. Of course, Gael would teach the guy a lesson. He said so himself. Angela didn't condone violence despite wishing to hurt that man. But there was nothing she could do to stop Gael from doing what he wanted—or feel like he needed to do.

With her right knee bouncing up and down, she hugged a throw pillow and kept her eyes on the stairs.

"You know that he's going to be fine, right?" Trigger probed with a pointed look. He didn't say it, but the look in his eyes felt like he said: 'Stop worrying. Your man's the wolf and not the sheep.' If he could roll his eyes at her without getting punished, he probably already had.

Angela looked away. Wolf or not, she didn't like this, and she wouldn't stop worrying until Gael came back to her. Her best friend Nina kept stroking her arm every now and then as if that would calm her down.

A painful and frustrating half an hour of waiting later, she shot up with knitted brows. She was already pissed. "Screw this."

Trigger suddenly got to his feet, too, as if mirroring any movement she did.

"Anj, sit down. He'll come back soon." Nina pulled on her right hand.

"I can't just wait, Ninz. This is stupid." She began to march out of the lounge with Trigger trailing behind her. She was surprised he didn't stop her. But then again, by the looks of his face earlier, he was probably anxious too.

A few meters away from the stairs, she froze in her tracks when Gael landed on the second floor with Giovanni next to him and a few men behind them. He was still wearing his white shirt, and the bow tie was still on his neck, but there was something different in his expression. His hair appeared as if he had run his fingers through them several times.

But the moment their eyes locked, she smiled at him, relieved that he was there. He smiled back and sauntered towards her.

A loud squeal came from the side before a pair of slender arms circled his neck. "Gaeeeel!!! Girls, this is who I was telling you about!"

Momentarily caught off-guard, Gael glanced down, and recognition dawned on him. The woman wore a tight pink dress with dramatic blonde curls on her hair and a small tiara at the center. He offered her a smile and returned her hug with a brief and casual one, placing one arm around her frame. "Imogen. Hey, how are you?"

She pressed a chaste kiss on his cheek and pulled on a radiant smile while detaching herself from him. "I'm fantastic! You?"

"Doing great. Thanks. You having fun?"

"Are you kidding? I'm having the best night ever!" Imogen then proceeded to introduce him to her party excitedly. "Girls, this is Gael, the owner of this club. Gael, the girls."

He softly smiled and waved at them.

Watching the whole thing before her, Angela clenched her jaw hard, trying to stop herself from jumping to conclusions. Gael had a life outside of her; he was allowed to have friends. She tried to convince herself despite feeling the burn in her stomach. Was she becoming too possessive of him? She had never been like this with the people she dated before.

Gael shifted his gaze back to Angela and held out his hand towards her, beckoning her to come to him. Her feet had a mind of their own when they moved forward until she was next to him. He pulled her flush to his side with his arm around her waist and pressed their lips together.

"This is Angela," he said to Imogen, and then to Angela, "Baby, this is Imogen. She's having her bachelorette party tonight." Then he also introduced Nina and Giovanni.

Imogen gasped, and a wide smile ghosted her face in astonishment. "Oh, my god! Yes! We met each other on the dance floor a while ago." She squeezed Angela into a giant hug that surprised the latter, realizing that Imogen was a hugger. "It's so nice to meet you! What a small world! If I knew you were Gael's woman, I would've invited you over to our table."

Feeling strange and unsure what to make of Imogen, Angela awkwardly laughed. "Oh, it's okay. It's nice to meet you too."

"We were classmates in middle school," Gael explained. "Her mom and mine worked together in the hospital."

Then Imogen remarked, shouting over the club's music, "He tutored me in Math. I was really bad at it."

Gael laughed, shaking his head at the memory from so many years ago.

A man wearing a cashmere sweater joined their little circle and wrapped his arms around Imogen from behind her, and kissed her shoulder. "Hey…"

Imogen was stunned for a second before she threw her arms around the guy and kissed him smack on the lips. "Steve! You're here. You remember Gael, right?" She beamed. "This is his Angela. Angela, this is my fiancé."

His Angela. Damn, if that didn't make Angela's stomach flip.

"Of course." Steve chuckled and extended a hand which Gael accepted in a firm shake. "How could I forget my new business partner? Sorry. Looks like Imogen's a little drunk already. She's forgetful when she is." Imogen giggled when he said that.

Gael chuckled at that too. "No problem."

Smiling, Steve turned to Angela. "It's nice to meet you, Angela."

She received the handshake and returned the pleasantry before sinking into Gael's side again. It was automatic—she couldn't help herself.

Taking control of the situation, Gael nodded at the couple. "It's a pleasure to have you here tonight." Then in a louder voice, he announced, "The next round's on me." Imogen and the girls hollered in excitement. "I'll see you two around."

Gael walked Angela back to their lounge, still keeping her to his side. Giovanni joined as they sat and greeted Nina with a mischievous smile. "Good evening, Morelli."

Nina glared and huffed before she sat next to Angela. She was between her best friend and Giovanni. "I'm not a Morelli… Only a fourth of me is."

"Sure. You know… We have a ban in our clubs. Morellis are not allowed here." His dark gaze scanned Nina from head to toe and then back in a sultry manner. "Which quarter piece of you should we chuck out?"

Gael stifled a chuckle, shaking his head in amusement. Angela frowned at Giovanni for being an ass while Nina scoffed before turning to Gael, her voice hesitant when she asked, "Is that true?"