"Nice to meet you, Jacky. I'm Nick. An old friend of Dani." He extended his hand to Jacky, but instead of shaking it, he took it to his lips for a quick kiss.

"Oh, I never heard anything about you. Have you been away?" Jacky was working on her detective skills as she tried to squeeze him for information.

"Yes, he had been to hell, but it appeared that he is back." She mumbled to herself, but she made sure that he heard her. She did not care if Jacky or the rest did. If she could shout it, she would, but that would cause more problems.

She hated his guts and she would not pretend otherwise. But before she could add more insults to her statement, that redhead bimbo interrupted her by entwining her arms with Nick. The bimbo's name was Cassie. She used to be her friend and they grew up in the same circle.

"Hi, Dani. Did not expect you will be attending this party? I heard this is not your kind of scene anymore." Cassie said wickedly as she kept her arms possessively at Nick's.

"It's nice that the two of you are still together. You really deserved each other." Dani kept her composure not wanting Nick to win in this game. She knew he was trying to rile her up, but he would not succeed.

"Don't be like that, Dani. I could not help it if I had fallen out of love for you. You can't still be bitter because I chose Cassie." Nick knew he was hitting her in the right nerve. He could not wait for her to lash out at him and make a scene. "You can't still be in love with me."

He hated what Dani did when they broke up. It almost ruined his company. Gladly, he was able to find a way to salvage it before it went bankrupt. Now, he needed her to pay for what she did to him.

When Alex heard the rest of the conversation, he knew that he could not just stand there and let the matter get out of hand. He decided that it was time to step in and be her knight and shining armor.

"I'm sure she's not in love with you." Alex interrupted the conversation as he stepped closer to Dani and placed his arm around her waist. "Right, Babe." He looked at her and waited for her to raise her eyes to him.

When their eyes connected, he gave her a slight squeeze on her waist, signaling that she should follow his lead. She must be still in shock with what he did so instead of waiting for a reply, he lowered her face to her and kissed her. It was no ordinary peck on the cheek.

To Dani, everything happened quickly that she did not have time to react or processed what was happening. And when his lips touched hers, she was at a loss for words. Her mind just went blank. All she could feel was the way his lips moved with hers.

It was a short but thorough one that left them both a bit breathless. Alex smiled at her dumbfounded expression and shifted his gaze to the other man. Nick seemed not amused with what he just witnessed, but that was exactly what Alex wanted.

"I'm Alex, by the way, and this is my friend, Marcus." Making the necessary introduction since he figured that Dani was still left in a trance after their kiss.

Alex already knew the identity of the man in front of him because he already had him investigated. His association with Dani's past was very relevant to his future plans. He needed to know everything about her before he proceeded to offer her the contract.

Now, he could see that there was an opportunity here. And when the chance came, he grabbed it. He just did not expect that it would work perfectly according to his advantage.

"Nice to meet you. You're Alexander Princeton?" It was a mixture of a question and a statement, but Alex opted to acknowledge it. "I heard about the recent success of your company." Nick continued as he took an interest in the man in front of him.

Nick recognized him in one of the reports he was working on recently. Alexander's name was slowly climbing in the big league, so he was another competition he needed to watch out for.

"It is doing well, but it is not yet on the same level as yours." Alex took over the conversation, giving Dani time to seamer down. Whether from her hatred from the man in front of him or from the kiss they just shared. He hoped it was the former.

If an opportunity aroused again, he would want to repeat that kiss again and again. Although he knew that it would be more difficult next time once she realized what just happened.

On the other hand, Marcus and Jacky were left in a shocking state too. They could not believe what they also just witnessed. Daniella and Alexander were kissing earlier. Then, Alex was claiming Dani as if they already were in a relationship.

Marcus and Jacky could only look at each other in amazement and wonder. They did not even know that these two were dating. Let alone in a relationship. As far as Jacky was concerned, Dani never liked Alex. While Marcus knew that Dani had not yet accepted the proposal.

"Will you excuse us for a second?" Dani finally found her voice and dragged Alex to the other side of the ballroom away from Nick and their friends.

If she was fuming with Nick before, her ire was double this time and she was directing it all to the man in front of him. "What was that?" She hissed in a controlled volume. Despite her agitated state, she knew that she could not make a scene at this place.

"That was me helping you," Alex answered with a smirk across his lips.

He was already expecting that his future fake fiancé would be one feisty one, which was exactly what he needed. However, things got more challenging and exciting as he learned that he would be dealing with a full-grown tigress.