C3 I've been Waiting For Long

Ember's POV

I had just gotten back from the ranch a mile away, and as I walked the lone paths back to the mansion, I realized I was missing Adrian. Adrian was my best friend I met in my freshman year in college, and she was also the closest person I had to a sister, which was quite nice as I didn't have many friends because I was somehow an introvert.

The smile slipped into a frown when I realized I was no longer alone. Gonzalo, an estate worker and one of my childhood friends, was walking in my direction, a sly smile slowly dancing on his lips.

"Aha!" he shouted once I was standing really close to him, and I couldn't help but giggle at how dumb he was. Did he truly think I was so blind that I didn't see him approach me at all?

"I've not seen you in ages, Ember..." he grumbled. Instead of entertaining his words, I ignored him and nipped on my lower lip in boredom.

"I'm talking to you."

"Well, whose fault is it that we haven't seen each other in a while?"

"Look, bunny face, I know we didn't end on a good foot that day bu-"

"Who the heck is bunny face?" I scrunched up my face in total disgust. How would he call me bunny face? I didn't have a rabbit head.

Gonzalo moved impossibly closer to me, his eyes looking around from their peripheral vision in ways that made me wonder what he was up to. He grabbed me in one swift moment, and I immediately stiffened, staring wildly at his strong arms which had gotten muscular over the years. Gonzalo was no longer a boy, but I wasn't sure if he still had those little feelings he used to nurture for me all those years.

"I know you would deny me again, but I need this right now." The intensity in his tone was so strong, but I rolled my eyes all the same.

"Need what?!" I raised a mocking brow. "You're wasting my time, boy."

He huffed. "We both know I'm not a boy," he wiggled his eyebrows and made kissy faces. "And, you know what I mean, love."

"No, Gonzalo." I released myself from his firm hold. Hearing him say that love word alone... I wanted to puke!

"Just once, please..."

"No. You can't get a kiss!" He didn't even have to tell me what he was expecting.

"Even if it's a little peck?"

I shook my head, my hands itching to slap him hard on the face. We were at the small walkway that led to the ranch in the estate for crying out loud.

Anyone could hear, and they'd get the wrong interpretation! In his defense, I knew far well that he had been asking me to go on a date with him for the past seven years, and I still shrugged him off all the time.

"You know I love you right?" He asked slowly and traced his tanned hand around my side again, making sure I was trapped against his chest.

"Goodness.." I rolled my eyes.

"Si, amore, ti amo."

"Gonzalo, you're out of your mind."

"And I would be out of anything, just for you." His breath was tickling me by the back of my ear, and I kept jumping slightly whenever his stubbles would slowly prick my chin. This felt familiar; after all, we grew up together, and I saw him as a brother.

"I know, but I don't like you that way, Gonzalo." Gonzalo was someone I'd known since childhood, whom I could as well consider a friend, just a year older than me, and his father was managing the ranch with two other men.

"I've been waiting for long. I deser-"

Stephano's POV

"Should we give them another chance, sir?" Andre asked. The tiredness he probably felt was evident in his tone. The instance I left home for my run, I hadn't hesitated to call him, giving him instructions on the Goslings Company.

They were shareholders in the company but of late, they had been demanding funds for some non-governmental organization.

It wasn't the fact that they wanted to support an NGO that infuriated me. No, it was the amount they were demanding and the coercion their group head was willing to use. I would never take idle threats, and threats, he had given.

"Alright, but after that, get straight to action if he insists on the amount." I grunted.

"I'll do just that boss and call you to relay the outcome of the things." Andre replied and ended the call with a curt later boss. Tucking my phone back into my sweatpants' back pocket, I decided to just keep walking since I was now in my estate. There was no need to keep jogging.

"Just once, please.." I suddenly heard someone say in a pleading tone. The voice sounded really familiar, but I couldn't exactly place where I had heard it from.

"No. You can't get a kiss!" The feminine voice replied. I knew she was the one before I even took the corner and saw her. They were both standing close to a tree and also close to each other.

Her creamy legs were on display in her short dress, and her backside was round and admirable. A great view that had me sucking in a deep breath. My jaw ticked when I heard her male companion mutter something.

She was talking to him, and she had that defiance in her tone, the defiance I loved most about her and the same defiance that always melted into softness and sweetness whenever she saw me.

"Even if it's a little peck?" looking from her, I looked over at Gonzalo, son of Marcus, as he trained his eyes on her. Now I knew why his voice sounded familiar. I had spoken with his father and my ranch manager on my way out of the estate about an hour ago.

Even from where I stood, the lust in his eyes was evident, and he had a smirk plastered on his face, one I was sure she couldn't notice with how she was looking up at him with confused eyes.

I walked around the corner and stood at the walkway, the one that led back to my ranch. I made a move to take a step but stopped when I heard his next words.

"You know I love you right?" he asked slowly and traced his hands glistening with sweat from labor around her two sides. Something swirled in me immediately.

Irritation and intense jealousy burned in me.

He didn't love her. He was merely drunk with her beauty. What did he know about loving someone so beautiful like my Ember? I wouldn't be surprised if he even said he would marry her. All he wanted was in her pants.

"Goodness."

"Si, amore, ti amo."

Even a blind man would know he was lying. He was fooling her, but the girl couldn't even hear the deceit in his tone. His eyes might have hidden the lust from her, but I could see it clearly.

"Gonzalo, you're out of your mind." she said again, looking conflicted.

"And I would be out of anything, just for you." Was she seriously falling for this? He sounded more like a pathetic being, and that line was just used wrongly.

"I know, but I don't likeyou that way, Gonzalo." She said grudgingly. I took a harsh breath in. I should just walk up to them instead of hanging around. They were too close for my liking, and I wouldn't mind burning his hand with something if it would mean he would stop looking at her that way.

He was visibly eye-fucking her.

"I've been waiting for long. I deser-"

"What is going on here?" I released her, and they pulled away, albeit clumsily. Immediately, they realized they had company, and the girl let out a startled yelp. Ember avoided my eyes like she had done since she was a little girl.

"I demand an answer." I calmly spoke again. I was not calm, but the fearsome look Gonzalo was sporting made me realize that what I was doing was more satisfying than making threats.

I could see the other expression Gonzalo tried but in vain to mask, and it was that of surprise. The feeling was mutual, as he stared at me almost in awe while I looked back questioningly.

I had never had a one-on-one interaction with him, and the way he was looking at me, I could only guess he was surprised to hear me do something other than grunting.

"We... we were talking, and she felt something itchy, and..." he explained cautiously when I shot him a dark look, his voice immediately trailing off.

Lamest excuse I'd ever heard.