Chapter 3

Maya's P.O.V

When he had told me to prepare for my untimely departure to the UK, I hadn't at all fathomed that it would be today! I was nowhere close to being ready for that, heck I'd even tried to persuade myself that it was just some cruel joke but no, the almighty Theodore whatever his middle name might be Duke was standing right in front of my apartment block...looking like he'd just freshly walked out of a Hugo Boss campaign ad.

This is not really the time to be admiring his heavenly looks, Maya. Get it together.

"W-what are you doing here?" I stammered pitifully. Great, now he'd also taken away my ability to talk coherently. Fan-freaking-tastic.

His lips quirked into a hot smirk. "I do remember telling you to get ready. What, you thought I'd been joking about taking you with me?" he asked, his well-maintained eyebrow rising in mock question.

I gulped softly. Of course, I had thought it was a joke. There is no way he would just take somebody he doesn't even know very well back to his home with him, right? "But you don't even know me!" I retorted and huffed in annoyance.

He took a step forward so that he only stood a few feet away from him. His masculine scent permeated the air around him, threatening to arrest my senses. I could bet my bottom dollar that he uses Paco Rabbanne for sure...I think I'm going to be needing some therapeutic help after this because there was no way I was actually checking this guy out.

"Au contraire, love. I know basically everything there is to know about you. Name; Maya Kathrine Knight. Age; 23 years-old. Your parents are Maddox Knight, a well-recognized cardiac surgeon and Gina Cruz nee Knight, a highly decorated cooperate lawyer. You're an only child, and a college drop-out due to the fact that you're more or less of a black sheep in your own right. Let's just say you've been on a downward spiral ever since they kicked you out about three years ago. Shall I go on?" he dared to add pompously.

I just stood there with my jaw almost hitting the ground and my eyes almost popped out of their sockets. How did he know all that about me? Damn, Lexi was right about him. There wasn't a single doubt in my mind that he had indeed read my third-grade report card.

I rolled my eyes at his jerkish behaviour. I never really did like British guys anyways. "Yeah, you know a couple of things about somebody as insignificant as me. But that still doesn't change the fact that this whole situation is ridiculous. Even your girlfriend was against it."

Another step forward and he was almost chest to chest with me. Looking down at me, I finally go to fully witness the extent of his penetrating gaze. Up close, his eyes I learned weren't even grey; they were a dark, faded shade of blue with specs of grey in them. He gathered a loose tendril of my hair and gently tucked it behind my ear. "Yolanda, is not my girlfriend," he whispered huskily, his words definitely holding a deeper meaning. He stepped back, out of my personal space, and placed his hands in his tailored suit. "Now, grab your stuff and let's go. My plane leaves soon."

I have absolutely no idea why my feet dragged me into my apartment complex, straight up to my floor and through my front door. It was so unlike me to just follow anyone's commands, much less those of a complete stranger. And what was that little 'is not my girlfriend' bit about? It's not like he had to tell me anything about his love life, and yet knowing that he wasn't dating Yolanda brought me some sort of relief.

What the hell is going on with me lately?

I should have just bought a plane ticket to Tijuana instead of coming back here. I wasn't behind on rent, I liked to pay each month's rent in advance to avoid any unnecessary hullabaloo. It's not like my clothes couldn't be easily replaced; I could have just gone to a thrift store. I had already planned all of this on my walk back home but now my chances of escaping were next to nil.

It took me about twenty minutes to gather my belongings, which weren't very many. I had left most of my things at my parents' house as they had emphasised that it was their money that had bought those items. Hell, I didn't care just as long as I was out of their hair. I'd like to say I missed them every now and then but in reality, I didn't. All they cared about was controlling my life and not even once cared about what I wanted. So, screw them and their wealth.

I looked around my barely furnished abode one last time before shutting the door, locking up and bounding for the landlord's office. Grouchy Gary wasn't exactly the best landlord but we had a mutual understanding. I was always in time with my payments, so he didn't have to hunt me down. The same couldn't be said for the other tenants.

I knocked twice before he grunted a 'come in'. "Hey Gary. I just came to drop my keys off."

He looked up briefly from the newspaper he was pretending to read. "Oh, is that so? May I ask why? The building not fancy enough for ya, Knight?" he raved sarcastically, lips down in a permanent scowl.

I laughed despite myself. "Nope. It seems I'm off to Britain for a while. Duty calls." After a mock salute, I slammed the door shut without waiting for another sarcastic remark and made my way back downstairs, my suitcase in tow. Once outside, I found Captain Britain still standing by his awesome car, typing away on his fancy smartphone. Everything about him screamed dominance, confidence and conceit. He was attractive, no doubt and he knew it all too well. But I could see that he walked around with a chip on his shoulder. There was something off about him, and I reckoned that sooner or later I'd find out what it was.

Once he noticed my presence, he smirked. Yeah, he's definitely conceited. "Took you long enough. Good thing I have my own plane otherwise we would have missed the flight."

Of course, he has a private jet. Why am I not surprised? "Let's just get this over with," I droned in a bored tone. He opened the backseat door for me as he instructed his driver to place my suitcase in the trunk. So, he has a chauffeur too? At this point, I was really beginning to wonder if there was anything he doesn't have.

When I slid in, he followed after me and shut the door. The interior was all posh and smelled just like him. It was going to take me some time to get used to his scent. Not that it wasn't alluring or anything, but it was just too alluring you know? I have no idea if that even makes sense but not much is making sense at the moment. I basically just sold my self to the devil in an Armani suit for who know how long.

"Do you have a passport?" he asked, some minutes after we had driven off. I was painfully aware of the fact that he was less than five inches away from me.

I stiffly nodded my head. "So, what exactly will I be doing for you, Mr. Duke?" Gosh, this was getting a whole lot uncomfortable but that was a good question, right? Was he going to make me dress up in a sexy maid outfit and make me serve him? Honestly, that didn't sound too bad...

He smiled wickedly. "That's for me to know and for you to find out, Miss Knight."

***

I had never been a plane for hours on end. I was cognisant of the fact that a flight from Malibu to London would be super lengthy but I had no idea that it would feel like a freaking eternity. Once we got to the airport, we didn't go through the normal section like other people. No, we drove to the back and stopped a few feet away from a silver jet that had burgundy detailing on it. I mean, it was freaking gorgeous. Some flight attendants came and handled our luggage whilst Theodore led me into the plane.

He removed his suit jacket and placed it on the seat beside his before he rolled up his sleeves to exhibit his muscular forearms. It was a sight for sore eyes. I'll admit that seeing such an excellent display had me fangirling over him, before I reminded myself of how he was actually the villain in my life at the moment. He called on of his attendants to hand him his laptop, and some water. I decided to take the farthest seat away from him, which wasn't really that far given the fact that this jet wasn't too big.

The flight was truly awful. We didn't exchange any words, as he was deeply engrossed in his work whilst I just sulked in my corner. I did however, feel him sneaking glances towards me every now and then and it would be a lie to say I didn't do the same. The only highlight was that I got to watch a couple of movies, ate delectable food (who knew aeroplane food could taste this good) and somehow dosed off. When I jolted awake, we had already landed.

I was confused about my surroundings. I mean I realised that I was in a plane, but who had put my seatbelt back on. When I had dozed off, it wasn't on. So, who had put it back on me? Secondly, when we left the airport, it was just after sun down, and yet it was really bright out. What time was it over here?

Still a bit discombobulated, I rubbed the sleep of from eyes and undid the seatbelt buckle. When I opened up my eyes again, Theodore was standing right beside me, looking immaculate. He had this after shower smell and had even changed his clothes. Wow, there was totally a bathroom back there somewhere in this plane. Colour me impressed.

"Ah, sleeping beauty finally has awoken. Well, London waits darling." I don't know why but my heart skipped a beat at his words. Seriously, what was wrong with me?

I nodded, heat rising up my neck. Good thing my skin was a bit on the dark side otherwise I would have been mortified right now. He should have been mad at me for spoiling his expensive clothes in public but he was being so odd and dare I say...flirty?

Dismounting from the jet, we found a Rolls Royce parked and waiting for us, well mostly him. Damn, I'd always wanted to ride in one of those. One of my bucket list items was going to be checked off! My parents we wealthy, but they didn't own a Rolls Royce. There were just way too boring for that.

It took about an hour to drive into the madness called traffic in London, on the wrong side of the road by the way. The city was just so crowded, busy and there were so many skyscrapers. The air quality here was totally different from that of LA but I couldn't decide yet whether I liked it or hated it. Only time would tell. For now, I'd have to suck it up and start getting used to this.

As we drove by, the suburbs became posher and richer, if that was possible. The car came to a brief halt behind some intricate iron gate before the chauffeur pressed some button which made them open miraculously. What I saw as we rode down the driveway was not a mansion...that was too shallow a word.

It was a freaking palace of made mostly out of glass. Everything looked so...expensive. I'm sorry, I suck at descriptions but that was the best I could come up with. But the sheer grandeur of the house and stupendous yard wasn't what shocked me.

It was the two tiny human beings who ran out the front door that made me freeze.

"DADDY!" they screamed as they ran at full speed towards the car.

Daddy?

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~Deetronite