"It's so good to have a business with your Mr. Hall," says Mr. Dubois with his heavy accent.

"Likewise," I say, shaking his hand and his wife's hand. And I walk with them out of my office. Outside my office, Madeline is waiting for us with her sweet smile. She already pressed the elevator for them. Did I tell you she is a perfect executive assistant? Just for me, I won't allow anyone else to have her! She is mine and only mine.

We pass Pete and Belle in the lobby. After we say goodbye to the Dubois, we're going back inside.

"Pete," I call him. His face is hard. Not like his usual jolly face, and Belle's eyes red.

"Hey, Ethan, Mads!" He forces his smile. Belle doesn't say hi to us, she hides behind Pete.

"Mads, can I talk with you for a while?" Pete says to Madeline. I can see Belle is holding Pete's suit. Ah... guess my girl already 'talked' with Belle.

I deliberately hold Madeline's waist and lean closer to her. "I'm going to call Victor. Do you want to have lunch or you want to visit the building first, Sweetness?" I ask her. I want to show to Pete and Belle that our relationship is not just a mere employer employee. Pete is a good guy, best at his job. But he spoiled Belle too much. I don't want him to side with Belle, because this is Belle's fault. Not because of her agenda with me, but her working attitude is really annoying. Sarah never like her.

"What did you just call her?" Belle comes out behind Pete's back. I raise my eyebrow at her.

Pete pulls Belle's elbow, and she stops.

"Up to you Ethan," Madeline answers me with her smile, and looks at Pete. "Pete, what do you want to talk about?" She asks politely.

Pete glances at me, and I realize it's my cue to leave them. I take out my phone and walk farther from them, after giving a squeeze to my girl.

I steal a glance at them. From their faces, Pete is apologizing to Madeline about Belle. And Madeline gives him her smile. She is so beautiful, so bright. Since our first night, my life always starts and ends with her.

She comes to me with a smile. Pete just nods at me from far, I nod back. I know he needs to take care of his wailing cousin now.

"Ready to go?" I ask her and she nods.

***

We're on the way to the building I bought from The Dubois. It's called Ie Chateau Dubois. Or in English, The Dubois Castle. We're not planning to change the name. Because it's in the contract. They want us to preserve the name and I agree. The building is huge, it's a castle, the walls rich with painting and carving.

Madeline sits next to me, her eyes on the window, looking at Paris' street. "You sure you're not hungry, Sweetness?" I ask her.

She looks at me and shakes her head. "No. My tummy jet lagged. We can have a late lunch. What do you think? You don't have any appointment until the 3pm meeting," she says.

"Sure. You're the one who keeps track of my schedule." I tuck a a tendril behind her ear, and she smiles softly at me.

"By the way, do I need to know what Pete said to you earlier?"

"Nothing's important, he apologized about Belle. But we're good. You don't have to worry," she says.

I nod. "If you need my help, tell me, okay?"

She nods. "Relax Ethan. I'm capable enough to handle this," she winks at me. And hell, I fall deeper into this woman.

***

We arrived at The Dubois Palace; the security open the gates and the doors for us. The palace is empty right now. It needs to be vacant during the buying process.

"Wow, this is so picturesque" Madeline turns around, her eyes glued on the paintings. And she looks magnificent in the middle of this castle.

She looks at me, and our eyes locked. It's just the two of us in the middle of the castle. I come closer to her. I can see the pulse in her neck fluttering, my blood roar in my ears.

I link my hands around her waist and pull her closer to me. She comes willingly. This close, her warm body and the smell of her apple lotion fills my heart.

I lean to her and kiss her lips. She kisses me back. I love it when she is like this. It feels like I'm not the only one drowning in our chemistry. Her hands go to my neck, down inside my collar. God, it's so good to have her hands touch my skin.

She lets out a moan when I pull her closer to me. Our bodies crush. I can feel the soft of her breasts, and I'm sure she realize the hard of my cock on her stomach too.

When we stop, both of us are panting, her face flush, her lips swollen. She touches my lips. By the tingling, I'm sure my lips are swollen too.

Suddenly my phone is ringing, breaking the chemistry. Damn!

She takes a step back. "Your phone." Her voice is shaky, and she turns around, pretending looking at the building's paintings. I check at my phone. Jack?

"Jack?" I answer

"Ethan, we found Ben's account for the embezzlement. Coincidentally, it's in Paris."

"What?" My voice is rising. Madeline turns to me. I lock my eyes with her and hold my hand out to her. She takes it. I squeeze it to make sure it's okay.

"I'm on my way to Paris. We already called the bank to freeze the account. Clear your schedule for tomorrow."

"Okay. I got it."

"One of my guys who is following Ben told me he booked the ticket to Paris. I think he checked into his account and found out that we froze the account. So you have to be careful because we don't know what will he do."

"Okay."

"And... your girl. I don't think Ben is brave enough to hurt you, but he is a pussy. So..." he doesn't need to say anymore. I got what he meant.

"Okay," I say while my brain works to think how to keep Madeline safe.

"I'm already on the company's jet. Will be there in 4 hours. I'll go to the bank first and take care of some stuff. I'll see you tomorrow. I already arranged some security for you and Madeline Parker."

"Thanks. Text me when you arrive."

"Ok" he hangs up.

"Everything's okay?" Madeline aquamarine eyes look at me with worry. And at that moment, I realize that I will do anything to keep her safe. No matter what.

***

Finally, the day is over. After hearing the news from Jack, I feel anxious even though there are securities accompanying us, and Ben is still on the flight. Apparently, he still doesn't know I'm in Paris. Because he didn't book the earliest flight. For what we assumed, he thought there was an error with the bank system.

We arrive at the hotel, the check-in counter is a long queue. I wish we could go straight to the penthouse. Earlier Madeline wanted to check-in to the hotel so we don't have to wait when we arrive, but I refused. I don't want her out of my sight.

"Thanks, sir. I'm waiting near the check-in counter," Madeline says on the phone, and ends it.

"Who's that?" I ask her and she just smiles at me. In a few seconds, a tall man with a suit comes to us. "Bonjour! Good evening, Mr. Hall, Ms. Parker. We're so happy you choose our hotel for your stay in Paris. Let me know if you need anything else." He gives us the hotel room cards.

"Thank you so much, sir! And our luggage?" Madeline asks.

"On the way to the penthouse. Shall you need anything else, do not hesitate to call me."

"Perfect! Thank you," Madeline says brightly. The man smiles at us and goes.

"How did you do that?" I ask her while we're walking to the elevator.

She grinning proudly, "I pull some string." And she laughs. "I remembered Rainey did this before. Rainey was our assistant in Vibes Club and she is very good at her job."

"Ah, your social media celebrity moment."

In the elevator, I scan the card. Madeline looks at my hand. "There is only 1 room? The penthouse?"

"Yeah."

"Gosh, the manager forgot my card's room." She exhales, and I can't help but chuckle.

"Never mind, Ethan. I'll go down again to take my card. You go to your room and sleep. You must be exhausted."

I stare at her. She has no idea.

"What?"

I shake my head. "The manager is right. We only booked a room." And as expected, she is shocked.

"What? No, I booked 2 rooms. 1 penthouse for you, and 1 room for me. I made sure of it this morning."

"I changed it."

"What?" she squeaks and I laugh. The elevator opens, and I take her hand to the penthouse. She is still suspicious when we are inside. I point at the room. "We have 2 rooms for the penthouse, Sweetness. It's a waste to book another room." And because she is still narrowing her eyes on me, I add, "and it's more efficient too for the cost." I wink at her.

"You think I'm that gullible?" She says under her breath. She knows I don't care about the cost. It's just a room, after all. I laugh and kiss her forehead. "I want to be close to you, Is that reason good enough, Sweetness?"."

She stares at me, but the blush creeps from her Suddenly, she pokes my ribs and runs to her room. "I need to shower. Maybe I can think better after freshening up," she says and closes her room's door.

"Yeah, wise ass!" I call her and go to my room, still laughing. Madeline Parker is great for my soul. After the whole busy work, I still can laugh like this. When was the last time I laughed like this? It's been too long.