Ch. 421..425: Forbidden Heat R18 Chapter 421-425

Chapter 421: Reiner - Change of Plans

Despite how much I wanted to stay cooped up in my tiny apartment with Reiner, I knew that we had work to do. Fortunately, he was my boss at work, and we could spend time together even at work. Work was busy as always but the fact that Kat’s birthday was coming up this Friday did not slip my mind. I did make a promise to myself to get her some good cake. Thinking about it, I haven’t had the time to enjoy any good cake or bakery since my arrival on this island. The only good cake that I had was...

“Natalia...” Reiner called my name.

I looked up from where I was sitting behind my desk to find Reiner standing right in front of me. It was clear from his stern face that he had something to say, and it probably wasn’t good news. I sucked in a breath and held it before smiling at him.

“Yes?” I said inquiringly.

“You have work at the bar tonight, right?” Reiner asked after a brief moment of hesitation.

“Yes, I do. I can’t skip out today because it’s Kat’s birthday...so yeah...” I replied while wondering what he wanted to say.

I hoped that he wasn’t going to tell me not to go work at the bar tonight. Since patching up our argument from last time, Reiner had been quite supportive of my work at the bar. He drove me there and picked me up and had stopped making comments about how I should just stop working at ‘a random bar’.

“I see...” he muttered.

“Is something the matter?” I asked as I stared up at his face.

“Something came up and...I need to go home for dinner today,” Reiner said.

It wasn’t a big deal that he couldn’t drive me. I can manage to travel to the bar and back without him acting as my personal driver but the regretful tone in his voice made me feel warm inside.

“You don’t have to worry about it. I can travel alone just fine. I guess Queen misses you so you should make it back home for dinner,” I said with a bright smile.

Hopefully my smile could reassure him. I also needed to buy cake for Kat’s birthday before heading to the bar so I didn’t mind going alone so that I wouldn’t have to burden Reiner.

“I’ll try my best to pick you up on time,” Reiner quickly offered.

“Umm...about that. Actually, Kat might want me to stay over with her tonight because it’s her birthday and all...” I said with a hopeful smile.

It had slipped my mind that Kat wanted me to stay over with her if possible and I haven’t told Reiner about it. He looked at me with slight concern before nodding his head slightly in approval. I let out a breath that I hadn’t realized that I had been holding. I knew that he was always overly worried about me, and he was putting in effort to compromise for my sake.

“Text me when you get off work and when you’ve arrived at her place,” Reiner instructed.

“Sure. Ok...” I readily agreed.

After work, while I was on my way to buy Kat her birthday cake, I wondered why Reiner looked so concern about heading back home for dinner. Hopefully, things were going well with him and his family. Since moving out, I haven’t visited Queen even once. Although, I had promised to visit her, the situation between Reiner and I made it quite awkward for me to randomly drop by to his mansion to visit his mother. Then there was that issue regarding Rachael. Now that things seemed to be going well between Reiner and me, perhaps, I should aim to visit her soon.

It wasn’t long before I arrived at my destination, the café that Reiner had taken me to on our lunch break together. The café looked as pretty as I remembered it. Simply because I didn’t have much experience with other café on the island and also because I thought that the cake that I had here tasted amazingly wonderful, I had chosen to purchase Kat’s birthday cake here.

“Hello. How can I help you?” a cheerful woman asked when she saw me looking at the cakes on display.

“Yes, actually, I’m looking to buy a blueberry cheesecake for my friend’s birthday...” I replied.

There was no blueberry cheesecake on display and I had a feeling that the store may not have it for sale today or perhaps it was already sold out. I could pick another kind of cake, but I wanted Kat to have a taste of the blueberry cheesecake.

“Sorry but we don’t sell that cake here. We have other kinds of cake though. Our chocolate chiffon cake and strawberry shortcake are very popular,” the woman said with a smile.

What does she mean?

“Really? I had it the other day when I was here...” I questioned with a mix of confusion and disappointment.

“Really? I’m very sorry but as far as I’m aware we’ve never had that on our menu here. I can check with my colleague if you want but I truly don’t think we have it here,” the woman said regretfully.

It wasn’t the end of the world but...

“Oh, I think I remember you...” another woman appeared.

I don’t quite remember her but perhaps she was the waitress that served us before when I was here with Reiner?

“It’s good that you’re here. Can you wait a second please?” the woman quickly said before flashing me a wide smile.

The waitress walked behind the counter and into the door leading to the back. Soon after, another woman that I had never seen before appeared and smiled at me.

“Sorry for the late introduction but I’m the owner of this café. My girl told me that you came with Knight the other day. I couldn’t get in contact with him so maybe he’s busy. If you don’t mind, can I ask you a favor and return this to him, please?”

I looked down at the glass container that she was handing to me. Is this a container of some kind? The owner probably saw my curious and hesitant expression because she hurriedly explained.

Chapter 422: Reiner – All He Does For Me

“Knight brought a cake here for us to serve a while ago, but he hasn’t returned to pick up this container. As I said, I couldn’t get in touch with him so if you don’t mind, can you please return this to him?” the café owner said with an apologetic smile.

Reiner brought a cake here?

“What cake did he bring?” I asked.

“Oh, it was a blueberry cheesecake,” the owner replied immediately.

I should have known.

“...I see. Sure, I’ll return it to him...” I said as I took the container into my hands.

“Umm...about the cake for your friend...” the first woman asked hesitantly.

Oh right, I have to buy a cake for Kat’s birthday.

“I’ll go with the strawberry shortcake that you recommended. Can you put a message on the cake for me as well?” I inquired.

“Gladly. Please write the message here and I’ll write it on the cake,” the woman said with a kind smile.

I took the pen and small piece of note paper that the woman offered before writing down a simple message on it.

‘Happy Birthday Kat!’

“Thank you very much,” I said as I handed back the paper and pen to the woman.

“Please wait a moment. I’ll get it ready for you soon,” she said as she began taking out the cake from the display.

...

After receiving the cake from the salesclerk at the café, I was on my way to the bar. During the ride there, I had some time to think about the surprising fact that I had just discovered. I glanced down at the container that the café’s owner had passed on to me to return to Reiner. If I wasn’t wrong, back then Reiner and I argued a lot and we didn’t get along at all. He was so mean to me, and he tried so hard to push me away so that I would go home.

Although I didn’t want to remember them, I could recall the words he said to me all those times when he told me to go back home. Despite all that, he went out of his way to make a cake for me and then invited me out to lunch so that I could eat it. I felt many pairs of eyes on me and realized that I had started laughing to myself. I nodded my head and apologized softly to the other people in the bus before returning to my thoughts. It was just funny how Reiner seemed to express his care for me in his stubborn and roundabout way.

I can’t believe that he made the cake for me. I should have realized it sooner. Even though I thought the cake tasted so similar. I’ll make sure that I thank him properly for it.

Because I had to drop by to get Kat her cake, I arrived at the bar right on time for opening time. I just had enough time to change before the night started for us. It was a Friday and just like all Friday nights, the bar was crazy packed with customers. I wished that Kat and I would have some time to catch up and chat; however, that was not to be. There were too many customers, and we were both so busy that we didn’t even have the time to catch our breath.

I never got a chance to talk to her or wish her a proper ‘happy birthday’ until the night was over. While I sat on a stool to catch my breath along with my colleagues, I honestly thought about telling Jamie to hire more staff even if it was just to help out on Friday nights.

“I hate Friday nights...” Kat muttered darkly.

I knew exactly why that was so.

“It’s tough...but we managed to get through it,” I replied, trying to stay positive about it.

“You’re staying over at my place, right?” she asked with hopeful eyes.

“Yes...oh...Happy birthday,” I said before I would forget.

Kat smiled brightly at me before she started to laugh a little.

“Thanks...” she said with a smile.

“I bought you cake. It’s in the fridge in the kitchen,” I announced proudly.

“Oh really? Wow! Thank you...” Kat said as she clapped her hands together excitedly.

Just like I had promised Reiner earlier, I sent him a text when I was on my way with Kat to her place. After a while of not getting his text reply, I wondered if he saw my text. It wasn’t usual for him to not reply like this. Perhaps, he was enjoying his time having dinner with his parents that he didn’t see the text that I had sent.

“Let’s eat the cake?” Kat suggested when we arrived at her place.

“Sure!” I quickly replied excitedly.

It wasn’t the blueberry cheesecake that I wanted to eat but this would have to do for now. Kat started chatting cheerfully and soon I was so engaged in our conversation that I forgot all about the text reply that I was waiting for.

...

“You wanted to see me?” Reiner asked emotionlessly.

King looked up from the report that he had been reading to see his son standing right in front of his work desk. It had been a while since he’d called his son in for a talk, and he wasn’t exactly impressed with his son’s attitude.

“You haven’t been home for a while...” King said coldly.

“Is that why you’ve called me here?” Reiner asked.

“No...” King replied flatly.

Reiner didn’t seem surprised at his father’s response. After receiving a call from his father requesting to meet with him, Reiner knew that his father had something to say, and as usual, it wasn’t something pleasant. Internally, he wished that it would have nothing to do with his engagement, his marriage, and his responsibility of producing the next heir to take over the family’s business and the management of the island.

Instead of prompting for his father to tell him why he was summoned, Reiner decided to wait silently and patiently for his father to say what he needed to say. King placed the report that he had been holding down on the desk in front of him before motioning with his hand for his son to take a seat opposite him at the table. Reiner sat down opposite his father and their eyes met.

Chapter 423: Reiner - An Order to Kill

“Where have you been spending your nights?” his father asked.

“Why are you asking about something that you already know?” Reiner asked in reply.

King’s lips curved into a smirk, and he did not avert his gaze from his son. Reiner saw no reason to justify his actions and decided to remain silent to see what his father truly wanted.

“She’s not your fiancée,” King stated flatly.

“Is that a problem?” Reiner asked bluntly.

The smirk on King’s lips deepened before he started chuckling softly to himself. Reiner wasn’t sure what his father found so amusing about the conversation that they were having but he decided that the less he said, the better it would be. King was hard to read, and he was very unpredictable. Dealing with King had never been easy, and Reiner had figured out that staying passive was the best approach. He decided to simply wait and see.

“Not at all. As long as the child is yours, I couldn’t care less who the mother is,” King replied before grinning at his son.

“Is that all?” Reiner asked as he wondered if the conversation was now over.

“I wasn’t going to tell you this because I don’t have a need to...but...” King said before ending with a small sigh.

Reiner’s eyes widened at the file that his father slid across the table towards him. The folder was plain black and had no lettering to indicate what was inside.

“Open it and see for yourself,” King said as if he wasn’t bothered to explain much.

Reiner slowly reached for the black folder on the table. He felt an ominous feeling that he couldn’t quite explain when his hand touched the folder. Reiner stared at the folder for a moment as if trying to figure out what was inside. Black folders are for high-ranking missions that were either difficult to execute or extremely high priority based on the client’s request or amount that they were willing to pay.

“Is this assigned to me?” Reiner asked curiously.

It wasn’t like he was against taking on missions at this point. If King wanted him to do it, he’ll have to do it. It was as simple as that.

“No. It can be assigned to anybody...” King replied passively.

“I see...” Reiner muttered as his blue eyes tried to read his father’s emotionless face.

His father’s face gave nothing away as the older man smiled cunningly at his son. Reiner sighed in resignation. There was no point trying to guess the content of the envelope; he might as well just open it and get it over and done with. Whatever mission it was wasn’t going to surprise him.

Slowly, he opened the black folder and began reading the paper inside. He was right, the papers inside contained details of a high-class mission; however, he was wrong about the part that it wasn’t going to surprise him. Reiner eyes widened and then narrowed at what he was seeing. It’s impossible...

“A request came in from one of my old clients. As you can see, the request is simple enough but due to the urgency and the amount that the client is willing to pay to get this issue dealt with, it has been classified as a S rank mission with extra high priority,” King stated passionlessly as if reciting from a textbook.

Reiner didn’t say anything in response to his father’s words. He was too shocked at what he was seeing as he reread the content of the mission over and over again as if the details would change if he did. He had faced many unexpected situations in his life, but nothing had prepared him for this.

The mission was simple enough just like King had said. The objective was to kill the target in any method possible and provide proof to the client that the target had been eliminated successfully. The details and terms were standard. Reiner’s eyes narrowed as it focused on the detail of the target and the overly attractive photo attached.

“I just thought that I should let you know so that you won’t be too surprised if, you know, she goes missing and never returns,” King said in a completely detached way.

Reiner ignored his father’s words as his eyes focused on the familiar face and smile that looked back at him alluringly from the photograph as he willed the sight in front of him to disappear. The photo was probably taken by someone from the press during one of the target’s previous appearances on the red carpet. Natalia dressed in an elaborate red dress smiled back at him with her bright red lips.

“I’m not asking you to take care of this mission, so you don’t need to worry. After all, I’m not that heartless. I’m just following protocol and I hope that you’ll understand that,” King stated matter-of-factly.

“Natalia is employed by our company. As per the protocol, she should receive our protection,” Reiner quickly argued.

“She’s not an agent and neither is she listed in the list of people we are liable to protect. She’s just a secretary...even if she happens to be yours. She can easily be replaced at a cost much less than the profit that we will earn from this simple but over-priced mission,” King said.

“What do you really want?” Reiner asked as he slowly stood up from his seat.

King glanced up at his son as he wondered how long Knight can keep his composure. The request was a surprising one and he had to say that timing was more than perfect.

“Nothing. As I said, I just thought that I should let you know. You are my son after all...” King replied like none of this concerned him at all.

“Turn down this request. I’ll pay you and the company whatever the client wants to pay,” Reiner demanded as he leaned across the table towards his father.

“You know that I can’t do that. If I do, how will the company uphold its reputation. We will work on all requests from all clients as long as it follows our protocol,” King said resolutely.

Chapter 424: Reiner - His Decision

“Protocols...” Reiner muttered as his mind raced to figure out a solution.

“The mission can’t be delayed for long. I’ll give you 24 hours to figure out what you want to do. Remember, we always follow our protocols,” King stated while stressing on every word.

Reiner glanced down a moment as he took in a deep breath. It was clear to King that Reiner was trying to figure something out and he was curious to see what his son would come up with in this situation. After a short moment of silence, Reiner lifted his eyes and King could see the determination in them.

“I’ll take on this mission,” Reiner said without hesitation.

“You?” King asked, clearly surprised.

“Yes,” Reiner replied seriously.

“Really?” King inquired.

“Yes,” Reiner replied immediately.

“Well, I have to say that I did not expect this,” King said followed by a smirk.

“Can I have till end of Monday to complete this mission?” Reiner asked as his eyes focused on his father.

“You need some time to say goodbye? Sure, I would have assigned an agent to it on Monday morning anyways. I don’t want to bother our assassins on a weekend even if it is an overly simple S-rank mission,” King replied after a few seconds of thinking.

“Thank you,” Reiner thanked his father with some relief in his voice.

“Your professionalism is high appreciated, Knight,” King said as he stared straight at Reiner.

“Thank you, King,” Reiner thanked him again without missing the formal use of his code name.

Reiner watched as his father closed his eyes and leaned back in his seat. It was evident that the conversation was over as far as King was concerned. His father did not reopen his eyes and he didn’t say anything else. Reiner took his leave without saying another word. His eyes were on his watch as he noted the time. He didn’t have much time to say his goodbyes.

...

“You seem to be in a good mood,” Kat said as she squinted her eyes at my face.

“Of course, I’m in a good mood. It’s your birthday celebration,” I replied with a bright smile.

“I don’t mean that...” Kat said suggestively.

Well, I guess I was over the moon happy with how my relationship with Reiner had progressed. It wasn’t like I wanted to keep it from Kat, but I haven’t gotten around to tell her about Reiner yet and it was a little complicated since I’ve already introduced him to her as my boss. That technically was very true; he’s still my boss and he’s not my boyfriend. However, we are going on a date together this weekend and whenever I thought about that my heart would skip a beat and my tummy would feel funny.

“You’re smiling again. Pray, tell me the good news!” Kat demanded enthusiastically.

“Well...do you remember the guy who we ran into in front of the bar before?” I asked while feeling a little shy.

“You mean your boss?” Kat asked with widened eyes.

She seemed to be catching on very fast to these kinds of things. It was probably her hidden talent or something along those lines.

“Yes, that’s right. He’s my boss and...we’re going on a date tomorrow...” I confessed timidly.

Kat’s eyes widened even further, and her mouth formed an O-shape. I had guessed that she would be a little surprised and excited but not to this extent.

“Oh my...you have to tell me all about this! You’re dating your boss?! Wow...and he’s like so hot!” Kat cried out in amazement.

I smiled a little at her before chuckling. Her reactions were so funny, but she was right, Reiner is very hot.

After chatting for a few hours, Kat was almost dead drunk, and it wasn’t because of the strawberry shortcake that I bought. It was late at night and after checking my phone, I found out that Reiner had not replied to my text. It wasn’t like I was worried about him or anything. At least, that was what I was trying to tell myself for the past few hours. Kat slurred some words that I couldn’t comprehend so all I could do in response was stroke her back and pat her shoulder. She doesn’t seem like a heavy girl, I guess if I tried hard enough, I could half carry and half drag her to her bed.

Just as I was draping one of Kat’s arms around my shoulder, my phone started ringing. I knew without having to see the screen that Reiner was the one calling. Mouthing a soft apology to Kat, I put her arm back down as I reached for my phone to answer it.

“Natalia, where are you?” Reiner asked casually.

“I sent you a text already. I’m at Kat’s place now. She’s sort of very drunk...” I reported with a small laugh.

“I see. Did you drink?” Reiner asked and I could hear some concern in his voice.

“Yes...a little. Oh, but I’m not drunk at all, honestly,” I replied.

I had good reasons not to get dead drunk tonight and the number one reason at the top of my list was because Reiner is supposed to take me on a date tomorrow. We’ll be spending the weekend together just as he had suggested, and I surely did not need a hangover for that. Because of that, I drank with extreme care and moderation.

“Good. I’ll pick you up from Kat’s place tomorrow. I might be a little late, though,” Reiner said calmly.

“Sure. I don’t mind waking up late tomorrow...” I said lazily.

I felt very tired and sleeping in a little probably won’t hurt. It was the weekend anyways and we had all the time in the world to ourselves during the weekend.

“11AM? Is that too late?” Reiner asked.

“Not at all. I’ll look forward to seeing you,” I replied sweetly.

“Don’t wake up late,” Reiner teased.

I held in my sigh. I knew that he knew that I wasn’t a morning person. I wondered if the date spot that Reiner had in mind was far away.

“No problem at all. I’ll be waiting for you here. 11AM it is...” I replied excitedly.

Chapter 425: Reiner - Finally, a Date!

“Ok. See you tomorrow...if something happens, just call me,” Reiner said and for a moment he seemed overly worried.

I mean, I’m just sleeping over with Kat at her place. What can possibly happen? Since that incident with Rachael, I have never seen her again and even if I did, I don’t think that she would dare hurt me again. Reiner didn’t tell me about how he settled things with her after the incident. Truthfully, I was more than slightly curious about it but I was hesitant to ask Reiner directly about it.

“I’ll be fine. Don’t worry too much. See you and goodnight,” I replied sweetly.

“Goodnight,” Reiner said before hanging up.

I clutched my phone to my chest like it was something precious and rare. Tomorrow, I’m finally going on a date with Reiner. Suddenly everything seemed to be going well and smooth. Carrying Kat to her bed in her drunken state seemed like such an easy task in comparison to other things that I’ve been through.

...

11AM was just around the corner and Kat was still fast asleep. It was a shame that I couldn’t say goodbye to her before leaving but I didn’t want to wake her up. Also, I was sure that she wouldn’t mind if I told her that I had to leave early for my date with Reiner. I watched the time tick by impatiently. It’s almost time for Reiner to pick me up but he hasn’t called. Feeling too restless to just sit by and wait in Kat’s apartment, I decided to grab my things and wait for him in front of the building instead.

After a couple of minutes of waiting in front of Kat’s building, my phone started ringing and I picked it up immediately. Reiner was on the line, and I realized that it was already 11AM. He’s running late but I didn’t mind at all.

“Sorry, I’m late but I’m driving there now,” Reiner said apologetically.

“Don’t worry. I can wait,” I replied.

“I should be there in a few minutes,” he said.

“Ok. I’m already waiting for you in front of the building, so you don’t have to wait for me when you arrive,” I said as I tried to sound calm and collected.

I felt anything but calm inside as my heart thud hard and fast in my chest. Honestly, I had been looking forward to this date so much that I had trouble catching some sleep last night. It wasn’t usual for Reiner to be late like this so maybe something turned up.

“You should be more careful. You can just wait inside,” Reiner said with apparent worry.

“I’ll be fine, and you’ll be here soon anyways...” I replied.

True to his words, Reiner arrived within a few minutes. I didn’t recognize that it was him at first because he wasn’t driving his usual car. The red Ferrari that parked right in front of me reminded me more of Zak than Reiner. It was when Reiner got out of the car to help me with my things that I realized that it was him.

“New car?” I asked teasingly.

“Nope. I just rarely use this one...” Reiner replied softly, and I couldn’t help but laugh a little at him.

“A dashing sportscar for our date. Truly impressive,” I said before flashing him a bright smile.

“Just get in the car,” Reiner said with mocking seriousness as he opened the passenger door for me.

“Thank you,” I thanked him after getting in.

...

“Where are you taking me...or is it a surprise?” I asked.

After leaving Kat’s apartment building, Reiner drove us along a road that I did not recognize. There were many parts of the island that I haven’t been to. Ever since the tour that Queen took me on, I have never gone out of my way to explore the island. All I ever visited was the business district where I worked on my day job and the entertainment district where I worked my night job. I was truly excited when I thought about seeing more of the island with Reiner with me.

“Not really. I’m just taking you to the beach,” Reiner said like it was no big deal.

However, it was sort of a big deal for me...

“Really? Wow! You should have told me; I would have brought along my bikini and all...” I said excitedly.

“I have some arranged for you. They should fit and we can buy whatever you need when we get there,” Reiner replied.

“Oh, right...” I murmured with widened eyes.

“The beach here is nice and the water is clear. It shouldn’t be too hot. It’s been a long time since I last went there but I doubt that much has changed,” Reiner informed me casually.

“You’re just making me want to get there faster...” I started to complain.

“We’ll be there soon enough. This island isn’t that large,” Reiner replied with a small laugh.

The island wasn’t that small, and it was quite a ride before we arrived at the beach that Reiner wanted to take me to. Before arriving at our destination, Reiner took me shopping at a small mall where we bought all the things that we needed for our little weekend getaway.

“You chose these for me?” I asked as I arched a brow at him.

Before deciding if I wanted or needed to buy new bikinis at the mall, I decided to check out what Reiner had prepared for me. I had no idea what he was thinking when he picked out these bikinis for me.

“You don’t like them? We can buy new ones,” Reiner said.

I stared at the various choices of bikinis that Reiner had prepared, and I had to say that he had the extreme of every style from super sporty, super plain, to super revealing. If I wore the super revealing one, I might as well not wear anything at all. There was nothing that sat in the normal range or the right combination of all of those elements.

“That would be better...and we can pick and choose together,” I suggested brightly, being careful not to hurt his feelings.

...

“Wow! Now this is the beach of my dreams!” I shouted loudly when we stepped out of the car.