His Devious Rule

On the Lido deck, at half-past five,

Anya was impressed that Alvin woke her up and brought her out to watch the sunrise as she missed the sunset because of him. Seeing her laugh at him, Alvin was standing cold as arctic ice and ignored her teasing questions.

"Alvin Matthews could be considerate too. Is this west? I guess the sun rose in the west today. Did Alvin Matthews change or am I blessed today?..." And so on.

He was always considerate of her. Wasn't he?

He didn't want her to be filled with awful experiences and return home. Since she was admiring the sunset, he thought she might like sunrise and have a moment she could recall with a smile. She doesn't know how to cherish it. With his hands in the pocket, he looked east. He pretended like ignoring her but his attention was still on her, her voice, her giggles.

Well, he wasn't fated to enjoy the small moment of candidness. He clenched his teeth when he felt eyes on them. He glanced at her. As he expected, he saw her smile slowly dull, her expression stiffened, and her little excitement lost its mirth.

The sunrise was yet to complete when Anya started to feel eyes on them. She tried to ignore it but those eyes didn't move for a long time. Being watched from behind was a weird feeling. So she decided to check it out.

She spun, pretending to look around. There were another two couples on the lido deck, cuddling and watching the sunrise. Her eyes fell on two men sitting at the lounges of the swimming pool, sharing cigarettes, watching the sunrise. She strongly felt those men were looking at them until she turned around.

Although Alvin was aware of the eyes on them, he was more curious about the woman next to him. Her behavior, her attentiveness, and her smooth reflexes were something hard to find in common girls. She was trained and she didn't know how to hide it.

Is the training of the secretariat staff members so intense? He needs to ask Linus or Bernard.

He wasn't trained. When his stepmother was sending her maids to cause trouble for him, he was falling into their trap as a kid. He had to be smart to stop appearing like a fool in front of other people.

Hence he also had another doubt. Was Anya being followed or troubled in the past that made her so guarded? She was becoming a mystery.

Suddenly he felt Anya move. In a blink, she appeared in front of his eyes in the small gap between him and the railing. She was so close that he could see her baby hair on her skin, her gray eyes looked big and round when she blinked at him.

The gentle wind blew her hair and scattered them, shimmering against the warm rays of the sun. He itched to tame her hair and cease them from covering her little face but found himself frozen. He oddly wanted the time to stop there when she smiled.

"Sorry…" Anya smiled apologetically for going close to him without permission. She wanted to tell him her reason but swallowed hard.

'Why is he looking at me like this?' He neither blinked nor looked annoyed. His eyes fixed on her face as if he was lost in thoughts.

Anya had contemplated it would be fine to use him to check on those men's intentions. She started to feel uncomfortable due to their distance and his eyes.

Peeling her eyes away, she looked at the reflecting glass wall of the bar while breathing slowly through her mouth. Her heart was going crazy in her chest screaming at her to go aside.

Anyway, her attention soon fixed to the men. She had hoped for them to ogle other couples too but their eyes were particularly on her and Alvin. She further tried to focus on their behavior and appearance.

Their outfit looked branded but not stylish like other wealthy heirs she sees. Unlike the proud haughty behavior, they were cunning. They definitely had ulterior motives to be sitting there.

She was continuing her analysis when she felt Alvin put his hands on either side of her and bent to her height. She silently gasped looking at him coming close to her face with curious eyes.

Despite guessing what she was up to, Alvin teased her, "Did the sun lose against me?"

Anya slightly pushed her head back, looking at his lips curled up to smug yet enticing smirk. Her gaze unhurriedly shifted to his cognac eyes. If she has to pick one thing that makes him devilishly handsome, it was his eyes. If those could scare one by darkening, they could dazzle brighter than the sun in his deep-set sharp eyes.

"Maybe."

Did he hear it wrong? His Little Donut was flirting back instead of giving a sarcastic remark.

Looking at his smirk deepen, her pupils slightly widened, 'Did I just flirt back? Somethings wrong with me.' Though she counters to his teases, this was the first time she felt like she flirted with somebody.

Maintaining her composition, she quickly added in a whisper, "So you should stop burning my eyes and step away."

'Will this work?' She hoped it would work.

That's what he was thinking. His Little Donut was a type to even misunderstand flirting. He continued to tease her assuming this goofball never flirted with anybody.

He held a strand of her hair that was fluttering and tucked behind her ear looking at her eyes staring back into his eyes, forgetting she was keeping an eye on somebody, "Sweetheart, you came to me." His deep and low voice lingered in the air.

'Yes, I dug the hole and jumped straight in.' She chided herself accepting his words.

Suddenly her back stiffen when she felt like his finger grazed over her ear, yet he didn't touch her. She felt like he did it on purpose to see her fluster and she was adamant about keeping her composure and avoiding acting like a little girl.

Trapped between his arms, she pressed her forefinger on his shoulder and tried to push him away, "Now, I am asking you to go away."

As if he was an obedient fella, "Alright." He agreed indifferently and stepped away from her.

Anya was about to breathe in relief, her eyes fell on the two men who suddenly shifted their gaze away. Her hand involuntarily reached Alvin's shirt and tugged him. Unintendedly she used too much force expecting him to retaliate but he came closer than before.

Looking at her eyes widened as big as saucers, a throaty chuckle left his lips, "Looks like you can't bear to let go of me. There, there, I am right here." He petted her head.

She stomped his feet, yet he laughed at her. She shifted to the situation and looked at the men on the reflecting surface, "Those men are probably in their late twenties..."

Alvin's smile vanished and frowned.

"Their lips are dark, they probably smoke a lot..."

Alvin immediately interjected seeing her checking out some men right in front of his eyes, "Why the hell are you looking at their lips?" Displeasure was evident in his voice.

Anya was appalled and looked at him. Why is he getting angry? She ignored him and continued glancing at the reflection, "They have good physiques."

"They are ugly." He hissed in annoyance. He didn't even think or see who those men were but retorted what came to his lips.

'Ugly? How does it matter?' She gave a quick thought, 'Right, rich people don't really look ugly.'

She nodded, "These men don't look like they are from well-off families. They are pretending like one." Then she looked at Alvin's frame, "I don't think they are stronger than you. You can take them down if they attack us."

Alvin: "..."

Teasing her, it had left his mind, some were keeping an eye on them and she was speaking about them. Inarticulate about his own reaction, he stood quietly and continued to hear her.

"I can't fight two together." She would never overestimate herself.

Alvin didn't respond. He left enough space for her to breathe while looking at her eyes which were eagerly looking at the reflection of the men and judging them. She was squinting her eyes sometimes and furrowed for a second. She pursed her lips and again spoke.

"There is another man with them. So there could be more. We should be careful." She felt like their second day might get more problematic than the previous day.

Alvin commanded, "Stay by me."

She didn't think they were eyeing them because of her. She is a married lady on the ship so men wouldn't easily lust over her. The previous day was an exception as those young men had seen her alone in the passageway. These three men were probably behind them because of the... Collins name.

She looked at Alvin, picked his cold tone, and instructed him, "You stay beside me." She took steps away and crossed her arms.

Alvin couldn't believe she was speaking in a tone as if she should protect him. Didn't she just say she could knock off those men?

Her eyes skimmed over him from head to toe. Alvin didn't have a good notion from it and saw her suddenly grin, "They must have fallen for you." She really won't be surprised if that was the case, after all, he had killer looks.

Alvin: "..."

Anya sweetly continued, "Men like pretty faces and you have such a good one." Teasing him for his looks was so fun.

"Little Donut…" He warned her.

She wasn't scared, "Should I perhaps… let you enjoy with them?"

"Perverted Donut…" He took a step and she ran away, laughing at her own remark while covering her cheeks. She accurately knew his punishment was pinching her cheeks red.

At the other side of the swimming pool, The third man who came, at last, glared at the two men. He waited till the couple left the lido deck.

'Pooh'

'Pooh'

Seething in anger, he punched both men in the face. The two men stood, clenching their teeth. They didn't dare to act rashly as the third man was their leader.

The other couples on the lido deck were startled by the punching sounding before ignoring them.

The third man growled at the men in a low voice, "Are you f**cking insane? That woman was watching you through the reflection."

He couldn't believe his two men alerted the couple. Though the couple left the deck as if having fun, he stood at a distance and clearly saw Anya watching his two men and their actions.

"If our plan fails, forget about money, your family won't get your body for your funeral." He stormed away after it.

—--

At the entrance of the stairs, Anya looked at Alvin once she heard the footsteps fade. Her eyes widened realizing another blunder she made. She was pinning him to the wall and her fingers were on his lips in a hurry to stop him and keep him silent.

'The monstrous wave, why don't you sweep me away?'