The Temptress: Tempting the Devil’s son

“Your daughter is very gorgeous, Nate. She is an epitome of perfection and her beauty is angelic. None is to be compared with her aesthetic features.” One of Nate’s business partner whose name was Tyler Basil stated, sipping from his glass of champagne.

Nate laughed, sheepishly. “Yes, indeed she is. She took after her father after all!” He answered, gleefully looking over at the couple who were busy locking lips.

He expected them to cease kissing soonest, but they only continued tongue tieing, oblivious of the crowd whose gazes were fixated on them. This was embarrassing.

Tyler rumbled loudly in laughter and told, “We both know that’s a lie. She takes after her mother. Dionne was, in fact, very graceful during our school days, she still is. Remember, she was the hotshot of the school back then. Hundreds of guys would die to spend the night with her. Occasionally, I still wonder how you ended up making her fall head over heels for you, of all people, THE SCHOOL NERD! The guy no one wanted to be friends with. The outcast.” His tone was laced with envy and hatred.

A frown ran across Nate’s face. Tyler indeed had a crush on Dionne for the longest time. But when Dionne unexpectedly became smitten by Nate, she followed him around just to make him fall for her.

Occasionally, she made bumping into him seem like a coincidence or an accident. Although he sought to avoid her countless times, she still found her way into his heart. She was that desperate, but she got what she wanted after all. The man of her dreams.

Nate and Tyler were high school and college buddies. They, in fact, grew up together. They were best of friends, and they did a plenitude of things together.

Tyler was outraged at him for months when he found out that they became a couple. He felt betrayed and that caused a rift in their friendship. They became distant, they weren’t as close as before.

Years later, Tyler got a girl pregnant but when she had the baby, she abandoned him and her son. He became a single daddy, life wasn’t easy for him. Taking care of a baby and working hard to make ends meet was a very arduous task.

Nate and Dionne were always supportive, sometimes they took turns in catering for the baby, but unknown to Nate, Tyler still held a grudge against him.

Months later, Tyler relocated with his son for reasons best known to him. Although they still talked from time to time, Tyler became more and more distant.

He didn’t even attend Nate’s wedding. The friendship between them was slowly extinguished, and now they were just business partners and nothing more.

“That’s the natural order of things. Bad girls are drawn to the good guys, and good girls like bad guys more,” Nate said, glancing at him.

“Hmm. I suppose.” He nodded in agreement.

“I trust that the crush you had on my wife back then is no more.” Nate uttered with an unsmiling expression.

“Of course. That was a long time ago. Seems to me like you are a very possessive man!” He made a facetious and tasteless remark. Nate didn’t seem convinced.

“Aren’t all men in love supposed to be possessive of their women?” He furrowed his brows at his remark.

“I concur. Cheers to love.” Tyler raised his wine glass up, gesturing at Nate.

“Cheers!” Nate equally raised his glass, gentling clicking his glass with Tyler’s.

“About your daughter. Why did you hide her from the world for so long? A beauty like her shouldn’t be hidden.” He queried with a look of curiosity on his face.

Nate sighed and replied, “I didn’t hide her from the world. Her condition chose to hide her. She has a fear of the crowd, I’m actually surprised that she didn’t run away. I wouldn’t blame her if she did.”

“I see,” he nodded, listlessly. “Was that the condition you too had while growing up?”

“Yes. And you know that.” He rolled his eyes. Did he seriously forget?

“The man she’s kissing over there, is he her boyfriend?” He questioned with wrinkled brows.

“Yes,” Nate answered.

“I see,” he hummed in response.

“You remember my son, right?” He gestured at the young, handsome man who was standing beside him.

“Oh yes, Kelvin, right? He’s grown so big! He was still a baby when I last saw him.” He uttered in utmost surprise. Children. They grow so fast.

“Of course, he has. He’s a man now. Kelvin, say hi to your uncle Nate.” He nudged at his son.

“Good day, sir!” He shammed a smile.

“Good day, Kelv. How have you been?”

“Great!” They exchanged pleasantries and blabbed on and on about other issues.

“There is something important I wanna talk to you about.” Tyler made a serious face.Belonging © NôvelDram/a.Org.

“What is it?”

“Seems like God is trying to rekindle our lost friendship.” A faux smile became painted on his face as he said that.

“What do you mean?” Nate asked, confused.

“My son here has taken a liking to your daughter. I suppose this is love at first sight. He wants to make her his wife.”

Kelvin’s face was contorted when he saw the couple were still engaged in a heated lip battle. They were kissing like two lovers who just couldn’t get enough of each other.

Obviously, he was rankled that some man is kissing his supposed wife to be. He wished he could walk over there and murder him.

“What?” Nate’s screwed up his face in bewilderment. That was impossible! Blake would never allow it. The love he had for his daughter was out of this world.

He seemed cool on the outside, but there was a big storm brewing within. A raging desire to kill and destroy. He wouldn’t mind slaying millions of people for her sake.

He always felt like he was no ordinary man, like something about him wasn’t adding up. Furthermore, he was still a mystery to him, but what he didn’t know was that he was the Devil himself.

“I Just told you he is my daughter’s boyfriend and fiancé. They would be getting married in a few months time. And as you can see, they are obviously in love. There is nothing I can about it.”

“Of course you can. We have been friends for over thirty years. This would be a great opportunity to bring our families together. We can go back to being the way we used to be, plus it would be good for business too.” Tyler tugged the conner of his lips and raised his glass in approval.

“You don’t understand. This isn’t about business, it’s about my daughter’s happiness. I can’t jeopardize that because of a business deal…”

“Think about it, Nate, I rank thirty among the richest men in the world, and you’re just at sixty-nine. Think about all the business opportunities this marriage alliance can open for you. And that’s not all, it would elevate your family name. I am giving you this on a platter of Gold. People would die to be in your position.” He declared with a smug look.

Nate simply chuckled in response. The nerves of this man, who does he think he is? Money wasn’t his problem. If he wanted to be among the top ten richest men, he could easily do that. Thanks to his sons-in-law unending connection, he could do that in a few months.

He never wanted the fame. He never wanted to draw too much attention to himself. Not only that, but he wanted a simple life, and he was content with what he had.

What he had was more than enough to cater for his family for millions of years, what more could he ask for?

“I’m sorry, Tyler, but I politely decline. Money and fame is not my problem and my daughter is not for sale.” He faked a smile.

“Besides, you were the one who destroyed our friendship, not me. And my daughter’s happiness would not be used as a tool to rekindle the friendship you broke because of jealousy and envy!” He blew a fuse.

“No, Nate, you broke our friendship. You fell in love with the woman I wanted for years. How could you still call yourself my friend?” He thundered.

“A woman who rejected you countless times. How was that my fault? You weren’t in love with her, Tyler, you were obsessed. So much that you didn’t know when to back off. Falling in love with her and marrying her was the best thing that ever happened to me. And I have no regrets. I would do it over and over again if I can!” He roared.

Nate never wanted to fall in love with Dionne and that’s why he avoided her like a plague because he wanted to avoid hurting his best friend.

But love wasn’t something he chose, love chose him. How could he possibly resist? They were a match made in heaven and yes, he did feel guilty about it for the longest time. But how was falling in love his fault?

“If you would excuse me, I need to be with my WIFE. She needs me. Enjoy the party!” He shammed a smile and walked away.

“Traitor!” He gritted, clenching his fist in disdain.