TLBS1: Lost With A Haughty Billionaire

Chapter 7

MALALIM ang iniisip ni Althed habang nagsa-shower siya. It had been days, pero hindi pa rin mawala-wala sa kanyang isipan ang hitsura ni Ainah no’ng isang araw nang aminin nito na isa nga ito sa mga babaeng nagkagusto sa kanya noong bata pa siya na na-reject niya. Sa unang pagkakataon sa buhay niya, nakaramdam siya ng guilt dahil may nasaktan siyang babae. Wala naman siyang pakialam sa mga babaeng nare-reject niya noon. But all of a sudden, Ainah became an exemption. Affected siya sa hurt feeling na bumakas kay Ainah habang sinasabi nito sa kanya ang isang bahagi ng kanilang past. Lalo siyang na-curious. His heart was hungry for more details. There was a part of his heart that wanted to know the whole story. Oo, mga bata pa sila noon. It didn’t mean a lot now, but somehow, there was a reason why their paths crossed again.

Gusto sana niyang itanong na lang kay Ian ang lahat ngunit ayaw naman niyang isipin ng kapatid na interesado siya kay Ainah kaya siya nagtatanong. Come on, Althed. She was just here to investigate the death threat case. She’s not here to flirt.

Then, why did he find her more attractive whenever she expresses how much she hated him?

Napangisi siya. Naiiling na ipinagpatuloy niya ang panliligo at nang matapos ay lumabas na siya ng banyo na nakatapis lang sa baywang ang tuwalya. Few drops of water slowly dripped on his well-toned body. Kalmado siyang nagbihis sa walk-in closet. Kumuha lamang siya ng boxer shorts, nothing else. Matutulog na siya and he was more comfortable sleeping that way . . . wearing almost nothing at all.

“Good evening, sir!”

Muntik na siyang mapatalon sa gulat nang pagbukas niya ng walk-in closet ay si Ainah ang nabungadan niya. Nasa may pinto talaga ito na waring hinihintay lang na lumabas siya. Ngingisi-ngisi ito na tila aliw na aliw na makita siyang topless.

“What the hell are you doing here?!” singhal niya rito. “Who told you that you can just enter my room just like that?!”

“Ahm, parents mo. Pasukin ko raw ang kahit anong dapat kong pasukin kahit iyong sa ’yo.”

“What?” pinagkunutan niya ito ng noo.

“Sa ’yong kuwarto,” paglilinaw nito. “Huwag ka nang masungit. May kailangan akong itanong.”

“Bakit ’di mo na lang i-chat?” He rolled his eyes and sat at the edge of the bed.

“As if sasagutin mo ang messages ko kung mag-chat ako sa ’yo. I need to ask something, that needs urgent answers.” Sinundan ni Ainah ang galaw niya. “Hindi ka ba magdadamit man lang?”

“Why? Don’t you like what you are seeing?” mayabang niyang tanong. Of course, he knew his assets so well and he also knew that Ainah was still affected of his presence. Kahit pa sabihin ng babaeng ito na naka-move on na ito sa kanya, batid niyang na-appreciate pa rin nito ang physical assets niya. After all, a woman would always be a woman.

Nagkibit-balikat ito at tiningnan siya. Sinipat nito ang abs niya bago muli siyang tiningnan. “I have seen a lot hunkier than you. Keri ka lang naman. Let’s see kung mapapakinabangan natin iyang pinagmamalaki mong katawan sa self-defense training mo. Baka kasi hanggang ganda lang iyan. Performance is more important than the looks.”

Pinigilan ni Althed ang sarili na patulan ito. Harap-harapan na naman siya nitong iniinsulto at hindi na talaga siya natutuwa. Porke’t alam nitong wala siyang alam sa self-defense, todo ang pagbawi nitong gamitin ang kahinaan niya para ipakita sa kanyang mas malakas ito. At hindi niya matanggap na mas capable ang isang babae kaysa sa kanya.

“What do you need from me?” Humalukipkip siya. He knew it emphasized his godly gorgeous body. “Ask those questions now. I’m tired. I wanna rest.”

Confident na umupo ito sa may coffee table malapit sa kamang inuupuan niya at sa balkonahe ng kanyang silid. She crossed her legs, emphasizing her nice figure. T-shirt at maong shorts lang ang suot nito. That was just simple but for some reason, Althed still found her sexy even if she was not wearing any revealing clothes at all.

“Your secretary.” Mataman siya nitong tiningnan. “How intimate is your relationship with your secretary?”

Napakunot ang kanyang noo. “Intimate? She’s just an efficient secretary. That’s it.”

“You don’t share intimacy?” Umiling siya. “She’s doing the EA responsibilities before, right? It means she have access on your pad and in this room to prepare everything for you. You have to be honest, sir. Wala ba talagang intimate na nangyari sa inyo ni Vernice? No, flirting? No hanky-panky? No s*x?” Lalong kumunot ang noo niya. Iniisip ba nitong maliban sa pagiging secretary ay ikinakama niya ang secretary niya?

“Ano ba ang gusto mong palabasin?” iritadong tanong niya.

She sighed. “Sir, these are investigative questions. No personal thing. Kumalma ka. I’m not attacking you, I’m not accusing you either. I’m just investigating on something. Pakisagot na lang with full honesty, sir.” She was in her serious police tone indeed.

“I already said, she’s just an efficient secretary. Empleyado ko lang siya. Walang kahit na anong namamagitan sa aming dalawa. I don’t do that kind of thing because it will just bring conflicts.”

She nodded. “Pero alam mo na inaakit ka niya?”

Napaisip siya. He hardly cared about his employees at all as long as they are working efficiently. He didn’t know that Vernice action equated flirting. Sexy manamit ang secretary niya at bilang lalaki ay napapansin niya ang pag-show off nito ng assets nito sa kanya while they were talking but he hardly put attention to it. Now that Ainah brought up about it, he suddenly felt curious.

“Is she? I didn’t know.”

“Okay.” Tumayo na ito. “Thank you for your time— but wait.” Mataman itong tumingin sa kanya.

Napakunot muli ang noo ni Althed. She started walking towards him. He looked straight to her eyes. Habang papalapit ito sa kanya ay bigla niyang naalala ang eksena nila sa garden noong unang araw na nagsimula itong magtrabaho sa pamilya nila. He almost kissed her just to shut her up.

“What the hell are you—”

“Shh. Don’t talk.” She cut him off.

Nagpanting ang tainga ni Althed. No one dared to cut him off. Pero ano ba ang ie-expect niya kay Ainah? It was obvious na hindi ito tulad ng ibang babae na uubra ang pagkadominante at arogante niya.

Nagulantang ang sistema niya nang sumampa ito sa kama niya. She crawled towards him sexily like a lion that was ready to capture the prey. He was about to move away from her when she crawled over his barely naked body. That awakened something in his system.

“Ainah—”

She covered his mouth. He smelled a faint scent of lavender from her hands. Hindi matukoy ni Althed ang nangyayari. Nasaniban ba ito at gusto na lang makipag-make out sa kanya?

Kumunot ang noo niya nang lumagpas ang tingin nito sa headboard ng kama. ‘Wait, what?’ Ainah, extended her arms and took away something from the headboard. Balewalang umalis ito sa pagkakaibabaw sa kanya nang makuha nito ang kung anong maliit na bagay na hawak na nito ngayon. Kinuha nito ang cell phone and navigate it.

Nakuyom ni Althed ang palad. How could he thought that Ainah wanted to have him? Salubong ang kilay na tiningnan niya ito. Her full attention was on the thing she was holding and on her cell phone. Lalong nainis si Althed dahil nararamdaman pa niya ang epekto ng paglapat ng katawan nito sa kanya. He grabbed the blanket and covered his precious thing down there. This is embarrassing.

“Get out of my room. You’re disturbing me too much,” he said.

“Magbihis ka. Papapasukin ko ang security mo rito.” Ipinakita nito sa kanya ang hawak nito. “This microchip doesn’t belong to Code Black. Someone is spying you here.” Iniangat nito ang cell phone. “Ced, shutdown the local GPS now and send men to Frog’s den.” Muli siya nitong binalingan. “Magbihis ka na nga. Gusto mo talagang humarap sa security men mo nang topless?”

He lazily took off the blanket and went to his closet to get a shirt. “Frog’s den, huh,” buska niya.

“Yeah, your room. Kailangan namin ng codes para ’di masyadong obvious ang lahat.” She went back to the coffee table ang navigated something on her phone again.

“And you call your client a frog?”

Tumawa ito. “Ikaw lang. Echoserong palaka ka kasi. Iba naman ang tawag namin sa iba. Case to case basis.”

Aapila pa sana siya nang pumasok sa silid si Cedrick kasama ang tatlo nitong tauhan. “Good evening, sir.”

Althed blew a deep sigh. Wala na talaga siyang privacy ngayon. “Bilisan ninyo ang pag-resolve ng case ko nang makabalik naman ako sa tahimik na buhay.” Binalingan niya si Ainah. “Kaingayan mo pa lang, quota na ako.”

“Ay, grabe you!” Bumaling ito kay Ced at iniabot ang microchip dito. “This isn’t ours. Search the room now!”

Naglatag ng laptop si Ced sa coffee table. Agad na kumilos ang tatlong kasama nito. The next thing he knew, he became a stranger in his own bedroom. Ced and Ainah were trying to hack the microchip and the others were checking the entire room.

“Anong problema dito, hijo?”

Natigilan ang lahat nang dumating si Manang Lisa.

“Ah, wala po ito, manang. Matulog na po kayo,” may lambing na sambit niya sa ginang. Kahit ito ay walang alam sa ginagawang trabaho nina Ainah.

“Sigurado ka, hijo?” tanong ni Manang Lisa.

“Opo. May hinahanap lang po silang . . . ano po—”

“Daga po, manang,” pagsalo ni Ainah. “Naku, nag-panic po si Sir Althed. Ang laki po kasi ng daga. Kailangan naming mahuli iyon bago makapaminsala. ’Di ba, sir?” Binalingan siya nito.

“Yeah, tama po si Rai,” pagsang-ayon ni Althed. Rai ang nickname ni Ainah ngayong nagpapanggap itong ibang tao. Isa raw ito sa mga naging nickname nito noong bata pa ito. It was safe to use for it both applied to her two identities—Maria Ainah and Maria Aimelyn. Rai . . .Now that I called her that way, Rai became familiar. I’m sure I already heard it before or mentioned it before.

Sa pagtagal, mas unti-unting nagiging legit kay Althed ang mga sinabi ni Ainah tungkol sa koneksyon niya rito.

“Paano magkakadaga dito ay parating nililinis ito ni Sabel?” tanong ni Manang Lisa. Ang tinutukoy nito ay isa sa mga under surveillance na kasambahay ni Althed na siyang nakatoka sa paglilinis ng bahay.

Nagkatinginan sina Althed at Ainah. He knew, she was thinking the same thing.

“Ah, Manang Lisa, Mabuti po, tara na pong magpahinga. Gabi na rin po kasi. Sina Ced na lang po ang bahalang humuli sa daga.” Inaya na nito ang ginang palabas ng silid. Isinara na rin nito ang pinto pagkalabas nila.

Humalukipkip si Althed at sumandal sa working table niya sa loob ng kanyang kuwarto. Gustuhin man niyang magpahinga na lang, binuhay ng pangyayaring iyong ang pag-aalala na may taong sinusundan ang galaw niya kahit na nasa sarili na siyang pamamahay.

Later on, natapos na sa paghalughog ng silid niya ang tatlong tauhan ng Code Black. Lumapit sila kay Cedrick at maya-maya pa’y nagpaaalam na ang mga ito at lumabas ng kanyang silid.

“What did they find out?” tanong niya kay Cedrick.

Ipinakita nito ang tatlong maliit na microchip devices. “These are audio surveillance devices. Itong isa ay nakita sa walk-in closet mo, ang isa ay sa ilalim ng mesa mo at itong isa ay ang nakita ni Ainah sa headboard ng kama mo. Wala pa ito nang maglagay kami ng security devices dito sa room mo at sa buong bahay. Pinapahalughog ko na rin ang buong bahay para makasigurado.”

“So, someone was really monitoring me,” he said. Cedrick nodded.

“But don’t worry. The last conversation you had with Ainah wasn’t sent to whoever have the access with these devices. We are able to block and delete the recording before transmission. Kailangan mo ring mag-ingat, sir. Possible na may inaalagaan kang ahas sa bahay na ito. Please, wait for Ainah’s investigative report tomorrow morning. You’re safe for now. In case you feel something unusual, you know where the signaling devices are.”

“Okay.”

Few minutes more, he was left alone in the room. Lalong dumadami ang iniisip niya dahil sa nangyari. It seemed that he needed to trust Ainah and the rest of the security team that his Ninong Eldwick sent.

Pumunta na siya sa kama. Pagod na ang katawan at utak niya sa dami ng inaasikaso, trabaho, at iniisip niya. But the moment he laid down the bed, the image of Ainah crawling towards him flashed his head in instant. Damn that woman! How can I sleep now?