Daniel stood from his place and sat beside her, patting her back gently.
"There, there, who asked you to drink so fast?" Daniel asked innocently, as if he wasn’t the reason she choked on the juice because of the shock.
"What did you say?" She asked, pushing his hand away once she calmed down.
"I said because you saved my life," he said, feigning innocence.
Elara narrowed her brows, wondering if she had heard it wrong for real.
She shook her head before her mind clicked on something.
"Wait. How did you even get in? Don’t tell me you climbed all the way here in this wounded state." She looked at him with wide eyes.
Daniel shook his head.
"I came from the door. For someone whose brother is always concerned about her security, you are quite clumsy. The door was slightly ajar," he said.
Elara looked at the door, confused.
Did she really not lock the door after Antonio left? That sounded suspicious.
But the piano came after that, and she paid the logistics guy, and... uh, maybe she did indeed leave it open.
"In my defense, I was about to close that," Elara scoffed before she went to her room to change her top since some juice had fallen on her top when coughing.
Daniel watched the woman leave and leaned back on the couch.
There was no way he was going to tell Elara that he knew her flat’s passcode, because he had been stalking her since the day they met.
As he thought about her, his phone vibrated in his pocket, and he picked up.
"Boss, where did you go in this wounded state? We have been looking for you. The doctor is waiting at the base," Alen said.
"I am at Elara’s apartment," Daniel said.
His words surprised Alen. The man who just fought a gang that attacked the place where their meeting was out of nowhere and got wounded, rather than rushing to the hospital, actually went to see a woman.
And after all that, he claimed he wasn’t in love? What a load of crap, for real.
Wait. Did he go there in that disheveled state? Miss Elara would’ve really been startled. What if she hates him, thinking he is some kind of evil mafia man? While it was true, it was better to hide it from her, wasn’t it?
Alen’s mind went wild, and he was about to speak when Daniel beat him to it.
"I want you to arrange a few things for me. Can you do it?" Daniel asked.
"What is it, boss? What do you need?" He asked, ready to go on a mission. But after he heard what his boss wanted, to say he was surprised would be an understatement.
He never knew his boss was capable of using his mind in that field like that.
"Are you listening?" Daniel asked when he didn’t get any response.
"Yes, boss. I am onto it," Alen said before exhaling and looking at his team, who were all waiting for their boss’s orders on how to deal with the men they captured from the opposite gang who attacked them.
Once Elara got changed, she walked out of her room and looked at Daniel, who was still on the couch.
She looked at him awkwardly. How was she supposed to ask him when he would leave when he was wounded like this?
Should she call Antonio? But the man had been working to and fro from the studio to George’s base, all because of her. He needed some rest.
George? If her brother found out about this man coming here, the first thing he would demand of her would be that she change her residence, and she couldn’t afford that—not when she was short on money and didn’t want to take any from her family.
"I was about to cook noodles and eat before ’sleeping’. Do you want some?" Elara asked, emphasizing the sleeping part, but not only did the man not get the hint, he even nodded.
"Sure," he said.
Elara gritted her teeth.
You handsome hunk of a man! Weren’t you supposed to say no because you are some high-class mafia man and don’t eat stuff like that? Elara wondered, giving him a tight-lipped smile.
Daniel, who knew what she was trying to do, smirked inwardly when he saw her defeated back.
While anyone would love to invite him to their abode, here he was forcing his stay on the woman who didn’t want anything to do with him.
Daniel smiled at the irony. But what was he supposed to do when he wanted her only?
Since he was supposed to be in great pain, rather than moving around and looking at her things, he lay back on the couch, turning on the TV.
Elara looked at the man with raised brows from the kitchen, shaking her head.
As she looked at his fine form since he wasn’t wearing a shirt, she realized how naturally she had accepted his presence in her home without panicking. It wasn’t until much later that she noticed how odd it was.
Why was that? And why the hell was a man like him even bothering her? Why did she always sense the same kind of loneliness from him, like she felt?
With that look and body, he wasn’t short of women, no? Did he have a woman? A past relationship? Just like Andrew?
Elara’s mood turned sour when she thought about Andrew.
It had been a few days since her encounter with him at the studio.
Then again, the man was busy handling the stakeholders’ meeting amid Carla’s scandal, which was making headlines daily.
She posted a new video just last night, all from different internet cafes so that they won’t trace it back to her.
Today, she was going to stop. Why?
Because she knew Andrew’s company was already planning to improve Carla’s image through a major charity, and she was happy with the outcome.
After all, someone would benefit from a revenge plan for the first time.
Besides, she had many tricks up her sleeve. She just wanted to teach Carla a lesson, and she did enough.
Once the noodles were cooked, she poured them into two bowls and walked to the couch with the tray.
"Will you leave after eating——?" Elara started to speak, but as soon as she did that, she heard a loud rumbling from outside.
She looked out the window and noticed it had started raining heavily out of nowhere.
The sound of thunderclaps echoed, almost making her drop the tray.
"Why is it raining at this time? How am I supposed to leave now? Ouch," Daniel asked, faking a conflicted expression with his hand around his wound.
Elara’s brows narrowed.
There were no clouds when she went to the balcony earlier.
Her gaze then flickered to Daniel and his bandages, and she couldn’t help but sigh.
"It looks like you’ll have to stay here until it stops," Elara said.
Daniel smiled bitterly.
Until it stops? He wondered if Alen had arranged for that many tanks of water to keep it raining.