The first thing Dray learned about Cate that night was that she loved all different kinds of food.
In fact, he didn't know a woman could eat this much. He had taken girls to star restaurants and they claimed they were full after the meal. Ridiculous. Noone was ever full after the tiny portions that were served there. He always had to get a late-night snack afterward to appease his hunger.
Dray had also eaten lunch with his private secretary before after she had managed to complete a special task, but she always counted her calories and only lived off of salat and weird-smelling smoothies, making it was hard to find anything to feed her. Compared to this, Cate's appetite was a pleasant surprise. For once he wasn't the only one eating.
They had stopped at almost every food stand along the way, trying grill skewers with various kinds of meat, different types of pasta and also a number of fried vegetables as well as seafood. He inhaled all the different smells: hearty, smoked, sweet and even sour. Now they were onto the second round of dessert and Dray actually wondered how her little body could take all these portions.
He couldn't remember ever doing something like that before. Usually, he would pick a restaurant and just stay there. This way, he was easily to be guarded by his men. But he had to admit that it was fun. He got to try dishes which he had never eaten before.
He himself wasn't a picky eater, but Cate was surely on another level. When it came to food, she was fearless. She had even looked at a small stand with grilled insects with interest, but Dray had quickly pulled her away. When she had noticed his face, she had just quietly chuckled but decided not to address the issue. Dray was rather thankful for it. He was a feared mobster boss, but for some reason, he had never felt comfortable with those ugly little creatures...
"So... should we try and get to know each other better now that you are not starving anymore?" he asked after Cate dropped her latest paper plate in a nearby rubbish bin.
"I'm getting to know you already, but sure..." Cate answered mysteriously, handing him another spit with dark chocolate-coated fruits which he silently started to eat.
Dray looked at her so she would continue talking.
"You like all sorts of meat and most of the seafood as long as it's nothing too special like blue mussels. You are fine with the majority of noodle styles and, although you don't seem like an overly sweet guy, you enjoy the dessert you are eating right now. You hate insects and, by the way you scrutinized them, I expect it's not just about the food..." she retorted and Dray couldn't deny that she had summed him up pretty well.
It dawned on him that, as a doctor, she needed to have at least some observation skills to diagnose the diseases of her patients. Previously, there had been moments when he had wondered if she was a bit slow; he knew better now. Cate paid careful attention when she focussed. But she also appeared to be caught up in her own world a lot of the time, pondering over things she didn't like to share. This distracted her from what was happening around her quite often.
"You, on the other hand, eat pretty much everything, no matter how gross it looks," Dray countered, half-serious and half-jokingly.
"Hey, don't talk down on food! It's what we need most after water," Cate exclaimed in a playful yet slightly offended voice and softly nudged him with her elbow out of reflex.
It was another one of those moments when her reaction surprised him. However, given their goals, he considered it a good thing that she seemed to relax around him.
"And you are violent when you don't like an answer," he added teasingly, trying to go with the flow. But, unlike what he predicted, his remark caused Cate to instantly become shy again.
It was weird; for a moment she seemed to have forgotten that they were basically strangers. Eating together like this while strolling through the market had almost made her comfortable. But Drayce Ryu wasn't Key, her brother, or James.
They had only met for the fourth time, each of their encounters being under rather weird circumstances. Therefore, Cate believed that she had clearly overstepped a boundary, losing her senses for a second. She was nowhere near a position where she could just casually initiate physical contact with him, let alone playfully hit him like an old friend. It wasn't like her to be this careless and she was surprised by her own mindless reaction.
"Sorry, I got carried away for a second," Cate quickly apologized and then looked straight ahead to avoid his gaze.
It was obvious to Dray that she was uncomfortable now. Silence took over as she bit her lower lip anxiously. He gave her another lingering side glance and sighed.
So this is how dating someone who doesn't know your family feels like, he thought. You just keep guessing what the other one is thinking the whole time.
Being with Cate felt like a free trial on how his life could have been if he was an ordinary man. For the first time ever he had to try and find out how a woman's mind worked. He couldn't solve anything with money or an order. That had to be the most frustrating part. He was okay with it though because her not having a clue about his true identity made this act entirely possible.
Cate might not have been a very talented actress. However, from the start, she didn't give him any special treatment. She didn't address him with a title, she didn't fear him or put him on a pedestal. Actually, she didn't even understand what type of person he truly was.
He could have been bothered as he wasn't used to all of that. Nevertheless, he figured it was the best thing that happened to him. Dray had long understood that her sincere behavior was very authentic for a woman who was supposed to be his girlfriend. Actually, with a bit of practice, she could be more convincing in this act than any other woman he knew.
The fact that she still had no idea about his actual identity was playing in his hands. He suspected her to be the type to run away as fast as possible if someone didn't abide by the law. For that reason, he wasn't going to be stupid enough to scare her off just yet. He had a goal to accomplish before this little game between them could stop.
It needed to stop, he knew that now.
Cate had to get out of his life, the sooner the better. The guys had insisted on it, annoying him with worst-case-scenarios for about an hour before he went to pick her up. He understood that he was taking a huge risk right now and involving an unrelated girl would surely spike his father's rage to an all-time high if he ever found out the truth.
His friends were right. Whatever he was thinking that night at the hotel... it was just a weak moment after a tiresome day. This was nothing but an act and he had to make the most of it.
"Don't apologize. For our sake, it's good if you look comfortable around me - at least to some extent. You were way too stiff before anyway," he comforted her and her eyes darted towards him.
"Well, it's not like I majored in acting," she answered with a sulky voice and furrowed her eyebrows.
He tried hard not to grin. She reminded him of a pouty teenager just then.
"That's why you should follow my lead in future," Dray said, causing Cate to blush at his cheesy and arrogant reply.
"I don't like following men. It usually ends in tragedy," she mumbled with skepticism, her voice making it obvious that she was disagreeing on the matter. Then she fastened her steps.
He easily matched her tempo and grabbed her wrist to slow her down.
"If you're trying to win a ticket to the Olympics for the racewalking discipline, you gotta get faster than this," Dray let her know, trying to hide his amusement.
"You-," Cate started, irritation showing on her face, but Dray cut her off.
"It won't end in tragedy this time. We have a deal and as a businessman, I value the terms. I promised to treat you the best I possibly can until our agreement is over. I won't humiliate you in front of others by getting caught up in affairs. I won't intentionally hurt you either. You can trust me on that," he assured her with seriousness in his eyes.
Dray meant it. He couldn't promise anything beyond that, but he wasn't going to intentionally complicate her life more than necessary either if she complied with their agreement. It was only fair.
Cate stared at him for a long moment. His eyes had the most beautiful shade of slate-grey she had ever seen; it was a color so deep that she felt like being sucked in, never to escape again.
She eventually nodded as if she wanted to believe the truth in his eyes.
"Fine. I hope you mean that. You can't expect me to immediately trust you though, it needs to be earned first. But I guess, since we have a business relationship, it's in both of our interests to treat each other as kindly as possible. Everything else would just end up coming back to both of us like a boomerang. So make sure not to break whatever trust I might develop in the future. It will be the only thing to make me break off from you and our deal... Don't disappoint me, it's all I'm asking."
Dray thought about his true identity and all the other things he was keeping from her and at this moment he hoped more than ever that she would never find out.
There it was again, this unwelcome feeling somewhere deep down in his stomach. Still, he decided to coolly dismiss it. He nodded, causing Cate to give him a small smile.
It's just for a short while and it will be over soon, he said to himself as they kept walking.
There is no need to tell her. It's nothing to worry about... right?
_______________
My dear little Mobsters,
we've passed the 6.5K reads milestone and reached more than 930 votes. Thank you so much to everyone who commented, voted on and shared My Secret Mobster Boyfriend! I'm so very grateful for your support!!
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Love,
AK
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Topic: How do you feel about trusting your partner and following his lead? Which extend is alright and where should one stop?
I'm curious to read your answers!