Dangerous Desires: SECRETS OF THE HACKER & SPY

Raul smirked upon hearing Starley's answer. Then he said, "So, do you agree to work with me?"

Starley felt trapped by the question. She didn't want to agree immediately but didn't wish Raul to think she was afraid.

"I'll give you my answer in three days. It's too soon to decide now because I still don't see what I gain from all of this," Starley replied. That answer made sense to Raul because he immediately nodded in understanding and responded.

"Alright, I'll wait for your answer in three days." Without any further argument. Suddenly, Raul's phone rang loudly. He took the phone from his pocket and immediately answered the call.

"Hello," Raul said. Starley tried not to eavesdrop, but it was hard not to when it was so quiet, and there were only two. She could hear everything.

"Sorry to disturb you, Mr. Blackwell, but there's an issue. The spies we sent to Dubai a week ago can't be reached anymore. We just received a distress message from them," Starley heard a male voice, which she guessed was one of Raul's employees.

Raul glanced at Starley briefly before speaking to his employee on the phone. "Hold on." Then Raul pressed mute on his phone.

"I need to go now. We'll talk about this again tomorrow," Raul said to Starley. Without waiting for Starley's response, Raul walked off, now entirely focused on his call with his employee.

Faintly, Starley could hear Raul saying, "I'll head over there immediately."

That was what Raul Starley knew. When they spent time together, Raul often had to leave for work or disappear somewhere suddenly. His work was always a mystery. Raul truly separated pleasure from work.

Considering that Raul owned Blackwell Intelligence Agency, or B.I.A., a large and highly trusted private intelligence agency, Starley knew his world was entirely of secrets. Raul learned many things, including Starley, that couldn't be shared with anyone outside his company.

Starley was used to being left suddenly like this. She used to feel disappointed, but now, she didn't feel anything. Could this be a sign that Starley had truly moved on? After that, Starley went into her room to rest.

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The following day, Starley was woken up by her phone, which wouldn't stop ringing. She thought it was her alarm, so she let it be since it usually turned off on its own. But this time, it kept ringing louder than her usual alarm.

Starley groaned in annoyance and grabbed her phone from the nightstand beside the bed. Her eyes were still heavy, but she tried to open them to check the screen. It turned out to be a call, not her alarm. It was from Lia. Starley reluctantly answered the call.

"Hello," Starley answered.

"Oh my God, why did you take so long to answer?" Lia exclaimed.

"Of course, you're calling me at the crack of dawn, Lia," Starley replied, annoyed.

"Starley, it's already 10 AM, it's no longer early morning."

Starley furrowed her brows, then said, "Get to the point, Lia. What's going on?"

"Since yesterday, there have been many offers for you," Lia explained.

"I know about that. Reject them all, thank you. I want to go back to sleep," Starley replied. But Lia spoke immediately.

"Wait, I'm not done talking, for goodness' sake." Lia sounded annoyed.

"Then get to the point, I want to go back to sleep," Starley yawned.

"As usual, I was sorting the morning mail, and there were lots of letters for you sent to the office because maybe people think you work here. But there's one letter that seems suspicious to me," Lia said.

"Why suspicious?"

"This letter is black, with no name or address on the sender's side, just written 'For Starley Bellamy'," Lia explained.

"Maybe it's just some prank," Starley said casually.

"But Starley, there's a note on the envelope that says if you don't respond to this message by this afternoon, you'll know the consequences," Lia said, worried. Starley raised her eyebrows, her eyes slightly wide now.

"They're threatening me?" Starley asked.

"Yes, so you better come to the office today to see what's inside, because I'm a little worried. No one's ever sent a letter like this before," Lia said.

"Have you told my brother?" Starley asked.

"Not yet, there's a meeting with the directors this morning."

"Good. Don't tell him, I want to see that letter myself. Because it's piqued my interest."

"So you're going to come to the office today?" Lia asked.

"Yeah, I'll get ready." Starley could hear Lia's relief before saying, "Okay, see you."

After that, Starley forced herself to get out of bed weakly, then quickly went to the bathroom and showered. After she finished, she wore casual clothes—a white T-shirt, denim jacket, jeans, and white sneakers.

She stared at herself in the mirror for a final check before leaving the room. Just as she opened her door, Raul stood before it as if he was about to knock.

They both blinked in surprise, shocked by the perfect timing. But at that moment, Starley noticed Raul's appearance. Raul was still wearing his clothes from last night, but now he wore a suit jacket over his black shirt. Does this mean Raul just came back? Raul also noticed Starley's outfit.

"Are you going somewhere?" Raul asked directly. Starley also wanted to ask Raul if he had just come back. But Starley's ego was too high, and she didn't want to seem like she cared.

"Yeah, and why are you standing in front of my door?" Starley asked.

"I was just about to ask what your plans are for today," Raul replied.

"Where I go is none of your business, Blackwell," Starley snapped.

"Of course, it's my business, Bellamy. I'm going to be your bodyguard for the next three days," Raul replied. Starley sighed. She had forgotten that a bodyguard follows you wherever you go.

"I'm just going to the Bellamy company office."

"Alright, let's go," Raul responded immediately.

"I'm just going to the office. You don't need to come," Starley snapped. Starley also believed that Raul had just returned and probably hadn't slept yet, but she didn't say that. Raul stared at Starley briefly before saying, "And I'm insisting."

 Then, without waiting for Starley, Raul started walking first. Starley sighed. Did this man have so much energy? Ultimately, she gave up because her ego was too high to tell Raul to rest.

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Starley and Raul were heading in Raul's car to the Bellamy company office. Raul's chauffeur was driving the Mercedes Benz. Starley and Raul sat in the back passenger seats, and neither spoke during the drive. Both Raul and Starley chose to remain silent.

After ten minutes passed with smooth traffic, they finally got stuck in a traffic jam in Chicago.

Since getting in the car, Starley has been staring out the window while listening to music through her earphones. But as they get stuck in traffic, she gets bored looking at all the stationary cars.

Finally, Starley glanced at Raul, wondering if he was staring out the window like her. But it turned out Raul was asleep, his eyes tightly shut. Starley sighed.

'Workaholic.' Starley thought to herself.

The next moment, Starley realized something was odd. Raul closed his eyes, but when Starley looked at his chest, she noticed his breath seemed shallow like he was holding something. What was he holding in?

Starley pulled her earphones out, now able to hear Raul's laboured breathing. What was going on with him? Since Starley was sitting next to Raul, she could see that his suit jacket had slightly opened from the side, revealing the black shirt he had worn the night before inside the coat.

Then, Starley realized something. She quickly tried to unbutton the right sleeve of Raul's jacket.

Raul, who had been keeping his eyes closed, was startled and immediately opened his eyes. But he was too late to stop Starley from opening his jacket.

When Starley had unbuttoned the right sleeve of Raul's jacket, she gasped at what she saw. The shoulder of his black shirt was torn, revealing Raul's shoulder, which was wrapped in white bandages, visibly soaked with blood.

Starley felt a chill seeing it. So, Raul hadn't been sleeping all this time; he had been closing his eyes to hold back the pain from his shoulder injury?

"Oh my God, what happened to you, Raul!?" Starley asked, no longer able to hide her concern.

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Raul's face looked very calm as if he was used to this kind of thing. Raul noticed the worried look on Starley's face.

"Are you worried about me, Starley?" Raul asked, turning the question back on her without answering hers.

"Your body is covered in so many injuries. Why is your hobby hurting yourself?" Starley snapped, still not wanting to admit that she was, in fact, worried. Raul couldn't help but give a small, crooked smile as he stared at Starley.

"So you remember my body?" Raul replied in his low voice. He didn't seem to be teasing her, but simultaneously, his words seemed to be teasing Starley.

Starley's face heated up as she realized what she had just said. She ignored Raul's comment.

"Raul, I'm serious, what happened to you?" Starley asked impatiently.

"It's been treated, you don't need to worry," Raul replied.

Starley cleared her throat before answering, "Who said I'm worried?" Even though it was clear from her earlier reaction that she was concerned, her ego was too high to admit it.

"What kind of injury is that?" Starley asked again, trying to act casual.

"It's just a knife wound," Raul replied indifferently, then covered his bleeding shoulder with his jacket again. Starley glanced at Raul, curious about what exactly Raul had been doing last night.

"How did you get injured?" Starley asked.

Raul was silent momentarily, then answered, "It's nothing."

Raul's answer was still the same as before—whenever Starley asked about where his injuries came from, Raul never shared the story. Everything he did was a secret.

"I'm asking because the job of a bodyguard is to protect, but with an injury like that, I'm not sure you can do your job," Starley retorted. Raul raised an eyebrow upon hearing that.

"Don't underestimate me, cupcake. I can still lift your body with ease, with an injury this small," Raul said seriously.

Starley's gaze shifted to Raul's muscular arms, the veins visible in his hands. Of course, those arms could lift her easily. She quickly snapped herself back to focus, realizing she was starting to lose concentration.

"But earlier, you were holding back the pain from that shoulder wound," Starley said.

"It only hurts a little."

'Liar,' Starley thought to herself.

Finally, Starley opened the partition between the back passenger and driver's seats. Then she said,

"Let's go back to the Lucian mansion. I'm not going to the Bellamy company office after all, " she told Raul's driver.

"Yes, Miss," the driver replied. After that, Starley closed the partition again.

"Why the change of mind?" Raul asked immediately, squinting his eyes.

"I suddenly got lazy. I'll go tomorrow," Starley lied, though, in reality, it was all for Raul. Raul knew she was lying but asked, "So, what was your original purpose for going to the Bellamy office?"

Starley knew that if she told the truth, Raul would insist on going to the office. It was still the afternoon, so after dropping Raul off at the mansion, Starley could sneak to the office without Raul knowing.

"I just wanted to meet Lia," Starley answered. Well, she wasn't lying.

Raul studied Starley's face as if trying to read her mind—whether she was lying or telling the truth. But after a moment, Raul sighed, clearly exhausted. He hadn't slept at all since yesterday.

Returning to the mansion might not be such a bad idea; he could get some rest.

"Alright," Raul replied.

"Call your doctor to come to the mansion," Starley said, staring out the car window.

"No need," Raul retorted.

"Yes, you do, your wound is bleeding again," Starley responded, as she had seen Raul's white bandage soaked in blood earlier.

"I just don't want to have a bodyguard who's injured," Starley added.

Raul chuckled softly and then said, "Ah, I see. Alright, I'll call my doctor."

Starley glanced briefly at Raul, who had opened his phone and seemed to be typing a message. She then turned her gaze back to the car window.

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A few minutes later, they were back at the Lucian mansion, and Raul and Starley walked towards the eastern part of the mansion. Now, Starley only had to wait for Raul to go to his room and get treated by his doctor. Then, she would quietly slip away again.

"Has your doctor arrived?" Starley asked.

"Not yet. I didn't see his car in the parking lot," Raul replied. Starley nodded, and just as she reached the door to her room, Raul suddenly spoke.

"Where are you going?"

Starley looked at Raul in confusion and answered, "To my room?"

"You're the one who said you didn't want an injured bodyguard and told me to call a doctor. So, shouldn't you wait until my doctor arrives and see that I've been treated?" Raul replied. Starley blinked for a moment. What was going on with Raul?

"Why? Or maybe you want to escape while I'm being treated?" Raul asked casually. His words hit the mark. Starley sighed. Why was Raul so clever?

"No," Starley answered, annoyed.

Raul held back his smile, knowing that Starley had planned to slip away. The woman in front of him would not give up that easily. Without saying another word, Starley walked past her door and toward Raul's room, which was right next to hers.

Once inside Raul's room, Raul removed his jacket. Starley's breath caught in her throat when she saw the blood-soaked bandage on his shoulder again. Concern flooded her once more. The injury looked pretty serious.

Starley cleared her throat, quickly turning her head away so she wouldn't be caught staring at Raul.

"Where's your doctor?" Starley asked.

"He should be here soon, he said he wasn't far," Raul replied.

After that, Raul said he wanted to go to the bathroom. Starley nodded in response. Once Raul was in the toilet, Starley finally allowed herself to breathe.

The atmosphere had been awkward since they were alone in the room together. Just as Starley had only been sitting on the sofa for a minute, there was a knock at the door of Raul's room.

Then, a servant's voice could be heard saying, "Mr. Blackwell, your doctor has arrived."

Starley looked towards the bathroom door, but Raul still hadn't come out. Eventually, Starley got up from the sofa to open the door.

When she opened the door, she immediately saw the servant from yesterday standing in front of her. The servant looked surprised to see Starley answering the door. Starley ignored the servant's shock.

She quickly scanned the room for Raul's doctor, and there, standing behind the servant, was someone familiar—a woman with short red hair wearing a doctor's white coat. The woman was as beautiful as Starley remembered.

Oh, of course, Raul's doctor was this woman. Starley had even forgotten that this woman was a doctor. Sabrina Benetti.

Sabrina also looked surprised to see Starley standing at the door. But the next moment, Sabrina immediately spoke.

"Starley, I didn't expect to see you here," she said, smiling warmly as Sabrina Starley knew. But Starley didn't return Sabrina's warm smile. She had never liked the woman standing in front of her, and all the bitter feelings she had toward her came rushing back.

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