Tiana was lost in thought but when she felt Nicklaus slow down, she looked up in front of her; she had thought his estate was magnificent but what she saw in front of her was something else; she watched with great awe as the wrought-iron gates with ornate leaf design opened on their own accord; the grass smelt freshly cut and there were some drops of water on the blades as though they were recently watered, Tiana’s jaw dropped as they stopped in front of the exquisite mansion which had a beautiful fountain in front of it. It was at least five floors and it was definitely wider than two Nicklaus Mansions put together; Tiana couldn’t help but wonder how many people lived there;

There were many other flashy cars parked there, Tiana wondered just how many wealthy people she would have to put up with that night.

Nicklaus put off the engine and turned to her;

”I’ll do most of the talking, you’ll answer only when it is very necessary, do you understand? ”

Tiana nodded; ”Wait here. ” he said to her; remembering that there were CCTV’s around the house and somebody could come out of the house, he needed to create a first impression;

Stepping out of the car, he stepped around to her side and opened the door for her, he stretched out his hand to her to help her alight from the car, Tiana was shocked by his gesture but she remembered their act, taking in a deep breath, she took out her hand and placed it in his;

His hand was warm and smooth to touch, contrary to what she had thought. As a cold-blooded soul that he was, she expected his hand to be icy, without warmth like his heart.

Nicklaus held onto her and helped her alight from the car; after he closed the door, his hand slid around her bare back and Tiana quivered in shock, she really wasn’t expecting him to put his arms around her;

”I’m sorry. ” She apologized immediately, her eyes looked down in fear;

They haven’t even gone inside yet and she was already flopping; but she couldn’t blame herself for responding that way; even her body knew that he was a beast, it wanted to avoid him.

Nicklaus watched her for a moment; ”As much as I don’t want to touch you, I have to, and like I said if you don’t behave properly and I get bored, I’ll take your sister. Is that clear enough? ”

Tiana’s hands trembled at his words, but she was holding her purse so it wasn’t noticeable.

Her lips straightened into a thin line and she forced a nod;

Just when Nicklaus was about to say another word, he heard someone speak;

”Nicklaus, you came!”

There was a beautiful smile on the old woman’s face as she approached; she was elegant, and except for her wrinkles and her grey hair, she looked in her forties. Tiana recognized her as his grandmother, but she was prettier in person.

Nicklaus turned to the direction of the voice;

She walked to him and gave him a warm hug; although Nicklaus’s face was aloof, and with no expression, he didn’t refuse her.

The woman turned to Tiana who was standing by his side, a sweet smile on her face;

”Are you my grandson’s girlfriend? ”

She asked out of nowhere, her eyes wide open and a smile on her lips; Tiana’s cheeks flush red, she immediately faked a beautiful smile;

”Ye…s Ma, I’m Tiana Peters, it’s nice to meet you Ma.” Tiana introduced herself.

”Oh wow! Nicklaus said nothing about this, Nicklaus, why do you love to surprise us, and look she’s beautiful! ”

Grandma commended; her eyes curved in crescents.

”Thank you, grandma, you look amazing too. ” Tiana said, and Grandma chuckled;

”Oh don’t flatter me; I’m too old for that,” she said with a slight blush on her cheeks;

”Come, come on in, everyone is waiting to meet you. ” She said and Nicklaus led Tiana into the mansion.

Grandma trailed behind as she watched as her grandson enter the house with the lady.

Her mind wandering off;

Douglas, her second son, was ambitious. Now that Nicklaus had brought a woman home, she wondered what next he would try to do to take over his brother’s company.

Douglas had told Grandpa that Nicklaus was gay and that being the CEO of Howells Corporation; he would ruin the image of the family and the company.

He urged Grandpa to let him take over, but Grandpa had refused; instead, he called Nicklaus home and ordered him to bring home a woman unless he would lose control of the company to Douglas, his Uncle.

The strife between Nicklaus and his Uncle began five years ago when he took over his father’s company.

After his father’s death, Grandfather assigned Howell’s Corporation to Douglas, telling him to manage it until Nicklaus came of age while Nicklaus was given to Elizabeth, his Aunt, to be taken care of because of how close she was to his father, Jeffery before his death.

Nicklaus said nothing about his father’s company for twelve years until five years ago; all the while Douglas was under the presumption that he didn’t want it any longer, since he never asked about it and never cared to know how the affairs were run. So when Nicklaus came home suddenly and asked to take control, Douglas refused to hand it over, because, according to him, he had put in so much work in the company and made it bigger and better than how his brother Jeffery had left it, so he could not let his hard work go. And the worst part of it all was that his brother’s company did way better than his, which made it much more painful.

The last five years were hell for the Howell family before Douglas finally let go, but that didn’t mean that he didn’t have eyes for it. He was still looking for the slightest opportunity to get it back, but Nicklaus made sure he saw none.

The only reason Nicklaus agreed to get a woman in the first place was because he didn’t want to lose the ownership of his father’s company to Douglas.

She knew that Nicklaus wasn’t gay and why he was always iced-cold was because of his parents and only sister’s death seventeen years ago, although he had not spoken about anything he saw that day, she knew it had marred him to the very bones.