After signing the contract, Eva stared blankly at her signature. There, she had done it. There was no turning back now.

A long sigh of relief escaped from her lips before her determined gaze lifted and settled on Gage. Then, she handed him the pen.

He took it from her slowly, his gaze intent. When Eva did not blink nor falter, the corners of his lips lifted up in an alluring curl before he, too, finally nodded and put down his own signature on the paper.

Eva realized that she was subconsciously holding her breath as she watched him sign the contract.

“Alright, now that everything’s settled,” Gage broke the silence after putting the signed papers back in the envelope with much satisfaction. “Let’s start with…”

He reached out his hand and very quickly swiped the pair of glasses off the bridge of her nose. “... getting rid of these,” he finished with a grin.

“Wait…what?!!”

She frowned at him with confusion plastered all over her face. What do my innocent glasses have to do with all of this? Could he not be so confusing?! She was having trouble just trying to keep up with his pace.

He just smiled serenely and generously put her glasses back on her face. Eva's frown deepened.

Gage stood languidly. “We’re going out, pet. Get ready.”

“Mr. Acheron,” Eva refused to budge, blocked his way, and looked up at him with a stern face. “Since I am going to live with you from now on, I think it’s time for you to stop calling me ‘pet.’ I have a perfectly usable name. Please use it.”

Gage cocked his head to the right, then flashed a slow and gorgeous smile at her. “Of course, if that’s your wish…” he replied, then his voice seemed to turn into something deliciously sinful as the next two words rolled off his lips, “Eva, darling…”

Eva’s eyes widened, and her cheeks instantly flushed bright red. She was thrown off kilter and completely flustered. She had not expected that!

A wicked half-smile graced his handsome face as he pinned his gaze on her. It was as though her reaction to that little endearment had delighted him.

“You liked that."

“Absolutely not!” Eva’s voice was loud and insistent as she quickly retorted, trying her hardest to regain her shattered composure. She refused to just let this man keep on playing around with her like this. Though she had signed a contract with him, she was not his personal plaything. She gritted her teeth and stared at him pointedly, daring him to continue calling her by that pet name.

“Ahh…what a shame! I really like that one better, too,” he winked at her playfully, and then he turned and walked away from her.

Eva ran after him.

“Wait a moment, Mr. Acheron.” she called out when she saw him heading towards the main door. But he ignored her. “Gage!”

He halted and looked over his shoulder. “Hm?”

“I’m in my pajamas right now. You can’t possibly want to bring me out dressed like this, can you?”

His gaze travelled from the top of her head to the tips of her toes. He then gave an approving nod. “You look pretty good in those pink pajamas, though. I don’t see why not.”

Eva glared at him heatedly and then proceeded to ignore what he said, thinking that there was just no way those words were uttered seriously. “I need to go to my house to get some changes of clothes and pick up my personal things.”

“I’ll buy you everything you need…” he suddenly trailed off, then shrugged. “Alright, I might as well allow you to go and say your goodbyes to your lovely house.”

Eva held herself back from rolling her eyes at his comment.

…

Inside Eva’s apartment...

While Eva was packing up her things, Gage leisurely looked around her living room. Eva had asked him to wait in the parking lot, but the devil had negotiated his way in with her. His reason had been that there might be paparazzi waiting to ambush her in front of her home. He had said he was coming along solely for her protection.

Though she had been skeptical, Eva had relented, knowing that he might be right.

Once Eva was done with her packing, Gage broke the silence. “Do all of those things have sentimental value to you?” he asked, leaning his shoulder against the wall as he pointed to her luggage.

“These are my important things.” She retorted, narrowing her eyes at him.

“I can buy you…” he paused, stopping himself from finishing that line. “Alright. It’s fine with me.” An accommodating smile lingered on his lips as he bent over and effortlessly carried two of her boxes.

Eva tugged on her baggage, and they finally left her house. However, as soon as they were nearing the elevator, she turned around and grabbed onto Gage’s arm. She had spied some suspicious movements further ahead and had spotted some familiar-looking equipment.

“Reporters are here!”