Stefan wanted to wring her neck, his palms clenching and unclenching at his sides.
What he just witnessed was enraging. It made the blood in his veins boil. He wanted to interfere but held himself back. Partially stunned by Sammy's earlier comments and uncomfortable, it left him completely speechless by the spectacle Kelly left in her wake.
Who thought bullying happened in college and not just in high school?
He didn't expect to see something so childish, so immature, so stupid, rude and inconsiderate to come from college students. Usually people grew up by the time they passed their teen years and matured into adults with reason and common sense.
The girl was small minded and living in her own insecure bubble, using words to hurt others when she in fact may be battling her own personal faults.
What astounded him the most was Camelia. She said nothing to defend herself. Did nothing to stop the verbal onslaught.  Most girls would have fought, having something smart to say back. Hell, he at least expected a cat fight to break out. But Camelia stayed muted as a statue with only Sammy standing up for her.
He didn't know what to make of her friend, who insisted on calling him Superman. Stefan admitted he was a little irritating but Sammy appeared a genuine friend who cared for Camelia and she in return appreciated his company. The male had enough sass and a even sharper tongue to dissect the spoiled girl alive, but uttering a few insults would do nothing to prevent future occurrences.
He sensed Camelia was accustomed to it. But he hated seeing her compromise her self-respect. The most sensitive people hurt the most.
Nearly a decade later, however brief he'd got to know her, he could see what a good, pure spirit she had. She was nothing but honest and loyal. Her nature was friendly, the type of person that doesn't fight, the type of person who sought balance and harmony with others. Still, to this day, her smile was genuine. And everything about her was real. She was composed of rare qualities that were hard to find in a single individual.
Her silence spoke volumes in itself.
It was common knowledge amongst many and said: the most powerful thing to say is say nothing at all.
The older, more mature generation believed wasting words with foolish and ignorant idividuals is the only way to combat the negative. Some would argue otherwise. Silence is almost always misinterpreted as a weakness. It was more than obvious Kelly strived on her potential victims lack of verbal strength.
Only when Camelia chooses a different result will the outcome change.
He could not underestimate the reason behind her emotions. Since a child Camelia was always sensitive and considerate. However, everybody had a breaking point no matter how strong they portrayed. He knew the damage ignorant words could do. Anybody was susceptible.
Whatever she hides deep inside will only resurface and grow. He just hoped Camelia, being the sophisticated, level headed person she is, never changed her behavior nor her personality and never gave up her self-respect because of the opinion of others.
Once she parted ways with her friend, and they were alone again, Stefan had to say something as she continued towards her first class. "I know it's none of my business but a take a word of advice from a stranger...Never believe the words that come out of people's mouths. When someone judges you, remember it's never about you, but their own insecurities. Their actions reflect their character."
It was nearly a minute before Camelia answers.
"I'm a simple person, and I'm more aggressive than I look. I have a thousand feelings running inside me but I try to think reasonably and not stoop to her level.  Let her criticize me all she wants, I know her opinion of me doesn't define who I am but defines her. Intelligent people ignore..." She replies without looking at him.
He was awed. His respect for her intensified to new heightsâspeaking like a true, smart, independent woman. A woman wiser beyond her years. For the first time he began to see her in a different light.
She truly was a exception to the norm.
"I wish people around the world demonstrated your kind of self control." He says trying to withhold the wonderment from his tone.
Her only reply was a tight lipped smile that didn't quite reach her eyes.
Leading her away, Kent escorts her to class. She stayed silent, hiding in the background, far away from most of the students who sat as close as they could to the professor's teachings.
It appeared she was deep in thought throughout the day. As a student should, she took notes and was listening but her mind was elsewhere. As much as she tried brushing off Kelly's insults he sensed the turmoil running through her body language. It looked like she wanted to crawl into her skin and disappear.
A very deep frown overtook her expression for the most part of the day. At times, she sighed heavily or shifted in her chair as if she were sitting on nails. The watch strapped to her wrist received more glances than her notebook.
Students glanced questioningly at the two of them. He followed her around robotically, taking note of the people surrounding him, especially the males making sidelong glances in Camelia's direction. She didn't acknowledge the lust filled stares she received. Either she was oblivious or completely ignored the attention.
A wave of possessiveness rushed through him.
The pleasant plastered expression on his face vanished. To make them avert their eyes he wore a murderous look that warned them to back off. He was tempted to beat down anyone who had enough courage to approach her and face his wrath.
She was too pure in his eyes to be even looked at that way. Still too young to be exposed to the opposite sex. Still too young to be around a pack of wolves with their only intent to take advantage of her innocent nature. In his eyes she'll always be the little sweet, innocent girl that won his heart with just one glance.
His thoughts gave him pause.
Camelia was different than what he expected. She was tough. The little girl in his eyes wasn't a ten year old child anymore. True, she was still young barely out of her teens but she'd blossomed into a full grown, beautiful woman and Stefan couldn't bare imagining her with someone, he realized.
When he touched her for the first time he felt a sense of righteousness course through his veins. At first he believed his body sensed her from long ago. After all, the two of them formed a special bond on the day of her birthdayâa shared magnetic pull.
He knew she sensed it. She was little, but she knew. Her mouth needn't have say anything. Those deep blue eyes spoke to him.
She was a captivating, grown-up woman who was close to re-wrapping him around her fingers once again without doing a thing.
A woman who was stirring his insides and making him revisit his feelings.
Feelings he reserved for a special mysterious lady dressed in red.
His thoughts were making him question his sanity. A small part of him felt the same as he did the night of the auction. Torn. Being pulled in two different directions was controlling him and he hated being constrained by his emotions.
Stefan was in no position to question his feelings now or later. His mission was simple. Make sure the daughter of one of his grandfather's trusted friends stays safe. Catch Nathan Diam. And continue where he left off before it all started.
If he allowed himself to feel, it would complicate everything and cloud his judgement. He only hoped he had the strength to fight off her large, intelligent eyes and attractive innocence.
A little girl had won first place in his heart once.
A lady in red captured it now and took the lead.
If there was anything he learned in life...it's never mix business with pleasure.
Stefan prayed the visible cracks in his armor stayed hidden.
*****
She had to force herself not look at him.
She hadn't listened to a word said all day.
Unwillingly, Camelia's gaze would drift over to Kent. Sitting casually beside her, with his legs stretched before him, he didn't look one bit bored as she expected. His posture was relaxed, but as sure as she was about her own emotions she sensed a current of tension in the rigid set of his shoulders.
Only once during the entire day, he sensed her focus. She tried to look away, embarrassed to be caught staring, but she couldn't. He rewarded her with a kind smile that didn't just light his face but his eyes. To her shock, Kent sends her a wink in reassurance causing her to blush and hide behind her hair.
His smile was dazzling.
She sensed the underlying, raw power he executed on top of the confidence radiating off of him. He appeared like a man who knew what he wanted and took without asking.
It was strangely attractive.
What was more baffling was his appearanceâIt did not match his radiating aura. The more she studied him the more her eyes soaked in.
He was an enigma of sorts. What he reflected on the outside most certainly did not match the inside. She could feel it. Just as sure as she was keeping secrets, the man appointed to be her protector was guarding his own secrets.
Who was the man behind the mask?
The concern in his voice touched and stirred hibernating feels within her. It's like her mind and body knew him, sensed him. His eyes reflected understanding and a intense profound knowledge he hide well.
She was dying to know why he was holding back as they walked to his car in silence after six hours of classes.
"Let's get you something to eat, you haven't had anything all day." Kent announced in his nerdy, nasal sounding voice.
Camelia nearly jumped in place, startled out of her thoughts.
Eat? Camelia turned her lips down in disgust and her nose scrunched upward. When she was upset, the last thing she wanted to do was eatâno thanks to Kelly, managing to disrupt her entire day. As much as she tried to brush off every occurrence, they just kept stacking up like piles of unkept books.
Her chest felt congested and burdened.
Still feeling the humiliating way she acted and the hurtful words she spoke and reenacting the scene in her head like she always did after a episode with Kelly, Camelia regrets not saying anything back.
It burns hotly in her blood to a point she feels like she's about to combust. After it's been long over does it give her time to reflect on all the things she should have said.  But it was always too late.
"I don't have a appetite." Patting her stomach. She really did feel sick to her stomach.
"Indulge me. I'm a growing man that needs to keep up his strength. It's the only way to fight the bad guys." He said as one side of his mouth lifted into a smile. He was teasing. Despite feeling down and low he managed to make her grin.
"Alright." She replied with a shy smile.
Once they reached his vehicle, Kent swooped in and pulled open the passenger door, extending his arm out to take her backpack from her. Just like a true gentleman.
"My lady..." He said making a swooping gesture with his other hand for her to enter.
She stopped and blinked up at him. He winked playfully. He was trying to cheer her up, she realized. Camelia smiled at him gratefully.
Deciding to play along Camelia replied, "Thank you, my brave knight."
She instantly stiffened. The smile vanished from her face and she gasped as if something dreadfully wrong occurred. She called him her brave knight. In the next second she rememberedâfeeling a large, instantaneous ball of guilt slither its way inside her.
Knights were known back in the Middle Ages. A time when they existed as soldiers, devoting their time and effort for a cause which sometimes entailed protecting others. She only referred to him as a knight because he was hired to protect her, but as soon as the word escaped her lips, it was as if she betrayed him.
The label was meant and reserved for only one man. The man who left a gaping hole in her heart.
Stefan.
The true knight in shinning armor of her naive dreams.  No matter what resentment she recently felt towards him, a place in her heart he will always own. It was not something she could control.
It took ten years to built. It would take another ten to fade.
********
Stefan stiffened. Recalling similar words once upon a time....
"You can be my knight in shinning armor!" She had said 10 years ago.
"You wound my soul your highness...And here I thought I was your Prince Charming." He had replied. "...I will wait for you my sweet flower until you become of age and rescue you someday..."
It happened.
They were reunited.
Declaring his oath playfully and unbeknown to him, he sealed his fate in the process. Promising to protect the same girl he pledge to come back to.
How fate works...
He wondered if she remembered, trying to explain her sudden gasp and the look of...shock? He tried to read her expression trying to gauge what she might be thinking. But her lowered dark thick lashes veiled her eyes. Watching her take out her phone out of her handbag with delicate hands, she began reading, acting like nothing ever happened.
Stefan numbly shuts the door and walks slowly to the drivers side.
Had she thought of him as he did of her all these years? Did she care about the cards he sent for her birthday? He was highly curious and could not help but wonder if she remembered. It was important or maybe it was selfish of him.
Why would she remember a twenty year old acting like a fool? Then again she was only a developing child. A lot of changes happen mentally and physically.
He was itching to ask but he knew it was impossible.
In that instant, Stefan yearned to break free of his disguise, rip off his glasses and reveal that he was in fact the same knight in shinning armor from long ago. But he couldn't. It could very well compromise his position and her safety. This situation wasn't just hard on her but just as hard on him.
He was battling a man, an enemy he didn't know. But the bigger problem he had was himself. Today just proved how frustrating his job was becoming and he hadn't even done anything physically dangerous yet.
Perhaps he'd be able to tell her.
Someday.
*****
Le Petit Monsieur.
Stefan watches Camelia tilt her head to read the name of the restaurant.  Looking ahead she finally notices him holding the door open for her and waiting with a expression of patience. She blushes in embarrassment and brushes by him hurriedly.
Stefan got a whiff of the lightweight perfume making his nostrils flare and his lungs expand. It stirred a feeling or what he could only describe as deja-vous.
He's smelled it beforeâvery feminine, sweet and drugging.
It was addicting.
Her scent left a trail his nose wanted to follow around. He frowned, never recalling smelling it on her before and shrugs his strange reaction reasoning she must have sprayed it on when they exited out of his vehicle.
"Bonjour Monsieur, mademoiselle! Une table pour deux?" (Hello Sir. Miss! Table for two?). The hostess asks in French. The lady roams her gaze from Kent to Camelia.
"Oui, s'il vous plaît." (Yes, please.) Kent replies in a perfect French accent.
"Oui, bien sûr. Donnez- moi quelques minutes pour préparer une table." (Yes, of course. Give me a few minutes to ready a table.) The host responds with a smile, gesturing to the waiting area consisting of a sofa and two chairs with a coffee table in the center, holding countless magazines.
"Prenez votre temps." (Take your time) Kent replies politely.
Camelia raises her eyebrows, a little surprised at hearing Kent speak fluent French. It made her realize how little she knew about his personal interests. The urge to find out more was dominating. The more time she spent in his presence the more she learned and she was more than mildly curious if not eager.
Striding purposefully to one of the chairs, Camelia sits and snatches the first magazine fanned out on the table. Kent's large frame joins her, sitting closely on the adjacent sofa. He smiles slightly and crosses his legs at the ankles in a pose of cool, masculine elegance, resting his back against the cushions.
"What languages have you studied? Are you fluent in French?"
He starts making conversation to kill time. She didn't know he already knew some details about her but he wanted to get her to open up and trust him. Knowing very well he wasn't fooling himself in the process, he could not get enough of hearing her voice, reminding him of the little girl from his memories. It pulled at his heart strings much like a hearing double bass instrument playing.
Camelia tilts her head to the side and pretends to ponder his question. Her eyes sparked with amusement and in the next instant a mischievous grin spreads across her lips.
"Oui!" She replies. "Je parle trés couramment le Français." (Yes! I am very fluent in French). She giggles and covers her mouth, blushing a rosy pink when his eyebrows shot to his hairline. "I also speak fluent Arabic and Italian."
The muscles in his face ached from smiling so wide. She still had the same giggle, he mused, folding his arms across his chest to keep from reaching for her hand.
Her laughter had it's own melody, it was a type of music only he understood. It was a pleasant, positive, visual expression he was glad he brought out from behind her facade. Stefan was almost certain she didn't laugh all that often.
"Touché." He replied, adjusting the nauseating glasses back on his nose.
They were a painful reminder of the lie he posed disliking the guilt climbing up his spine. Taking advantage of her trust was like swallowing nails. Stefan had to needlessly keep reminding himself it was for her own good.
But he was truthful enough to know withholding the truth is called a lie.
Once she sobered up she looked down in embarrassment at the magazine in her lap. It was waiting to be read but her eyes were not focusing. Nearly looking away to busy her eyes from sneaking a quick glance back at Kent, she did a double take, her eyes rounding.
In her lap with arms leaning over his legs, wearing a crisp suit and tie, a serious expression plastered on his face premiered...
Stefan.
On the front cover of the business issue.
With starving eyes Camelia grasped the magazine in a tight grip and pulled it up to her face for closer inspection.
Her lips parted as a silent "Ohhh..." Passed her lips.
The front read:
Stefan Steel, BUSINESS MOGUL, SS Enterprises.
"The man who won't let a STEEL wall stop him."
A tingling erupted in her stomach.
Ripping her gaze from the title it wandered to Stefan's clear features. Only bits and pieces of his features were previously revealed leaving her mind to complete how he changed after ten years. Both times, his face had been obstructed from her viewâfirst by sunglasses, the second time by a mask.
Now he was finally out in the open, eyeing him like she'd never seen him before.
He was devilishly handsome. His face held a stronger, wider jaw, high cheekbones, and beautiful blue-green eyes. His face held perfectionâbeauty of a immortal powerful God. The features of a man beyond every girl's dreams.
She trailed her eyes down to his lips. They were unsmiling, hard pressed, determined and strong just like the rest of him. Her eyes were drawn to the signet ring on his pinkie finger.
It was the very same ring his grandfather had always worn.  A "S" engraved in gold, signifying the importance of the family. It was their coat of arms and the ring reflected that history. His family were descendants of the British upper class from long ago.
Continuing to absorb everything the page had to offer her gaze stops at Stefan's piercing stare. His eyes spoke of his maturity, vast knowledge and experience. One of his eyes had heterochromiathe, the left to be exact. The slightly discolored iris was barely evident. They were surrounded by sweeping, thick brown tipped lashes.
His rich, swept back dark brown hair was styled perfectly, not a strand out of place, complimenting his overall appearance.
Age suits him.
Handsome, beautiful, powerfulâa man in every sense of the word.
Camelia closes her eyes, lets out a slow exhale of relief, releases her tight hold on the magazine and lowers it back onto her lap. Taking a deep breath she opens her eyes and glances back at Kent who studied her closely. He was staring at her with a odd expression, his hand obscuring his mouth, his elbow resting on the chair arm.
He glances down at the magazine, then shoots straight back up to her eyes. She spots his look of surprise and his body tenses.
The startled look vanished.
Kent's eyes drift away as he sits up straighter, pulling at his collar and clears his throat. Camelia frowns and tilts her head to the side, eyeing him questionably.
Why did he look like he saw a ghost?
__________________________________________________________________________
Happy New Year!!!!!
I hope the chapter was to your liking. I had some extra time and decided to surprise everyone with a early update!
Liked what you've read? Please vote, comment and add to your reading lists!
-Shaz