Is this destiny?

~ Los Angeles, the Boyle Heights neighborhood ~

Noah had duties at the Chaos nightclub, like every Tuesday evening. Chloe joined him.

Mark was at the door and as soon as he saw them, he removed the border quickly, allowing them to pass immediately without waiting in line with the others.

Noah smiled, pleased that Mark's gaze didn't linger on Chloe.

"Do you usually use the main entrance?", Chloe asked Noah when they got in.

"I want to show you off, my little rabbit."

Chloe cringed internally. Noah was showering her with compliments and introducing her as his fiancée. It's not that she disliked it, but she was not used to it,

Chloe glanced at Noah who looked sharp in his high-collared shirt that had a Chaos symbol on his left chest pocket and then she glanced at her dark red dress.

"Is this outfit appropriate?"

Noah lifted his right hand that was holding her left one (and they were handcuffed together) and kissed the back of her palm. "You are perfect."

Somehow, she knew that Noah would say that. The whole day he was by her side (thanks to the handcuffs), ensuring her that he is fine with whatever she wants, and with every passing minute, she felt more guilty for running away on the previous night.

At the same time, Chloe was happy that little by little, Noah was chipping away her insecurities. She enjoyed the feeling of safety that came with Noah and he promised not to leave her side. Well, with them being handcuffed, he can't go far. Part of her wished that handcuffs stay on forever.

Chloe and Noah made their way through the crowd that parted for them, and they went straight to the VIP room on the upper floor. It was the VIP room which hovered above the main level, showing with its size and position that it's the most important room among all others.

Three men greeted them in the VIP room, each with a report. One report was about the current status in the club related to staff, beverages, and facility, the second report was about patrons, and the third one was about meeting requests for Nyx.

Noah introduced Chloe as his fiancée, and they ordered drinks before going through reports briefly.

Chloe observed Noah with admiration. He handled numerous things during the day at the base of the Army of Chaos, and now in the nightclub. No matter what was happening, Noah was on point and he extruded confidence.

They went through the first two reports quickly and Noah took a tablet that had meeting requests for Nyx and dismissed three men, leaving only him and Chloe in the room.

"I need a few minutes to go through these…", Noah said to Chloe.

Chloe didn't mind Noah working. She enjoyed watching him and the fact that he let her be by his side while dealing with these secretive matters, made her feel special. "Take your time."

"These people want to meet with Sarah?", Chloe asked when Noah kept the tablet on the table.

Noah confirmed.

"How do you know if she will meet with them or not?"

"Few things…", Noah started explaining. "First, I look if they already met with her, or requested a meeting and failed to secure one. Then, I check their application."

Chloe was surprised. "They need to fill in a form?"

"Many people want to meet with Sarah. Asking them to provide the basic information in advance, is an easy way to filter them out. People who want to meet with her are after either an alliance or to hire us for something."

"Alliance? Cooperation with others should be welcomed.", Chloe shared her thoughts.

"Having allies is good, but Sarah is very cautious with whom we are doing business because she doesn't want to get her hands dirty without need."

Chloe deduced that the Army of Chaos is straying from legal business, and she didn't want to know to what extent. How she saw it, for an organization that is making the whole neighborhood flourish, it can't be all bad. But she had to ask... 

"Is there a valid reason to get your hands… dirty?"

Noah gazed into Chloe's eyes and he smiled warmly. "When you defend something or someone you cherish. Like the one you love."

Chloe smiled. She knew that he was talking about her.

"Will Sarah come to meet with these people?"

Noah nodded a bit. "She is on her way here."

"Oh…", a sound escaped Chloe's lips and she eyed her dress again, wondering if it's good enough.

It's one thing to show up in a nightclub, but now she came as Noah's date, fiancée. And on top of that Sarah is coming as well.

There was a commotion downstairs and Chloe craned her neck to see down.

"Sarah and Aiden arrived.", Noah said without looking away from Chloe. Eve-lens showed him what's going on.

"Aren't you going to stand there, on the edge, and welcome them?", Chloe asked.

Noah narrowed his eyes. "How do you know about it?"

"I saw you… last Tuesday."

Noah's face broke into a grin. "You were watching me?"

Chloe pushed his shoulder. "Stupid. I was watching you from the party at the Smith villa where we met."

Noah's eyes widened. "So, the whole talk about love at first sight… that was you. You fell for me at first sight."

Chloe puffed her cheeks in embarrassment. "Aren't you going to stand there? They will pass and you will miss your cue…"

Noah stood up and pulled Chloe with him. Ah, she forgot about the handcuffs!

Instead of standing straight in attention, as usually, Noah stood behind Chloe and wrapped his arms around her waist.

Noah was nervous. This will be the first time for him to be in the same room with his Mistress and another woman that is equally important. Well, Chloe is important in a different way compared to Sarah, so it's not the same, and Noah hoped that he will not mess this up.

"Aren't you going to remove handcuffs?", Chloe asked.

"What do you think?"

Chloe laughed weakly. How is she going to explain to Sarah and Aiden this… this…. bondage?

On the main level…

Sarah glanced up and leaned on Aiden as they walked.

"Aww, look at the newest couple. They are all lovey-dovey…", Sarah gushed.

"I thought you were keeping tabs on them.", Aiden said with a smile.

They were worried last night when Noah ran to Chloe's apartment and Sarah sent a drone to hover outside Chloe's apartment, showing them heat signatures of Chloe and Noah sleeping through the night. 

Sarah didn't want to peek. She only wanted to make sure Chloe was fine and if Noah didn't fix things, Oni and Nala would visit Chloe in the morning.

Of course, when things got steamy between Chloe and Noah that morning, Sarah called off the surveillance.

Knowing that the lovebirds smoothed things out and that Noah spent the day with Chloe at the main base of the Army of Chaos, Sarah didn't come empty-handed. She couldn't wait to join Noah and Chloe in the VIP room and give them their engagement present.

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