Chapter 191 A Guarantor


    "This is not someone else''s house, we are in Grandpa and Grandma''s house. And I bought it for


    them." Technically, it was also James'' house.


    His hot breath drifted gently over Maria''s ears, tickling her skin. Still, she stuck to her guns. "But


    they are light sleepers, and you always get carried away and lose control. We''re bound to wake


    them up with all the racket."


    "The windows are tightly closed, and they''reposed of threeyers of hollow ss. This room is


    practically sound-proof."


    Maria shut her mouth then; she didn''t have much else to her argument.


    Fortunately for her, James really did restrain himself, at least to some extent. Their night activity


    was shorter than it usually was.


    Sometime in the middle of the night, he walked to the bathroom and took a shower. When he


    returned, he grabbed his phone and settled on a small couch on the other side of the room.


    Maria sat up in bed with a t expression. "Since you dislike me so much, why don''t you just give up


    having sex with me altogether?"


    James looked back at her in silence. The thing was that he wasn''t used to sleeping with another


    person in the same bed.


    But he read the disappointment in her eyes, and he put his phone away and climbed onto bed.


    He had barely settled under the covers when Maria promptly turned her back to him.


    James reached out to turn the bedsidemp off and snuggled against her. His hand began to roam


    over her body in the darkness, only to be shaken off by her with more force than necessary.


    That took him aback, and he sighed. Were women always this fickle? He had alreadyin beside


    her, why was she still mad?


    His hands ventured out for the second time, and she shook them off again.


    When he was brushed away the third time, James finally lost his patience. He turned Maria over


    andy on top of her, pressing her into the mattress with his body. "What are you making a fuss


    for?" he asked in a deep voice.


    "I''m not making any fuss, I just want to sleep. If you keep touching me, I can''t sleep."


    Contentt bel0ngs to N0ve/lDra/ma.O(r)g!


    Her reasoning was pretty logical, but the bite in her words didn''t escape James.


    He rolled her over so she was cocooned in his arms again. "Now sleep, I won''t move," he said,


    trying to be patient.


    ''Yeah, right!'' Maria retorted in her mind and rolled her eyes in the dark.


    She squirmed in his embrace, and James finally snapped. Without a word, he pinned her under his


    body once again, with more aggression this time.


    His intentions hit Maria then, and she scrambled to stop him. She might let him have his way back


    in Fairview Vi, but only because there was nobody else in the house besides themselves. If he did


    whatever he wanted here, however, they would definitely make too much noise.


    She knew James probably had no shame about the act, but Maria still wanted to maintain some of


    her dignity.


    She grabbed the waist band of her pajama bottoms at the same moment he started to pull them


    down her legs. "I''m sorry. Let''s go to sleep, okay? You can hold " me.


    Her apology appeased James and hey back beside her with satisfaction.


    He slid one arm under her head while the other curved around her waist.


    Maria thought she could finally get some much-needed rest.


    But she was wrong.


    As seconds ticked by, the pure, womanly scenting from her supple skin wafted over James,


    and he started to sniff and nip at her soft nape. A fire was burning in his body, demanding to be


    released.


    Every time he tried to take it a notch further, though, Maria would be quick to stop him. "Don''t


    move!"


    He would pause for a beat then, before going back to rubbing and pressing her arms and thighs.


    Who would have thought that the cold and domineering CEO, James Xi, would turn into a restless


    and clingy man at night?


    Maria regretted. She realized that she was wrong. She would never ask him to stay overnight in the


    future.


    Maria eventually fell asleep, not able to hold on any longer. She had no idea what time James slept


    though.


    When she woke up the next day, she was alone in the room.


    She fumbled for her phone and looked at the time. It was almost nine o''clock in the morning.


    She knew the elders got up early, probably around four or five in the morning. And yet here she


    was, some five hourster and barely out of bed.


    She spent a moment to curse James for not waking her up earlier, then she hurried to the bathroom


    to tidy herself up.


    She went downstairs in her slippers, expecting the man to have left already. To her surprise, she


    was greeted by the sight of James chatting with his Augustine in the living room.


    His usual cold demeanor was back in ce, the total opposite of the needy man who never stopped


    moving against herst night.


    Charlotte was sitting next to them, listening to their conversation with a smile.


    When they heard her shuffle at the foot of the stairs, all three pairs of eyes turned to look at her in


    unison. Maria smiled awkwardly and stepped forward. "I''m sorry, I got upte."


    Charlotte cocked her head and gave her a smile. "Don''t worry about it, dear. James told us you


    were too tired fromst night. Go ahead and have some breakfast."


    Maria immediately red at James. What the hell was he telling his grandparents?


    Why did he phrase the excuse like that? More to the point, why didn''t hee up with some other


    reason?


    Her sharp re just bounced out of him, however, and James ignored her as though nothing was


    wrong whatsoever.


    She had no choice but to nod along in agreement. "All right, Grandpa, Grandma. Please enjoy your


    chat. I''ll join youter."


    Before she turned away, she caught Augustine ncing pointedly at her belly. It rmed Maria, and


    she unconsciously put a hand over her abdomen and rushed to the dining area.


    Was this family nning to actually dig a baby out of her body?


    She shook her head vigorously. She wasn''t even pregnant yet.


    She rxed only when Tami ced the dishes in front of her, and she directed her thoughts to


    enjoying her meal.


    As the morning grewte, Tami returned James'' and Maria''s car keys and they stepped out of the


    vi together.


    But Maria hung back when they got to the parking lot. She had learned her lesson. She sat inside


    her car and waited for James to drive away first.


    Only when the Harkim left the yard did she start to slowly back her car.


    Maria just drove out of the vi area when James'' car was already more than a kilometer away.


    When they reached downtown, the two of them went their separate ways.


    James went straight to thepany while Maria proceeded to the cafe across the street.


    After brewing a few cups of coffee at the bar counter, Maria found a seat in a quiet corner and


    began to work.


    Two days ago, she had secretly asked someone to arrange for Dani to participate in a talent


    show.


    The clueless girl had agreed immediately after the offer had been made. The news made Maria


    sneer at her screen.


    Dani had really be arrogant over the days. She herself was well aware of her severeck of


    talent, both in singing and dancing, and yet she had barely hesitated from jumping to join such a


    show.


    How did the saying go again?


    "Pride goes before the fall."


    James had made an appointment for Maria to meet Mr. Wang from YM Group that evening, and he


    sat next to them, listening as they talked about business.


    Mr. Wang was mature and straightforward, but he already had two failed marriages under his belt.


    Maria obviously couldn''t talk to him about family matters.


    And when it came to finances and investments, the presence of a big shot like James made


    discussion on that topic awkward for the other two.


    So Maria decided to get right to the point after a brief exchange of pleasantries. "Mr. Wang, I know


    ourpany is not qualified. After all, it''s nothing more than a start-uppany at the moment. But


    my team and I are really working hard, Mr. Xi can give his guarantee on that. Please be assured,


    Mr. Wang."


    James nced at her sideways then, wondering just when he had ever agreed to be her guarantor


    in any way. All he had promised was to be a middleman.


    Being a guarantor was a far cry from being a middleman, and both terms upheld entirely different


    duties.


    Ignoring his warning look, Maria continued to coax the other man calmly. "Mr. Xi has promised to


    arrange a meeting between me and the official called Mr. Soren Li. When that timees, I will


    have secured the protection of the government. There would be no other cause for you to worry


    then, Mr. Wang."


    There was an open secret within the financial circle that corporate figures sought out a cooperation


    with the local government. Both entities benefited from each other, withpanies garnering official


    backing while lining the government''s pockets under the table.


    And everyone knew who Soren Li was. As this new development in their conversation unfolded,


    James found himself raising an eyebrow while muttering under his breath, "Maria Song..."


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