A/N: I'll say that the ending at the last chapter was quite undesirable. :3 But that's how it is. The Epilogue is quite far-fetched from the events that had taken place in the past twenty-eight chapters, but that is mainly because this story is really open for a sequel.

Epilogue is inspired by the song Irresistible by Fall Out Boy... The song's really catchy and it really fits Noctis' and Stella's love-hate relationship. Can't help but think that Noctis is a huge masochist... xD (Quite frankly, both of them kind of are.)


Epilogue

The casino was one of his least favorite places. He wasn't one for throwing money around haplessly for the sake of amusement. Noctis thought it was a waste of time and resources, watching all these other people drool and get moony-eyed over machines that held their fortune. Others fancied to play their stakes against other people, so they trooped over to the tables that hosted the most well-known card games.

The bright lights and the free flowing champagne merely screamed of another social gathering. Come to think of it, that was exactly what he was here for. The event was being held in the Solaire Casino and Retreat House. It was another rich place where rich people threw their money away and gorgeous ladies stood ready to usher guests in their long dresses. To put it plainly, he and his retinue were here for a conference; not to squander their fortune.

Conducting these shady meetings in awfully wealthy settings were quite the hassle. And since their organization was the largest one in the globe, it operated discreetly just below the government's noses. They were concealed enough from prying eyes, yet exposed enough for the world to know that the likes of them were out there, committing—most of the time—white collar crimes, but crimes no less.

"Raven Conference, miss." He could hear Prompto asking a nearby usher who stood close to the entrance's double doors.

Noctis turned to see the conversation unfold, and he knew his own look mirrored the ones of his two other friends who were amused at Prompto's latest performance. Charming yet another lady into submission was one of his specialties, and they all grudgingly admitted that he was the smoothest talker between the four of them. For a moment, Noctis wished they had asked the valet instead before they left their car to his care, but then again, what would a valet know?

The young woman blushed prettily beneath all that stylishly layered make-up. But she was a trained usherette, and this was her job, so Noctis figured it wasn't the time and place for her to be charmed by the charmer. Well, most of the time, all the ushers did were stand in the hallway, looking pretty while most of the guests decided to approach the reception desk for information instead.

"Mister Rufus' guests, sir?" She asked by way of confirmation. That was a code. He and the others knew that all too well. It was quite common and frequent.

"Yes, and we really need to get going. We wouldn't want to be late." Prompto flashed a smile that showed his brilliant white teeth.

Damn. Now he was sure the woman was weak in the knees. She looked positively disarmed at the display that his friend made.

"Of course, Sir. Allow me to show you the way."

Prompto turned back to them with a smug grin on his face as he jerked his thumb in the right direction, urging them all to follow.

They passed gambling machines on their way to the private function room, and he and the other three were quiet as they did so. Talking without raising the suspicious flags would prove to be futile at the moment seeing as how crowded the casino was. Noctis was sure he and his friends looked quite ridiculous with their hats on. It was the classic mafia hat. The invitations had requested that every man who was going to attend such a social gathering must wear the hat. It would have appeared as a slight regard to fashion, but the whole thing was just a huge joke in Noctis' opinion. His friends thought so. Only Prompto seemed to pull off the 'right look.' The rest of them didn't really feel right.

Gladio looked ridiculous in his. Ignis just looked awkward. And Noctis did not even want to describe how he looked in his. The hat had been positioned askew on his head to try and lessen the damage that it would do to his hairstyle, but he knew he looked terrible with it on. If he wasn't avoiding trouble tonight, he would have went against the formalities and disregarded the stupid hat.

"I trust you would know where to go from here?" The usherette asked with a welcome smile on her face.

"Thanks again," Noctis glanced at the name tag pinned above her left breast, "Rinoa."

The lady bit her lip and was on her way before any of them could comment.

"We probably made her more nervous than usual." Prompto commented, blinking owlishly.

"It's her job." Gladiolus snorted.

"We must get moving. Being 'fashionably late' isn't exactly a welcome excuse." Ignis shuffled them all along to take the last corridor that would bring them to the function room—to the Raven Conference.

"Wouldn't exactly be an excuse because we look anything but fashionable." Noctis commented dryly, already annoyed with the hat sitting on top of his head.

The tinted automatic sliding glass doors slid open upon their entry. They weren't early, but they weren't late either. That was good enough. It was suddenly obvious that they were youngest in the group of men present in the room. There were a few women, but the room was dominated largely by men in classic suits, all of them wearing hats on their heads. Now Noctis felt positively stupid.

The conference had droned on in the usual pattern. When the event officially began with an announcement, every member of the organization was ushered into press conference seats, arranged in a round formation so they could all face each other and scream their opinions. Mouth watering food was placed in front of them so they could eat while they discussed and flutes of champagne were passed around. Noctis caught quite a few men who were eager for the liquor to race in their systems. It was a stupid idea, considering as one needed to be sober when they discussed issues and proposals. Having one's system muddled with alcohol was not a good idea. He would lose the game immediately.

That was what all this meeting was to Noctis. It was a game. A concealed display of political power and dominance among the men who were at the top. He and his friends weren't strangers to these types of gatherings. Being among other crime lords wasn't a making for a spectacular environment. He often thought it was fruitless since he and his friends won the little game every time. The others knew this, and he knew he and his friends were often ridiculed because they were the youngest, but every man knew that their ideals and opinions stood out among the rest in the end.

This year's Raven Conference wouldn't make a difference. He and his friends sat at the boss branch, and that fact alone wasn't easily brushed off as nothing. The four of them together made a deadly combo, and everybody in the global organization knew that. Prompto had the disarming charm and the smooth tongue that worked against the competitors of the opposite sex, Gladiolus had intimidation up his sleeves, Ignis had the knowledge and mind-blowing intelligence, and Noctis? Noctis had the biggest advantage among the other men present in the conference. He had wealth and power, and as much as he loathed the idea, he had no choice but to wield those two concepts as if they were weapons.

It made sense because his father was the Mafia Boss, and he was the Mafia Prince by right. His family had wealth and tons of connections. He used that to his advantage and it worked every time. That and the charisma that oozed out of his words and laid back stance—giving off the air of confidence and arrogance that intimidated anybody at the first offer. It also helped when one had the reputation of constantly having a winning streak.

The host stood up to address the rest of them. A chilly smile was plastered across his weathered face and Noctis could not help but feel the deeply rooted disdain leak out of his persona.

"Gentlemen, I believe we are all ready to begin."

vVvVv

The Raven Conference had been a pain in the ass, but a satisfying game no less. Noctis was thinking of it as he closed the door with a soft click, taking a moment to glance at the ivory patterns etched on its surface before he whirled around fully to face the room. Just as he did though, the lights went out, shrouding the room in darkness. A slow smirk curved his lips.

"This affair is beginning to bother my conscience immensely." A soft melodic voice spoke from across the room.

He doubted that she meant to, but she was unknowingly seducing him with that voice of hers. He didn't say anything; merely crossed the length of the room in a few long strides. Her presence only became stronger as soon as he was near enough. He could see the faint outline of her figure silhouetted in the darkened room. The dark blinds draped across the room's windows only added to the gloom.

"Noctis, this has to stop." She whispered as he wrapped his arms around her instinctively.

Even then, he knew she wouldn't be able to resist. No matter how absurd; how ridiculous; how utterly forbidden their affair was, neither of them were able to halt the extent of their connection or their feelings that had existed since the final year of her studies in the University. The choice she had asked him to tackle had not been an easy one. He knew that she hated what she was doing. Heck, maybe she even hated her own feelings. She had told him back then that she wanted him to figure himself out first before anything could rightly proceed, but the events that had taken place which led to this regular rendezvous had gone completely against what she had stood for.

"We had half a year to cut this affair." He spoke against her skin, gently sliding his tongue across the skin behind her ear as he pressed her back against the solid wall. "Yet what do we do?" He whispered directly against her ear, his hot breath rushing through the sensitive skin, causing a pleasant shiver to run down her spine. "We both keep coming back for more."

After their college graduation, he had not been granted the chance to see her again. She had moved out of the city that she had lived in all her life. He had waited for weeks, months, to receive at least just one call for her. He didn't blame her when none came though. They had lost contact. He had not spoken a single word to her for two years. The changes that came in both of their adult lives had swept them away, led their thoughts elsewhere—he was sure. But he knew that deep down, his heart had never been able to really let go. Part of him had longed for the blind love that they had shared in a short span of time, before circumstances arose and crushed the chances that they had had of having a normal relationship, just like other couples.

But that love had been destroyed by lies and secrets—mainly his doing; destroyed by opposing views that they both harbored. When she had left a day after graduation, he had wanted to run after her, to pursue her. The guilt had been debilitating and he had lived with it for a long while, blaming no one but himself for the tragedies that fell on her life. Eventually, he and his friends had to move out of the city as well, a year after graduation. His father had wanted him to take care of business happening overseas.

He did not expect to meet her again at a press conference where his family's name was involved. It had been held at a five-star hotel function room in a foreign country's wealthy city. The last time he had seen her, they were both at slightly awkward ends, as she had said her goodbye and as he stared at her longingly, loving her and needing her, but he knew he wouldn't be able to do anything. He knew it would happen soon enough.

He was sure that she had seen the flash of recognition upon his eyes when their eyes had met in the middle of the pressing crowds, mingling together in the function room. She was among the media people who bravely approached the mic to ask her critical questions. He had not been able to resist himself. He had followed her along with her camera crew once the press conference was over. They had not exchanged any lengthy words of pleasantries. He had gone straight to the point, and asked her to have coffee with him the following morning. To his surprise, she had not declined his offer. And to think that he had steeled himself for the cold shoulder that she would give him after all that he had done to cause her misery.

Their date at the cafe had been a little awkward because he had not known what to say, and it had been a long time since they had established some form of contact. She had fulfilled her dreams and was now leading a promising career as a young and successful media practitioner, and what was he doing? He was a known business man; the heir to the large companies and businesses that his family owned, and secretly, he was a white-collar offender working at the very top of the criminal hierarchy. Yes, they were at opposite sides of the scale. The first thing that she had asked him was if he was still involved with the black market. He had regrettably given her an honest answer and she had no reaction other than to nod seriously and sip at her drink.

One meeting had led to another; each filled with heated opinionated conversations. Not at all like the playful banter that they had once shared. It had become something else. Something deeper. Something laced with so much opposition. Something paved with numerous challenges. It was a conquest. A conquest to win the other over...

"This is enough. You are perverting justice. You need to be brought to exposure." She had told him once, with deep conviction and determination in her eyes.

"I can't let you do that..." He had replied coolly, fire burning within the depths of his own blazing blue orbs.

"It is irrational." She conceded, her hands drifting up as they wrapped around his shoulders.

"Nobody ever said that love was rational." He replied, continuing his ministrations.

He delighted in the soft sigh that escaped her lips as his mouth continued to lavish her skin with kisses and soft nips. She had come from another important event tonight—one that required the media's presence no doubt. He could tell from the texture and the mend of the dress that she was wearing. He ran his hands over the clothed areas of her body.

"We both know that this has to end soon." She sighed as his lips brushed against hers.

He hummed in response, silently agreeing but not really caring, as his lips engaged hers in a slow and passionate yet heated kiss. He knew it made her toes curl; caused delightful shivers to shoot down her spine; made her heart ache for his presence and his touch every time he would be away.

"Until then, be with me." He murmured, sliding a hot tongue into her mouth, smoothing over the surface of her own taste organ. Time had not changed the taste that he had loved savoring.

"I cannot be with a criminal." She answered vindictively, clutching the lapels of his black suit tightly in her hands. But even as she spoke her words, he could feel her arching her back, pressing every dip and curve of her body into his.

"You refuse to, really."

He slid his tongue out and gave her lips another lingering kiss before he removed his tongue and began working his mouth downwards. He skimmed his lips over her jawline, slowly sliding his tongue across the pulse that beat under her skin; the side of her neck where he gently bit her delicate flesh; and down her collarbone where he softly sucked on the graceful network of her bones. He relished in the sound of her soft pleasured breath that left her lips as one of his hands reached behind her and quickly undid the zipper that closed her dress, his fingers lingering lightly over the flesh as he slid the metal object down.

He felt smug at her response as her own delicate fingers worked on unbuttoning the black dress shirt that he had worn to the Raven Conference. He kissed her lips once more as she finished undoing all the buttons. Her smooth palms glided over his torso, tracing every firm muscle and smooth flesh. He moaned into her mouth when she grazed the tips of her nails lightly across the skin on his abdomen. Responding quickly, his mouth trailed lower again and rested on her shoulder, sucking tentatively as he slid one of the spaghetti straps of her dress off of her shoulders. One hand caressed the skin of her other bare shoulder, while the other hand softly stroked the flesh and the dip on her lower back.

His mouth collided with hers again in a hot kiss as she slowly peeled his dress shirt off of him, leaving him half naked. She was the one who broke the kiss this time as her own mouth began kissing the beautiful features of his face. Her fingers wandered to the belt strapped around his hips, undoing it ever so slowly; biding her time, making him want more. His own hands weren't idle either. He carefully peeled the dress from her torso, his own mouth attached to the side of her neck, giving her flesh a pleasant suck.

"I shall expose you." She spoke in his ear, her teeth gently nibbling on his earlobe. "I can, and I will."

He smirked against her skin. It would be a challenge; one he wouldn't back down from.

"I would love to see you try, Stella."

I'm coming for you, and I'm making war...

But I still love the way you hurt me...

It's irresistible...


A/N: It's done! xD As I've said, this fic is really open for a sequel, but I'll leave that up to you. If you want one, tell me in your reviews. If you don't, then that's alright. The story should be fine as it is. I'll leave it up to you to imagine what would be happening in Noctis' and Stella's lives from this point on. They both have careers now. xD

Anyways, thank you so much for taking the time to read and check this fic out.