Chapter 19

I blinked, still groggy from sleep. Wait, where was I? I hesitantly turned my head to the side, and there lay a shock of white-blond hair. Then the memories from last night came rushing back. So it wasn't just a dream after all. Diamond knew about Seiya. Involuntarily, I grinned. I had come out of this situation much better than I could have ever imagined. But as I turned to the side and glanced at the clock, I froze. 9:15 a.m. Dammit. I should have been at work long ago.

I reached for the light switch, and Diamond let out a pained groan as the room lit up. Great, my plan from yesterday had worked out perfectly. I hadn't broken up with him. Instead, I had even spent the entire night here for the first time, and to top it all off, I had overslept and was now going to be incredibly late for work. Where the hell was my underwear again? I looked around the room.

"Left side of the wardrobe," Diamond grumbled, pulling the pillow over his head. "What? Left side of the wardrobe?" "We talked about it, remember? Massaru bought you some stuff for situations like this. But please, just turn off the damn light already."

I rolled my eyes and hurried to the wardrobe. Indeed, in the left half of the wardrobe, I found a wide selection of fresh clothes, all in my size. Yes, he had mentioned back on the yacht that I should leave some things here, but I didn't expect his assistant to fill half a closet with designer stuff... Typical Diamond. Well, at least Massaru had better taste than his boss. The clothes were actually suitable for public wear.

I rummaged through the wardrobe for something appropriate and considered what excuse I could use for my lateness. I decided to tell my boss about an external meeting with the Prince family. It was realistic and, technically, not entirely a lie.

As I hurriedly put together my outfit, I heard Diamond sigh and turn over in bed. Apparently, he wasn't in the mood for another conversation. I couldn't blame him - after all, we had both had a pretty eventful night. Nevertheless, I couldn't help but steal one last glance at him before switching off the light.

With a final sigh, I left the room, gathered my belongings from the living room, and hurriedly made my way to work. I hoped I could make up for the lost time and that my boss would accept my excuse. On the way, I replied to messages from Seiya and Mamoru, grabbed a quick latte macchiato and a coffee, and finally arrived at my desk shortly after 10 a.m. Sato gave me a skeptical look, grabbed his coffee, but didn't mention my tardiness. There was already a pile of work waiting for me on my desk, and I decided to stay a bit longer today. After all, both Seiya and Mamoru were out of the country, and Diamond... well, who knew what was going on in his messed-up head. After yesterday, I couldn't make heads or tails of it anymore, and even before that, it was already difficult. I mentally replayed the previous evening over and over again. But apart from shaking my head, I couldn't come up with anything.

It was already dark when I headed home. I scanned the intersection: no Seiya, no car waiting for me. It felt strange to walk home alone. I confidently navigated my way to my small apartment, unlocked the door, and collapsed onto the sofa. Seiya had sent me another selfie of himself. He was at some bar with Yaten, drinking beer. I sent him one of myself, sticking my tongue out skillfully.

Suddenly, I heard a knock on my door. Surprised, I sat up. Who could it be? I got up and curiously opened the door, and there stood Diamond with a lustful grin on his face.

"You? Here?" I managed to say after a moment of shock. The cheeky grin on his lips widened. "You're alone, aren't you?" I nodded silently, and in that instant, he had already pushed past me. He now stood in my small hallway, closed the door, and his arm blocked any escape route for me. He leaned his head toward my ear, and his warm breath tickled me lightly. "How much time do we have until the other comes back?" he whispered teasingly.

What the hell was his mission? Yesterday, he said he didn't care about Seiya, and now he provocatively stood here in front of me, clearly wanting to get me back into bed, but asking about Seiya?

"Almost four weeks, he's on a tour in China," I whispered back softly. If there's an instruction manual for men, I would love to have one for Diamond right now. His behavior was completely incomprehensible.

With his hand, he brushed a strand of hair away from my face and then ran his finger down my cheek. His deep black eyes rested on me, and his touch made me shudder again.

"Too bad," he said and turned his back to me. Purposefully, he walked into the living room, leaving me here bewildered by the door. Too bad?! Did he really just say too bad? Did he want to seduce me in front of Seiya or expose me? Had he changed his mind? Was what he said yesterday a lie? I stumbled after him.

"Diamond, stop! What do you mean by 'too bad'?" I shouted in panic as I had just stepped through the door.

Diamond sat casually in the armchair, his jacket draped over the back of the sofa. He gave me an audacious smile.

"I thought it would increase the suspense if he came back soon."

What on earth? Did he think that this was all just a game for me? Just because he now knew about it didn't mean we would immediately inform Seiya. A suffocating feeling spread within me. "Increase the suspense? Are you out of your mind?" My blood boiled, and he sat there completely relaxed, still grinning at me. "Usagi, relax. Of course, I knew you were alone, otherwise, I wouldn't have come." "And why this show, then?" He stood up, circled around me, and placed his hands on my shoulders. "Because you're damn sexy when you get worked up." Abruptly, I turned around to face him, so I could look into his face. His hands firmly held my wrists. "So I'm sexy when I get worked up! Let me show you right now how worked up I can get!" I immediately sensed the direction this conversation was taking, and my body responded as well. A pleasant tingling spread through my core. Diamond pulled me close to him and gave me a demanding kiss. "And how sexy you can be," he whispered seductively, and he had already lifted me onto his hip and carried me into the bedroom. I was high on Diamond again that night, experiencing the full dose. I rested against his chest and felt my pulse gradually calm down.

"We urgently need some rules. If you were to pull something like this and Seiya were in Tokyo... I don't even want to think about it."

Diamond had his arms crossed behind his head, his eyes were closed, but he wore that self-satisfied grin, indicating that he wasn't asleep.

"And what rules did you have in mind?" Well, that was a damn good question. I wasn't there yet. "Um, well... Neither Sato nor Seiya should find out about us." He furrowed his brow in confusion. "Sato? What does he have to do with this?"

Men.

"I've lost count of how many times I deserved a warning from him for what we've sometimes done... I really mean it, I enjoy my job, and I don't want to lose it."

"Usagi, if Sato wanted to, he would have fired you a long time ago. He deliberately turns a blind eye because my family brings in more than enough money for him. That's a non-negotiable point." "How non-negotiable?" Wait a minute, were we in negotiations here? "If I already have to share you privately and live with various restrictions, I want to see you regularly in the mornings when I'm in town." "And how are you going to explain that to Sato?" "Let that be my concern. I'll come up with something."

I rolled my eyes. Yes, I was sure he could come up with plenty of reasons, and Sato usually only saw the money anyway. I would renegotiate this point at some point in the future.

"Fine, for now. But Seiya is not up for negotiation! He mustn't find out about us, no packages, no cards, no spontaneous visits when he's here!" Diamond's response was a gruff, deep growl, which I interpreted as consent. "But I want at least one night every two to three weeks, without having to consider anything or anyone."

How was I going to manage that? If Seiya were back here and Mamoru was also around, my schedule was already more than full. That's why I originally wanted to break up with Diamond. Great, instead of gaining more freedom, we were now negotiating conditions for our peculiar relationship. Did you even call something like this a relationship?

"Okay, I'll try my best to make it work."

He now propped himself up on his forearm. "No, not try, that's not enough for me." He glared at me, and I knew I had little room for negotiation here. If it were just Seiya, I could probably manage it, but with Mamoru, there were still so many unknown factors. I blew a strand of hair away from my face and imitated his annoyed growl from earlier. He stood up and started getting dressed suddenly.

"Where are you going?" I asked, bewildered. It was the middle of the night. "I still have some things to take care of. Until next time," he said, planting a brief kiss on my lips before he left and left me in bed.

The night passed slowly as I lay in my bed, contemplating the situation. Diamond had left without giving me an explanation, leaving me with a feeling of uncertainty. What was his plan? What did he still have to take care of at this hour? Thoughts circled in my mind as time passed. I couldn't help but wonder if I had made the right decision by entering into this arrangement with Diamond. We would see what time would bring. I just hoped that in the next few days leading up to Mamoru's arrival, I would find some peace.