It's just a dance

One thing Anastasia hates is feeling indebted. She doesn't like the situation where she feels like she owes anyone. She thought she was going to pay Angelo back with the same amount of money he helped her with but here he is, asking her for a dance.

'Well, it's just a dance,' Anne thought to herself and agreed to dance with Angelo. She couldn't say no to him because she owed him, she has to repay her favor.

Meanwhile, before Carl could get to where Anne and Angelo were, Sasha hurriedly walked toward him and grabbed his hand, stopping him from disrupting Angelo and Anne.

"Do you want to create a scene?" Sasha whispered to Carl with gritted teeth. "look" She pointed to how gracefully they were dancing under the spotlight with all eyes staring at them in admiration.

The hall lights were now dim and the spotlight was on Anne and Angelo as they were dancing in the middle of the hall. It would've been catastrophic if Carl had gone to confront them.

Carl rested his back on a pillar behind him with his hands in his pockets staring at Angelo and Anne with a dark gaze. As much as he wanted to leave, he had to keep his eyes on Mr. Ross too.

Anne and Angelo didn't realize that they were under the spotlight. They were dancing so beautifully that the other couples who were also dancing had stopped to stare at Anne and Angelo alone. They were literally the center of attraction.

However, Angelo was just lusting over Anne's beauty, stealing glances at her cleavage. His eyes were fixed on her silver orbs, staring at them with an alluring smile on his face meanwhile, Anne couldn't wait for the dance to be over. She was thinking about Carl at the moment, wishing she was dancing with him instead.

"Anastasia, you smell so nice," Angelo said to her in a soft tone.

"Thanks" Anne responded.

Angelo leaned his face close to Anne's neck with his nose almost touching her skin. His eyes were shut as he was breathing in her sweet scent. He opened his eyes and saw Carl from a distance, glaring daggers at him. If looks could kill, Angelo would've been long gone.

Angelo's lips slowly curved up to a smirk staring at Carl. He looked like a handsome devil with that wicked smirk. He thought Carl was giving him that cold stare because of their previous fight not having a clue it was because he was dancing with Anne.

"Gemstone right?" Angelo fixed his eyes back at Anne.

"Sure, it seems you like it..." Anne said.

"Yeah, but I use blue stone, it's my favorite," he said

"Hmm, I'm guessing you're a fan of stone's perfume," she said.

"fan?" Angelo chuckled.

"The CEO of stone's perfume is my father," he said in a bragging manner.

Anne was flabbergasted hearing that. "Mr. Ross is your father? the one celebrating his birthday tonight?"

Angelo laughed "is there any other Mr. Ross?"

'Now I see where his last name is coming from,' she thought.

"You look so beautiful, Anastasia..." Angelo said. It wasn't the first time he was complimenting her.

Meanwhile, Carl who was watching them dance with red eyes managed to read Angelo's lips telling Anne she was beautiful.

He felt his heart skip a beat when Angelo leaned his face close to Anne's neck. He thought that Angelo was probably making moves at Anne but he was only breathing in her sweet scent.

Sasha was a little worried for Carl. She hoped he'll continue to stay calm and not cause a scene because she knows how angry Carl can get. In as much as Carl plays a lot, he's a different person when he gets angry. That is why no one should ever get on his bad side

Everyone was watching Anne and Angelo dance to the slow music in awe but Carl had a lot going through his mind.

His eyes were green with envy seeing that Angelo's hand was on Anne's bare back due to her backless dress. It made him wish he hadn't listened to Richie and bought Anne the dress he wanted to buy. It was less revealing but not as pretty as the one Anne was wearing.

The fact that Angelo's hand was freely on Anne's back made Carl suddenly dislike the dress she was wearing. Although, he wasn't bothered about it from the start because he saw that Anne was comfortable with it. But now, he's not happy at all. The attention they were receiving from everyone was hurting him a lot.

'How did Anne become so close to that idiot?' Carl thought to himself.

'What if he's trying to make her fall for him?... Does Anne like him that much to dance with him and not me?' Carl kept questioning himself in his head.

He also wondered if Angelo was staring at her cleavage because even if it wasn't your intention to stare, your eyes would be drawn to it.

Those dirty thoughts that were on Carl's head made him even more jealous. He wanted to be the one dancing with Anne under that spotlight in front of everyone and not Angelo. He wished he could grab Anne from Angelo and kiss her in front of him to claim her.

"It looks like they must've known each other so well," Sasha said to Carl waiting for a response but he ignored her like she wasn't talking to him.

Moreover, Mr. Ross was sitting down directly opposite Carl but from a far distance. He noticed Carl's dark expression and he knew that something was wrong. He couldn't tell the reason for it but he guessed that it was because Carl didn't like the attention Angelo was receiving. He noticed it from the way he was glaring at his son.

Mr. Ross recognized the lady dancing with his son to be Anne which surprised him. He now recalled that Angelo has told him that he had met Anne once at a grocery store.

"Damn it!" Mr. Ross cursed silently. He hoped that Anne wasn't in love with his son because she'll definitely break her heart once she finds out that he is a womanizer.

Mr. Ross signaled the instrumentalist to stop the music so they could stop dancing and also move on to the next event. The instrumentalist got the signal and rounded up their music making Anne and Angelo wrap up their dance.

If it were a random girl that was dancing with Angelo, it wouldn't have bothered Mr. Ross. He would've allowed them to dance for as long as they pleased, after all, the audience seemed to love them. He knew that his son doesn't take women seriously and he didn't want Anne to get involved with him. Only he and Carl wasn't a fan of their so-called dance at all.

Anne heaved a sigh of relief as soon as the dance was over but as for Angelo, he was living in the moment. He saw everyone staring at him and Anne with pretty smiles on their faces like they danced so well.

"Okay, give it up for the beautiful young couple" The emcee yelled and the well-wishers clapped at how beautifully they danced. The emcee and most well-wishers thought that they were actually a couple, not just any couple but the 'IT couple.'

"What? Anastasia is dating my son?" Mr. Ross whispered to himself with a puzzled look.

Even though the stupid emcee stated it, he doubted that it was true because he felt Anne deserved better.

"I can't take this... I can't take this" Carl muttered, shaking his head. The anger he has been compressing was about to explode when the emcee called Anne and Angelo a couple.

"Prosecutor Carl, get a hold of yourself! We're mostly here to protect Mr. Ross and everyone here from getting hurt. Don't be distracted please" Sasha said to Carl who looked like he was possessed with anger.

The lights in the hall were now back to normal and Anne was low-key searching for Carl with her eyes in the midst of the crowd. She was paying very less attention to Angelo who wouldn't stop bragging about how his wealth or should I say his father's wealth. He was just doing that to impress her forgetting that Anne isn't the type of woman who is moved by money.

However, Anne felt uneasy and disturbed when the emcee called her and Angelo a couple amidst everyone. She didn't expect a thing like that. She felt some kind of guilt in her chest for dancing with Angelo even though she did that to repay her favor. The only person she wanted to dance with was Carl and now she feels like she's betraying him despite them not being in a defined relationship.

While everyone was merry at the party, drinking fancy wine and laughing at the emcee's jokes, Anne saw Carl walking toward her.

"Umm, would you please excuse me, I have to leave," Anne said to Angelo and immediately turned her back to leave. She wanted to meet with Carl before Carl get to her.

"Where are you going? please wait." Angelo held Anne's hand, stopping her from leaving. He was already fond of her and he didn't want her to get off his sight.

Carl got to where Anne and Angelo were and he saw them holding hands. That is what it looks like to Carl's eyes but it was Angelo holding her hand.

Carl swallowed hard. He wondered what sort of voodoo Angelo used on Anne that made her dance with him in public and now they're holding hands. What next?

Before he left Sasha, he had asked her to keep her eyes on Mr. Ross, while he was going to meet with Anne. Sasha only let him because he promised he was not going to create a scene in the hall.

Angelo rolled his eyes as soon as he saw Carl and Anne quickly freed her hand from Angelo's grip. She saw the scary glare on Carl's face and she panicked like she has done something wrong.

"Anastasia we need to talk," Carl said with a straight face and a commanding tone. His voice sounded so intimidating and the look on his face spelled trouble. Regardless of that, he looked so handsome.

Angelo was confused. 'Is she the reason why this guy has been giving me death stares?' he thought to himself.

From the way Carl called Anne's name, he guessed that he must've known Anne. He could also tell that Carl was upset and probably because he was getting Anne's attention.

Without any questions, Anne left to follow Carl like an obedient child but Angelo quickly held her wrist making her halt her steps.

"Hey, don't tell me you know this guy," Angelo said to Anne to confirm for himself.

He wanted to be sure if he had been dancing with Carl's woman all along or if they were just casual friends. Either way, it wouldn't matter to Angelo because he was also interested in Anne.

"Get your hands off her or else you'll regret it" Carl warned Angelo with gritted teeth.

Anne immediately wiggled her wrist off Angelo's grip and left with Carl to avoid anything chaotic. She could perceive Carl's anger and she didn't want to upset him more.

Meanwhile, Mr. Ross who just watched the entire scene confirmed that there was something off between his son, Carl, and Anne. He hoped it wouldn't result in anything serious that would distract everyone at the party. He recognized Sasha from a distance and he approached her.

..

***Outside the hotel***

Noah was wandering in the backyard of the hotel when three security guards approached him, all dressed in black suits.

"Hey, old man what are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be inside the hotel?" The first security guard question Noah.

"First of all, I am not an old man and secondly, I'm only 47 years old" Noah cried out.

"That's none of our fucking business, leave this place now," the second security guard said.

"You can't just tell me to leave, how do I know you three are actually security guards? …I need to see all your IDs to prove you're really security guards before I leave" Noah stood his ground.

"Okay nice talk pal, leave now...." The first security guard who was standing in the middle brought out a gun and pointed it at Noah's face. "...Or I'll fucking blow your head off"

Seeing the gun being pointed at his face, Noah gulped and placed both his hands in the air to surrender.