Chapter 7
- Sia had a huge headache. That was the first thing she
- thought when she woke up. The next thing was that she wasn’t in her bedroom.
- Events from the previous night came back to her mind,
- intensifying the headache she was already having. Groaning, she sat up,
- surprised to find a blanket draped over her body and herself lying not in the
- bean bag anymore but on the comfortable sofa in one corner of her work station.
- Her face heated up when she remembered how Julian had
- held her in his strong arms as she cried, how he had made her feel comfortable.
- She could still feel a tingle in her earlobes from when his warm breath had
- fanned her face. But the good memories stopped there. She wrapped her arms
- around herself as she felt the past whisper in her ears, trying to haul her
- back into the darkness that she couldn’t seem to leave behind. But she shook
- her head, refusing to feed the demons, and stood up from the sofa.
- The clock on the wall read 11:23 AM. She sighed and made
- her way back to her room and went straight to the bathroom for a quick shower.
- But when she looked at the mirror, she was horrified. Her eyes were red and
- swollen, and her face was blotchy from crying. How Julian could stand to look
- at her was beyond her. She looked like nightmare personified. So, without
- wasting any more time, she hopped into the shower.
- Feeling refreshed after her shower, she didn’t feel like
- going to her office anymore. She had worked overtime yesterday, and all her
- paperwork had been sorted; if she was needed for anything, Millan would give
- her a call. She decided to spend the day with her son . . . and maybe her
- bodyguard too. Oh, who was she kidding?
- Julian was bound to come along with her anywhere she went anyway, it was his
- duty.
- The sound of laughter interrupted her train of thought,
- and she walked curiously towards the window, following the sound of the voices.
- What she saw outside surprised her.
- Leo was playing basketball with Julian. The ball was in
- Leo’s hand, and he was dribbling and trying to reach the basket while Julian
- chased him. The huge man finally reached for the ball and stole it right out of
- Leo’s hand and scored. Leo whined about it being “not fair”, saying that Julian
- was older and faster than him, but he was smiling. It was the happiest Sia had
- seen him since the incident.
- She got out of her bathrobe and put on white denim
- shorts and a blue top with small white flowers on the collar line. She never
- wore that much makeup on the daily, but today, she had to apply some concealer
- under her eyes to patch up the redness around them and her dark spots. She
- paired her dress with small white rose-shaped earrings and a watch. She
- gathered her cell phone from her work station and put them in a white clutch
- and put on a pair of blue stilettos to match her dress. It was almost 1 PM. by
- the time she made reservations at a nearby diner, but since it was a diner she
- frequented, the owner, who was an old friend, was able to do the reservations
- despite the rush hour. Checking herself in the mirror one last time, she made
- her way downstairs and towards the basketball court in the backyard.
- “Boys!” she yelled when she spotted them still wrestling
- to get the ball into the basket.
- Both their heads snapped in her direction, and Julian’s
- eyes widened a bit, making her blush. She just realized that this was the first
- time she had so much of her legs exposed in front of him, and knowing his
- reputation, Sia shook her head. He was her employee, not her boyfriend. Julian
- wouldn’t risk making a move on her if he wanted to keep his job.
- “You’re going to your office?” Leo’s whiny voice brought
- her attention back to him.
- She smiled at her beloved son.It delighted her that
- after such a long time, Leo was warming up to another adult who was a man.
- “No,” she answered and smirked when she saw both of them with confused
- expressions.
- “We’re going out for lunch at Paradiso,” she said,
- smiling.
- “Really?” Leo yelled in excitement while Julian frowned.
- “Yes, really. Now, go get changed, and don’t forget to
- wash up first,” Sia told Leo, but he was already halfway towards the house. Her
- son was a huge fan of Italian food.
- “Paradiso?” Julian asked with a raised eyebrow after he
- saw Leo enter the house safely.
- Sia blushed. “It’s an Italian restaurant nearby. Leo and
- I have been going there since he was five. He loves it. I’m sorry I didn’t ask
- you. Are you okay with Italian?” she asked.
- “Are you serious? I love pasta!” Julian smiled, and it
- transformed his face from hot to catastrophic.
- “Aren’t you going to change?” she asked instead,
- pointing to his surprisingly dry V-neck white shirt and black denims. It was
- never a good idea to mix business with leisure.
- “Nah! I’m good.” He smiled at her.
- “Okay, then.” Sia smiled back.
- “Mom! Julian! Let’s go!” Leo yelled at them from the
- backdoor, now dressed in a black T-shirt and blue denims. She smiled; she’d
- never seen him change so fast.
- “Shall we?” Sia asked Julian.
- “Lead the way.”
- * * *
- When Julian had woken up that morning, Sia was still
- fast asleep . . . and wrapped tightly in his arms.
- He felt a smile forming, but then, the previous night’s
- events came rushing back, and his smile disappeared. He clenched his jaw as he
- went through all the information he had gathered about Arthur Stone and then
- came up with a plan.
- Gently, he brushed back the dark hair from Sia’s
- beautiful face, tracing two fingers down her pale cheeks. He could see that her
- eyes were a bit swollen, but it was nothing that a little ice pack couldn’t
- mend. At that moment, he thought that he could stay right there all day,
- staring at her innocent beauty, but he had work to do, so he carefully
- untangled himself from her. Once he was able to regain his composure, he took
- her into his arms and got off the floor with her. Sia was surprisingly lighter
- than he had expected her to be, and he carefully carried her over to the sofa a
- few feet away and laid her down comfortably before covering her up with a
- blanket he found folded at the foot of the sofa.
- After one last look at her, he went straight to his room
- and took a quick hot shower before getting dressed in a white V-neck shirt and
- black jeans. Then he picked up his phone and dialed a number he had been trying
- to avoid for the past few months. Desperate
- times. He sighed to himself.
- “So, you finally realized you can’t live without me, and
- now you must go down on your knees ready to beg for me to come back,” said the
- bored voice on the other end as soon as she picked up.
- “Hello, Selena.” He kept his voice professional. “I need
- you to find what you can about Arthur Stone,” he said, going straight to the
- point.
- “How about I hear an apology first?” she asked, annoyed.
- Selena Fraser was one of the top informers of their
- company and a skilled agent. In fact, she was one of the best that he himself
- had trained. And she was also extremely gorgeous. It wasn’t a surprise when a
- junior recruit had fallen head over heels in love with her. Julian had taken
- pity on the fellow and set up a date with her. What he didn’t realize was that
- the guy was a jerk and had tried to get into her pants as soon as Selena
- arrived on the date. After Selena rejected the guy, he went out to his friends
- and made up a false story about how he had fucked the hot senior. He eventually
- had to confess his sins while lying in a pool of his own blood while Selena
- cleaned her hands on his shirt, and ever since then, she’d held a grudge
- against Julian for setting up the date. But it wasn’t his fault that the guy
- turned out to be an idiot and like he said, these were desperate times.
- “I already said sorry a thousand times! How long are you
- going to hold it against me? Now, are you going to do your job or do I need to
- call Christian?” If there was one person Selena both feared and respected, it
- would be his brother.
- “Fine, you jerk! Is it the same Arthur Stone who got
- arrested for marrying a minor and abusing his wife?” she asked, switching
- instantly from annoyed bitch to professional informer.
- “Yes,” Julian answered, his jaw clenched.
- “Fine. Give me a few hours,” she said and hung up
- instantly.
- Rude, he
- thought, but he knew that Selena will help him out no matter how grumpy she
- got. But he also knew that it hardly takes her an hour at most to gather all
- information, but she’ll hold back for longer just so she can get back at him.
- So, while waiting, he went to the kitchen for a late
- breakfast but couldn’t find the maid anywhere. Instead, he walked to the table
- and grabbed an apple and walked out into the backyard where he found Leo
- playing basketball alone.
- He had felt a little awkward in front of Leo before,
- wondering about the relationship between Sia and Leo’s father, but now that he
- knew the truth, he felt proud that the kid had been there for Sia when she
- needed him most. He was a very sensible boy, which wasn’t usual for a boy his
- age.
- “Need help?” he asked, finishing off the apple and
- throwing the core in a trash can.
- Leo’s head snapped in his direction, causing him to drop
- the ball which came rolling towards Julian’s feet. “Sure,” Leo answered with a
- smile, a smile that was exactly like his mother’s.
- “Okay then,” Julian said, picking up the ball. “Get
- ready to be defeated by the almighty!” he said, then took off, running.
- “Not a chance!” Leo laughed and ran after him.
- They played for some time, and Julian realized he was
- having more fun here with Leo than he had with his brother. Christian had
- always been the scholar, the nerdy one, so he liked spending more time with his
- books than with Julian. It’s not that Christian didn’t care; he did care a
- great deal about Julian. He just rarely showed it.
- They were so engrossed in the game that a yell from Sia
- startled them both. Julian turned to look at her, and his breath was caught in
- his throat. His eyes widened. Holy shit,
- he thought. She looked hot. He had
- never seen this much of her legs exposed before, and he was in awe of the
- creamy white complexion of her skin. He noticed her blush, and he couldn’t help
- but imagine those sexy legs wrapped around his hips. But he controlled his
- emotions through clenched teeth. He was here for work, not for his cock.
- Sia and Leo were talking about going to someplace named “Paradiso”
- and he saw Leo practically dash towards the house. He soon learned that it was
- an Italian restaurant which was Leo’s favorite. After Leo was done changing,
- they were well on their way to their lunch destination.
- The restaurant was pretty simple. Pink and blue walls
- made a nice contrast and the atmosphere was perfect for a family outing. Lunch
- was delicious. And it wasn’t just because the food was good. No, it was also
- because he was having lunch with people he really enjoyed being with. Sia,
- Julian noticed, loved to eat—a trait he loved in a woman. But mostly he enjoyed
- how mother and son bickered over the menu and then watched them quietly steal
- food from each other’s plates when the other didn’t notice. He watched in
- amusement as Leo stole a piece of chicken right from under Sia’s nose while she
- was busy on a phone call from her office.
- After lunch, however, it was time for a fight between
- him and Sia.
- “Stop right there! I brought you here, so I’ll pay! It’s
- my treat.”
- “No, no! You already pay me for my services, but I think
- it would be rude to make you pay. So I’m paying!”
- “Come on! I should pay. This was my idea.”
- “Maybe next time. I’m paying now.”
- “But—”
- “Mom! Julian! You guys are acting like little kids!” Leo
- interrupted. “Seriously? If you guys want to pay so badly, then just pay half
- each. See? It’s that easy!”
- “Oh, really? And what about you?” An amused Sia asked
- her son.
- “Oh, no! I’m a minor with no job. You pay for me, Mommy!”
- Leo told his mother slyly while batting his long lashes for added effect.
- “You’re not getting any pocket money this week, mister!”
- Sia mock glared at her son, but they both took his advice and split the bill.
- Walking out of the restaurant together, Julian couldn’t
- help but think that they felt like a family—Sia and Leo holding hands and
- walking slightly behind him while he kept an eye out for trouble.
- His phone rang in his pocket, and Julian immediately
- took it out, relieved to see who was calling. Finally, he thought.
- “You guys go ahead. I’ll be right back. Okay?” he told
- Sia.
- “Sure,” Sia said, smiling, and walked ahead with her
- son.
- “Yes?” he answered as soon as they were out of earshot.
- “Arthur Stone, forty-four, semi-good looking, took over
- Milton Co., probably by cheating, and then married their daughter. Sentenced to
- life time imprisonment for fraud, abuse, child abuse, and rape. Was in the prison
- for the last ten years and eleven months—”
- “Wait! What do you mean ‘was in prison’?” Julian asked,
- a sudden chill going down his spine.
- “Would have known earlier if you’d let me finish, jerk!” Selena snapped and then continued in
- her no-nonsense tone. “As I was saying, was
- in prison for nearly eleven years, but he ran away three months ago, and the
- police haven’t found him since. I’m working on the details of how he ran off,
- but it’ll take time to hack into the cop’s top secret classified shit.” Selena
- hung up once again, extracting her revenge for the hundredth time.
- “Fuck!” Julian angrily ran a hand through his hair.
- And that’s when he heard
- the screech of the tires.