Aidan's hand slipped into Anna's, forcing her to glance his way.
The way he had stepped in earlier had not only saved her and the company, but had given her the courage to do what she had been dreaming of doing since her father died.
Firing Kathryn and cutting ties with her.
She never thought she'd actually do it.
"I'm sorry I didn't tell you about the…"
"Texting Kevin?" she interrupted, locking eyes with him. He gave a small nod and she looked away, just as he stopped the car in front of their building.
Instead of stepping out, they both sat still in silence. The silence thickened, making curiosity piqued at Anna. "How did you manage to get him there so fast?"
A sly smile crept across his face. "Nothing much. I just threatened him a little."
A laugh bubbled up her throat. "You did what? You threatened him? How did you manage to pull that off?"
He shrugged, still wearing that confident smile as he turned to face her squarely. "I only did what I could. I threatened to report him to the State Bar if he didn't join us in ten minutes, and he did."
Her mouth dropped agape. "You're kidding."
"I'm serious," he nodded firmly. "I'm so sorry I didn't inform you before doing that. I didn't mean to go behind your back," he apologized, misreading her shock for disapproval."
She shut her mouth, stared at him in awe and shook her head. "You don't need to apologize. It all worked out well for me after all."
He blinked, clearly surprised that she wasn't mad at him.
"I should be thanking you instead," she muttered and sighed, thinking of the whole new responsibility she had to face henceforth. She had the eyes of every member of the board on her now. Whatever she did would have consequences.
She was so lost in thought she didn't know when Aidan got down from the car, turned to the other side, and opened the door for her.
He smiled sweetly at her and she looked at him, a second longer than necessary before stepping out.
She felt so relieved. So much that she wanted to scream and laugh and dance.
This was what victory meant.
They both climbed up the staircase, breathing heavily until they got to their floor. She walked to the door only to realize Aidan wasn't beside her. She turned to see him on the railings, with arms folded, staring at her, with an expression she couldn't place.
She furrowed her brows. "What?"
He stepped forwards, closing the distance between them. "When were you going to ask me?"
Confusion clouded her mind. "Ask what?"
Aidan hesitated.
He had been waiting for her to ask him questions or make any statement about the falling building, the peeling pains of the apartment, the flickering light in the hallway, or something about him. The fact that she hadn't asked anything about any of those unsettled him in ways more than he could imagine.
He wanted to know what she was thinking, and most importantly, he wanted to know what she thought of him, not just as her stranger husband but as a man, living in such a place.
Deciding there was no point raising that up when they should be celebrating, he exhaled quietly, and walked past her to open the door. "Never mind."
Surprisingly, Anna didn't push it. She figured whatever it was he was talking about was no longer important.
Inside, Anna collapsed on the sofa, with a long sigh, in exhaustion.
Aidan strolled to the mini bar to grab a bottle of alcoholic wine. "We need to celebrate, Anna."
At the sound of that, her spirit was lifted and her exhaustion vanished into thin air. She knew there was no way in the world she would let that go by without taking advantage of this opportunity to enjoy today's victory.
"Yes!" she shrieked excitedly, and shot to her feet. She met Aidan halfway and grabbed a glass cup from him. The wine popped open and Aidan filled half of her glass and did the same for himself.
She whirled the wine around before taking a sip of it.
It tasted sweet and fruity.
"Mmhmmm, this is good," she commented, staring at the name and muttering the Italian name. "Italian, uhn?"
"They have the best wines in the world," Aidan mentioned, and she raised a brow.
"Really? Says who?"
He whirled his wine too, gave her a cocky grin, and replied. "Me."
She watched him gulp down the entire wine in his glass cup, his Adam's apple popping up and down in delight. For some reason, she couldn't take her eyes off him, until he waved a hand in her face.
"Anna?" he called out with a look of worry. "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, just thinking," she said, moving to the bar. He followed.
"About what?"
There was no way she was going to tell him the truth about what she was thinking. Not when she suddenly saw him in a different light. Not when he was so near she could perceive the smell of the fruity wine on his breath.
She squeezed her eyes shut. What the hell is wrong with you, Anna? Are you already drunk with just half a glass of wine?
"Are you worried about Kathryn and Sophie?" he demanded and she nodded quickly.
"You shouldn't. We need to celebrate. This is your victory. If you had died in that accident, they would have been the ones celebrating right now."
That was the plain truth.
She deserved to celebrate this small win, hoping for bigger ones. For a moment, she remembered she needed to get a lawyer to draft out the agreement with Aidan so he could get his 30% shares as promised, now that the company was hers.
She didn't want him to think she was bluffing when she promised him or that she was an ingrate who had no plans of sticking to her words. He hadn't even mentioned it to her ever since he agreed to marry her. She knew and appreciated how much he had done for her already; he had not only married her but also went on that ridiculous dinner date with her at the family mansion where he was ridiculed, and now he had helped her in unbelievable ways to get the company back.
What had she done for him?
Nothing.
She was about to climb on the high stool close to the counter when she lost her footing and was about to fall—when a strong pair of arms caught her.
It was Aidan's.
"Hey, easy," he laughed softly. "You drunk already?"
She shook her head. "I'm not drunk."
She had no idea what the hell was wrong with her.
Instead of letting her go, Aidan held her still in his arms, his face inches away from hers, and her gaze shifted to his Adam's apple again which popped up and down.
The air thickened with tension.
He was also staring at her. He wasn't letting go of her even though doing that meant dropping her to the floor, and he wasn't pulling her back up.
"Erhmmm," she hacked a fake cough. "You should let go of…me…now."
He nodded gingerly and pulled her up. She laughed and stopped dead when his gaze shifted to something else she couldn't decipher.
They kept staring at each other until he managed to take a step forward. She almost backed away but when her eyes caught him shifting to her lips, fear and excitement jumped into her heart.
She inched her face closer too.
They were married. It wouldn't hurt to just kiss each other, would it?
Besides, this was a moment of victory and celebration. It wouldn't matter tomorrow and it wouldn't change anything between them.
His breath fanned her face and she shivered at his woody cologne. His hands cradled her face and their lips were almost meeting when a shrill ringing of a phone and the doorbell ringing simultaneously cut through the silence of the room.
Aidan, as though suddenly jerked from a trance, stepped back, his hands leaving her face.
She turned around with embarrassment and muttered, "I should get that."
Without thinking of asking him if he was expecting someone, she rushed to the head, her face flushed red in the face.
Shit!
It had been a week since they'd been married and Aidan had never received any visitor. It suddenly made her curious about who was at the door, as she threw the door open to see the least expected person with a gleeful smirk on her face.
"Hello, beautiful sister."
Anna's jaw dropped, blood draining from her face. "Sophie?!"