CHAPTER-5

LENA

Shivers run down my whole body.

Why do I feel he knows about me? Of course, he knows about me. He must have checked on me by now. But I didn't tell him my name. And I use my mother's maiden name, not my father's. Is this not what I wanted? A few minutes earlier, I was going to tell them anyway. I don't feel comfortable now.

But why? Why don't I want to tell him, but at the same time, I want to? It may be because he will not like me working outside. In the billionaire's world, most marriages are made for deals and transactions. For a husband, a wife is just a possession to control. I don't want that. Now I am grateful for Alarik not contacting me before.

Yet, despite all my thoughts, I am standing in front of the door of Alarik's study for a few minutes. I still haven't gathered enough confidence to knock on the door. Come on, Lena; he is not going to kill you. You are too valuable for him to kill. Without wasting another second, I knocked.

Let's get over this. 

"Come in," an Arctic voice ordered from behind the door. I entered; his study has the same design as this whole mansion, except for the glass wall window, which has a view of the back garden where he is currently standing.

"You want to talk?" Thankfully, I didn't stutter.

"Lena, is it?" He questions. He turned to take a proper look at me. It's the same way as before. Cold.

"Yes." My green ones met his Gray. Every time I stare, his eyes become darker, more dangerous, and more tempting. Look away, Lena! I blinked. Breaking our movement. I fixed my gaze anywhere but him. But he is still staring at me. When a few seconds pass and he doesn't answer, I clear my throat a little.

"Yes, Miss Mathews, take a look at the side table." I frowned. Wait a second. Why do this laptop, camera, and other stuff look so similar to mine? I take a closer look at them. I picked up a stuffed pink toy that has its head ripped off, and its body suspiciously matches my stuffed toy back at home. But that's not possible. My things are back at my apartment; they cannot be here. Something fell from those things around my feet. I picked it up. My eyes widen in realization. No. This is mine. The only thing I have of my mother.

The chain has an angel locket. My mother gave it to me on my tenth birthday. That birthday, when my mother was last with me, was celebrated. I never celebrated my birthday after that.

I took a deep breath. I am clutching my broken toy now. I turned toward Alarik. I am really, really furious. How dare he touch my things and even destroy them?

"Did you do this to my things?"

"No," he said, having the audacity to lie to my face now. He isn't even looking at me. He is pretending to be busy looking through papers on his desk. But why would he destroy those things?

I cleared my throat again to catch his attention. He didn't look at me. I coughed a little, and he still didn't look. Now that's it. Take that!

"What is this, Miss Mathews?" Now he is looking at me. "What is the meaning of you throwing this abnormally soft children's toy at me?" I think I heard some kind of grinding noise. Maybe it was coming from his teeth, considering how clenched his jaws are.

"Well, I wouldn't have done that if you gave me your proper attention. And I asked you a question, didn't I? Who has done this to my things?" I am tapping my foot on the floor in impatience.

"So, it's about that. And for your answer, I don't know who did this to your things. Your apartment was all chaotic when Sebastian went there. I think the men we messed with last night know all about you, and they must have thought I was at your apartment at that time when they invaded your home."

I narrowed my eyes at him. How dare he blame all this on me?

"You are saying they wanted to kidnap me or came to kill you because they think I and you have some kind of connection?" It is true that we do have a connection. And wait a second, what are the things those men knew about? "You said those men knew about me. What exactly do they know about me?" I am nervous now. Does he know that I am his wife?

"I don't know. As per my investigation, your name is Lena Julie Mathews. You work at Whitlock Law Firm, age twenty-six, graduated from Harvard, degrees are law and masters, orphan, no boyfriend, two best friends, and that's it." He stares at me full-time when he narrates my whole life, except that I am not an orphan. I pity the person who did research on me. He did a very bad job.

That's the description I gave to the firm I work for, so they don't know my connection to the Mancini law firm, the top law firm in the country, which is owned by my father, George Mancini. Any lawyer will die to work for that firm because they hire the most competent and handle cases of the rich, politicians, and, of course, the mafia. My father works directly for the underworld, and marriage to Andressano was his ticket to run for office. 

That is my fake identity. Living in a influenced family has its perks too. I used my fake ID for everything. I want my father to know very little about my life, and I do not want my father to influence my life in any way. That's why I moved abroad for studies; I lived there for almost a decade. But in the end, I did sign the marriage certificate when my father told me to. I would have protested, but that would never end well for me. My father threatens the only thing I want.

My father always thinks girls should never study business and economics types of subjects; they should study arts and music, just like my stepsister did in music. No one in the family knows I work too. My grandmother would definitely have a heart attack when she knew I worked for a living. Not that I don't want her to have a heart attack.

"Now, because of you, my life is in danger. I can't go back to my place; I don't have another place. I can't go to my job because they must be monitoring me." So, after all of the struggle I have gone through to get my life back on track, he has to come and snatch everything from me. What a wonderful husband I get!

"Yes, I agree," he noted.

"You agree. Oh, thank you for agreeing." I am really furious now. I want to punch him so badly. Maybe I can break one or two of his teeth.

"I have a solution for this dilemma of yours, Miss Mathews. If you want to know, I will tell you on one condition." He is standing in front of me now. I don't know when he got so close to me. Now we have only a one-step gap between us. He leaned toward me more. I don't like this. I step back a little. He cocked his head, seeing me step back. He stepped toward me more. I stepped back again. He stepped forward. I stepped back, and he stepped forward.

"Ouch!" My back collided with the wall. Great! I think he smirked at me for a second. I can't tell if it was true or not; his face is expressionless again. He stepped toward me. I tried to sidestep, but he put his hands on either side of me, caging me between his arms. 

What! Why do I feel like a heroine in the romantic dramas I watch? But Alarik is not a male lead; he is a villain.

"Villain? You think I am a villain? I am worse than the villain in those petty dramas of yours, Miss Mathews."

Darn it! He heard it. I just thought about it.

"Yes, you did." He leaned toward me more. His eyes are so beautiful up close. I don't know if he has a blue hue in his eyes. Blue and Gray blend so perfectly. Our breaths mingle together. My mind is telling me to move, but I don't want to. He leaned a little more. He is still staring into my eyes. Am I leaning too? He shifted his eyes to my lips. Why is he looking at my lips, and why am I doing the same with his lips? His lips are so full and pink.

I don't know, but I am waiting for something. And I don't know what that is. His cologne is making my mind jumble. I want to close my eyes and smell him. My eyelids have the same thoughts as mine; they close themselves. I took a deep breath to prepare myself. 

'BANG'

"Alarik!"

My eyes flew open. I turn my eyes to look at the intruder. Alarik did the same. It was Sebastian who opened the door. He is looking at us; his mouth is wide open.

Then it clicked! What were we just about to do? I shudder at the thought. Alarik cleared his throat and fixed his tie; his hands are not at my sides now. I don't want to accept it, but I was going to kiss Alarik! Him! What the hell happened to me? I don't want to kiss him; I want to divorce him.

And I remember I was here to tell Alarik about me being his wife and an annulment if he allows.

But...

A few seconds ago, not only was I willing to kiss him, he was too.

"...Miss Mathews!"

"Oh! Yeah!" I snapped out of my thoughts.

"As I was saying, Miss Mathews, you are qualified enough that I will offer you a job in my company," Alarik suggests. He is now standing away from me. It doesn't look like we were going to kiss. His eyes and face are stone cold. Not giving anything of what he is thinking. That time, his eyes had some spark.

But most importantly, he wants to give me a job. Well, I don't mind; it will take me months to find a job. It's better if he offers me a job. Yet I would feel uncomfortable when he became my employer.

"What job position are you offering me?"

"My previous lawyer is right now unable to continue his job. For now, I will give you my personal lawyer's position. When he recovers and is able to continue, you will become part of my personal lawyer team. If you impress me with your ability at work, then you will become a permanent employee of my company. The condition is that I don't trust people easily, Miss Mathews, so don't try to cross me because your punishment will not be pleasant and you will regret ever being alive," he explained.

Will it be alright if I take this offer? Although his condition doesn't affect him in any way, I am lying to him about our marriage. Seeing me hesitate, he said, "Your salary will be double the amount you had in your previous work."

Now that's tempting, but all in all, I don't want Alarik to be my employer.

"You can stay here until you feel safe enough to move out or have a place where those men can't invade, and all other jobs will not be as safe as working with me." I blinked. He has a point. I will not be safe out there, nor do I have a place to go. I can't go to my friends; it will endanger them. And in some way, I want to stay here too. I want to know what the cause of this misunderstanding is.

"Hey! If you two are done, there is an emergency. Alarik?" Sebastian cried out. He was still standing by the door, arms folded in front of his chest, tapping his foot rapidly on the floor.

Alarik turned to me for an answer. "You can see I don't have enough time to wait for your decision. Answer me now. Do you want to work for me, Miss Mathews?"

"Yes, Mr. Andressano."

"Very well, then. Report to me at nine in the morning. Sharp! I don't do well with tardiness." His eyes flashed again. Shivers run through my skin.