At Villan Enterprise
"Have them review the numbers tomorrow before sending in the official report." Jacob spoke with the last secretary remaining on the CEO's floor. "It's late. You can head home. I'll close up shop."
He could see the relief in the secretary's eyes before he quickly packed his things. Once alone in the office, Jacob breathed out a deep tired sigh.
"Of course the assistant would be left to deal with the company the whole afternoon so that those two could go play at being gangsters. Typical." Jacob's comment was met with no reply seeing as he was alone. "Another late night to my already sleep deprived body. Why do I do this to myself?" He muttered to himself as he stacked the pile of loose papers on the desk he worked at. But before he could continue his one man banter, the elevator doors opened. And as soon as they did, he could have sworn he saw the devil. Only this obviously angry demon had a petite frame and one hell of a an intimidating glare. Making Jacob question his life choices.
"Where is he?" Claire's voice was dangerously low, yet do to the lack of noise in the entire office floor, it felt like it echoed. Making Jacob double down on his desire to take up another job.
"Good evening Miss Collins. I wasn't expecting your visit." He tapped on his I pad as fast as he could without breaking eye contact. A single message was sent out before he stood up to greet her. Praying to the heavens that help would get there in time.
"Cut the crap Jacob. Where is he?" Claire spoke as she confidently walked by the empty desks making her way towards him. Causing Jacob to be even more nervous with each step. "He disappeared from the radar after thoroughly pissing me off so I suggest you don't make it worse for all of you by wasting my time." Her anger crashed down on Jacob as she carefully pronounced her every word. Sending a slight chill down his spine.
'Darci always says I could be a model. Maybe I should give it a try.' Jacob's inner thoughts were practically begging him to quit his job at this point. "I'm sorry Miss Collins I'm not sure I can-"
"I won't ask you a third time Jacob." Claire's eyes hid nothing of the pain she was willing to inflict on him if he didn't give up the information on Aiden's whereabouts.
However, even if he was scared enough to quit his job, run out of the building and adventure into his newly founded modeling interests, Jacob would never let his brother down. So with a trembling heart, he prepared himself to risk his tongue being ripped out.
"I can't tell-" The elevator doors opened in the nick of time. Potentially saving poor Jacob's tongue. 'I'll start searching for modeling agencies tonight.' He'd thought to himself as relief washed over him.
"There's no need to threaten him Angel. I'm right here." Aiden walked in dressed in his usual business attire. But as soon as he met Claire's eyes, he knew she had seen his previous outfit as well. 'That quick huh?' He wasn't surprised she was already informed of his rendezvous with Calvin, but he was sure as hell impressed. "I came as soon as I heard you were looking for me. Let me take you some place quiet so we can ta-" His suggestion was cut short when he saw Claire bolt towards him. Blade in hand.
"Angel I can expla-" He had himself yet another incomplete sentence as he dodged her first attempted jab to the neck. She was quick, but so were his reflexes.
Claire dropped low to kick his legs with a side sweep but Aiden was faster. He jumped back as he watched her stand. After reading her expression he could see there was no conversation to be had if he couldn't manage to calm her down first.
"Angel, please. Let me explai-" He finally understood words would do nothing for her in her current state when she threw her dagger towards him while taking out another. "Shit." He cursed to himself while dodging and focused on watching her movements.
Claire swiftly hopped on to a nearby desk. Kicking the metal paper wrack on it towards him, she used the diversion as a chance to leap from the wooden top onto him. He easily ducked it and side stepped to avoid her latching on. Having seen her spar before, he knew how much damage she could do in close combat. But, the short time span in which she should have needed to do so, had finally ended.
Dozens of armed men stormed the office aiming their weapons towards Claire. Others strategically blocked the exits while the rest formed a circle around her. Limiting any escape routes their targeted attacker could take. But just before anybody could take another step towards her, Aiden's booming voice broke through the now full room.
"At ease!!" His order was absolute. "If any of you touch a single hair on her head I'll kill you myself!"
His men stood frozen as they eyed the woman. Seething due to her attempt at harming their boss. Making them look beyond inadequate in their jobs. And thanks to the recent events at Aiden's estate, it added fuel to their already bruised ego. Even so, they would always follow orders.
"Angel I'm begging you." Aiden had stepped inside his men's circle with little regard for their intense gazes. "You can ask me everything you want later, but please, let me explain what you saw."
"You betrayed me." Claire voice was interlaced with resentment. Her eyes piercing his skull like flaming daggers. "Just when I began to trust you, you went behind my back and betrayed me." Her hand was tightly wrapped around the knife's handle. Making her knuckles turn white from the immense pressure.
Aiden felt his heart crack at the sight of her. She stood completely guarded. Staring directly at him, he could see the shattered pieces of something he couldn't quite recognize in her eyes. Colton had every right to be worried. The woman standing before him wasn't acting reasonable. After all, no completely sane person would attempt attack him in his own building and then stand unaffected by the amount of men hoping to receive the order to kill her. Whoever was standing in front of him wasn't the Angel he had gotten to know in the past few months. Was she the same woman he was so quickly falling in love with? Yes. But something in her seemed different. Something Aiden hadn't seen before.
The look in her eyes made her seem like....like she was....scared?
Aiden felt as if a wave of realization crashed over him. 'Oh Angel...' He felt his heart crack a second time. Cursing at himself once again for not noticing what was so plain to see.
"I did not betray you Angel." He softened his voice as well as his gaze.
"You met with that piece of shit behind my back!" Claire didn't understand why, but the way he was looking at her changed. She didn't like how it made her feel. As if he was peeking inside her very being." And you even teamed up with my brother to do so! You're both traitors!"
Aiden took a careful step forward. Trying to close the space between him. "We did something drastic you're right. We should have told you. But I can assure you we only have good intentions." His words were as steady as his movements. Nothing abrupt. Nothing to trigger her.
"Good intentions!?" She could feel her heart slamming against her chest as the initial adrenaline from her earlier violent motions died down. Her senses were still sharp, but she was so focused on how she didn't like his calm demeanor to even care about how slowly he inched towards her. "You met with that asshole! The lunatic that robbed me of a normal life and all you can say for yourself is that you have good intentions!?"
"Angel, I can show you the recordings if you'd like." Aiden offered as he took another small step. "I would never do anything that would even remotely put you at risk. You know it's true." He noticed that her grip on the blade hadn't loosened, but her hands were shaking. Another tiny step closer.
"Recordings can be doctored." She wasn't yelling anymore, but her guard was still steel proof. If only her hands would stop shaking. "You've broken my trust." Her voice turned somewhat quiet before continuing. "You've forced me to end you here and now before you do any more damage."
Even as she threatened to take their boss's life, the men surrounding them had already began to slowly disperse due to Jacob's silent order to stand down. Having read the room, he was confident in Aiden's ability to deal with Claire on his own. Although short, the time he had spent with her was enough for him to understand two things very clearly. The first? She was dangerous and not to be taken lightly. The second? She had weaknesses. One of them evidently being Aiden. Something he was particularly thankful for at the moment.
"You can stab me as many times as you'd like." Aiden was now at arms length away from her. "But only after you let me explain what it is that we're doing. Deal?" Another cautious step.
Claire's eyes were glassy now. Her grip had eased up, but her shaking hadn't. She had indeed pulled back on her attempts to hurt him, and having him so close now, she understood why. She had definitely failed at keeping her heart in check when it came to him. Making all of her rationality waver when dealing with Aiden.
"Why should I let you close enough to do so?" Her question was deeper than she meant it to be. As if searching for some existential answer from him.
Aiden smiled lovingly at her before finally closing the space left between them. Lifting his hand to her face, he gently rubbed her cheeks with his thumbs. It was clear to see that she was waiting for some kind of metaphorical shoe to drop. A fault in his actions to justify creating distance. Anything that she could use to lean into her ideas of "it's too good to be true". It was all crystal clear now. 'So my attempts haven't even scratched the surface then huh?' Aiden quietly thought to himself as he gazed down at the most beautiful woman he had ever laid his eyes on.
"Because the world would be in serious danger if the chance of me having you were ever to me ruined." He answered.
And just like that, her shaking finally stopped.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------
At the center's base.
Colton walked through the empty hallways of the base in silence. Although his crutches made his movements known, there was nobody there to take notice. Seeing as it was so late in the night, only those on their scheduled patrolling and surveillance duties would take note of his presence. But even if it was dark outside, he knew the woman he thought about would be wide awake. And most likely severely irritated with him.
He finally stopped when he reached a metal door similar to the rest around the base. Once he pushed it open, his assisted walking wouldn't be the only thing heard.
A sporadic pattern of thudding spilled out immediately. Leather slapping leather and grunting echoed in the small room he walked into. Staying in top physical condition was a requirement to achieve most of their goals, so the Collins siblings had made sure to add a private gym at the base for their personal use. One that granted access to only a few members in the entire base. And the woman Colton was about to face was one of said few.
He got close enough to see Anna working up a sweat as she threw one punch after another. The punching bag swayed from one side to the other as she made contact. Had anybody not known her, they'd just think she was training. But Colton wasn't just anybody. He knew her being there was because of him. Or better said, because of what he and Aiden had done.
Making Anna the second woman they managed to piss of to the point of violence that night.
"I'm sure that whatever the bag did, it's more than paid for it at this point. Don't you think?" His tone was as playful as ever.
Anna wasn't surprised by his presence. But she wasn't pleased by it either. So without stopping, she replied. "Is there anything I can help you with Mr. Collins?" Her voice dripped with irritation.
"I would love some breakfast actually." He took a seat on one of the lifting benches near her as he watched her every move. "How about you get changed and come have an extremely early breakfast date with me? I mean the sun isn't out, but I'm sure we'll find something open."
"I can't even begin to describe how uninterested I am in doing so." Her foot work expertly mimicked that of a fully trained boxer as she moved from one side of the hanging bag to the other. Giving it a strong blow between steps. "If that will be all, I'd prefer to continue without your interruptive presence."
The chains that held the bag up rattled from time to time, but nothing could take Colton's eyes off her. Nor make him halt his attempts at gaining her attention. "If breakfast doesn't interest you we could go for an even earlier lunch. I'm almost certain the taco truck next to-" His suggestion was interrupted by a loud grunt.
Anna punched the bag so hard it made the chain above it rattle loudly due to its forced movement. But before it swung back to her, she sidestepped it to look at Colton. Her eyes glaring at him as if she wished it wasn't she bag she was so violently punching. "I'm off the clock right now Mr. Collins. So if you're in the mood to annoy the hell out of somebody then go and find somebody else."
"So you can look at me." Colton's eyes were soft, but his signature goofy grin was nowhere to be seen. "There's no need to make your knuckles bleed out of frustration, if you want to say something to me just say it." His voice sounded smooth and understanding. But it wasn't enough to make Anna change her mind.
"I've already said it." Turning back to look at the bag she finished. "Get out."
Colton couldn't help but let out a deep sigh. The thudding sounds continued during their shared silence for a few more minutes before he stood up. Not taking his crutches with him, he hopped a few steps before his balanced began to waver. Anna noticed his loss of stability and immediately rushed to his side. Wrapping her mitted arms around his waist.
"What are you doing!?" She yelled at him as her earlier irritation turned into worry.
Colton didn't waste a single second before wrapping her in arms. Having her securely locked in his embrace, he looked down to meet her gaze. A mischievous glint in eyes. "I'm making sure my presence thoroughly interrupts you."