Her eyes darted back and forth between his before her brows slowly formed a frown.

He noticed her little reactions and was disheartened. Did she not find his words credible? The past flashed in his mind, those instances when he had humiliated her out of anger. Having been close to her for a while, he couldn't help but wonder if she was questioning his words because of the past. He had to admit that no one would do any of those things to the person they liked.

"Zaria, we didn't start on the best note. I know it's hard to trust me, but…" She looked up at him, letting him know that he had caught her attention. He tried to phrase his words to explain his feelings and at the same time not make her feel pressured. "Could you give it a try? You might find that…"

"No." She interrupted by shaking her head.

"Why?" His hope that had just started to rise sank.

She frowned. Did he really need her to point it out? "You know the relationship between you and Natalie—at the moment, it's just you, her, and I who know the truth. But what about the rest of the world? In the eyes of the public, I will still be a third party coming in between an engaged couple."

"We can rectify that." He stated, only for her to glare at him.

"You agreed to the wedding."

She knew that he was surprised, not having expected her to know. They spoke of it when she had left the room. "Logic, Desmond. The only way to calm Ava down was to agree to the wedding."

"It's to buy time." He explained, and she nodded.

"I know. But before you resolve whatever it is that you and Natalie are buying time to resolve, I cannot be with you. Besides, I don't like the idea of workplace relationships."

He knew that he could wiggle his way out of the second part, but regarding the matter between him and Natalie, there was no way out.

He gazed down at her and traced his thumb at the side of her face. "It can wait, and I'll try to take care of Natalie's matter as soon as possible. But please answer me one question."

She batted her eyelids in surprise. The words she had just said meant a direct no to many guys and they would not bother to converse with her anymore. She thought he was going to drop the topic and never bring it up, but he picked the wrong meaning instead?

She didn't mean that he should hurry and settle his matter!

Her lips pursed. Why was she happy to have been misunderstood by him?

It was only after letting out a silly smile that she realized that he had spoken of wanting to ask a question. "Go ahead."

"Do you feel the same way?" He directly asked as he looked into her brown eyes. "Do you like me?"

He waited with bated breath. He already knew the answer from her explosive attitude ever since Natalie went to Preston and Fort Group and from the reaction of her body every time he teased and touched her. Even so, he wanted to hear her admit it with her own lips.

She gave him a confused look as she battled her thoughts. It was not a matter of whether she did or did not like him, she knew the answer to that already. It was a matter of whether or not admitting it was worth it. After pondering for a while, she averted her gaze. "Can I not answer that right now?"

He grinned at her reaction. No answer was much better than a blatant "No." His gaze followed her as she resumed cooking and the rice was ready at this point. "Actually, we can be together in secret and only reveal our relationship when you are ready to." He suggested, making her pause to look at him.

"Besides, it will not affect our work. I will make sure of that." He added.

She smiled, grateful for his reassurance. Even so, she was not ready to be in a relationship. At least not yet.

"The food is almost ready." She announced and he knew that she was trying to change the topic. Not wanting to push it and create a disagreement, he nodded and moved over to help her.

…

"What do you want to watch? Natalie sent over some movie titles." He spoke up when they were done eating.

At the mention of Natalie, Zaria finally understood something. No wonder Natalie would send the dress she had been eyeing not too long ago. She raised an eyebrow as it dawned on her. "You are the one who sent the dress, right?"

He knew what she was talking about and since she had already found out, he couldn't deny it, so he remained silent and smiled.

She grabbed his hand and pinched it hard. "Did you stalk me?"

He laughed at her switched attitude, glad that she was more comfortable around him. "You were staring at it so intently, so it was impossible to not notice it."

She wondered whether he had witnessed anything embarrassing and blushed slightly at the thought of it. Luckily, she didn't do anything that could be termed as embarrassing while in her office. "Thank you."

She had already accepted it and knew that he would not take the dress back even if she beat him up. Besides, now that she knew that it was not something he had bought for one of his 'innumerable women' and was given to her because the target rejected it, she was more accepting of it.

"You don't need to thank me. Feel free to order anything in my name the next time you like something." He offered, overjoyed that he had not received a slap this time.

"I can't do that." She laughed at his absurd offer.

"Are you ready for the movie?" He asked as he stood up, ready to lead her upstairs. Before she could respond, his phone rang and Natalie's voice urgently came through.

"Jaime looked for me. It's bad." The other woman spilled in one breath.

"Are you alright? Did he do anything to you?" Desmond asked in concern while cursing his brother a hundred times. Did that bastard still want to live?

"I'm alright." Natalie sounded out of breath. "I managed to throw him off. However, I'm afraid he might look for Zaria. He knows about her."

"Noted. I'll be careful. Don't go anywhere on your own, okay?" He reminded.

At the side, Zaria was a little startled when she overheard their conversation. It seemed like her speculation was right. Jaime did go to look for Natalie again after failing to negotiate with her.

When she heard Desmond's tone as he reminded Natalie to be careful and to take bodyguards when she went out, Zaria finally understood why she thought their interaction was strange. They sounded almost like siblings.

The man hung up with distress written all over his face. He hugged her tightly while trying to calm down his racing heart. Afraid that she would be worried, he pulled away. "I will send a bodyguard to protect you. Don't worry. He will not interfere with your life."

Seeing her blank look, he realized that it was too sudden, so he explained, "It's Jaime. He might look for you and he… he isn't someone who can be easily handled and doesn't have a conscience."

She knew he was putting it in the simplest terms possible so he would not scare her, but she already knew the kind of person Jaime was from her investigation.

"I don't think he will look for me… again. Not any time soon." She softly stated after thinking of the consequences of hiding things from him.

His blue eyes snapped to look at her in confusion.

"He looked for me already." She explained.

"In the washroom?" He guessed. She had left the washroom looking shocked and he had known from the start that something out of the ordinary must have happened. Sure enough, she nodded.

"Yes. He didn't do anything and I managed to dismiss him."

"Mmh." He was expressionless in his response, picking up his pace to go upstairs. She followed him and almost had to run to catch up to his speed. They entered a mini theatre—which was the strangest thing in the house of a man who had little to no interest in watching movies.

However, she didn't have time to notice this as the man ignored her and slumped into a seat on his own, closing his eyes.

She carefully approached him and stretched out a finger to poke his arm. "Are you mad?"

He opened his eyes and she almost ran away from his murderous gaze. "What do you think?" How could she hide such a thing from him? Did she think her life was a joke?

"I didn't want to bother you with trivial…" The rest of her words stuck on her tongue when she met his eyes. Geez, did he have to look so fierce?