Chapter 45


    Their first day “Wee to Lan Diamond Tower,” I said, greeting n and Norton as they walked


    through the revolving door. Norton stepped in while tightly clutching hisptop in both hands, his eyes


    carefully roaming around the ce. He was wearing a sage green suit; it looked surprisingly good on


    him. Unlike Norton‘s, n‘s strides were more confident, his expression slightly carefree, but even he


    decided to respect some of the dress–code aspects and added an elegant jacket over his smugly casual


    ripped jeans and T–shirt.


    I led them to our new workce, which was directly one floor below Aren‘s office. I had no idea how


    they managed to prepare a ce for us in one day, but my guess was that it had to be Neil‘s work. The


    ce was filled with light, spacious, and furnished perfectly for three unconventional employees. There


    were desks with high–quality equipment on them and super –ergonomic office chairs to increase our


    workfort, but there were also two soft couches and cocoon–like swing chairs... Quite thoughtful,


    considering that I had already seen n working with his feet on the desk and his head hanging an inch


    above the floor. He once said that changing positions helped him concentrate, and now, his eyes were


    brightly glowing as he stared at the swing, grinning like a child.


    I watched the boys getting familiar with their new toys and couldn‘t help but smile. Who would have


    thought that all those weird things that had happened in my life recently could finally create an


    opportunity those two deserved. Ten minutester, Aren knocked on our door. I hadn‘t seen him since


    the moment I left thepany the day before to meet with n and Norton. He might have looked neat


    and fresh in the clean, tailored suit he wore, but I knew he had hardly spent any time sleeping while


    working another night in his office, dealing with the crisis.


    My contract boyfriend came with Neil and awyer who brought contracts for the new super


    employees. As they entered, I noticed n and Norton taking a cautious step back. I couldn‘t ‘me


    them. Watching Aren alone in his impable business mode was overwhelming


    enough, and as he was nked by two other fiercely looking men, their impression must have been


    highly intimidating. Fortunately, Aren disarmed the tension by reaching out his hand to greet my


    frightened geek friends. “My name is Aren Lan. I‘m d that you will be working for mypany,” he


    said as a courteous smile curved his lips.


    n took his hand in a firm shake while looking his new boss up and down. “n Harada. Don‘t worry,


    we’ll keep yourpany safe from other cyber–freaks.”


    Norton decided to limit physical contact to a brief brush–like semi–grip of Aren‘s hand.” Norton Edavane,”


    he muttered before stepping back


    Thewyer gave the boys their contracts. Once they started to read them, it became clear that Aren


    wasn‘t kidding when he said that he would give them a fair sry to cover the restrictions of the


    use of confidentiality. “One question.” n raised his hand.


    “Yes, Aren‘s eyes widened in curiosity


    “Do you coborate with the Triads, Russians, or Italian malia?” he asked, crossing his arms over his


    chest


    Iughed nervously and prodded his elbow. “n!”


    He moved my hand away and smirked before his eyes shifted back to clearly amused Aren.” Don‘t get


    me wrong. Those conditions in the use are like red gs that someone‘s trying to protect his not so


    very legal business. Besides, I might have pissed off some of the Triads, Italians... and Russians back in


    the old days, so I want to know who I‘m siding up with.”


    Neil stepped forward, but Aren stopped him, his lips painting a cold smile, “Our business is one hundred


    percent legal, but we collide with those you mentioned quite often. Sometimes getting your hands dirty is


    unavoidable to keep the whole business clean, Is my answer satisfying enough for you, Mr. Harada?” I


    swallowed hard while fearfully ncing at the boys,


    A breathy chuckle left n‘s throat. “All I wanted to hear.”


    Surprise painted my expression. I didn‘t expect him to be so calm in acknowledging Aren‘s words. While


    n ced the documents on the table to sign them, Norton stepped closer, looking at Aren with a


    frown.


    “Will you protect Cora if anything happens?” he asked, his question sounding almost like a threat.


    “With my life,” Aren replied without a hint of hesitation.


    Hismitment sent my heart into a wild race. My eyes widened as I stared at Aren, finding nothing but


    honesty in his expression.


    “Good.” Norton nodded. “Just keep in mind that we are capable of making your life a living hell, and we


    will use those abilities if you ever dare to hurt her,” he said with his usual t tone that truly carried tons


    of his hidden emotions.


    Even though Aren couldn‘t be any less intimidated by Norton‘s words, I felt touched. After Aren had


    made another promise to him and n, saying that he would treat me like a queen, they finally signed


    their contracts. Once the formalities were ver, I could finally sigh in relief.


    “Congrattions.” Neil grinned mischievously, collecting their contracts. “Wee to our hellish family.”


    *****


    Once we were left alone, I introduced the boys to the whole n to catch the hacker. As I predicted, they


    were more than eager to participate in it. Then I showed them the security software I created and


    exined how I would like to improve it, adding the elements they‘d written. We were running out of time.


    The whole program had to be ready and installed on each one of Lan Diamond Corporation‘sputers


    in two days.


    We spent the rest of the day working to add the finishing touches on the security software before


    installing it, and that was the less bothersome part. It certainly would have been easier if we could just


    send everyone a link so they could d******d the program themselves, but we


    couldn‘t risk a mole learning about the new type of software and warning the harker


    Al midnight, we had nearly finished improving my program when I got a message from Aren


    “Have you eaten?”


    My stomach growled, reminding me that thest time I swallowed something was twelve hours ago, and


    it was coffee... I even brought dinner for n and Norton, but I was too immersed in my work to eat


    anything myself. “No.” I sent my reply


    “Come upstairs.”


    My heart started to pound. I couldn‘t fullyprehend my body‘s ridiculous reaction. He wasn‘t asking


    me out on a romantic date, but to quickly consume pizza or sd in his office. What was wrong with


    me?!


    “He texted you, didn‘t he?” n chuckled, smugly pointing at the blush on my cheeks. “He‘s worried that


    I haven‘t eaten…” I mumbled.


    “He‘d better be,” Norton grunted


    I stifled augh, looking at Norton‘s adorable brother–like concern. “What are you waiting for?” n


    asked teasingly, raising one eyebrow. “Go and spend some time alone with your man.” The way he said


    it made me blush even more. “But there‘s still some work to do...” “Just go already.” Norton crossed his


    arms over his chest. “We will take care of the rest.” I smiled awkwardly, repeatedlybing my hair with


    my fingers. “All right... just... go home after you finish. We‘ll start installing the program tomorrow.”


    “Aye, aye boss!” n saluted, urging me to go. I chuckled. “Fine. I‘m going.” “Good night, honey.” n


    waved his hand, chasing me out the door. “Good night, guys,” I murmured before dashing out to the


    corridor.


    N?velDrama.Org owns this text.


    As soon as I left our office, I realized that my team and Aren were probably the only ones still working,


    and frankly, I had no idea what prevented me from copsing long ago. That adrenalin–driven marathon


    had to stop at some point, and I could feel that I was reaching the exhaustion limit fast.


    As the elevator door opened, I saw Aren standing in front of it, waiting for me while leaning his back


    against the wall.


    “The food is getting cold,” he said, grabbing my hand and pulling me toward his office. When I walked


    through the door, my lips curved into a blushful smile as I noticed the new furniture–a dining table with


    two seats on opposite sides. The table was set with tes with dome covers, sses, and a bottle of


    chilled champagne, and decorated with candlelight. “I ordered shrimp pasta again. I hope you don‘t


    mind,” he said, pulling the chair out for me.


    I shook my head. If it was half as good as thest time he had ordered it, I was going to lick the damn


    te. After taking the first bite, I nearly moaned as the food had given my tastebuds an orgasm. I wasn‘t


    certain if it was due to my starvation, or because the food was genuinely that good, but at that moment, I


    didn‘t care. I was in heaven.


    “I promise that I will make it up to you. I hate to see you that tired,” he said, pouring me a ss of


    champagne. I leaned forward on the table and smirked. “I‘m a tough girl, Aren, and I would never leave


    you alone with this, knowing that I could help.”


    Aren locked his eyes on me, slightly biting his lip. “You make me wonder if you were made for


    me.”


    I pulled in a shaky breath. The wave of heat fell down with a tickling sensation that made me throb and


    squeeze my thighs. I forced myself to break the tension with a peal of awkwardughter. As his lips


    curved in response, I used it as an opportunity to change the subject. I emptied my ss. “Thank you for


    hiring my friends.” “You told me they were good, and I trust your judgment.” He shrugged and poured us


    more champagne. “We will catch that thief,” I imed confidently.


    He smiled faintly while his hand reached through the table to tuck a strand of my hair behind my ear.


    “Just... don‘t ever do anything that could jeopardize you. Don‘t risk for me.” “I wasn‘t born a daredevil.


    Trust me on that,” I stated seriously and then added with a teasing grin, “I promise that I will scream for


    your help if it gets ugly.” A secondter, I was in his arms, lifted from my seat, and scooped in a bridal


    style. I barely registered as Inded on the sofa with my head on a pillow, Aren‘s lips roughly iming


    mine. His hands roamed restlessly, reaching beneath my shirt to find my naked skin. Pleasure devoured


    me bit by bit, making me tilt my head back as he kissed my neck. He growled roughly, as my fingers


    tangled in his thick ck hair and yfully stroked his skin. I wanted more of him. I closed my eyes,


    breathing in his intoxicating scent... When I opened my eyes again, I was blinded by the merciless


    sunlighting from the window. I blinked for a minute just so I could reset my focus while my brain


    hectically processed my situation. As my vision returned, I found myself lying on the sofa, covered by a


    nket and fully clothed. Aren was lying beside me with his shirt unbuttoned... and all of his buttons


    ripped off. I sat up frantically. “What the hell happenedst night?!”