Sentenced to Marriage

Chapter 45

Their first day “Welcome to Lan Diamond Tower,” I said, greeting Alan and Norton as they walked through the revolving door. Norton stepped in while tightly clutching his laptop in both hands, his eyes carefully roaming around the place. He was wearing a sage green suit; it looked surprisingly good on him. Unlike Norton‘s, Alan‘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 workplace, which was directly one floor below Aren‘s office. I had no idea how they managed to prepare a place for us in one day, but my guess was that it had to be Neil‘s work. The place 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 work comfort, but there were also two soft couches and cocoon–like swing chairs... Quite thoughtful, considering that I had already seen Alan 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 minutes later, Aren knocked on our door. I hadn‘t seen him since the moment I left the company the day before to meet with Alan 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 a lawyer who brought contracts for the new super employees. As they entered, I noticed Alan and Norton taking a cautious step back. I couldn‘t ‘blame them. Watching Aren alone in his impeccable business mode was overwhelming

enough, and as he was flanked 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 glad that you will be working for my company,” he said as a courteous smile curved his lips. Ccontent © exclusive by Nô/vel(D)ra/ma.Org.

Alan took his hand in a firm shake while looking his new boss up and down. “Alan Harada. Don‘t worry, we’ll keep your company 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

The lawyer 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 salary to cover the restrictions of the clause of confidentiality. “One question.” Alan raised his hand.

“Yes, Aren‘s eyes widened in curiosity

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

I laughed nervously and prodded his elbow. “Alan!”

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 clause are like red flags 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 glancing at the boys,

A breathy chuckle left Alan‘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 Alan placed 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.

His commitment 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 flat 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 Alan, 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.

“Congratulations.” Neil grinned mischievously, collecting their contracts. “Welcome to our hellish family.”

*****

Once we were left alone, I introduced the boys to the whole plan 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 explained 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‘s computers 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 the last time I swallowed something was twelve hours ago, and it was coffee... I even brought dinner for Alan 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 fully comprehend my body‘s ridiculous reaction. He wasn‘t asking me out on a romantic date, but to quickly consume pizza or salad in his office. What was wrong with me?!

“He texted you, didn‘t he?” Alan 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 a laugh, looking at Norton‘s adorable brother–like concern. “What are you waiting for?” Alan 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, repeatedly combing my hair with my fingers. “All right... just... go home after you finish. We‘ll start installing the program tomorrow.”

“Aye, aye boss!” Alan saluted, urging me to go. I chuckled. “Fine. I‘m going.” “Good night, honey.” Alan waved his hand, chasing me out the door. “Good night, guys,” I murmured before dashing out to the corridor.

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 collapsing 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 plates with dome covers, glasses, 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 the last time he had ordered it, I was going to lick the damn plate. 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 glass 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 awkward laughter. As his lips curved in response, I used it as an opportunity to change the subject. I emptied my glass. “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 claimed 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 second later, I was in his arms, lifted from my seat, and scooped in a bridal style. I barely registered as I landed on the sofa with my head on a pillow, Aren‘s lips roughly claiming 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 black hair and playfully 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 sunlight coming 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 blanket 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 happened last night?!”