Chapter 7

Jake

      Elena was listening to what Mike was saying to her attentively. We had finally agreed to be on a neutral level where we weren't always biting each other's head off and I had to admit one of the perks was that I get to hear her call my name. It sounded different when she did in a good way and I liked it but I wasn't telling her that anytime soon. She would probably bite my head off and I didn't want her to start closing up on me again when I just started seeing her good side.

       "Um, Jake? Care to fill us in on what's making you smile?" Not a chance! I thought and gave them a bored expression.

     " I own a multi-million dollar company and yet I'm forbidden to smile, just great." Elena laughed softly which made me smile again. Did I mention that she had a beautiful laugh? It was a shame everything we were ever going to have was going to be strictly professional. The thought of that killed my mood and I concentrated on what Mike was explaining. I needed to focus on finding my sister and I didn't need any distraction and besides, she only thought of me as her boss.

     After we'd revised the plan for the next stakeout, Mike left after he received a call from work and I was left alone with Elena. She cleared up the stack of papers on the table that contained the plan and left them on the side of the table for me to keep away. I admit she was pretty meticulous with her job and she had only been working for me for a month yet she knew where everything was supposed to go and knew not to ask personal questions but there was something that bothered me about her.

        A normal person no matter how much discretion they had would have asked for the reason why their boss was looking into human trafficking when his business had nothing to do with it, either she wasn't a curious person or she already knew and wasn't bothered enough to ask which was exactly what bothered me. I knew she was the kind of person who hated being kept in the dark in the little time I'd known her which left me with the other option but how she found out was the question knowing Mike or Celine wouldn't have told her.

       She cleared her throat, snapping me out of my thoughts.

            "Uhm since the rest of your meetings are going to be held here in your office, can I be excused early?" She asked turning off her iPad and standing up from her seat before me.

         "Yeah sure," I replied a little surprised since she never asked for time off but was too focused on my thoughts to mind it.

          "Can I ask you a question?" She nodded furrowing her brows in confusion to what I wanted to ask her since I'd never really done that before. Guess we both were pulling out firsts today.

           "You already did." I chuckled at her reply but became serious since the question I was about to ask required absolute seriousness. 

          "Why haven't you asked for the reason I indulged in things I do or what I'm looking for precisely?" I asked while making sure to study her expression to figure out if she was going to tell a lie or not and sure enough a fleeting look of panic and surprise crossed her eyes before she hardened her expression at my question and I would have caught it if I wasn't studying her closely.

           "What you do or don't do isn't any of my business, my job is to protect you and not to interview you about any decision you make. If you have any doubt about me, you should tell me now so I can clear them for you."

She waited for an answer and when I shook my head she couldn't get out of the office fast enough. Well now I knew she was hiding something and I couldn't trust her completely no matter how much I was beginning to like her.

****************

Ashley

Shit! Shit! Shit! What made him ask me that? I ran my fingers through my head. I was certain I didn't make any mistake ever since I started working for him so that made him ask me that? I ran my fingers through my hair and noticed I needed to get a haircut soon. 

I never let it get beyond my shoulder so it wouldn't get in the way. I realized I'd been too busy in the past month trying to keep my identity a secret and gaining Jake's trust at the same time to care about that. My head came up in the realization that I might have slipped up while I was immense in my work but then again, there was the fact that I was very good in my job if I can say so myself. The question now is what he knew and how much he suspected me.

I opened the small fridge in my apartment and took out a beer while massaging my head for the migraine coming up. I took a gulp and took the time to look around the apartment and realized that it didn't look like someone lived there. 

I guess it was because I spent most of my time in the basement. I took another gulp of beer and went to sit on the bean bag that served as furniture in the small living room. When I had gotten the apartment, I didn't mind the fact that it was small when I saw the basement. Who cares about a big bedroom or kitchen when I had enough space in the basement to get my work done, not that I had a lot of luggage in the first place and I didn't cook. 

I wasn't planning on staying long but now that I looked at it, I should have reconsidered because this particular job was proving to be harder than the rest. It was going to take forever at this rate if I don't get Jake to trust me and there was the matter of the master who was going to start demanding for my progress on the job anytime soon. 

I sighed and dropped the empty bottle on the floor beside me, letting my mind wander to Jake. I realize now that I never asked about who he was looking for that he had to involve himself in human trafficking cases. I really needed to get a grip on myself and stop messing up. 

Just a while ago, I thought he was warming up to me but now I'm sure he mistrusts me now which I couldn't allow. I would do whatever it took to earn his trust back no matter what it would take and I had the perfect plan in mind. 

                          

                             

                            Jake

It's been a whole week since Elena started keeping her distance from me. I figured out that I had spooked her off ever since I asked her the reasons she never asked about who I was looking for and I admit that it was bad timing as she was just getting comfortable with me. Now, she was back to being all professional with only a hint of a smile here and there. Mike was also suffering the brunt of it which resulted in me getting death glares most of the time.

I even had a private investigator look deeper into Elena's background maybe he would find something Mike didn't but he came up empty which could mean two things. Either she was innocent or she had someone backing her up which made her real identity sealed, which I didn't deem possible. 

I was at least grateful she still called me by my name but I needed to figure out what she was hiding and for that, I needed to make her comfortable with me again. There was also the fact that I missed her smile which I wasn't going to admit to anyone anytime soon, not even Mike even if that would make him a happy man again.

He has been bugging me to admit that I liked her which brings me back to the point of the matter, I had to make Elena warm up to me if I was going to learn her secrets and I had the perfect plan in mind. I pressed the intercom and requested for Elena to be sent to my office. I hope I didn't regret the decision I was about to make.