JACE'S POV“Are you sure he's the one?” I asked Aria for what might have been the tenth time but this time, she just gave me a side eye but did not reply.But no one could blame me. Kai didn't look like much. He was wearing a shirt and a jeans but the way they hung on his tall frame was off. It looked so weird on some much that it seemed like he never really wore them. He also had a buzz cut but an over grown beard. Then there was the part where he seemed overly excited like he had never seen computers in his life. “Sure about this, Boss?” Frank asked when I told him to let Kai use his computer for a while. I nodded and he finally stood up. Kai sat down in Frank's seat. He looked at all the monitors around him and smiled before he turned his attention back to me. “Aria told me that you needed to hack your way into the system of Dynamo Tech, right?” he asked. “Yes, I wouldn't put it like that but yes I need to get lots of information from their system. I need you to do that in just
I wasn't surprised when Kai broke into Dynamo Tech systems in barely two hour. This wasn't the first time I had seen him do way harder things, I wasn't too surprised when I was placed on a blacklist to the private party either. But what had shocked me was how I reacted to Jake telling me that he wasn't having sex with his female friend anymore. It shocked me in ways I didn't expect. Like why was I blushing.Then he had raised it up by asking me if I would have said “No,” if he wanted to raise my… who says that?! But then it had affected me to. I couldn't lie that I had not imagined it. Me bent over his large table. I was already scared that he was going to look into my eyes and see my dirty thoughts.That was why I had gotten up to leave because of the intensity of the embarrassment. But he didn't even let me go. He had spinned me on my feet and had moved so close to my lips like wanted to kiss me. A little tremor on the earth and our lips would have collided, that was how close we
I had been unable to sleep the previous night because of the anticipation I had. The day that we were supposed to make Darius pay for what he did to Caila had come and I had been tense throughout the whole day. If I was feeling like this, I could only imagine how Sophia was feeling - she was probably paralyzed but imagining walking into a lion's den. But so far, she had not told me she was scared. She hadn't even complained about it. I knew her size so it was easy to pick a dress for her. I had also given her a wrist watch and necklace for the occasion. I wanted her to feel good while she did it, because any slip up would result in Darius knowing about our plan and I didn't want that. The party had already started when Aria reached my office. I could see that she was tense, even Frank mirrored the feeling like this was also very important to him. The only person that looked calm and in his element was Kai. He was tapping away on the keyboard, resetting the cameras, the focus, and ot
Immediately Darius stared at her, I knew he was going to be hooked and there was nothing he could do to take his attention off her so I was not surprised when he left the people he was speaking to and followed her like a zombie. Sophia had taken just a few steps away and was now standing by the table that held all the bottle of drinks. Darius stood beside her, stared at severally before giving her his full attention “Hey!” he smiled broadly at her. “Great to see you here.”Wait, what? I jerked in Kai's direction to see him smiling and even before I asked him, I knew that he had something to do with it. “How are we hearing her?” I asked. There was no way we could hear what they were saying as the only means we had of doing that had been thrown in to fountain. “You remember the wristwatch you told me to give to her before she left?” he asked and I nodded before he continued. “Yes, I plugged in a mic there. I suspected that the security may tell her to pull it off and we needed to hea
At first, I was very disgusted by the way Sophia was trying so hard to get Darius' attention. I don't know if it was because I was a straight female. To someone outside who didn't understand what was going on, it would have seemed like she was running away from Darius and he was the one trying to get her attention.I was seriously thinking about why she was doing all that? Like why? Swaying her hips like that? It annoyed the hell out of me because she was doing too much. But that wasn't even all, the look on Frank's face wasn't helping a bit.I had glanced briefly at Jace hoping to see the same look on his face since he had even had sex with her before but I saw nothing of that nature on his face. It looked like more of his attention was even on Darius. Kai on the other hand was just watching the screens like he was uninterested in what was going on in them and more about if they were working properly. But my annoyance had left instantly when I saw that what she was doing was actua
I had been holed up in my room since Aria and Jace had refused to involve me in taking down Darius. It had pissed me off so much that the only thing that took me out of the room was food. I didn't want to speak to or see them.Aria had tried speaking to me but I wasn't having it. Jace had also grown cold and rarely acknowledged me. And the crazy thing was how they were both getting closer every time I saw them. It was annoying. I wasn't jealous or anything but it looked like Aria was using this as an opportunity to get close to Jace. Aria and Jace that had a dog and cat relationship were now moving around like best buddies. Without even caring about how I was feeling about the whole thing.But I couldn't stay holed up in my room forever. I had tried but it had done nothing to solve my problems so I went to my work space. It felt like it had been ages since I last entered the work space but the smell of paint, and paper brought a certain calm over my body. I breathed all of it in de
I and Jace were about to go back to his office when I got a call from Rita. It had been long since I had spoken to her and the call just reminded me of how much my life had shifted from the normal“Where have you been hiding?” she asked immediately I picked the call. I wasn't really hiding but it had been weeks since I hung out with the girls and now she brought it up, it reminded me of how I had missed it.“A lot has been happening lately,” I replied. “I've barely even been physically present at work.”“Are you okay?” she asked and I could literally hear the concern in her voice. “Did something happen with you and Jace? Is he trying anything?”“No, No, It's not me. I'm okay. It's just my sister,” I replied. “What happened to her?” she asked immediately and I knew I had just entered into a situation I couldn't get out of easily. I couldn't lie to her and I knew that Rita was going no where if I didn't tell her about everything that was happening. So after telling her to be discreet
I knew it was going to only take a period of time before Aria told everything that we were working on. There were sisters after all and the possibility of keeping things from each other for a long time was low. And Caila wasn't entirely wrong. She had the right to know everything we were doing about Darius the safest place she could stay was with us. Being around us would just make her involved in the whole thing. She wasn't just watching anymore but was an active participant in it and I didn't know how long I could go with her being close without getting pissed off.But I never wanted her to be involved her in something that was so personal to her. The possibility to make mistakes out of emotions was there and that was the major reason I didn't want to involve her. Even with all the actions that I had put in place to stop her, she was still here. Immediately I entered Sharpe Tech, I headed straight for Frank's office and saw that Kai and Frank were already seated. Few minutes la
THREE YEARS LATERSilent nightHoly night…… Was playing from the hidden speakers but the estate was anything but silent. The air outside was freezing cold with several inches of snow but the house was warm and cozy. The scent of pine from the Christmas trees and the sweet aroma of freshly baked gingerbread cookies filled the air. It was a perfect winter afternoon at the Sharpe estate. Bright twinkling lights surrounded the whole estate and snow was gently falling outside. Caila and Liam stood hand in hand at the entrance of the large room, looking at the scene before them. The warmth of the gathering reached them even from across the room, it was the sound of family chatter and laughter. Their son, Ronan, tugged at Caila's coat urging her to come with him."Momma, is Cacacia not ready yet?" he asked, his eyes wide with excitement which was amazing because had not seen her before. He had just heard his parents talk about her, telling him that he had a cousin.Caila smiled softly, b
CAILA'S POVI was finally going out on a real date with Liam after he had asked me out. It was also the first time that we would be a couple in the eyes of the public and not go out on dates in private places. I didn't want to feel nervous, I actually had no reason to be nervous but I was probably because it felt too official. He was downstairs talking to Jace about things I didn't care about and I was just here, delaying. Even though Jace never wanted me to “rush” out of the house, I still needed to give him and Aria that privacy now that they were becoming serious. But as he said, he wasn't pushing me out so I still had time to think about it and make proper plans.Well… let's do it. I brushed my hands over the evening dress that I wore and stepped out into the sitting room were he was waiting. When he saw me, he stood up and his eyes immediately looked onto mine and a small smile spread across his face, the kind that made my stomach do flips. “Hey,” he greeted, walking toward me
ARIA'S POVI loved Jace to the moon and back. I couldn't even imagine that there was a time when I hated him. He had also been very supportive of my plans. Soliel Vineyard was beginning to grow faster and the public assault on our image because of the video of Mr. Sleighman had stopped. He had also helped me in providing a means to help the people around the site of the company.Then he had stood in front of national TV to confirm how much he loved me. Now we were going to our first public event together. After the statement Jace had made in front of the court some days back, several investors had reached out to him to be a part of Sharpe Tech's success because he was now seen as trustworthy. The company's shares had also increased rapidly, and the clients they handled were now bigger and better than ever before because of this. So in less than a few weeks, Sharpe Tech was known as the greatest tech company in Europe.Seeing this as an achievement for his years of suffering and har
JACE'S POVAfter several weeks of waiting, Caila and I had finally signed off on the divorce papers, the finalization of our one-year arranged marriage contract, and just to make it official, I and Aria had also signed it off.The weight of keeping my love for Aria away from public eyes had been heavy for so long, but now, with marriage officially over, there was a strange sense of relief I was having. One thing was clear though, it was the realization that the moment the door to that chapter closed, my love for Aria was just beginning.I couldn’t imagine my life without Aria, it was just going to be incomplete. In the last few months, she’d become an essential part of my world, I did not even notice it at first but she was like a light I couldn’t ignore. Now, I was committed to making up for the past, for all the time that I had treated her and her sister lightly, now I wanted to give her everything I could. Because she deserved everything good.But I wasn’t entirely free from my pas
ARIA'S POV Now that everything was settling down and we were counting down to days to when we could finally take our relationship public, I and Jace were mostly indoors in each other's arms. I thought that my father's action was going to affect me for longer but it had not, and I knew it was as a result of Jace's consistent presence around me. I didn't have the spare time to think about Mr. Sleighman. Caila had Liam and she had been flashing the brightest of smiles and it was safe to say that she was okay.It was a Saturday morning and I was lying on Jace's chest and we had been like that since we woke up and Jace had not even complained. The only thing he did was place a kiss on my forehead, cheeks and lips from time to time. The change between this Jace and the one I met some months back was different, it was almost like there were two different people.“There has been a lot of change with you,” I said. “In what way exactly?” he asked.“The Jace I know wouldn't be lying on the b
CAILA'S POVWhen Liam stopped by the road side and came to open my side of the car door I was shocked. He had said we were going on a date, so my mind couldn't process the reason why we were stopping in the woods. But he told me to trust him, then held my hand and led me down the path. It wasn't long before he stopped in front of a lake where a boat was waiting. He turned it on and drove us to a lake house that was at the center of the lake. I couldn’t stop the smile that spread across my face when Liam took my hand and led me inside the cozy lake house. It was just the two of us… no distractions, no noise, no one else, just us. It was the kind of privacy we both needed at that point. I loved the atmosphere of the place already. “Watch your steps before you fall into the lake. There are crocodiles waiting,” Liam cautioned. “What?!” I screamed as I ran away from the side of the lake house and towards him. The last thing I needed was to get eaten by a crocodile. But when I held on
CAILA'S POVWe sat down in the dinning to eat breakfast together for the first time in a long while. It was two weeks after everything that happened. The men that Victor had dealings with were beginning to get caught and some of the victims of the trafficking were reconnecting back with their families. As I ate, I couldn't help but notice the tension in the air. Jace was eating slowly while Aria was flipping things around on her plate. She had been doing that since we began eating and I knew her too well to let it pass. “Do you want to keep doing that or do you want to tell me?” I asked her.“There's nothing really,” Aria mumbled. “Right!”“Okay, I didn't want to tell you about this earlier because I didn't want to affect our relationship again and I know how you Jace have been and...”“Just say it,”“Me and Jace have been having sex,” she replied. I stared at her, expecting her to continue to elaborate but it seemed like that was the only thing she wanted to say. For a moment, I
ARIA'S POV“Yes, I did it,” My father said immediately as I narrated what Jace told us to him. The way he even said it, with an air of authority like he didn't do anything wrong. “You know when I saw you walk in, I thought that you have finally seen that no one else but me should be CEO. And then you come and start talking about an old issue?”Jace, who had been leaning on the wall, grunted with disgust. “You would never be CEO again, you don't deserve it,” Jace said. My father turned and stared angrily at Jace. “You think you can come into my home and...” my father started to say but I cut him off.“Why?” I asked calmly. I could already see that he was gone past redemption at this point but I needed to be sure that he had some reasons. Some good reason that I was too blind to see. “You'd never understand,” he replied. “You'd never understand how sacrifices work. When you have to give things you love just to get what you need.” he said sadly. “Sacrifices? Love?” I scoffed as I got
CAILA'S POVI was happy when Victor was caught and sent to prison. It meant that my budding career was going to begin to progress more rapidly now that I had no one trying to bring me down. But then he had told me about how my father had decided to give me out to Victor Hayes. Victor Hayes! Someone that was known for human trafficking and other forms of violent crimes? It wasn't loud that Victor had been into all those things before but before agreeing to give me off like that, the least he would have done was to make sure he wasn't giving me to the wrong person. I was so pissed I didn't know how to react. Aria was quiet but I knew she was just as pissed off as I was. We wanted to go to his house immediately but Jace said we should go the next day when we were calmer, but I knew nothing was going to change even when we got calmer. Just then, my phone rang. The worry disappeared from my head for a second and my heart did a little flip when I saw that it was Liam. He had not called a