Chapter 5: FIRST KISS ARTEMIS POV

I was lost, stage five lost, total disorientation kind of lost. The big office, with tinted glass walls, with its sprawling view out at the city skyline, didn't feel like a sanctuary as much as it felt like a jail.

I sat stiffly beside Aidan, his presence sharp and commanding. Behind us, Daymon loomed like a shadow, a quiet menace radiating from him. I was sure he was armed-his tension was palpable, the kind that only accompanied a weapon ready to be drawn.

Aidan was calm, too calm, lounging in his chair with that maddening confidence he wore so easily. Across the polished mahogany desk sat Hernandez, his eyes darting between Aidan and me like a man trying to read the room but missing every cue.

“Mr. Creek," Hernandez began, his voice careful but edged with nerves. "I've come with a proposal-one I think you'll find agreeable.”

Aidan tilted his head, and his dark hair fell across his forehead, framing him like some rogue God. The green of his eyes was glinting with the sort of amusement that made you wonder if he was moments away from striking or laughing.

"I rarely like your proposals, Hernandez. Let's hear it,"  Aidan drawled, the words oozing boredom.

Hernandez now looked at me, holding his stare a little too long to make me uncomfortable. "Is that your wife?"

Aidan didn't even bat an eyelid. He leaned back a bit more, his hand resting on the armrest as he shrugged.

"Not yet. But we fuck. A lot. She should be pregnant by now. Don Carlo's been dying for a grandchild."

I almost choked on my spit. My cheeks were well ablaze, and to make things worse, my mind betrayed me then with images that were certainly not supposed to pop in at that moment. Impossible that he spoke with a straight face about such matters.

Hernandez smiled, but it was greasy and false. "How is she in—"

"Don't."

Aidan's voice cut through the air, sharp and lethal, making me jump.

"We are here to discuss business," was all Aidan said. His voice was cold, chilling enough to freeze fire, while he added, "Not my girl."

My girl.

The words rang in my head, louder than the clicking of the city beyond the glass walls. They shouldn't have meant anything. It wasn't real, but they felt real. Too real.

Daymon handed a file to Aidan; it pulled me from my thoughts. Without even looking, Aidan flipped it onto the desk in front of Hernandez. "Sign it."

Hernandez's smile slipped as he stared at the papers. "What's this?"

“I'm taking back what's rightfully the Creeks," Aidan said with a lazy tone. "Sign that, and your ranch in Brazil is ours. And men are waiting outside, Hernandez. Don't make me unleash them.”

For the first time, Hernandez seemed to be genuinely rattled. He leaned forward, his bravado slipping. 

"Look, Aidan, I know I've wronged your family in the past. I made mistakes. But that ranch is all I have left, it's my livelihood.”

Aidan's jaw clenched, and his eyes seemed to narrow into bright, green slits. "I don't care. Sign it."

Something in me snapped. I couldn't just sit here, watching him bulldoze through people like this.

"Can't you forgive him?" I blurted before my brain could stop me.

The room fell silent. Slowly, Aidan turned his head, his eyes boring into me like twin flames.

"Who asked you to—"

"Shhh." I laid a finger on his lips, surprising myself. "I'm 'your girl,' right? Well, I think you're overdoing it."

For a moment it was just me staring back at the unreadable expression on Aiden's face before one slight nod later he approved Daymon. Daymon snapped the file shut pulling it under his arm once more.

"You're lucky," was all Aidan said, his voice low and dangerous over Hernandez. "Next time, she won't be here to save you."

I stood up, my hands slightly shaking. "I will always be here," I said to myself, rather than to anyone else. "Right by his side. You can keep the ranch, Hernandez. One ranch won't make a dent in Don Carlo's empire.”

Hernandez nodded, his face a mask of gratitude and fear.

Aidan's eyes darkened, his anger emanating off him in waves. And before I could steel myself, he clamped his hand around my wrist, dragging me from the room.

He didn't stop until we were inside a small storage closet. He shut the door with a loud click and slammed me against the wall, his hands pinning my shoulders.

“How dare you?" he hissed, his hot breath against my face. "No one interrupts me during business.”

I smiled wryly, though my heart raced fast. "I begged you not to bring me. Consider this punishment for ignoring me."

His hand shot onto my neck, holding, but not hurting. His gaze burned into mine, smoldering in a swirling mix of anger and the unplaced something else that I'd gotten so weary of.

"You're testing me," he rasped, "you have no idea what I am capable of.”

I tilted my head and raised my eyebrow, taunting him with my look. "What, smile for your daddy?”

That did it. His hand fell from my neck down to my waist, pulling me in.

“I could kill you right now and leave your body here," he said calmly, too believable.

I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady. "But you won't."

His hand moved behind his waistband, and for one terrifying second, I thought he was pulling out a gun.

Instead, he crossed his arms, leaning back slightly. A slow smile oozed across his face that made my spine tingle with a chill. "Impressive. You're not scared. You'd make a good wife, Artemis, goddess of the moon."

The name was a blow to the chest. Only my mother could call me that. Tears welled into my eyes, sudden and unstoppable. I blinked furiously to fight them back, but it was too late now. The grief buried deep inside me clawed to the surface. 

The sharp edges of his anger melted away, his face softening; Aidan reached out and delicately brushed a strand of hair from my face. 

I broke. I buried my face in his chest and started sobbing uncontrollably. "I miss them," I choked out, sobbing. 

“I know," he said, his voice barely above a whisper. His lips brushed against my forehead, and the tenderness of the gesture undid me completely. 

He held me as I cried, his fingers stroking my hair with a gentleness I didn't think he was capable of. The world outside the closet faded away, leaving just the two of us. 

When the tears finally stopped, I leaned back, my face drying with quivering hands. My gaze flickered to his lips, soft and so close. 

Without thinking, I rose onto my toes and pressed my lips to his.