Eighteen

MORGAN'S POV 

I scoffed as Eve narrated how she thought Daniel was the one who helped her with the interview. 

Had I gone through all this trouble to give her a fair shot at the job, only for her to think it was another man who helped her? She must think really highly of the guy.

"Did he tell you that?" I asked, crossing my arms across my chest. 

At that point, we were just standing in the middle of the alley, immersed in our argument.

"No," she replied, blowing away stray strands of hair from her face. 

"But it makes sense. Nobody else at the company knows me personally, so he's the only one who could have spoken for me against Ella. He's a head designer, so I think he's close to the vice president. Besides, he comes from a powerful family. He probably has some influence around here"

The more she talked about the guy, the more my irritation grew. Did she say he was her senior? Did she have a crush on him or something? Just because he was not her lover didn't mean she wasn't interested in him. From the way she smiled and looked at him when they were talking at the front of the building, to how she was vehemently defending him now…

"Oh please" I sneered.

 "His family is not powerful enough to influence the company's decisions”. I retorted 

I wasn't even sure what family the guy was from, and that was a clear sign that they were nowhere as powerful as the Carusos. 

Sean? No matter how hard I thought, I couldn't recall anyone impressive enough with that last name to have a sway over the Edwards Group.

She frowned at me. 

"How do you know that?"

I blinked and looked down at her.

 "What?", I asked, confused 

"It's not like you know his family or anything about the Edwards Group. So how do you know that he doesn't have any influence on the company's decisions?".

I pressed my lips into a thin line as I looked down at her. Damn, I should have thought twice before talking. But I had been so caught up in making her see that her precious prince charming wasn't the superhero she thought him to be.

I suddenly cleared my throat.

 "I have a friend who works at the Edwards Group, and he talks a lot about the big bosses over there. If your little friend mattered, I would have heard his name at some point."

"That doesn't sound like a very reliable source of information to me", she muttered, then turned away and started walking.

I blew out a blast of air through my mouth before starting after her. I was just going to have to give up this argument. It wasn't like I could tell her the true reason I knew it wasn't her college friend who helped her out.

As I fell into step with her, I said.

 "Anyway, you still need to keep your distance from other men. We agreed on that."

She came to a halt and turned to me.

 "I already told you, we are just coworkers. I'm not attracted to him, if that's what you're thinking" She closed her eyes briefly and when she looked at me again, it was with a look that suggested she was done fighting over it. 

"I don't know why you keep reminding me that, when I already told you that I won't be involved with anyone, as long as l'm your wife. If you can't trust me, there's nothing I can do about it. Daniel and I just happened to leave work at the same time, it's not like we are planning on hanging out like you assumed!"

As she gave her little speech, I couldn't help but feel like a jerk. Maybe I had overreacted... I shouldn't have taken what Dickson had reported to heart. Besides, Eve was making it clear that she wasn't interested in the guy. It wouldn't make sense to punish her for whatever intentions Daniel had.

"Okay" I told her.

She lifted an eyebrow. 

"Okay? I don't want to have to go through this argument again. I know what I got myself into, Morgan. And l'm well aware of my responsibilities here. This would all be so much easier if we trusted each other”.

I swallowed hard, and then nodded, as I looked into her eyes, letting her soft words wash over me... A few minutes ago, she was fiery after I provoked her, but now, she was giving me the softest look ever, and her voice sounded like the most soothing sound I had ever heard.

Now, I felt stupid for not trusting her from the beginning.

When my hand came up to her face, it wasn't something I thought twice about. It was just something I wanted to do at the moment. 

As the back of my head fingers brushed her face gently, she instantly flushed and stepped away. Clearing her throat, she began walking again.

"How about we take the subway home?", she suggested as she kept on walking.

I was a little bothered that our moment was over, but it didn't matter. At least we were back on good terms. 

"Sure" I agreed. 

A few seconds later, I commented.

"I wouldn't have expected the eldest daughter of the Lucianos family to be so frugal”.

I never would have guessed she used the subway. In fact, I would have expected her to have a car of her own. And if not, it would have made more sense if she hailed a cab. I had never met a wealthy family's daughter who took the subway.

"Oh, you know”, she began, waving her hand flippantly. 

"I was a bit extravagant last month, so I have to watch my spending this month",

I wasn't sure whether to believe that. I recalled the argument she had with her mother and sister and wondered whether that had anything to do with her shortage of money.

 "How are things with your family?" I asked, watching her face closely.

"All good”, she replied, slowing down at a light behind a group of people waiting to cross the road. 

The entrance to the subway station was on the other side of the road. And I noticed how she glanced at the light and then at the traffic as if hoping they could keep moving soon. Clearly, she didn't want to stand around and talk about her family.

On the day I had shown up at her home, she had acted as if the argument with her family hadn't been serious. But it was clear to me that she likely didn't get along with them. Maybe she was embarrassed to admit it to me.

 Wanting to set her at ease, I decided to let it be.

Hoping to lighten the mood, I reached into my pocket and produced my wallet. 

"Good news, I made some money at my part-time job today" I told her, showing her the bills in the wallet.

She looked down at the wallet and looked up at me. I wished I could know what she was thinking at that moment. If she was having a cash problem, surely, this would make her feel better, right?.

"Oh my God, are you guys taking the subway?" A familiar voice suddenly reached us.

 "Eve, you must really be living a poor life if you can't even afford to take a taxi”, The voice went on.