Chapter 53

Chapter 53
It took everything in Aria not to just lean into Aston when he placed his hand around her neck. She had never liked being treated like a possession, but with Aston’s massive hands spanning her, holding her hostage as she tried to get an angle good enough to post, she wanted to be…owned.

Abruptly, the door slammed open. “I finally found your house! Where’s my key holder, boss Aston?!”

Aria’s eyes widened and she whipped her head to see who exactly owned that new voice, just Aston’s hand kept her in place. He did not let her move at all.

“Get out”, Aston all but snarled. 

“Not till you give me my key holder! That thing is so important to me and what did you use it for, sir?!”

It sounded like the person was walking closer now. Aria could feel Aston’s body heat increasing. Wait…was it because he was angry?

She tried to angle her head again but damn, Aston actively turned her head away this time. “You don’t need to bother with trash so early, my lady”, he whispered and leaned over her to the drawer and pulled it open.

There was a gun.

Aria barely even blinked.

But… “Are you gonna shoot him?”, she couldn’t help asking. She heard Aston take in a tired breath.

“Whoa! Boss lady, didn’t see you there eh! Boss has been hiding you for so long”, the voice was definitely closer now.

Aston picked up the gun and cocked it. “Get out, Brolly. In three seconds or I will find a new assistant. Maybe one more competent that actually knows what he’s doing for once”.

Aston’s voice sent a lick of protective fear up Aria’s skull unintentionally. She went into defensive mode immediately, bracing her hand to swipe away the gun and escape, till she convinced herself he was pointing the gun at the stranger that barged into Aston’s home.

“In front of the boss lady? How do you put up with him? Geez”, the man, Brolly apparently said, and a face floated into Aria’s view.

“Oh wow”, she said out of reflex. Her brain didn’t even let her filter her reaction.

Brolly was beautiful in a way she hadn’t seen much of in real life. He had platinum blonde hair and blonde lashes and eyebrows too. His eyes were a startling beautiful shade of blue, a shade she wanted to design an outfit around.

He was a study in sharp contradictions. His skin was the deep, cool depth of polished obsidian. It wasn’t hard for Aria to admit he took her breath away. “You’re very beautiful,” she stated simply.

Brolly grinned, his pearly whites adding even more beauty. 

“Thank y—“

“I will blow off your head. Get out of my house.”

“I want my key holder! Amy gave it to me and you THREW it into a fucking bombed building!”

“Get another one”, Aston finally released Aria from his grip and she immediately moved away from both men and closer to the window where she could admire the beauty in the contrasting colors of the newcomer.

“I want that one!”

“Are you interested in being a model?”, Aria asked, accidentally butting into their meaningless conversation.

“Haha!”, Brolly laughed first. Then “Mm”, he seemed to consider it for a bit. “I’d make bank modeling huh, unfortunately your husband is an awful corporate hea—“

She didn’t get to hear the last of his words. Aston bundled Brolly out by the hair and literally threw him out of the room. 

When he came back in, his previously glowing and teasing aura had dimmed considerably, and he looked borderline murderous. “Did you get what you wanted, my lady?”

Thankfully she did, but even if she didn’t, she wouldn’t do it again, not when he was radiating such murderous intent. What if he decided to snap her neck?

His little display of gentle force had proven to her that it was nigh impossible for her to grapple out of his hold physically, so the best option for her was to NOT go into his hold at all.

“Mm”, she nodded. “Who …was that? How did he enter so freely?”

She also wanted to ask why the man was so special and gorgeous but for done reason she didn’t think that line of questioning would go over well with the Aston who was in a funky mood already.

“He’s a nuisance. I’ll get rid of him, you don’t have to worry about it.”

His voice had chilled significantly and she let out a breath. “Oh, okay. I’ll go, um, post the photos. Thank you again.”

It felt like she couldn’t leave his presence faster. His inexplicable anger made her more scared but when she was facing against her grandfather as a child.

“Oh, don’t get rid of him, he’s too beautiful”, she said before she crossed the threshold. She said it somewhat as a joke, but also she was seriously asking him not to.

Aria didn’t know she was a face-con but with her setting her eyes on Brolly today, she would definitely have a face con. 

If Brolly himself knew the kind of parting words Aria left to his vinegar drinking boss and best friend, he would have made sure never to step in front of her again till he died.

Unfortunately for him, he’d spend the rest of his life fully believing that the reason he suddenly got assigned a mission on one of china’s biggest desolate mountains was because he illegally tracked down Aston’s house and bothered him about a four dollar key holder.

Meanwhile, Aria had picked out her outfit for the night. She and Aston were going to attend a party, and she was going to participate in her first ever proper paid mission tonight.

She had to make a statement in every area of her life, and she had already hit post on her social media bar-for-bar.