Chapter 8: Attention (Ace's POV) I sat there at the table, watching the last few reporters get dragged out and thrown back into their van. I sighed and stood up, walking to Gerard who looked terrified. Right about that. "Mr. Gerard," I sang, resting my elbows on the counter. "Why would you call the reporters here when it wasn't a planned visit? Who asked you to do that?" I scratched my brow. "I- it wasn't me," he stammered. I let out a breath and leaned over the counter, grabbing his collar and jerking him forward. His manager then intervened trying to loosen my grip. "Sir, please! Sir, please let him go!" "Spit it out!" I yelled, shaking him up. He never fucking talks. And the fact that he's my father's age makes me not want to punch him. But I've punched many men my father's age. One more now. He blurted it out before my fist made contact with his face. "Your fathers!" I pulled my fist down but kept a firm grip on his collar. "Mine?" "And hers. Mr. Kieran and John," he said frantically. "They said i- if you come here today with her then I'm meant to call reporters. I swear that's it! I just followed their orders, I thought you knew!" I let him go. "See. It wasn't so hard." I rolled my eyes and turned around to go get Gianna. But when I made it there, she was already standing outside, leaning against the door. I stopped in front of her. "Our fathers?" she asked. I sighed, looking away. "Allister," she said sternly. I nodded, looking back at her. "Our fathers." "Take me home." I blinked. "What?" "You were going to take me to work. Take me home instead. I want to go home." Oh. Her home. "All right," I agreed. She followed me out of the restaurant and to my car and I pulled the door open and she climbed in, staring at her feet. I closed the door and cursed under my breath while walking to the other side. What horrible timing, dear fathers. "To the Phoenix estate, please," I sighed. Mr. Pete is her chauffeur anyway. I'm lucky that both our families have the same protocol for situations like this when the reporters get out of hand and we need help. I don't know who they call but it wasn't an ideal situation to find out. My men needed to be called so they were. "Mr. Pete will drop you off after me. You can tell him where to take you," she said, staring out the window. "He doesn't have to," I said, looking at her. "Will you walk then?" She turned to me with a blank look. I sighed and leaned my head back, staring out the window while she did the same. "Maybe I should stay with you for a while," I said. "Allister, I'm not a child who needs a babysitter. I won't throw a fit and break anything, I promise," she teased. I rolled my eyes. "I'm saying that because I spoke to Mr. Daniel. And what do you know, they didn't go out on business, they're at my place. And you may not be a child who throws a fit but I can be. So for my sake, let me stay with you." I stared at her. "And why should I do anything for your sake?" She lifted a single brow at me sharply. I sighed and lifted the controller, folding it back up. Nothing is keeping us apart now. I snaked an arm around her waist and pulled her closer until her side was completely pressed up against mine. She didn't fight back or push me off but I could see her perfectly manicured nails digging into her palms. I grabbed her hands and unfolded her fingers. "First of all, because we're getting married. Have you never heard the wedding vows married couples say?" She tried fisting her hands again but I put one hand of hers on top of the other and laid my palm over hers so she couldn't make a fist. "And that must hurt. How often do you do that?" "Every time I see you." I chuckled, watching her closely. She was pretty close to me anyway. "Ms. Gianna." "Allister." She turned to look at me and I heard her breath hitch in her throat at our proximity. I felt her fingers curling again and I took in a frustrated breath, holding her fingers down. "Quit it." "I can't. You make my blood boil." She makes my blood boil too but I think we have very different reasons for the heat that rushes through our veins around each other. I think she genuinely despises me for what she saw me do. Which, in all fair due, is acceptable. But she truly has no idea what really happened because she was hiding in a damn corner. As she should have, undoubtedly, or she could have gotten hurt. It made sense for Chase to hide her away before everything went to hell. But she doesn't have a clue what happened and I won't be the one to tell her. She thinks of her brother as this amazing, responsible, warm-hearted guy. Maybe that's just because that's how he was around her, but she knows nothing about how her brother was in this business. Either way, the feeling is mutual. She makes my blood boil too. But for a very different reason. My brain goes numb around her at times. And I don't know why that is. She stared at me silently and I did the same. "You have an eyelash on your cheek," I stated. "Does that work on girls?" I nearly snorted. I grabbed her hand and brought her own finger to it. She pulled it off and then blew it away. She tried pushing away from me and moving back to the other side of the seat but I held her close. "It feels nice, doesn't it?" "No. It doesn't," she said through gritted teeth. "How long do we have left, Mr. Pete?" I asked, smirking to myself. "Five minutes, sir." He met my eyes in the rearview mirror and smiled. "It's only five minutes, darling. Sit tight," I smirked at her. She huffed and glared out the window. I watched her quietly for the rest of the ride there. Once we entered her home, she tried running off upstairs and into her room but I grabbed her wrist and pulled her back. She lost her footing and stumbled right into me, grabbing fistfuls of my shirt. "I'm a guest here, you better keep me company." She glared at me. "Nobody asked you to come here." "Yeah well, I welcomed myself. Now be a good host, sweetheart." She opened her mouth to bite back with something else but I grabbed her waist and started walking forward. She kept rambling and walking backward until we reached the living area. I pushed her down on the couch and then sat beside her. She tried getting up and I grabbed her hand, pulling her back down silently. She kicked my leg and I nudged her knee with mine in response. This will be fun. ☆════ ⋆★⋆ ════☆ "I am actually going to kill you, Allister!" She yelled, trying to free her wrist from my grasp. I've been holding on to her for the past forty-five minutes. We've been sitting for nearly an hour in total and she's goddamn persistent. "For god's sake," I sighed to myself. "Allister!" "Yes?" I smiled at her. We heard the front door open and then close. Then we heard footsteps and there were definitely two people, not just one. I let go of her as our fathers came into the room. Gianna and I both silently glared at our fathers. They sat on the other half of the L-shaped couch and both Gianna and I turned to them. "Go on, say it," my dad shrugged. "Go ahead," her dad agreed. "What the hell were you thinking?" We asked in sync. We glanced at each other and then looked back at them. "We were thinking it's time we tell everyone." "Why? We still have ten days left until the engagement," she huffed. "Nine, actually," I corrected, looking at her. She glared at me and I heard her dad laugh softly. "Your relationship will only be highlighted and talked about if we bring attention to it at the right time." "Attention?" I asked incredulously, looking away from Gianna and at our fathers. "Do you really think Sapphire was the right place for that? We didn't even have anybody with us who could help. What if she got hurt?" My dad and Mr. John looked at each other knowingly and then back at me. "And why couldn't we just announce the engagement right away?" "Because it's important to see some speculation happening around you two. If we suddenly announce the engagement after it happens, it will seem suspicious." "Suspicious?" she asked. "It will seem like you both are getting married for the wrong reasons," her dad sighed. "If you both were seen together before that, people will believe that you both are in a relationship and getting married willingly." Are we? Technically, yes. But… "What if we couldn't handle the number of reporters?" I asked, lifting a brow. Silence. "What if they barged right into the restaurant? What if our men didn't make it there in time to help? What if she got hurt in the crowd?" "Ace," my dad smiled. "You do realize that you could have gotten hurt too, right?" I blinked in confusion. "What?" "You seem to be focused on her. But what about you?" her dad asked. "You never focused on anybody other than yourself before," my dad smirked. They both stood up. "We're going to have some drinks in the library bar. We'll stay for dinner tonight and leave after that. I hope you didn't have any meetings today," Dad said, nodding at me. I clenched my jaw, watching them leave. Gianna and I sat in silence for a few moments. "Your dad just called you selfish," she stated. I rolled my eyes, looking at her. "He always just said you're the first person I've cared about." "I wonder which one of those two is a lie," she mused. I glared at her as she stood up and left before I could grab her or say anything. Why does either one have to be a lie? It is, regardless. I don't care about her. I care about what people would say and think if I couldn't protect her. I don't care about her, only myself. . . . . . Chapter 8