Chapter 3 THREE

He picked up his glass, took two sips, and set it down. "I ran a background check" He replied. "Found out all I needed to know."

"A background check?" She swallowed hard. What else did he also know about her? She thought to herself.

As if sensing her uneasiness and worry, he added. "That's all that I know about you, the rest I want to hear from you."

Ariel's gaze shifted to the file on the table. Thirty million dollars! Max's surgery would be paid for, his tuition fees would be paid, and she'd no longer have to work an underpaid job. Plus this opportunity would bring her closer to her dream job.

"Just three months?" She looked at him and nodded. "Yes, Milady, ninety days and this charade will be over." He chewed on a piece of turkey.

"I'll do it." Ariel shrugged helplessly. Max's life was on the line. This was her only option. She was handed a pen which she uncapped and quickly signed before she changed her mind.

Johnny collected the file, his eyes going through it. "You have a beautiful signature." He said softly and for some reason, he was laughing. The file was handed over to a bodyguard who in turn put it in a case. "Eat milady, we have the night to ourselves."

Ariel reluctantly picked up the cutleries, scooping a spoonful of rice which she ate slowly. She hadn't realized how hungry she was.

"In these ninety days, do we have to-" How was she supposed to ask? Johnny knew where she was headed yet he enjoyed seeing her stutter in embarrassment.

"Do we do what couples do?" Her eyes were looking at her food. Her cheeks were flushed red with embarrassment. She just wanted to be on the safer side.

"Yes," His tone was serious. "All that couples do, we have to do."

Ariel's head shot up, her eyes clung onto his. The alarm she had been feeling combined with shock. "That wasn't part of the contract!" She was half rising from her seat.

Johnny leaned back in his chair, falling to suppress his laughter. "It's a joke, you've read the contract, it was never mentioned there or are you-"

"No," she interrupted. "Just playing it safe, don't want what happened to re-" She clamped her mouth shut the moment she realized she was saying too much.

"What were you saying?" He inquired.

"Nothing," she took a sip from her glass, which she choked on; luckily, she didn't die. "Are you okay?" Johnny asked.

"Yes," she wiped her mouth with a napkin.

The next five minutes were followed by an awkward silence. Johnny looked at the time; it was far spent. Ariel also realized the same thing, and she said, "I have to get going now; my friend and son must be worried sick."

"I'll drop you off," Johnny was rising to his feet but she waved her hand in the air. "You don't have to, I'll find my way home."

"I insist Mrs. Johnny." He smiled. " You are now my responsibility and I have to see to it that you get home safe."

The sound of being called Mrs Johnny made her toes curl in first hand embarrassment but she managed a smile. "Okay."

Johnny slipped on his jacket, and with his hand on her back, he guided her to the car, which was parked up front. One of the men opened the door and she entered. This is her life now!

Her eyes took the car in a look, mesmerized by the interior of the luxurious car. She had been catapulted into a world for the rich and opulent.

Well... She was once surrounded and wrapped in luxurious things before.

Her thoughts were interrupted by Johnny. "This job requires your full attention which means you'll have to leave your son out of it."

That statement didn't sit well with her and she expressed her displeasure. "I can't leave Max alone, he's sick."

"I'll see to it that Max is well taken care of," Johnny assured her. "You can leave him with your friend." To convince her, he added. "If anything goes wrong, I don't want Max to become a target for my enemies."

He was right; Max had nothing to do with it, so she agreed; Anya would gladly take care of him.

"We will be leaving very soon." He reached into his inner pocket for his phone.

"To where?" Ariel asked. "I thought we were residing here in Spain?" That was another reason why she agreed. At least she could pop up every once in a while to see her son.

"Las Vegas," he announced, sparing her a look before he averted his gaze back to his phone. "That is where your job begins."

Ariel had nothing going down her throat but she choked on air. Johnny patted her gently on the back until she stopped coughing.

"What...what did you say? Las...Las Ve...Vegas?"

"Yes, is there a problem with that?" He narrowed his eyes on her.

"No!" She interjected, her eyes twitching uncontrollably, betraying her response.

~What have I done to myself, what sort of cunning game is fate playing with me?~ She yelled inwardly.

Las Vegas was a forbidden city for Ariel. A place of torment and terror to her. A place where she sustained a wound that refused to heal, a wound that left a miserable memory.

The car pulled up to the house and he watched her until she entered the house.

"Where have you been?" Anya asked the minute Ariel walked in.

"The job interview." A tired Ariel flopped herself onto the sofa. Anya sat next to her, trying her best to restrain herself from wrapping her arms around Ariel's neck. "I called you so many times."

Ariel reached into her bag for her phone: 42 missed calls. "I'm so sorry." Ariel apologized. She had put her phone on silent to avoid any distractions while she was taking the supposed interview.

"I'll only forgive you once I hear you got the job." She gazed at her in anger.

"I did get the job," Ariel said as she brushed off the hairs that were sticking to her forehead.

Anya rose to her feet, and the anger she was reeling from instantly dissipated into thin air. "Congratulations."

"Thank you," Ariel said, struggling to breathe as Anya crushed her in a tight embrace. "That's not all."

Anya let go of her, and she sat next to her, eager to listen.

"I didn't get the job per say, I got married."