Chapter 2

NATHANIEL. The incessant ringtone of his iPhone was beginning to annoy him. He glanced down at the device for a few seconds before reverting his gaze back to his screen where three wise eager faces stared back at him expectantly. His mother had decided to make his life a living hell until he picked up her calls. Thankfully, it ended. “Yes, thank you, Mr. Boswell. I look forward to hearing from you. All three of you.” After a few minutes of exchanging curt pleasantries, the meeting ended. He sighed, leaning back in his chair and running his hands down his face, thankful for a few seconds of peace— The ringing began again. “Shit,” he cursed, snatching the phone from the table and swiping up. “What will it take for you to leave me alone?” “Now what way is that to greet the woman who brought you into this world, you ungrateful...” Her voice was stern and coated with displeasure but still bore that tint of maternal love he knew she couldn’t hide. Against his wishes, he chuckled. “What do you want, Mom? I’m really busy at the moment.” He imagined her rolling her eyes. “Nathaniel Everleigh, shame on you. When last did you check in on your mother? You’re even ignoring my calls. What have I done to deserve such a disgraceful child?” “Fine. I’ll come over sometime this week. Bye?” “Don’t you care cut this call.” Nathaniel sighed. “I also wanted to talk to you about something else,” his mother continued. “I think it’s high time you brought your mysterious wife home.” His breath caught in his lungs. It was one of those times where it felt like someone poured a bucket of cold water on him. His wife. He was actually married. A flash marriage he’d undergone just so he could access the fortune his grandfather had left him. Though for the life of him, he still couldn’t comprehend why his grandfather had left him his entire fortune with an ultimatum of marriage. In retrospect, he supposed he could see where the old man had been coming from. Nathaniel was no womanizer and tended to stay away from fortune hunters with long claws whose life purpose was to sink them into whatever money they could find, but he wouldn’t deny that he did also tend to get attached to women quite easily. And with a bank account like his, getting attached to the wrong woman would not do at all. “Thane? You there? Did you hear what I said?” He cleared his throat. “Yes, I’m here. Uh... why now?” “She’s your wife, isn’t she? And besides, you’re thirty and I don’t see any other women around you. You say you’re sure this one isn’t after your money. Did she ever use the card you gave to her?” She never did. A fact that had bothered him to no end. He was very sure she wasn’t well off so why hadn’t she? “No, she didn’t,” he answered. “Mom, even if I wanted to, I wouldn’t know where to start. It’s been almost two years.” “A year and a half,” his mother corrected. He didn’t even know what she looked like. He must’ve looked at her face once that day but it had been fleeting and was so long ago that he could barely remember. There had been no after; his mother had assured him that she had needed to marry as much as he had and it had been enough for him. Going back to find her now? It seemed presumptuous that she would have waited for him all these months. Even though she couldn’t remarry, not while still being married to him, what if she had a boyfriend or a child? It was absurd to have burst into her life all of a sudden. It was all absurd, really. “I’m not sure I want to, mom. I’m happy like this. Besides, we agreed never to see each other ever again.” “Well, I’m not.” Her voice was laced with seriousness. “And if you don’t do as I’ve asked, I’ll find her myself and drag her down to you.” The line went dead. Thane leaned back against his chair. He knew what his mother was capable of; she was not bluffing. But how could he say no to her? Hell, he didn’t even know his wife's first name, though it shouldn’t be hard to find out. He still had a copy of the marriage certificate. Her last name had been García, now Quan. It was a secret only people close to him knew that he had a double identity. Nathaniel Everleigh after his father and Thane Quan after his grandmother. When he’d been born, his family had been hunted by some very terrible people because of a business gone bad and to protect him, his grandmother had adopted him and given him her father’s name. His wife didn’t know him by his father’s name. He’d married her with Thane Quan. He only used his father’s last name during business and his grandmother’s in his daily life. A knock brought him out of his reverie. “Come in,” he said, sitting up straight. A young woman he didn’t recognize walked into his office. The first thing he noticed was how long her hair was. His eyes took her in. He noticed the slight makeup on her face, the chocolatey color of her eyes, the cat-like shape of them. Dressed in a plain grey pencil mouth skirt and a pink long-sleeve dress shirt, the woman shouldn’t have stunned him so greatly. He’d certainly seen more beautiful women. But there was something about her… “And you are?” “Aurora Quan, sir. I’m your new personal assistant.” Right. He’d fired the last one for being incompetent. Now he felt stupid. “Yes, come in. Were you told to resume today?” She nodded. “Yes, sir.” He didn’t fail to notice how tightly bound her brown hair was behind her head and felt the strangest urge to see the lush strands fall freely down her back. Whoa. What was that? He caught himself in time, clearing his throat. “Good. I’m sure you’ve been briefed on your job description. Let’s make one thing clear. You’re not my secretary and won’t be seeing to managerial duties unless I ask you to. You’re to plan my schedule, answer my calls, handle my requests and make my travel arrangements.” She nodded as her tongue popped out to lick her lower lip, an action that immediately set fire to his blood. What was he doing? A few minutes ago, he was talking to his mother about going to find his wife and now here he was thirsting after his new PA. He was a married man now! “First assignment,” he said to her, looking everywhere but at her. If he wasn’t careful, he had a feeling she was trouble. “What do you think is the best gift to get one’s wife? One you haven’t seen in a… while?”