Chapter 37
"I'm very sorry about this. This will never happen again...I promise..." I apologized desperately.
Not only did I break the rule of dating another colleague, but the CEO caught me and now I was an emotional mess right in front of him. How did the career that I tried so hard to build lead me here?
Ace looked at me with passive eyes as if my apology did not reach him at all. His hazel brown eyes were cold, and he looked unimpressed and unmoved by my apology. He probably didn't believe a single word that I had just said, and I couldn't find it in me to blame him either.
I never thought that I would have to ever ask something like this, but it was better to get this over and done with directly...
"Sorry but...am I going to be fired?" I asked directly while I dreaded his answer.
Unlike my apology from earlier, my question got his attention immediately and Ace's eyes widened at me. He was probably shocked at the directness of my question. His brown eyes stared at me, and it took a lot of courage from my courage bank to keep myself from averting my gaze.
It was probably just a few second that his eyes held mine, but it felt like a long year had passed by the time that Ace's lips curved into a little smile that quickly widened before he began chuckling. Apparently, Ace found something about this situation very funny while I couldn't even begin to imagine what it could be.
“Umm...I'm not sure...what you find so funny..." I mumbled as felt heat rush to my cheek.
"You. You and your thoughts are funny," Ace said as he tried desperately to hold in his laughter.
I had to admire his efforts, but I had to say that he wasn't very successful about it. After a moment of trying to hold it in, Ace gave up completely and he began laughing loudly as a result. I stared at him with mixed emotions as he continued to laugh.
"Honestly, I haven't laughed like that in a very long time..." Ace said after he somehow managed to return to his calm self again.
"Aha..." I mumbled as I waited for him to explain himself.
I was still amazed by how much his face seemed to change when he laughed. It never failed to intrigue and captivate me every time that the cold emotionless mask that he had on would transform into another expression.
"I've been offering you a new role as my personal secretary and here you are asking if I'm going to fire you. How does that even line up?" he said as he looked pointedly at me.
Now that he put it that way, I guess it really didn't make any sense. Wait, then that means that he still wants me to work here, right?
"Are you sure? I mean, what about the rule against workplace relationships?" I asked, still shocked at where this was going.
He's supposed to be the Devil CEO so why is he offering me a chance like this?
"Oh, that rule? Well, quite honestly, I never gave two fucks about that. That's just a rule that my father made up which I never really understood in the first place. When I turned up here people were so strung up on it that I thought that it would be amusing to keep this stupid traditional rule in place," Ace said as it if was all just a big joke to him.
Did he just say 'fuck' just now? And with such a straight face? Is this how he normally is?
The language aside, he just told me that he didn't care at all about that rule, right?
"But..." I murmured as another wave of shock washed over me.
For a moment, I had no idea who or what I was dealing with anymore. No matter what, I couldn't seem to wrap my head around him. Ace continued staring at my face and it made me feel more anxious under his gaze.
Why did he have to be so attractive? The long lashes framing his hazel brown eyes as he stared at me made my heart skip a few beats. I should wrap up this conversation so that I can get my ass out of here.
"Don't worry about breaking that rule so much. No one knows about it apart from you and him, right?" Ace asked casually.
Well, actually, Ace technically knew about it too but perhaps it wasn't a wise move to remind him of that fact right now.
"Oh, I guess I do know about it too...having been there when it ended..." Ace said with a merciless chuckle.
I winced visibly at his words. The funny thing was I wasn't sure if I winced because he had stepped on my old wound or if I was getting slightly pissed off at this overly handsome and sexy man sitting right opposite me.
"Right..." I muttered, not knowing what else to say.
"Don't worry too much about it. By the way, I have a secret to tell you. I promise that it'll make you feel better about this whole shitty situation that you're in," Ace drawled seductively as he leaned towards me from across the table.
My entire instinct told me that I shouldn't hear what he was about to tell me; however, the way that he looked at me made it hard for me to look away. Did he have this effect on everyone or was it just me?
"Don't scoot over," Ace said as he got up from his seat and approached where I was sitting on the sofa.
Did he just tell me not to scoot over? Like stay where I am now even when he's so close?
While my body froze in place, Ace sat down next to me on the leather sofa. He was so close that our thighs were basically touching. I tried my best to angle my body away so that my shoulder wouldn't touch him but that only result in Ace placing an arm around my shoulder. I gasped as he pulled me closer against his body.
"If you move too far away, how am I supposed to whisper my top secret into your little ear?" Ace asked teasingly.
--To be continued...