The CEO's Assistant

"Arianna..." her voice was shaky, he could tell she was nervous. "Can we talk?"

"Coming." Liam jumped off his bed tossing Chloe's old engagement ring in the bottom of his drawer, before running to open his bedroom door. His heart almost stopped, as he stared at the girl standing in the doorway wearing a satin, purple night gown the stunning brunette, was fiddling with her fingers anxiously, her long hair the was once curled perfect was now messy from where she'd tried to sleep. "What are you doing awake?" The coldness in his voice melted away when he saw the redness in her eyes. It was obvious she'd been crying, was it that arsehole Julien?

"I had a nightmare." She sounded like a scared child, he could see her body trembling, his heart ached, unconsciously he grabbed her waist and pulled her into his c.h.e.s.t. It was only when he did this that she realised he wasn't wearing a shirt, while this wasn't the first time she'd seen him shirtless, but Arianna's couldn't help but blush.

"Do you want to talk about it?" He slightly pulled away, gently looking down at her. She didn't know why she'd even come to his bedroom, or why she knocked on the door, it was 4:30 in the morning he should be asleep.

"Why are you still awake?" She wiped her tears away, then looked up at him curiously.

"I just woke up, I had some last minute business to take care of." He lied, but he felt too embarrassed to tell her he was too worried to sleep. "Oh come in," he moved the door open wider and stepped aside. In the light of the lamp he could see her tear stained cheeks and realised just how much she'd been crying. This made him want to know what that bastard had done to her, why was she so afraid of him and did it have anything to do with her tattoo? Julien did refer to her as his girlfriend, were they once together?

Her eyes widen as she walked into the large master bedroom, it seemed to have a colour scheme of black, dark grey and white. To her left she could see an open door which lead into an ensuite, and on the adjacent wall were a set of glass french door, leading out to the balcony looking over estate, opposite the bathroom door, was a large king sized bed, the gunmetal grey sheets matched the dark wooden timber of the bed frame beautifully, side her was a long black couch and a small white coffee table that looked like they'd never been used.

"Wow." Arianna had gotten used to living the life of luxury, but that never stopped her from being surprised whenever she saw something that she didn't expect. Somehow his bedroom wasn't what she expected. She snapped out of her trance when she heard Liam's laugh. She glanced over to his see him smiling softly at her, she felt her cheeks and ears heat up, letting her long tresses fall hiding her blush.

'Gosh, she's gorgeous...' Liam found himself smiling at her, without even noticing how much he enjoyed seeing her laugh, smile, seeing her blush and how her presences alone was enough to make him forget about everything.

"Sorry, you think after 11 years I'd be used to this sort of thing. But I suppose growing up where I did, you don't really get used to luxury." She blushed as she headed over to the couch.

"It's okay. So, umm what'd you want to talk about at twenty to five in the morning?" Liam joined her of the couch, setting right back into soft cushions.

"Well I know we're not supposed to get along, in fact we're supposed to be enemies, but what I have to say. It's of no use to you as my rival, you can't blackmail me with it and if I tell you perhaps I never have to talk about it again..." Arianna sat nervously on the edge of the couch looking down and fiddling with her fingers. Liam's heart started to ache listening to her, enemies? He didn't want to be her enemy, he already wanted to keep her locked in his room so no-one could ever hurt her, but then he would be the one hurting her.

"It's okay, I promise I won't say anything to anyone, and we don't have to talk about this again if you don't want to." He knew what she meant, but their positions weren't going to stop him from seeing her again, even if that meant giving his father's company to Juliette. Arianna looked up at him shocked, there was a kind of joyful sadness in her eyes, the kind you get when you know a promise will be broken.

"Well, I suppose I should tell you the story, of how I meet Julien Scott and how I ended up so terrified of one man." She took a deep breath, closing her eyes for a moment. He could see her shaking, he really wanted to know, but he knew this may be too hard for her.

"You don't have to tell me if you don't want to..." He lent forward, picking up and chin and looking her directly in the eyes. "but whatever happened to you, I promise I will be here even if you decide to tell me."

"T...thanks." Arianna felt her heart skip a beat, looking into his blue-green eyes, it was as if all here worries faded away. "It's okay, I'll tell you..."

He slipped his hand into hers and entwined their fingers, looking at her so lovingly. "I'm listening."

"Well, everything started 11 years ago, when I fell in love with Julien..."