Hunter was looking at her wet face. There was never us. It was a contract marriage, and it was never meant to complicate things.

A broken sound left her again.

"You, Sienna Mason..." He murmured as he cupped her face gently, "You’re not supposed to get scared of anything. Of anyone. Especially... not me."

"Why?" Thankfully, she had stopped crying, her lips were partially opened as her green eyes watched his face.

"Because I’m the one who is scared by your strength, menace."

Sienna closed her eyes as she gulped down the remaining tears, feeling like a fool. What was the need to cry?

He must be thinking that I’m a weirdo who is desperate to be touched.

"You can’t be scared of me—" A teary chuckle left her lips.

"Why not?" He pressed a kiss at the corner of her mouth and smiled when she shivered under him.

All he wanted to do was peel their clothes off and lie above her, just to feel her skin against his.

"I don’t know..." She sniffed her nose, "Urgh...my nose... it’s running... do we have a napkin around?"

His eyes didn’t move off her face, "You need a napkin?" He brought his hand towards her nose. A horrified expression crossed her face when she realized he was offering her his sleeve.

"Seriously?"

"I only have this!" Sienna chewed her lower lip as she felt unexpected laughter bubbling up in her chest.

Hunter smiled when he saw her arm covering her eyes as she laughed. He swallowed thickly and leaned a little to kiss her hard, but stopped himself just in time.

Hold your horses, Hunter. He scolded himself.

She was clearly disturbed, confused by her own feelings as much as he was.

He didn’t want to take advantage of her when she was at her weakest, completely vulnerable.

She suddenly got serious and then, holding his open cuff, she raised her head and blew her nose into it, "Sorry," She whispered innocently, her eyes glistened with unshed tears, "This was my only option."

Hunter’s gaze dropped to the cuffs of his Hermès shirt, tailored from fine Egyptian cotton, where a wet spot was visible now.

"Every time I kiss your face, you start crying..." Hunter looked away from his ruined cuff. Sienna sniffed, trying to stay serious, but the corner of her lips betrayed her.

"I don’t know," She protested, "maybe it’s a little overwhelming."

He huffed out a short laugh, "This is concerning because if this is what happens when I kiss your face," He leaned a little closer, kissing the tip of her nose, "What are you going to do if I ever attempt to make love to you?"

Sienna stared for a moment and then burst out laughing, forgetting all the embarrassment, "It might get worse."

"Worse?" He asked in amusement, pushing back a strand of her hair.

"Yeah," She bit her lower lip, "I might wet my panties... like not in that sense... but I might pee..."

Hunter wasn’t expecting that. He hid his face in the crook of her neck as his shoulders shook with laughter, "Don’t tell me. You’re unbelievable, wife."

Sienna looked for any trace of annoyance and then groaned at the absurdity of the situation. She was still lying under him, like they were an old married couple.

"Menace. Don’t ever leave me like that. Okay?" She didn’t miss the subtle warning in his tone, "Talk it out if something is bothering you."

"Okay," Sienna placed her hands on his shoulders, "Now would you mind?"

Hunter minded very much, but he couldn’t stay on top of her forever.

"Sure," He got up with a sigh and offered her his hand to help her pull up.

"Let’s be friends," He started fixing her hair, ignoring the way she glared at him, "I’m serious, menace," He placed his hands into his pockets, "Be friends, know each other, and take it slow from here."

His suggestion left her speechless.

"You mean to say..."

"Yes," he shrugged, "Let’s forget the contract for a while and see where this goes. We need to give it a chance."

Friends? Chance?

Sienna’s expression turned thoughtful. What he was proposing wasn’t bad.

***

Brian pushed open the door with his elbow, balancing a grocery bag in one hand— and stopped right there.

On the living room floor, Sienna and Hunter were sitting cross-legged. There was an open pizza box between them.

Sienna threw back and laughed hard at something Hunter said while Hunter was trying hard to stay serious.

What was wrong with them?

Brian thought they were high. He narrowed his eyes, watching them carefully... yeah, they were definitely high.

He dropped the bag right on the doorstep and walked ahead, "Did you two have sex? Thank God. Because I could feel this sexual tension in the air."

His remark was followed by a short silence.

A mischievous look passed between them, and then they both cracked up. Sienna smacked Hunter’s shoulder while Hunter leaned back, laughing hard.

"Brian. You’re something," She wiped the corners of her eyes.

Brian rolled his eyes as he picked up the bag and headed to the kitchen. Now he was sure that they did have sex and that was the only reason they were at ease with each other.

***

Ruby was in the quiet office, sitting on a desk, tapping her nails against the keyboard as she tried another password

"What the hell!" she cursed under her breath and tried another password.

Still locked.

Her lips pressed into a thin line, "Seriously?"

With a small huff, she pushed the chair back and moved to Nora’s desk. This was the third desk she needed to try. Everyone had left except her.

Peter knew she was Madam Boss’s sister, so he didn’t object when she told him that she wanted to stay late and complete her work.

She glanced around once and tapped Nora’s keyboard.

The screen opened.

"Wow!" Ruby smiled, "She trusts too much."

She quickly went through the files, her eyes kept darting to the door as she picked out important bits.

She jotted down as many key points as possible on her phone. Her fingers were shaking while typing.

"Perfect!" She whispered under her breath, too pleased with herself. Instead of wasting time, she dialed Tom’s number. He picked up on the second ring.

"It’s better be good!" That was the first thing he said.

"I’ve got something you’ll like," Ruby said, keeping her voice low.

"Shoot it."

Ruby started sharing all the details she saw in Nora’s computer. The good thing was that this office didn’t have any cameras. Their father never bothered with it.

After Sienna took over, she never considered it either.

On the other end of the call, Tom sounded satisfied with her work, "I hope it’s the right information, Ruby. Because if it isn’t, I’ll make sure you pay me back— with interest."

After the call ended, Ruby let out a long breath. When her phone pinged, she glanced down. Her smile widened when she saw that Tom had transferred the said amount.

She came out of the office building and let out a small squeal, not giving a damn about passersby.

Today was the best day. After all, she wasn’t broke anymore – and this was just the beginning.