After Alex left I fell into a dreamless sleep . I woke up the next morning not feeling well rested at all and I honestly don't know why I'm upset at Alex. We hardly know each other .

I quickly got dressed for work and as soon as I step foot in my office my assistant tells me the big bosses want to see me. I went up to the conference room on the 7th floor and waited there for them. For some reason I had a bad feeling about what was going to happen.

"Aria, please have a seat," Mr. Philips says to me as Susan Wright walks in . She is the other half of the Philips and Wright firm. She places a manila folder in front of me and sits down.

"Miss Lawson, this is your next client and we're here to brief you," please don't let it be Trip. I specifically don't take one individual clients because those are always a headache . To my dismay the photo staring at me is Trip's face . I look up at my bosses and see their eager faces.

"Aria, before you argue that your department doesn't handle personal clients like him , I want to say that we know you're the only one who can handle this case . If you succeed in cleaning up his image and helping him rehabilitate as an upstanding citizen then we can assure you that your partnership with the firm is a solid guarantee."

Wait, did he just say partner? I look at them, "Partner?"

"Yes, we've watched you grow through the ranks and we've been impressed since day one. As soon as you pulled Hughes Inc. Out of that sticky mud, we knew that you were the right person to join us here . And this will be the biggest project out of all the clients you've ever dealt with ," Susan says to me.

I close my eyes and breathe in . They're right , when no one else could get Hughes Inc out of that PR nightmare I was able to turn their image around . After internally giving myself a pep talk I looked at both of them, "okay, but I think there's something I'll need to tell you guys first."

Both of them were seated across from me with expectant looks , "I'm in a relationship."

They exchange looks and smile , "that's good, but what does that have to do with Trip?"

"I'm dating his younger brother Christian Alexander Wells."

The silence was deafening as I tried to figure out if what I just told them was a good or bad thing . Before I can say anything else Mr. Philips spoke , "that's the best news for this situation," he says with a giant grin.

"How come you didn't tell us before?" Miss Wright asks .

"It's new and we want to keep a low profile . Being that he is a Wells and I am a Lawson," I say biting the inside or my cheek to stop me from having word vomit.

"That makes sense. You guys didn't want to have a media storm surrounding your relationship. Well , you work at the right place to protect your image," Susan says.

"I'll be having dinner the family tonight, Trip will be there," I tell them.

Both of then are grinning so hard , "wonderful , read up on his file. This might end up being easier for you than we initially thought."

With that we all stand up and walk out the door. I'm stuck in a daze as to what actually just transpired . It wasn't until I was back in my office that I snapped out of it. I had to text Alex. I quickly opened his message and began to type out :

No more than a minute my phone started buzzing . I picked it up , "Alex, we have a problem. It looks like I'll be looking after Trip ."

"Whoa.. what? I thought you didn't deal with one on one clients?" He asked with confusion in his voice.

"I don't but apparently I'm really good at my job and they gave me his file . If I succeed, I get named partner," I finish.

Alex remains quiet on the line for a little longer than I was comfortable with , "So this changes things . Does that mean you'll be spending a lot of time with Trip?"

○○○

After Alex and I talked I was feeling very nervous about the dinner party tonight . Philips and Wright agreed that it's best that I observe him tonight . Watching his normal interaction will help me gain some insight on what makes him tick. Alex was not too happy that I would be spending so much time with his brother . This only meant that we really had to play up our relationship.

Damnit Sonja, why did you have to plant this idiotic plan in my brain . And why was I dumb enough to agree? I swear I'm never drinking again, well at least when major decisions are concerned.

I didn't want to be all over the place mentally tonight , so I asked Tony if he had an opening for a bag session . He was able to fit me in for 45 minutes . Because the time slot was close to the next class he could only allot so much time . In exchange , he'll lock up the training room so there are no distractions .

Shuffling my feet around and punching on his cues , I let out more aggression than I typically would. When we were close to finishing he asked me of everything was alright . I told him that I had a lot on my plate with my latest client but I'm okay. He offered to take me to dinner but I politely declined . I contemplated whether or not I should let him know about my "boyfriend" but at the end decided against it.

When I got home I hopped in the shower quickly. I didn't have too much time to get dolled up , so I blew dry my hair and put on a semi casual dress . I wasn't quite sure of the dress code, so I wore something in the middle of casual and fancy.

Before I can leave the apartment Sonja calls out to me , "Where are you going looking so pretty?"

"Alex is picking me up to meet with his family tonight," I try to say as casually as possible .

She steps in front of me , "hold up! Don't you guys think that this is going a little too far?"

I shake my head, "too much to explain but I promise we'll catch up . You have to swear to me that you won't say a word to anyone that this is fake."

"I mean, I did come up with this plan . I just want to make sure you both know it's not real," she tries to get reassurance out of me.

"Sonja, I promise to tell you everything," I say as I open the door to leave.

When I finally made it outside, I see that Alex has driven himself again . He opens the door for me and I get right in . I sit there nervously wringing the skirt of my dress.

Alex must've noticed my nervousness , "you'll be fine . Just stay by my side and concentrate on what we talked about earlier ," he soothes , "you look pretty tonight , by the way."

His compliment caught me off guard and caused an embarrassing blush fo appear on my cheeks . I turn my head away from him , "thank you."

Alex chuckles but doesn't say anything else . I'm grateful that he didn't push anything else or try to tease me . I usually don't get shy like this around anyone , but for some reason he brings it out of me.

Just like last time we pull up to his castle . Yup, I'm calling it that now . And he quickly runs over to my side to open the door . We walk up to the door and Sara is standing there , "Welcome back Sir, good to see you again Miss Lawson."

"Everyone in the dining room or drinking room?" Alex asks.

"They're all seated in the dining room."

He smiles at her and then squeezes my hand tightly before interlocking our fingers, "it's showtime."

We can hear people chatting away but as soon as we came into the room all noise seemed to have ceased. Every pair of eyes were on me . One in particular I recognized immediately . The smoldering grey with a bright silver undertones. And just like a lightning bolt I make contact with Warren.

There was no denying my memories of him as pieces of my childhood rush back to me . Warren . He grew up to be the most handsome of any man I've ever known and that includes Alex. And then my eyes land on the man to his left, Trip.

"Hey everyone! Remember Aria Lawson? This is my girlfriend!"