For the record, Ariel would love to say that she was someone who handled her money well. Being a small business owner it was a must to be financially savvy in order to stay afloat.
But despite being good with money, she had been the recipient of a threat that no one ever wanted to hear. A threat made worse by the fact that she had been threatened not because of her own actions, but because of her brother's. The soft hearted fool had gone and borrowed money from a loan shark. Not only that, he had also failed to pay it back. Peter, no doubt in an effort to protect Ariel had vanished off the face of the earth, thinking the debt would go with him. But the loan shark did not believe that at all.
"Bring me my money by the end of the month, or I will kill your brother right in front of you,"
"Or maybe, I will sell you to the highest bidder to make back the money that your useless brother took from me," Those had been the words of madam Mo, the local loan shark to Ariel earlier that week.
It had not mattered that Ariel had not even been aware of the debt before then. As far as the old woman was concerned, her blood relation to her brother made Ariel just as responsible when it came to paying back the money.
Being a woman who ran her own food truck. A business dominated by mostly men, Ariel did not scare easy. But when madam Mo's thugs had grabbed her off the street and taken her to their boss, Ariel had been terrified. Being led to the loan shark's base which had turned out to be a flower shop, had not helped matters at all. The entire time she had been there, Ariel had been certain that she was about to become compost.
The old woman had not even touched Ariel, she had simply told her what was going to happen. Her voice sharp, and Ariel had felt fear like never before.
After that, she had tried calling her brother. Rage and fear making her fingers shake, as she had dialled him again and again. The unanswered calls adding to her anxiety. She had wanted to ask him what he had been thinking taking a hundred thousand from a loan shark,( an amount which had now become a million, due to payment being late by a few days).
With her brother unreachable, she had tried going to banks to get a loan. But she'd been turned down. At one bank they had even laughed the moment that she had stepped outside, their voices carrying, shame pooling low in her gut as a result.
From there, Ariel had thought of selling everything she owned. But even if she threw in her kidneys, she had realized that she would not make enough to pay the debt her still missing brother had gotten her into.
That realization had led to Ariel's current embarrassing predicament. Passing by Asher Industries headquarters that morning, insanity had overwhelmed her.
'The CEO is in there, he has money, I can borrow from him,' She'd thought, and in her desperation, that had made perfect sense.
No plan, no backup, Ariel had walked into the building, and had somehow made it all the way to the man's office without being caught. She'd hidden behind potted plants, people, and at one point, a trash can.
But by sheer dumb luck, she had made it without security seeing her on camera and coming to escort her out. After sneaking past the man's PA, Ariel had found herself staring at the man, the morning sun lighting him up, and making Ariel feel as though she were looking at a heavenly being.
Looking at the cheekbones sharp enough to cut steel, stormy blue eyes, and perfect skin, Ariel had actually forgotten why she was there for a few seconds. But then he had brought her down to earth by asking who she was and what she wanted.
"Sorry, I seem to be lost," She could have said, and things would have ended there. But Ariel had not done that, instead, she had opened her mouth, and stated her business. Then to top it all off, she had gotten on her knees and begged, pride pushed to the side.
She really wished that she had not silenced her pride. If she had not, she probably would not be in her situation...kneeling between his legs, her hair somehow stuck in his zip, her cheek against a muscled thigh.
The whole thing was embarrassing beyond measure. But if the third person in the room realized that Ariel was there, then she would die of embarrassment before madam Mo could get her.
There was absolutely no way anyone who had not been there when everything started would believe that nothing was going on.
She was on her knees in between the legs of CEO Tristan Asher, for crying out loud!
Even just thinking it sounded dirty. Had it not run the risk of alerting the third person in the room that she was beneath the CEO's expensive mahogany desk.
Ariel would have slapped her own face in a bid to determine whether she was dreaming or if she had completely lost her mind.
But as things stood, she'd already made enough of a mess of everything. So for Tristan Asher's sake, she bit her lower lip and did her best to keep her breathing even.
Her nails digging into his firm thighs as she fought to keep as silent as possible. But the problem with her predicament was that not only was she currently hiding between Tristan Asher's legs. She was also about to overhear something that she most definitely should not be privy to.
Marriage...the newcomer in the room had mentioned marriage. Judging by the way she'd felt Tristan's muscles tense, the marriage was news to him too.
Whatever was going on...it was huge. Ariel felt like she had just gotten herself a front row seat to the drama that followed the rich and powerful.
Part of her wanted to hear every juicy piece of information. But the other part, the one that was aware of the dangers of knowing too much wanted no such thing.
In the end what she wanted did not matter. The conversation that was about to take place would include her no matter what she wanted.