Claimed by the CEO & His Brother

Chapter 15

Bryan POV

"Come on Danielle, just a few more minutes," I encouraged her while looking at my watch. She was currently running on the treadmill and glaring daggers at me. "It's only been 10 minutes!" I chided her.

"I feel like I'm dying!" She dramatically told me. I chuckled and she shot me another glare. "It's easy for you to say! You're not the one running right now."

"That's only because there's just one treadmill in here," I defended. We were in my home gym that consisted of the treadmill, a weight bench, a dumbbell station, a punching bag, a balance trainer, and push up stands. After 5 more minutes I said, "Ok Danielle, that's enough." She turned off the machine, stepped down, and bent over placing her hands on her knees. I gave her a minute to catch her breath then told her, "Alright, that was a great warm up. Let's get started."

She stiffened and then slowly straightened to look at me incredulously. "What do you mean 'warm up' Bryan?"

"You didn't think that was all, did you princess?"

She scoffed, "Yes! I can assure you I am done for the day. We can pick up again tomorrow." She began to stalk toward the door.

"Danielle wait! What happened to all the enthusiasm you had earlier? When I first told you I was going to teach you to fight you nearly knocked me over in your haste to get to the gym!" I reminded her.

"Yeah, that left when you brought me in here for me to... run," she admonished me, then shuddered as if the thought scared her.

"Don't tell me you're afraid of a little running," I teased her.

"Of course I'm not afraid of running! I have a strong dislike for it. I avoid it at all costs," she told me. I couldn't believe the amount of resistance I was receiving when we had only barely begun. Continuing her rant she said, "I thought you were going to teach me to fight, not prepare me for a marathon!"

"Danielle!" I had to stop her or else she would keep going for God knows how long.

"What?" She asked annoyed.

Ignoring her tone I said, "You have to build up your stamina if you want to be a good fighter. This is going to be part of your daily routine so if you aren't willing to work hard you can quit right now."

For a few moments all she did was stare at me with a shocked expression on her face. I was starting to get a little worried. That was my first time using my stern voice with her and it could either work out for me or backfire horribly. Finally, her mouth curved up in a small smirk and she looked me up and down.

"Ok Bryan," she said in a quieter tone. "What's next?"

Letting out the breath I hadn't realized I was holding until now, I said, "Next, we'll work on your stance and form."

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The rest of the lesson went by without anymore complaints from Danielle. I had told her it was going to be a long process for her to learn how to fight but she said that she was willing to put in the work. Overall we spent about 2 hours in the gym. When we finished I could tell she was exhausted but she didn't grumble or whine.

Now we were headed to our separate rooms to shower. I also needed to check my email. So much has happened in the last few days. It seems like I've been gone from work for much longer than I really have been. That's most likely due to the fact that I have more responsibilities on my shoulders now than when I left. It will be difficult to focus tomorrow but at least it's going to be Friday and I'll have the weekend off afterwards.

Making it to my room I hopped in the shower. It was a long one. I tended to stay in for awhile when I had a lot on my mind. It was crucial I formed a plan for handling Brett. I wasn't concerned about him finding Danielle but I knew she wouldn't want to stay in hiding forever. She hadn't questioned me yet but I knew eventually she would ask me what I was going to do and when she did she wouldn't accept "I don't know."

After I finished I stepped out of the shower and wrapped a towel around my waist. As I trudged toward my closet there was a knock at my door. Knowing it was Danielle I only cracked the door since I wasn't dressed. "Yes princess?"

"I'm bored. What are you doing? Can I see your room?" She tried to lean around me to peer inside. And I thought this woman was shy? She was turning out to be pretty bold, but I liked it.

"Um maybe another time." It was hard to turn her down as eager as she looked. She pouted a little but soon replaced her frown with a smile.

"That's ok, I understand. It's your private space. It was rude of me to ask," she said turning to leave.

Unthinkingly I opened the door further and came halfway out saying, "No Danielle, it's not that. I'm just not--"

"Dressed," she finished for me. I glanced down. Oops, I thought. I looked up to see her blushing and staring at the floor as if she suddenly found something interesting down there.

I chuckled nervously then said, "Yes."

Still staring at the ground she mumbled, "Well I-I'll just be going then," before turning and briskly walking down the hall. I silently laughed watching her retreat. There was the shy woman again.

Once I finished getting dressed in some sweats and a long sleeve shirt I went to my office to check my emails. Reading the time I saw it was almost 3. I had a couple of hours before I would start making dinner. Diving into my inbox that was overflowing with emails I lost track of time.

A burning smell suddenly stung my nose and I heard my fire alarm go off. Jumping up I ran to the kitchen to find smoke in the air and Danielle frantically trying to fan out a small fire in the oven. Sprinting to her side I moved her away from the open oven door. I grabbed the dish of flaming mystery meat with oven mitts and placed it on the stove. Then I put the fire out using the extinguisher I kept in a cabinet in the kitchen. Next I grabbed a broom and waved it front of the smoke detector to silence it. While I did that, Danielle had opened some windows to let the smoke out.

Upon her re-entry to the kitchen she began to apologize profusely, "Oh my gosh Bryan I'm so so sorry! Please don't be mad! I was trying to make dinner and I-I don't know what happened!"

"Danielle, " I calmly said her name but she kept going.

"Maybe this roommate thing isn't going to work out. I should leave before I burn your house down. I'll go repack my things." She started to walk past me so I gently grabbed her by her shoulders to stop her.

"Danielle stop. It's not a big deal. I'm not mad and I don't want you to leave. The main thing is you're ok," I said looking into her eyes. She still seemed upset and tense so I reassured her, "Don't be so hard on yourself. No harm, no foul. I'll cook dinner and you just sit here." I guided her to a stool at the island.

"What can I do?" She hesitantly asked. I stiffened momentarily before answering, "Uh...you can just keep me company."

She nodded her head and replied, "Ok, I can do that." She paused for a moment while I cleared away the ruined meal then asked, "So, you're going back to work tomorrow?"

"Yep," I said while putting a pot of water on the stove to boil.

"What am I going to do here all alone?" She asked in a gloomy tone.

I turned to look at her, "I was thinking you could come with me, that is if you wanted to."

Her face lit up then she mischievously said, "Good thing you're taking me with you or who knows what state this place would be in when you came back." She laughed when she saw my anxious expression. Maybe it wouldn't be as easy as I thought to live with her. What did I get myself into with this woman?

Thank you all for reading! I can't believe the story is at 6K reads now 😱😱😱 In the next chapter a new character will be introduced! Until next time 💜

P.S. anybody wondering what Brett's been up to? 🤔😈