Noah was predictable. When Lucian made his way into his office his brother was right on his heels. Noah followed him in and closed the door behind him, depositing himself in the one-seat before Lucian's desk and grinning at him as if he won the lottery.
He might as well think he won the lottery by winning their bet. Noah and Michael were competitive like that.
To be fair Scarlett thought Noah did an excellent job and he agreed. He had to suck it up and face the consequences. Something told him though that Noah didn't want to talk about their bet. The glittering in his eyes made him roll his eyes and suppress an annoyed grunt.
This was about the Goddess of teasing. Miss Scarlett Archer herself.
His mind wandered to their quiet night out. She needed that, he couldn't help but to wonder why. It had something to do with the guy who got dragged away from her apartment building. She lost her spirit then. She looked almost frightened.
He had to be patient with her, pushing her to talk didn't sound like a good idea at all.
"The lovely Miss Archer isn't in yet."
He noticed, usually she greeted him with a bright smile when he entered the office. She was late which was unlike her. She might have had a rough night if she was frightened about that guy. He wouldn't give her a hard time. She was good at her job, she could catch up easily.
"I'm sure she'll be here soon." He casually stated.
Noah narrowed his eyes on him, analyzing him as if he was the trickiest math problem he ever came across.
Noah smiled, "You've opened up to her completely." He stated, "I'm glad you have someone around you can trust." His brother sounded genuine, all humor left his eyes. The seriousness of it all made him uncomfortable.
He did trust Scarlett completely but even though he was slowly accepting that things between were becoming serious he didn't want it to pointed out. He wasn't ready for that yet. It went against his principles. Never to blur the lines of his professional and private life. Scarlett made him forget about those lines but he needed to slowly flow into it.
He didn't need his family to push him.
"Don't mess things up with her." Noah got to his feet and straightened his navy tie and then brushed his hands over his pinstriped navy suit, "I have a good feeling about her. I think she's what you need."
"You don't know that." Lucian glanced at his door when it cautiously opened revealing a shy looking Scarlett, "Morning." He greeted quietly, smiling to show her he didn't mind her coming in later than usual, "Noah was just leaving."
Noah glanced at him, smirking and trying to hide his amusement from Scarlett. He failed miserably. His assistant noticed and for the first time looked really flustered. She didn't look put together like usual. Whatever happened last night threw her completely off her game.
"Can I get you anything?" She asked, "Morning Noah."
"Morning." His brother greeted back, "I was just leaving so you can have my dear brother all to yourself." Noah joked, quickly leaving the office knowing that Lucian would skin him alive for that joke. It was too much.
Scarlett watched his brother leave the office, she then closed the door behind her. She stood by the door, keeping her distance from him. That was unlike her as well. She looked hesitant and almost out of place. She lost her confidence, something he rather liked about her.
"You okay?" He asked her.
She didn't meet his gaze, her eyes lingering on her lap while she fidgeted with the hem of her white shirt. It was unlike her and he didn't know how to approach this. He knew not pushing her was the way to go but he wanted her to know that he was there for her.
"I didn't sleep well last night." She admitted to him, "I maybe had four hours of sleep so I might be a little slow today."
"That's okay, you can mostly focus on answering emails. I'm sure they've piled up over the weekend."
She finally looked at him, her face alight with a smile, "You're probably right." She leaned back in her chair, looking a bit more comfortable around him already. Maybe because he didn't focus on her state of mind and let her decide on her own when to come forward, "What did Noah ask of you. He did win the bet." She trailed off.
He sighed, "He is going to collect his prize at a later time."
"Smart." She nodded, "He's saving his favor up."
"It might have to do something with giving him more free time together with Kim. So I wouldn't mind. The girls are loud and full of energy but I do like to spend time with them."
"Three girls." She smirked, "How can you not get overwhelmed while babysitting them."
"I'm their favorite uncle." He shrugged, "That's why."
She nodded, "So what are you going to do with Christmas, I know you are more or less a Grinch but you can't let the moment pass you by. You're going to regret it later."
He really didn't like the fuss around Christmas. Too many people around, too much pressure on serving food and giving people the perfect gift. It was stressful and it sometimes showed the bad sides of people he didn't want to see. Christmas was overwhelming, not his three nieces.
"I want to skip it but I'm sure my family will want to spend time together. We also have the Christmas party." He looked at her knowingly, "You did put aside your dress already."
She grinned at him, "I did, it's a good dress. It might even help with your bad mood."
It was a beautiful dress and it would look good on her but he doubted it would help with his mood during Christmas. Nothing could convince him otherwise. The holiday was too stressful for his liking.
"Don't get your hopes up." He warned her.
"I will totally get my hopes up." She retorted.
Of course, she'd do the complete opposite of what he asked of her. That was so like Scarlett. She seemed to be in a better mood which he was grateful for. He watched her move to the door and glance at him with a warm little smile spread across her face.
"I'll make you some coffee." She announced, "Thank you, Lucy."
He wanted to warn her not to call him that but she closed the door on her way out, successfully escaping him. The people in his life just loved to torture him emotionally, he hated it. Yet he couldn't hide the fact that they did put a smile on his face from time to time with their relentless teasing.
***
Michael came over when Lucian emailed him about an assignment. It was a private assignment so Michael was intrigued and looking quite excited when he walked into Lucian's office. Lucian stood behind his desk, pacing back and forth while he was on the phone. He acknowledged his cousin's presence and gestured to the one-seat. Michael took a seat and settled in, nearly jumping up and down with excitement.
Lucian wrapped his phone call up and sat down behind his desk again, "Thank you for coming over."
"I can't deny that I'm curious." Michael grinned, "You had a personal request before."
Lucian flickered his eyes to his closed office door. He couldn't have Scarlett walking in, she'd be upset with him if she knew what he was about to ask of Michael. His cousin followed his gaze and then glanced at him again, getting the hint.
"No way." He smiled, "Dear cousin, are we going to spy a little on the lovely Miss Archer?" He whispered, thankfully keeping his voice low.
He didn't want to but he needed to know what got Scarlett so frightened. He needed to know who that guy was. He wasn't pushing her to talk but if he was informed already he could take action. Protect her if he needed to.
"There is a man in her life she seemed to be frightened of. I need to know who he is."
Michael's smile dropped, his tone getting a lot more serious, "Is he hurting her?" He asked.
"I don't know, I just want to have some information about him."
Michael didn't hesitate, "I'll dig into her past, I'll share with you what I find out. When I find the guy we can see how we can from there."
"Sounds good."
Lucian walked with Michael, seeing him out and being nice since his cousin was doing him a favor. Michael didn't question him nor did he demand payment for it. He figured Michael wanted to keep Scarlett safe too.
"You'll hear from me by the end of the week." Michael told him, "You're coming to the Christmas party?" He asked as they waited for the elevator to arrive.
Everyone was so excited about Christmas, maybe he really was the Grinch.
"I have to, I am the CEO of this company." He reminded Michael.
Michael chuckled, "Tend to forget you're running a company."
Lucian frowned, "Really?"
"That's what happens when you're related." Michael shrugged, "Your mom going to do a Christmas dinner again?"
"Probably."
He wasn't looking forward to it but he did have to attend it. It was a family gathering. Hopefully, when his mother did organize another Christmas dinner she would stay in the background when it came to his relationship.
"You do need to bring Scarlett." Michael reminded him, "She is your girlfriend."
There it was, the teasing again. He sighed tiredly, shaking his head.
"We'll see when the time comes."
"It's coming up fast." Michael chuckled when Lucian made a face, "I didn't mean for that to sound dirty but I don't regret it."
Lucian pushed the button to the elevator again and stepped aside when the doors did slide open, grateful he could get rid of Michael because he was done with the not so subtle comments about Scarlett. It was comical how his brother and cousin were pushing him to date Scarlett. They did not care about his code being broken for her.
"I'll hear from you soon," Lucian told his cousin.
Michael stepped into the elevator, "Yes, don't worry, cousin. I've got this."
Lucian knew he did. Michael was good at digging into people's past and finding out secrets they wanted to be buried deep. Scarlett could never find out. Michael was professional when it came to his undercover job but it was up to him to keep this secret locked away from the woman.