He was the wind that made her world freeze over. She was the fire that lit up his.
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Aren Petros was the stain on the Petros family name, known for his criminal past. And Mila Chambers was the solution to cleaning up his image. So when they find th...
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HIS STEELY GAZE levelled on mine and I stared back as our parents let out sighs of relief. He was a hard man to read. There was nothing on his face to indicate that he was pleased by the news but there was a slight glint in his eyes that told me he was surprised I actually agreed.
"This is great news. We should talk logistics." Aleksander was the first to speak up. The businesslike nature of the whole thing reared its head when my father clapped his hands and agreed.
"How about we take the business upstairs?" my mother interjected with a smile. "And let Mila and Aren talk among themselves?"
The knot was back in my stomach.
They all exchanged glances but Aren didn't take his eyes off me.
"Yes, that's a good idea." My father spoke up. "We can speak in my study."
Within seconds, they had all left the room and Aren and I were alone. I waited until I no longer saw them before I redirected my gaze to him.
It seemed a battle of wills because neither of us backed down and the silence encased us. I made sure to sit up straight so that I wouldn't shrink under his intense gaze. He looked like he was trying to figure me out and unfortunately for me, I had a feeling that he was an exceptional read of character.
Which meant he could tell that he was the last person I wanted to be sitting in front of on a Friday evening.
"It must've been something growing up in this big house." His voice was deep and his tone sounded sarcastic.
"It must've been something growing up to be a crook." I retorted.
His eyebrows twitched ever so slightly. I had to hold back my laugh.
Then I heard my mother's voice in my head. Time is of the essence, Mila. If we were to be married, we had to at least try and make it believable.
I forced a smile onto my face. "I grew up in London. My parents bought this estate when I finished secondary school." He wasn't entirely wrong though as my father had become successful before Grace and I were born. Freya, the oldest, had just been born when Chambers Incorporated became successful. So thankfully, I had a privileged upbringing.
It didn't mean that I was out of touch with people though.
The silence almost descended between us again before he finally spoke first. I picked up on how his deep voice vibrated in his throat as he asked his question. "Why did you agree to all of this? To marry me?"
I broke our eye contact and looked behind him at the painting that was hung on the wall. It was The Happy Family by Jan Steen. Something about the unadulterated happiness of the whole family had captivated my parents and they had done everything they could to get their hands on it. I would always find myself captivated by it because sometimes I would pretend that I was one of the people in the painting. Family was precious and the painting always reminded me of that.
