C12 Precious

Chapter-12: Precious

Aria Anastasia

As soon as I stepped out of the elevator, I saw Zaiden standing at the entrance of the cafeteria. With a smile on my face, I was making my way to him, and that was when I saw a red dot light straight on his head as if someone was pointing a laser at him and didn't want him to notice.

I followed the light and gasped when my eyes fell on a strange-looking person standing on the roof of the building next to us. He had a sniper in his hand, which was aimed at Zaiden. Was he about to shoot Zaiden?

My heart started thumping in fear. I called out Zaiden’s name and ran to him as fast as I could. I pushed him to the ground without a second thought.

Now, I was lying on top of Zaiden, his hands were on my waist as if he didn’t want me to get injured. “Are you okay?” I asked Zaiden, my eyes piercing through his, a look of surprise took over him, while I was fully concerned.

Zaiden nodded his head. “Are you?” he questioned me.

“Yes,” I breathed out, feeling butterflies erupting in my stomach, due to the closeness. Why was I feeling like this?

The office staff gathered around us. “Are you okay, Boss and Ms. Anastasia?” one of the employees asked.

I got up from over him and fixed my office skirt as Zaiden got up and fixed the tie of his suit. “Yeah, y’all may go,” I said to all of them and they went back to their respective places.

I placed a hand on my chest, heaving a sigh of relief. Thank God, nothing happened to him.

Zaiden grabbed my hand and started walking by pulling me with him. “We need to talk,” he said to me sternly.

I glanced at the window to see the shooter wasn’t there anymore. “What about our lunch?” I questioned, still trying to see whether that person was pointing the gun at Zaiden or not, but he disappeared into a thin air.

“My assistant, Daniel will bring it for us,” he replied as we reached his cabin, safe and sound.

I heaved a sigh in relief once more when I realized that the shooter wasn’t around anymore.

“Aria, what the fuck was t—” he stopped midway when I wrapped my arms around him, pulling him into a hug. I needed a soothing moment after what I went through. It was too much at once. “What are you doing?” he said with a tone of concern lingering in his voice.

I stayed quiet and felt the rhythm of his heartbeat. I was glad to spot that shooter on time. I couldn’t even think what would have happened if I hadn’t pushed him. He would be lying dead in front of me and the thought was terrifying for me.

He hugged me back, wrapping his arms around me. After a few minutes of the hug, he cupped my cheeks, brushing his thumb against my soft skin, and asked me softly, “What’s wrong?”

I almost had tears in my eyes, even at the thought of what would have happened if I hadn’t reached on time. I sucked in a sharp breath. “Zaiden, I saw someone was about to shoot you,” I finally answered.

“What?” he let out in disbelief. “Shooting me, from where?”

“He was at the rooftop on the next building,” I informed him and decided to tell him the full scenario. “When I was on my way to you, I saw you were waiting outside the cafeteria, and then, I saw a small red laser being pointed on your head.”

“But the building next to us is still under construction,” Zaiden uttered.

“I know.” I nodded my head and further spoke, “I looked at the direction the light was coming from, and spotted a man, whose entire face was covered and wore everything black, had a sniper in his hand. Then my mind couldn’t function properly and all I knew was I had to save you, so I ran to you as fast as I could and pushed you.” For a moment, a shiver ran down through my spine, after remembering the scene. Why did all of these happen?

“Are you crazy?” Zaiden questioned, a frustrated look covering his face which made me confused as he took a seat on the couch.

“What’s wrong?” I decided to ask and sat next to him.

“Why would you do such a thing, Aria?”

Was he talking about why I pushed him like that since he was my boss? If that was the case, it was better to apologize to him before things got worse.

“I am sorry for pushing you so hard,” I mumbled, which made him groan in annoyance.

He ran a hand through his hair and said with disappointment, “Why do you apologize for things that don't require an apology at all? You should really stop apologizing to me all the time. I won’t kill you.”

“Okay, sor—” I stopped midway, biting my lip at my stupidity. When a question popped into my mind, I asked, “If I shouldn’t apologize for this, then what thing are you talking about?”

He was about to answer my question but when his eyes met mine, he shook his head. “Leave it,” he muttered. “So the shooter didn’t shoot after you pushed me.”

“Yes, and in fact, after we got up from the ground, I found him missing from his spot,” I informed him. “The way he was dressed up, he seemed like a professional killer especially appointed to kill you.”

He chuckled. “I would’ve believed you but almost all of the professional killers work for me. And I know that they would never betray me.”

“Then is it one of your gang’s enemies wanting to kill you?”

He twitched his lips. “Maybe. I have to look into this.”

“Oh, okay,” I mumbled. “Are you sure you are not hurt?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Aria, I should be the one asking this.”

“But you were the one who fell on the ground. I fell on you,” I pointed out.

“You had to run to save me,” he deadpanned. “Besides, who told you to save me? What if the shooter had pressed the trigger? The bullet could hit you and you would be lying dead instead of me. Have you ever thought of it?”

I tried to think of what he said. He did have a point but at that time, nothing else mattered to me other than to save his life. My mind wasn’t thinking of anything, all I did was what my heart commanded me to do.

“Do you expect me to leave you in the hands of death when you promised to keep me safe?” I asked softly, taking his hands in mine, which took him off-guard. I was just listening to my heart.

“I expect you to act smart,” he told me, not meeting my gaze. He tried to pull his hands from mine, but I held it tighter.

“If leaving someone to die willingly was called being smart, then I am okay being foolish,” I said, looking at him intently.

When our eyes met, he uttered, “And you think I will be okay if you get hurt because of me?”

“The same is in my case. Do you think I will be okay if you get hurt?” When he didn’t respond, I further added, “You asked me why I saved you, right? Then listen to this, I just followed what my heart said. You are precious, Mr. Zaiden Storm.”