Love Slave to My Devil CEO Boss R18

This was probably a part of what he had been trying desperately to hide from me. Even after seeing it, I still haven't discovered what he planned to do except to perhaps have a building constructed. I didn't even know where the building was going to be located or what it was going to be used for.

Suddenly, I felt slightly nauseous, and my temples started to throb as I struggled to deal with the void of emptiness that seemed to have taken shape inside of me. Although I had been trying desperately to deal with it silently and telling myself to be patient, I still hated the fact that Ace was keeping secrets from me.

The worst part out of all of this was the piercing painful feeling that sprang up in my chest when I thought that Ace did not want to share his future with me. It felt like I was an outsider, and he was treating me like one. Not telling me anything and always keeping me in the dark. I stared down at the blueprint again as I wondered if the future that Ace envisioned for himself had me in it.

"Rina…"

I turned around so fast that I almost fell forward onto my face at the sound of Ace calling my name. To say that I was surprised would be a vast understatement. Reflexively, my hands moved to hide the blueprint away behind me as I tried desperately to shield it away from Ace's sight using my body.

Why am I hiding it?

"Ace…" I whispered his name before I tried my best to offer him a smile.

"Did something happen?" he asked as his eyes searched my face.

"No…nothing happened…" I replied as my heart raced painfully fast in my chest.

"Are you, ok? Your face looks kind of pale..." he asked.

That's probably because you walked in so suddenly while I was doing something that I shouldn't have and that made me feel like a criminal who had just been caught red-handed.

I couldn't believe how flustered I was. Even my hands were shaking, and it was amazing to me how I could still manage to have a conversation with Ace.

"I'll take note to apply more blush on tomorrow," I replied teasingly to cover up how nervous I actually was.

I wished that he would just leave. Wasn't Ace supposed to be in the war room along with the others?

I wasn't done clearing his desk because I got so distracted with the blueprint that I found and my own messy thoughts that came about as a result of my unexpected discovery. Ace didn't seem convinced with my little joke because he continued staring at my face with a worried look on his.

"I'm fine. You don't have to worry. I thought you were working with the others. Do you need something here?" I asked as my hand shoved back the blueprint behind me.

I had no idea if Ace even knows that he left that blueprint laying around here on his desk or not. However, I didn't want him to know that I had seen it.

"You," he replied before he grinned at me.

"…Me?" I murmured blankly.

"Come with me, Rina. The report just came in so I thought that you should know," he replied before chuckling at my flustered reaction.

I breathed a sigh of relief when Ace turned on his heels and headed for the door. If things were normal, I would have been so excited that the report had finally arrived after all that Julianna and her team managed to do by working all night last night. However, the situation was far from normal and all that I had on my mind was that blueprint, all of Ace's secrets that he was keeping from me, and the fact that I had somehow broken the trust that he had placed in me.

"Aren't you coming?" Ace asked.

"Y-Yes. Of course…" I replied while stuttering.

At that moment, Project Alpha and the whole competition didn't have any space in my mind at all. I was too shaken about what I had just seen. I stared at Ace's back as he walked in front of me while I tried to tell myself to calm down. It was possible that I was just overthinking things. Just because Ace had a blueprint of a building on his desk doesn't mean that he's thinking of getting it built and it may not even be for himself.

I bit down hard on my lip when I thought that everything would be much simpler if I could ask him. To be more accurate, everything would be much simpler for us if he would answer all of my questions. At first, I didn't have the courage to even have a proper conversation with Ace. As time went by, I grew closer to him, and I finally got used to talking to him and spending time with him. I even conquered my fears and managed to ask him so many questions; however, Ace still refused to answer all the key questions that I had asked him regarding the future.

"Come, Rina…" Ace said as he turned and offered me his hand.

"I…" I began saying but realized that I wasn't sure what I wanted to say.

I shut my mouth and casted my eyes downwards before slipping my hand into his much larger one. As always, Ace's hand felt warm as it enclosed around mine.

"Why do you look so down? Are you nervous about the result in the report?" he asked with a small laugh.

"I guess…" I replied although it wasn't even half true.

Ace stopped walking and suddenly placed his hands on my shoulders. Then he pulled me close and leaned down until his lips were right beside my ear. I could feel the warmth of his breath brushing against my earlobe and my heartbeat quickened automatically.

"Ace…" I murmured his name.

"It's much better that I could have imagined. We really did it this time…" Ace announced softly as he whispered close to my ear.

--To be continued…