As expected, his cousin really had been up to no good. He had been busy trying to sow the seeds of chaos when Tristan had interrupted the meeting that he had called. The board members at least had had the decency to look ashamed, but Zachariah had simply brushed it off.
Like the snake he was, he had slithered past Tristan on his way out the door. Not bothering to try to explain himself, or to at least act like he felt guilty. In fact, from the triumphant look that Zachariah had given him, as far as his cousin was concerned, it was game over. In Zachariah's eyes, he had already won. Tristan was just keeping his seat warm for him.
After successfully interrupting his cousin and watching the board members scatter. Tristan should have felt better, but instead he could not shake his unease. The feeling followed him even as he was accosted by the head of public relations and had to spend a few minutes talking to the man about a new project that they would be launching soon.
It stayed with him as he made his way to his office. A niggling voice at the back of his head saying that something was not right. He struggled to place its source until the moment when he came out of the elevator just in time to see Ariel being dragged backwards towards the stairs by his cousin.
"Let her go," Tristan found himself saying before he could think things through.
The threat in his voice clear. His entire body tense, the rage radiating from him, making even him feel uneasy. But his cousin, never one to take good advice, continued to hold Ariel close. Seemingly amused by the whole thing. "There is nothing to worry about, dear cousin,"
"I simply found a trespasser near your office and I am helping her find her way out," Zachariah said, and Tristan moved towards them so quick. He barely even felt his feet touch the floor. His gaze moved from Ariel's terrified yet determined face to the point in her upper arm where Zachariah was squeezing her, clearly hurting her.
Without even a second thought, Tristan pulled his hand back and pushed forward. Hitting his cousin square in the chest with his open palm. Zachariah let out a pained grunt. And before he could react, Tristan gripped his wrist and twisted, the action causing him to let go of Ariel in favor of clutching his now no doubt sprained wrist.
"How dare you!" He hissed. But Tristan did not even spare him a look. Instead, he turned to Ariel.
"Are you alright?" He asked.
Giving him a grateful look, she nodded before moving to come and stand next to him.
"Thank you," She whispered softly. And just that confirmation that she was fine helped some of the red that Tristan had been seeing since getting out of the elevator recede. Feeling some of his calmness returned to him, he addressed his cousin.
"The only trespasser I see here is you Zachariah. Do you not have work to do? Should I have your supervisor assign you more tasks?" His cousin snarled briefly before getting his face under control and fixing the two of them with a look. His eyes went from Ariel to Tristan like he was trying to figure out exactly how it was that they were connected. He looked back and forth between them a few times before his eyes lit up, and he threw his head back and laughed.
"You know cousin, if you were looking for escorts, I could have hooked you up. There was no need for you to go scrounging at the bottom of the bin. But then again, I must applaud you. The day has barely begun and you already have a woman sneaking into your office. Good for you," How dare he!
Just like that, the anger that Tristan had been certain was now under control came back full force. But before he could act, something flew right at Zachariah and landed squarely on his face.
A shoe!
Tristan washed the shoe fall to the ground. Then he looked up at Zachariah's shocked face, his mouth hanging open, his eyes wide. When he turned back to the woman at his side, he found Ariel fuming.
She was literally huffing and puffing, her chest rising and falling so rapidly that he was worried about her heart. But the thing that got his attention the most was her face. Her eyes were on fire. If she could have shot lasers, then Tristan's cousin would have been a pile of ash on the floor.
"If you ever talk to me like that again, I do not care who you are, what you do or what your connections are. I will castrate you, and feed you your balls," It was a very descriptive threat and being that he himself was the proud owner of a pair of balls. Tristan should not have found it funny, but the words coming from Ariel directed at his cousin had him throwing his head back and laughing.
"How dare you! I will make sure you pay for this," Zachariah finally exploded and Tristan stepped in front of Ariel. Blocking his cousin's view of her.
"If you come after her, I will be forced to find out what exactly it is that you were doing coming up to my office just minutes after I caught you trying to start trouble with the board. Do not pick fights you cannot win Zachariah. Leave my sight and I will pretend that this entire encounter never happened,"
Zachariah was livid. His face red, mouth opening and closing without any words coming out. Glaring at the two of them, he turned on his heel and stomped towards the stairs. Then for whatever reason( probably his lack of physical fitness). He turned on his heel again and walked right back towards where Tristan and Ariel were.
He brushed past them without another word, and went straight into the elevator. Only once he was gone did Tristan allow himself to relax. "Are you alright?" He asked again, turning back to Ariel. She swallowed and nodded.
"Yeah, I'm good. It'll take more than a creep like that to scare me. Who was that anyways?" She asked. "That, unfortunately, was my cousin Zachariah."
"You definitely cannot pick blood," Ariel said, giving him a pitying look. The two of them stood there for a moment staring at each other and most likely would have continued to stare at each other in awkward silence had Lucy not opened the door.
"Sir, is everything alright?" That made Tristan spring into action. Moving forward, he took Ariel's hand in his. Being much gentler than his cousin had been as he led her into his office, walking past a shocked looking Lucy as he did so. Once in the office Tristan let go of her hand, and went to stand by the window.
"So I take it you have come to give me your answer," Ariel nodded and then she moved towards him. For a moment Tristan's mind flashed back to when they first met and he instinctively found his hands moving to cover his front. Ariel noticing the move gave a small smile and held out the bright yellow lunchbox that she had in her hands.
"What is this?" He asked. "It is something to show my sincerity. I want you to know that I mean it when I say this. Yes, I will marry you, Tristan Asher," With just those words it felt as though he could breathe again. Tristan had known that she had a ninety nine percent chance of saying yes, but still that one percent had bothered him. Now, being proven correct made it feel as though a huge weight had been lifted off his shoulders.
Taking the lunch box from her, Tristan put it on top of the desk. Looking into her green eyes, the CEO realized that he was looking into the face of the woman who by the end of the month would share his last name.