Married to my Suspect

DANIELLE'S POV

I closed the box of case files and newspaper clippings, all regarding murders in the home, a way I'd tried to track my father's murderer's MO, and checked my wristwatch. Shit, I was going to be late to work. I ran towards my room to get my shoes on. I was already dressed in a red flowery blouse and black pants, as opposed to my normal dull and colorless fashion; my outfit a direct reflection of the great mood I was in.

"I heard wrong, right?" Lucas repeated, his shaky voice betraying his anxiety, and I sighed and removed my phone from mute. I didn't think he had any reason to react to the news like that. I hadn't even told him the real thing. I'd just announced my marriage ahead of time.

"Dude, I'm already late as it is, and I don't have time to listen to your lecture."

He sighed. "Why didn't you talk to me? You don't have to talk to me or anyone else for that matter to realize how much of a terrible idea this is. You know that, right? In a relationship with your boss? And now you're moving out." He scoffed. "Who is this man anyway? You've never told me anything about him since you started working for him. Danielle" He groaned, "This is such a horrible idea and I don't know why you're even considering it."

I picked up my phone and my keys and headed towards the door of my house, leaving packed boxes lying around. "How exactly did you find out?" I asked, ignoring his pessimism.

"Your neighbor told me. I went to your place last night, and she asked why you got so many boxes and if you were moving out."

I sighed, then I spilled the tea when he didn't know. Damn my nosy neighbor, anyway. "Fine. Yes, this may seem like a terrible idea, but it's not. He's a good man." I lied. What did I actually know about him?

I opened the door I'd just locked and ran inside to get my signed copy of the contract we'd signed yesterday at dinner. Great, now I was going to be even late to work. Something I hated with all fiber of my being and rushed back into my car, if it could still be called that. At this point, it was a short step towards a road terror, and with the noise it made and the number of broken down parts, I needed to change it. I just needed time and money to fix them that I did not have. At least, it could still take me to work. I sped up towards my office.

"Let's have lunch today so we can discuss this stupid decision of yours." Lucas said, and I frowned. I didn't appreciate him calling my decisions stupid.

"I can't make it for lunch, and why are you even reacting like this? It's so unlike you."

I heard him take a deep breath. "Why not? I... never mind. It's not like you will understand with you being so dumb."

I took a deep breath, there it was again. Another insult. "I'll try to make it for lunch or dinner, but I have to go." I said, pulling into my parking space and coming down from the car.

"Danielle." He snapped, and I paused. "Lucas, I'm late. I'll call you back." I said and dropped the call, took a deep breath, and entered the gigantic building that housed my office. Hopefully, my boss would also be late today.

************************************

A hand grabbed me, and I nearly let out a scream. "What the..." I didn't finish the words as my boss' slid to my front. "I'm sorry." I apologized and looked around, hoping no one could see us. I wasn't completely delusional and even though I'd convinced myself I didn't care what others thought of me, that wasn't completely true.

"What are...?" I wasn't allowed to finish my question as he pulled me into the stairway. I looked up at him in confusion to find him glaring... at me? Was this because of my lateness? What exactly had I gotten myself into then, if he was being this sensitive about me being a few minutes late to work?

"Haven't you checked your phone?" He demanded in a whisper, and I shook my head. He sighed. "I forgot yesterday to exchange numbers with you."

I nodded and texted my number into the phone he slid towards me, and he did the same on my phone. Why did I need to check my phone? I collected my phone when he was done and opened it, my eyes going wide at the number of unread messages that were on the employees group chat.

He just watched me silently as I opened the chat, and my face went pale and then flushed. I turned the phone towards him. "What happened?" Why were there different rumors about me, and why was his name with mine? All between the closing hours of the day before and today, and the gossip mill had already gotten busy. Had they already found our secret?

He wiped his face with his hand, a little aggressively, and gave me his phone, and I let out a gasp, my shock quickly turning into humor as I tried to control my laughter at the post.

"Is this funny to you?" He asked, and I couldn't exactly pinpoint what his tone had meant.

I nodded and then shook my head. The comments from the employees were a little funny, if I was being honest, with how ridiculous some of them were. The one that had made me break was someone saying they had seen me hanging around him in a club, and that was how I'd seduced him. I didn't even remember the last time I'd entered a club, and the thought of my boss being in a club had seemed so funny. "A little. How did it get on the company website? I don't have access there, and I doubt you posted it there."

"I didn't post it there, but I can get who did it, and I'm not going to take it lightly. Did you tell anybody what we discussed?" He asked, voice filled with doubt, and I shook my head.

"I'm a new employee here, and I have no friends. Who could I have told? Besides, didn't we agree not to outrightly announce it since it was fake anyway?"

I studied him. Why exactly had he gotten angry, though? If anything, I was the one that was meant to be furious. Had he gotten angry because my name had been mixed with his? I didn't want to know the answer to that, so I didn't ask.

"Well, there's nothing more we can do since it's already out. We just need to move up our timeline and work on our acting." He said, and I nodded. That, I could do.

We'd met for dinner to further discuss the terms in the contract and our roles, and he had brought it out that we act like a couple for a couple of months so we would be able to fool our parents and his employees. Now that the employees knew about our 'relationship', it was only a matter of time until his parents found out. As for me, there was no way, absolutely no way that my mother was going to find out since I knew very well that was going to be the day I would die.

"We'll also need to put things in place now to get married as soon as possible." He said, and I internally sighed. Where had that come from? What happened to discussing things together?This was exactly what I had wanted, but now that it was glaringly obvious I had no idea what went through his mind, I was beginning to doubt my safety.