5 A DAUGHTER

"Miss Mathews." Aidan said in way of greeting and she returned the greeting in a low voice. He couldn't look away from her face; it was like a porcelain doll, delicate and breakable. Smooth and pale.

"May we begin?" Tom asked, looking a bit uncomfortable.

"Right. This way please." Winter led them to the conference room with everything for the meeting prepared.

Aidan and Winter sat on one side of the table. Miss Andrews set up the laptop they had brought and handed Tom some notes then sat on the other side with Tom and opened a notebook.

Aidan was glad Winter was there because he was far too distracted with trying to figure out Antonia. His eyes kept straying to Antonia, every movement she made making him wonder how she would feel underneath him. He swiftly switched his mind back to the negotiations. He couldn't help notice how Tom looked at Miss Mathews once in a while as if to get confirmation. Perhaps he was making sure she was following everything that was going on.

The meeting went well with both parties compromising and reaching agreeable terms for the collaboration. Dare Tech was going to provide Booth Enterprises with software and hardware security solutions for all it's branches. It was a large undertaking for the small company but their plan was quite convincing.

Negotiations done, contracts signed Aidan found a way to get to know Miss Mathews better.

"How about dinner with my parents tonight to celebrate our new partnership? Of course, your lovely wife and Miss Mathews can join us."

"My wife is away at the moment and Miss Mathews…" he looked at her then, she shook her head no.

"… Miss Mathews has other plans. Maybe we can come once my wife is back in town, she is usually the only one who can convince this one."

Aidan watched as Tom smiled affectionately at Antonia, and the slight blush that covered her cheeks and knew Tom treated this woman as a daughter.

"You will call to let me know when you are free."

"Of course. It is a pleasure doing business with you."

Tom extended his hand and Aidan took it. He was about to extend it to Antonia but she had already moved to call the elevator. He watched Antonia the whole time as the doors closed.

Once they had left Aidan realized that throughout this whole meeting Antonia had not said a single word. He frowned and turned to Winter.

"She doesn't speak much does she? Does she have some kind of speech impairment?"

"She doesn't. Not that I know of anyway. But she was involved in a mugging a few years back that left her hospitalized, maybe there were some effects from there. Do you want me to look into it?" Winter asked in confusion because he could not understand what that had to do with their business with Dare Tech.

"Never mind then."

Aidan felt a surge of violent anger at the people who had hurt her. He had never felt so strongly about wanting to hurt someone on behalf of someone he just met. He made up his mind then and there; he had to know Antonia better.

He called Joe into his office.

"I need you to find out everything you can about Antonia Mathews. I need her phone number and home address immediately; you can go on from there and keep me updated. Place someone you trust as a bodyguard for her, make sure they are not seen."

"I'll do it right away Sir."

He couldn't understand where this sudden protectiveness came from but he rationalized it by thinking she was pretty much Tom's daughter and Tom was a family friend.