THE GUILTY CONSCIENCE AND THE AFFAIR

"What with the serious face?" Michael furrowed his brow when he saw Arlo glare at his computer, as if that thing had offended him in some way.

Arlo closed the tabs he worked on and turned around to face his little brother. "What is it?"

"Aubrey is down stairs, she insisted on meeting you, it's a great effort to keep her in place." Michael scratched his head. He looked upset.

He had the same facial features as Arlo, but he was a little bit skinnier than his older brother, with red hair and honey brown eyes. He just dyed his hair a few days ago and got scolded by their parents. Though he was twenty five, you couldn't see the difference between him and a sixteen year old teenager, since he still acted like one.

"You are okay with River, right?" Michael took a book from the table and flipped it open casually. "I have not seen her for two weeks. Everything is alright with you two?"

"Yes." Arlo's eyes turned dark at the mention of River's name. It had been two weeks since that night and he had not yet gotten any proper sleep. He didn't want anyone to bother him, though.

"So? What's the deal with Aubrey? She has been looking for you recently and you have not once met her."

Arlo took the book from Michael's hand and then stood up. "I am going to meet her."

And without saying anything anymore, he walked out of his work office room, but he still could hear how his brother sighed about how badly he missed River. The two of them were close.

Since two weeks ago, Aubrey had been blowing up his phone, because Arlo had shut himself up. He still couldn't come to terms with the truth that River was gone. She died. The term was very foreign in his ears and it messed with his mind big time.

However, there was still hope. His men had been searching around the Aspen bridge, but found nothing. There was a chance for her to survive. Knowing her skills, she could survive that.

She had to survive…

"Arlo!" Aubrey cried out when she saw Arlo walk down the stairs. The house of Barlowe was very big and spacious, but you could feel the coldness and Arlo gave off the same coldness as this house. "I have been looking for you!"

"Follow me," Arlo said. He didn't want to discuss anything in a public area. His brother could accidentally hear this conversation.

Aubrey immediately followed him to one of the guest bedrooms and started her waterworks. "Why did you ignore me?" She sobbed. "I am so scared, our family is a mess because they couldn't find River and I am afraid father will figure out what happened."

Arlo clenched his jaw. His impulsive thought told him to let the head of the Lozen family know about his daughter, so he could help with the search, but he knew he would probably kill him first if he learned the truth.

"I told you not to contact me for at least two months, until everything cooled down," Arlo reminded her.

Aubrey stopped crying, she wiped her tears and approached Arlo, she hugged him. "I missed you. How could you expect me to be okay not to be in contact with you for two months?"

Arlo looked at the beauty in his arms. Aubrey was very different from River, her eyes sparkled differently. She was not as ambitious as River. Aubrey was demure and timid, someone that he thought suited to be his wife, not a brazen woman, who could kill off someone without even flinching.

"Be patient." Arlo said, he caressed Aubrey's cheek and she tiptoed to kiss him. The kiss started very gentle, but soon enough, Arlo threw her to the bed and let out his building frustration on her.

"Slow down, Arlo…. Ah!" Aubrey was overwhelmed by the intensity of his love making, he was always aggressive when he was with her and Aubrey would act so timid. "Please, slowly…"

Yet, Arlo didn't listen to her, he pinned her arms above her head and started to thrust into her faster and harder. He covered her lips with his to muffle her cries.

But, his mind still wondered about the person, who looked into the Lozen's family business. He didn't manage to trace them.

In this case, he needed to report this.

============================== 

"That's a close call…" River sighed deeply.

She wiped her face roughly and stretched her body. She didn't know who the person that tried to track her from the other end was, but for now, it would be safe for her to not check on Lozen's family.

"Leighton…" River mumbled under her breath when she thought about that last target. Someone wanted to kill a certain person from the Leighton family, but unfortunately, River couldn't manage to get more information than this.

She thought about it for a while, but then decided to warn Ronan.

"Well, I got a lot of money from him without any trouble, I will count this as him using my service, so I will not have a guilty conscience if one of his family members died." River justified her actions, but she thought about it for a while. "It could be him too. He made a lot of enemies recently."

It was not that hard for River to get Ronan's private email. That man really needed to strengthen his security.

After River gave him a heads up, she felt so hungry and went out of her bedroom to go to the kitchen and make herself food before sleeping.

It was in the middle of the night, so it was obvious that this house was very quiet. But, River was familiar with this quietness, in truth, she found this silence very comforting, as she used to work in such stillness.

And when River was about to get something from the freezer, she felt someone coming and his voice ruined this peaceful moment.