Chapter 11: Suspicious

"That's right. We need to find out who the hacker could be. Hacking such powerful places take a lot more than ordinary hacking skills. We need to narrow down a list," Scott said. "Can you help out with that, Kacey and Dan?"

"We're on it boss," they said.

"Jake, Mandy, could you two handle the robber just brought in. He's apparently a drug dealer as well. Maybe we could get something new from him."

"Copy that," Jake said before they walked out of the room.

"Lina, why don't you get some rest. You just got back from the trip and I'm sure you're exhausted. Besides, I thought you were coming back later today?"

*Arianna's P.O.V*

"I was," she said taking soft steps towards him, "...but I had the chance to come earlier and I couldn't miss it 'cause I had missed you so much." She immediately leaned in and gave him a lingering kiss. Her eyes slowly drifted to meet mine as they pulled out of the kiss. I did well to hide my shock and pain. I immediately rolled my eyes and looked away when I saw the satisfaction on her face. In a way, I wasn't surprised at all. It made more sense as to why she seemed to despise me so much. She knew who I was and suddenly a thought crossed my mind. 'She knows who I am! Then I'll have to blow my cover with her. Great!' I thought and face-palmed myself. 'I need to clear this up with her before she goes telling the rest,' I thought.

I snapped out of my thoughts to realize everyone was looking at me in confusion.

"Are you okay?" Lina asked obviously feigning concern. I looked at Scott to find an expression I couldn't really understand on his face.

"I'm fine. There's just something I need to discuss with both of you, urgently," I said nonchalantly. I was truly hurt but I had no intentions of showing it to satisfy Lina.

Scott looked confused but suddenly read the expression on my face and knew exactly what I wanted to talk to them about. It was as though we communicated telepathically. His brows lifted in realization and he looked at Lina. "I agree," he said and turned back to me, "Let's go to my office."

On our way, I remembered I had left my phone back where we were. Just when I was about to enter, I overheard Dan insist to Kacey that Scott and I had communicated without a word. Kacey was brushing his thoughts off. "He obviously understood what she was talking about probably because they had discussed it earlier," she said.

"Oh come on..."

"Or probably it was because of how Lina was treating Rylie," she said sounding more sure.

"He also addressed her as Arianell instead of Rylie when Rylie is her first name. What if they've known themselves for long?" Dan went on.

"Well, so what?" Kacey asked uninterestedly.

"Maybe she's his ex. That's probably why Lina was all defensive with her because it's unlike her. She was obviously jealous. Plus the note Scott got. He said it was from someone he used to know and I could have sworn he looked at her," he justified in amazement. He was really smart and observant. That was a good trait for his job but bad for my situation. At that point, I knew I had to be very careful.

"You're just being paranoid right now Dan. Now let's get back to work," Kacey said.

At that very moment, I walked in like I had heard nothing. "Hey, I left my phone. Just came to grab it," I said as I walked over to where I stood for the meeting.

Dan was closer and grabbed it before I could. At that point, I thought he intended to delay me to question me but I showed no panic. "Here you go Arianell," he said politely.

I thanked him with a chuckle and stepped out. I was sure he was expecting a look of shock since he addressed me with my supposed middle name. Chuckling was bound to make him think I preferred to be referred to in that way. I didn't miss how his sneaky smile disappeared into a genuine one.

I turned around to leave when he suddenly made a comment to me. "You have a cute chuckle by the way." I thanked him and winked at him before stepping out. That was close.

I made my way to Scott's office, reminiscing our past.

***

Flashback...

"You made it obviously! You're in Quantico now!" I whisper-yelled, trying to contain my excitement for him. He gave me a tight hug and planted multiple kisses all over my face and neck while I hung on him with my legs wrapped around his waist and his strong arms were wrapped around my slender waist.

"You've been my biggest support Arianna. What would I ever do without you?"

"You'd probably find another woman and..." I started to release my legs on around his waist but he immediately one of his arms on my waist and held one of my legs.

"Arianna Quinn?" He called softly, his perfect grey eyes sparkling with an emotion I wasn't certain of.

"Scott Andrews," I said with a chuckle, hoping to lighten up the mood again. It didn't quite work. He still had the same tender expression.

"Don't let go. Don't you ever.... because I don't know what I'll be like without you but it won't be good. Arianna promise me that..."

I cupped his cheeks and planted a soft heartwarming kiss on his beautiful pink lips. "Scott, I promise I'll love you for the rest of my life and that will never change. I can't let go off you... even if I would ever want to, which is for sure impossible," I said and we both chuckled.

"Once everything is settled, honey, will you..." he was saying when suddenly a thought seemed to have crossed his mind, "No, scratch that. What I meant was, once everything is settled, Arianna Quinn, I'll marry you." His expression was serious and warm as he placed me on my feet. He reached out into his jacket and took out a little red box. My heart almost jumped out of my body as he slowly went down on his knees. He opened the box and an immediate sparkle hit my face as the setting sunlight from the window hit the diamond ring.

"I know I've been calling out your full name since I got here but I need to do that now," we both laughed while tears freely run down my cheeks. "Arianna Mikayla Quinn, I know we're still quite young and all but will you..."

"Scott of course I will. Do you even need to ask? I'll marry you and only you," I said crying with a chuckle; tears of joy. I brought my left hand forward, which he took gracefully and planted a kiss on.

"Oh Arianna, I had a whole message in my head I planned to say when proposing," he laughed and I spotted a sparkle in his eyes. That was the first time I saw tears in his Scott's eyes, yet, they never fell down his face.

"How could you even think you'd have to say a whole message before I respond?" We both burst out in laughter as he placed the ring on my finger. Scott got up and lifted me up by my waist. I wrapped my legs around his waist and he wrapped his arms around mine. It was something we did very often. His muscular physique and my petite one fit perfectly. He held on to me with one hand and moved a strand of my hair out of my face and fixed it behind my ear. He then brushed my cheek with his thumb while the rest of his free palm held my neck gently yet firmly, looking at me like he was seeing my soul. The warmth in his eyes made my heart jump over and over again. He then kissed me, a lingering and purely affectionate kiss.

Suddenly, just when we pulled out of the kiss to catch a breathe, "POP", a loud sound, startling me was heard at the door of Scott's kitchen. Out came Isabelle with an open bottle of champagne, Matt with a camera in his hand, and  Clarke with a large cake. "Congratulations guys!" They yelled in unison and Matt howled like a wolf, causing us all to burst out in laughter.

"Typical Matt," Scott whispered to me and we both chuckled.

***

End of Flashback.

'That's all in the past now Arianna Quinn. Now, you're only Rylie Arianell Stone to him. He's happy with another beautiful woman. Move on,' I thought to myself and looked down at my phone. 'I better get my mind off those memories before I go meet the beloved couple. Here, I'm Rylie Arianell Stone, a tough skinned agent, not Arianna Quinn, the softie forever in love with Scott Andrews.'