"You... I thought you were sleeping," Emily hurriedly said in an accusing tone as she looked away to hide the blush that was decorating her cheeks. 

"I was but... couldn't anymore as you are finally here," Kaiden replied as he gave her a small smile. He took hold of her right hand and brought it close to his lips before planting a soft kiss on her knuckles.

Though Emily was feeling funny tingles running all over her body which were making her heart go soft for the man in front of her, she did not forget that they were being watched.

"If they ended up sending a picture of this to my brothers you won't be able to hold my hand for a long long time." She reminded him before slowly retracting her hand.

Kaiden immediately let out a frustrated groan as his eyes landed on the group of bodyguards that were positioned around the apartment complex especially to keep him at a proper distance from Emily.

"Your brothers are cruel," He said in an unhappy tone while turning his face to look at her. She was so close to him but he was still unable to pull her in his arms like he wanted to.

He watched as a small smile bloomed on her punk lips as she replied, "You only have yourself to blame. You are reaping exactly what you sow. Don't pretend like you don't deserve this."

"You are just as heartless as them." He could not stop himself from voicing out the complaints of his broken heart.

"Unfortunately, you are stuck with a heartless mate and her heartless family for the time being." Emily countered with a beautiful smile on her face that was making her eyes twinkle.

Kaiden stared at her in silence for a couple of seconds, taking in her angelic beauty and the warmth that she was radiating. His hands started to itch to pull her into his arms and it took all his self-control to not do so.

"Am I going to be tortured at the camping site too? They won't allow me anywhere near you, right?" He already knew the answers to his questions but still ended up asking anyway. There was a tiny little stupid part of his heart that was expecting a miracle.

"It's alright. Fighting!" Emily patted his shoulder lightly as she encouraged him to go through the difficult time.

Kaiden groaned again as he turned his face away to avoid looking at her teasing expressions. She was enjoying the torture that her brothers were inflicting on him. He promised himself to get even with her in the future.

For a moment, he wanted to not go camping so that he could save himself from the torture of staying away from her for nearly forty hours but then the thought of missing the chance of spending some time with her made him stop.

Even though he won't be allowed to touch her or hug her but at least, he won't be forbidden from talking to her. The camping trip was a great chance for him to see her having fun and enjoying her time with her family and friends.

He took a deep breath to calm himself down before returning his attention to the girl who was now busy playing with the little rabbit plushie that Mr. Kim had placed in his car that very morning.

As soon as he recalled that the plushie belonged to his Secretary, Kaiden immediately pulled it out of her hands and threw it on the back seat. 

"What's wrong?" Emily asked with a confused look on her face as she first looked at the poor plushie and then at the weird man sitting beside her.

"I'll buy you a new one. A better version of this one. If you want I'll buy hundreds of them for you but you are not allowed to touch this one. It's dirty," Kaiden said in a hurry as he stopped her from reaching out to pick up the plushie from the back seat. 

"What's wrong with you? It's not dirty at all and it's so cute. I don't want a new one, I'm happy with this one." Emily responded with a frown before she again started moving to get her hands on the plushie but unfortunately, she was stopped by the stupid person sitting on the driver's seat. 

"You are not allowed to have it. This one is not for you." Kaiden shouted as he tried to pull her back to her seat.

Emily finally stopped and settled down on her seat before she looked at the man with dead serious eyes as she questioned, "Really? Then for whom is it?" 

She was now really curious to know why he was so against her touching the cute little bunny plushie. 

"It's for my Secretary," Kaiden replied in a rush as he climbed out of the car and moved to open the passenger side door to pull her out.

"Mr. Kim?" asked Emily in a surprised tone as she tried to cope up with the sudden chilly wind that had started attacking her as soon as she stepped out of the car.

"Is it for his birthday? Or another special occasion? Should I buy something for him too then?" She asked again as they finally reached the sliding doors of her apartment building.

"No! It's not his birthday and no special occasion either. He just did well in today's meeting and I wanted to reward him. Also, there's no need for you to buy any presents for him ever. After all, you don't know about the taste of that old man. So, I'll be the one to take care of such things. Now you should return to your room. Good night." 

Kaiden did not give her a single second to respond. He made sure that she was securely inside the building and safe from the chilly wind and immediately made his way towards his car.

Emily watched with a dumbfounded expression on her face as the man left her confused and just disappeared in the darkness.

What was wrong with him?