She opened the crimson wooden door, and found a figure she couldn't be more familiar with outside-

Brian!

Her reaction was just what Brian expected. She first widened her eyes in surprise, dazed for seconds, and then dived into his arms to hug him tightly.

She was only wearing thin pajamas, so Brian wrapped herself into his arms with the coat. She looked up like a hamster, her smiling eyes shining brightly. "How come you're here?"

Brian casually raised his brow. "Didn't you say you missed me?"

A bright smile registered on Joanne's face. She didn't know if Captain Turner and others had heard the noise because they unanimously went out of their rooms. They let out some exaggerated exclamation and teased her with all the embarrassing words they could think of.

"Joanne, this is against the rules, you know. But I'll approve this on behalf of Captain Turner since Mr. Lambert came all the way for you!"

"Killing single dogs again. Joanne, you must feel so sweet, right?"

Joanne already blushed to the extreme, so she directly buried her face in Brian's arms like an ostrich. "Come inside the room!"

While saying, she dragged Brian into the room and slammed close the door.

The moment Brian came in, he felt the temperature too low. He reached out to feel the heat by the heating fan and frowned. "Is this thing working?"

"... the entire heating in this hostel is just willful like that."

Expectedly, Brian knitted his brows tighter. "So how will you sleep?"

"Didn't you pack heating pads for me? I'll use them." Joanne smiled casually. "Even without them, I'll be warm after sleeping for a while. I'm not that delicate."

She was not delicate, while Brian felt sorry for her. "There are so many hotels. Why didn't you live a hotel?"

"We usually stay in hostels on business trips. Even if I want to live in hotels, other colleagues might not want to. We're a team, and I don't want to be special..."

Brian stroked Joanne's head. "Go pack your things."

Joanne blinked. "What for?"

"To change a hostel for you."

After that, Brian walked out.

Joanne packed her things in doubt, and soon Brian returned. He picked her suitcase and led her out of the room.

Captain Turner, Hannah, and other members had actually been waiting outside.

Finally, Joanne knew what Brian was up to, and the "other hostel" he mentioned was actually a five-star hotel near the Glasgow's CBD. In any room of the hotel, they could see the bright lights by the river and the landmarks on the other bank.

Fetching the room card, Hannah excitedly rushed to hug Joanne. "My first time in a five-star hotel! Tonight, you must 'thank' Mr. Brian for us very sincerely!"

Captain Turner and others echoed Hannah's words, and Joanne felt so embarrassed that she almost wanted to slide into a crack on the floor. However, there was nothing like that on the hotel floor, so she could only pretend to miss the implication in their words. Also, she pretended not to know this was the hotel Brian and she stayed in last time they visited Glasgow.

After more than half a year, everything had changed.

"Mr. Lambert, Mrs. Lambert, this is your room card." The hotel manager sent the room card to Brian in person.

Moreover, it turned out to be the room they stayed in last time!

The heat in the suite was working properly, and Joanne finally stopped quivering. After unpacking her things, she found Brian taking off his clothes.

Everything he did had that fascinating charm, even the way he gently unbutton his shirt could make her swallow. After watching him do it for more than half a year, she still would occasionally find her heart racing.

Freya once said that keeping the other's heart racing was one of the ways to keep love fresh.

Now, she still adored Brian like she did when she was having that unrequited passion for Brian. Was she naive or was she keeping their love fresh?

Brian turned about, only to find Joanne staring at him thoughtfully. He walked to her. "Have you taken a shower?"

In the past, if he asked her that, that would mean...

Joanne quivered all over her body. "Yes, I have!"

Finishing her words, she readily jumped onto the bed as if Brian had been some disaster or monster.

Brian smiled and strolled into the bathroom.

Joanne flushed and slid between the sheets. She didn't know if Brian had closed the door solid, because she could hear the water splattering on the bathroom floor.

She had been on her feet doing experiments for half of the day, sorting and writing reports more for several hours. Now, Joanne felt very tired actually. Thus, listening to the splattering water, she felt drowsy.

How long it had been, she didn't know. She only felt that she was back in the familiar chest, breathing in the familiar scent. Immediately, it soothed her and made her relax.

"Hubby..." She was drifting out of consciousness and could only mumble by instinct.

Brian branded a kiss between her eyebrows. "Goodnight."

Joanne immediately fell into the dark and sweet dreams and slept through the night.

...

It was on the next day.

Joanne just woke up, only to find Brian getting changed through her blurry vision. Thus, she scrambled up as well. "You're going back to Arlington today?"

She knew that in the near future, Brian didn't have any arrangements in Arlington. He probably appeared here yesterday just on a whim.

"I'll go back after breakfast with you." Brian brushed Joanne's tangled hair, which was messy after a night's sleep. "It's still early. Go back to sleep."

However, Joanne kicked away the sheet to wash. She didn't want to sleep away the time she spent with Brian.

When they left the hotel, it was still early. Only chilling winds howled on the streets and few people were in sight.

It was very different between Glasgow and Arlington. It was clearly in winter; however, except the temperate, everything here looked like it was in spring. The crowns of the trees were green, and the flowers were still blooming.

It made Joanne, who grew up in Arlington and was used to the bleak winter landscape, really surprised.

She circled her arms around Brian's. "Where will we have breakfast?"

At that time, Brian's phone rang. He showed the text he just received to Joanne. It was from Wesley, and it said an address-address of the restaurant where they would have breakfast.

The taxi driver drove them to the destination. The restaurant was packed and most of the customers were elders enjoying their morning tea.

Wesley sat in a half-open booth separated by a partition. Yuna was sitting beside him, yawning and looking drowsy.

Brian led Joanne to sit. Joanne pointed at Yuna and gave Wesley a doubtful look.

"She's always sleepy."

Saying that, Wesley knocked Yuna in the head with chopsticks.

"Hsss!" Yuna suddenly opened her eyes, looking fierce as if she could fight someone to death right now. However, when she met with Wesley's eyes, her aura immediately died down. "Boss."

Wesley motioned her to look to the other side of the table, and only then did she find Brian and Joanne had arrived. She greeted them with a smile and handed them the menu. "Their custard buns are really great!"

Joanne ordered custard buns and several other dishes, considering others' taste. When they were waiting for the food, Brian and Wesley talked about some business matters she couldn't quite understand, so she scrolled the screen of the tablet they used to order food on the table for some gossip news with Yuna.

The restaurant served food fast. In no time, all the food was on the table. Brian naturally picked a soup dumpling, dipped in the red vinegar, and then put it into Joanne's bowl.

This kind of interactions had been frequent in their daily lives because Joanne just smiled contentedly at Brian and then had her soup dumpling.

Yuna darted a look at the man beside her and shook her head. "Boss, I know why you can't find a girlfriend!" She looked as if she had discovered a super big secret.

Unexpectedly, Wesley didn't get angry. Instead, he put on a curious face. "Please elaborate."

"Your face is pretty good. But, other than a look, you don't have anything else to attract a girl. You don't even know how to be considerate, which is a boyfriend's minimal quality. You don't deserve a girlfriend indeed!" Yuna recklessly lashed out at Wesley.

Wesley sized up Yuna and burst into a snicker. That kind of contempt and scorn could almost make everyone choke.

Yuna fought back. "What do you mean?"

"I only have a face, but you, you don't even have a pretty face to flaunt."

They could see that Yuna was mad, but she suppressed her anger after glancing at Brian and Joanne on the opposite side. She decided to put this on her revenge list.

After breakfast, on the way to send Brian to the airport, Joanne considered and said, "It didn't feel right."

"Wesley and Yuna?"

"Yes!" Joanne nodded. "Yuna didn't fear him at all, and he treated Yuna differently from other people too."

"What are you trying to say?"

"I'm not sure." Joanne cautiously said, "But if my guess is right, they'll be evident in some time."

It was just like them before. In daily lives, no matter how they tried to conceal their feelings or address the nature of their nominal marriage to others, people would surely notice the chemistry and atmosphere between them.

Love, was always mysterious for those who were trapped in it.

"We've arrived." Brian suddenly said.

Joanne subconsciously looked out and found the car park in front of the police station. She sullenly looked at Brian. "Didn't we agree to send you to the airport?"

"It's enough for me to be late for work alone." Brian got off and opened the car door for Joanne. "Get in the office."

Joanne was kind of reluctant, but since she would soon return home, it would be maudlin to say anything more. Therefore, she directly waved at Brian. "I'll come back once I finish here. Wait for me at home!"

Brian smiled and didn't get back into the car until Joanne's figure disappeared at the entrance of the police station. The car drove for a while and halted at a turn. Wesley got in the car.

Wesley automatically uttered before Brian reminded him. "Rest assured, I'll have people protect her. At least now, I'm still in charge of Glasgow."

"Thank you." Brian said.

Wesley smiled. "It's not every day that you can hear Brian say these two words. Just by that, I promise you Joanne will return to Arlington safe and sound. How's the acquisition of Scott Group?"

"Almost done."

Some of Scott Group's business had a large market share in the business. Once Brian made the acquisition, Lambert Group's empire would expand again.

By the time, even if Rowdy wanted to touch Brian, he must hesitate before he acted.

Wesley slightly leaned back. "I still haven't found out." He meant the undercover agent Rowdy set in his group.

Brian considered for a moment. "Do you ever think that he might never have set up any men around you?"

"I do. But setting up an agent to destroy them in their home base and then looting and killing is Rowdy's practice." A hint of coldness flashed through Wesley's eyes. "So, he must have set up men around me."

As for the agent, they had better hide deeper, otherwise...

Like a life-claiming Asura emerging from the darkest place, Wesley emitted fatally menacing aura all over his body.