Death Wish

22 | Nine Words

" How are you feeling now, Raina? "

" I am alright now, you do not need to worry about me " She answered in a rushed manner as she stared into his eyes.

" Too bad, I worry about you Raina " He smiled at her. She had shared a deep secret with him last night and she did not regret it but then, it made her feel like she had disrespected Thea Addington.

Clearing her throat, she looked away and lifted the lunch bag, diverting the attention, " Lunch? "

" Of course " Roux smiled at her before taking the bag. He did not want to order even if he was starving. He declined breakfast because he wanted to eat Raina's meal only and he could not just wake her from her sleep so he waited, and here she was.

The patient dog always eats the fattest bone, after all.

Roux tried to hide his excitement as he walked towards his table to have whatever she made. About his shirtless state, it partially had nothing to do with Raina's expected arrival. Roux always took off his dress shirts, preferring to stay shirtless especially when he had no meetings for the next hours and today was not an exception.

" Care to join me? " Roux Addington offered as he settled down and Raina shook her head and slowly walked around the large office.

" No thank you, I am not hungry " She stated honestly as she approached the shelves, ignoring the burning gaze she felt lingering on her.

" What did you have for breakfast then? "

She turned to face him for a moment and as expected, he was staring at her, " A fruit salad. I am fine, trust me " she stated as her eyes roamed around, accessing the book titles.

They varied from business and educational books to mystery, fantasy novels, historical fiction, science fiction, paranormal and many more, including romance which he had installed for her. Raina's eyes widened and her cheeks heated up once she spotted the familiar book stocked into the shelf.

Bared To You by Sylvia Day.

She remembered herself reading the same book the first day she had an encounter with Roux Addington and she almost died of embarrassment. Rouxs' eyes shone in amusement as he spotted the book she had been staring at for more than a minute.

Every inch of her body was screaming at her to slide the book out and continue from where she had stopped. She wanted to know the ending. She wanted to know if there was a happy ending for Eva or not but she did not want Roux to think of her differently.

" You can read it you know, It does not bite. Trust me, I have seen more erotic works " Roux intervened before taking another forkful of the meal he was enjoying. Her cheeks heated up and she turned to stare at him.

She was at loss for words but chosing to tune down the embarrassment she felt, she silently slipped the book out and flipped open to the page she had stopped at. Unconsciously, she bent to her knees and laid on the hardwood covered by a rug and Rouxs' eyes widened in surprise.

There were chairs she could sit on to read her book. Why did she chose to lay on the rug on her belly? Raina McCoy surprised him almost every single day.

The first time they had met, he also found her laying on the ground and reading her book. He thought she was cute, " You enjoy laying on the ground to read? "

Without staring at him, Raina nodded her head and placed her book on the ground. She propped her elbows on the rug and rested her chin on her linked fingers before delving into fictionland.

This was how she had enjoyed reading since she was a child.

•

Raina McCoy had read for what felt like hours until she had ended up falling asleep, halfway towards the ending of the story. Roux discovered she had turned oddly quiet and the sound of pages flipping occasionally had seized.

" Yes, of course. I will call you back later on... " Roux ended the call and rubbed his eyes, tiredly. It had been hours of non-stop typing and by now, some of his employees had already left.

His eyes sparkled in amusement as he spotted Raina fast asleep, her cheek was pressed against the page as a bit of drool escaped her parted lips. Shaking his head, he slid on his dress shirt and buttoned it up before grabbing his suit and propping it over his arm.

Walking towards her, his eyes softened and he brushed away some curls sticking to her face. Who would hurt such an innocent soul?

After contacting his private investigator, he found out about Raina's father, also about the news that he had been sentenced to prison for seven years.

After searching for Raina and to no avail, the police department finally gave up but he was sure the news of her being his wife had reached them and they knew the girl never really died as they thought. She was with him, and safe with him.

The entire world knew she belonged to him now.

" Oh, Raina. What are you doing to me? " Roux mumbled with a sigh before carefully scooping up her smaller body and picking up her book also, which had a patch of drool on the page.

She immediately snuggled into him as little snores escaped her lips as he stepped out of the office and walked down the hallway before pressing on the button to his private elevator which she had used earlier.

Stepping into the elevator, the does slid shut and he pressed on the last button before taking a step backwards to stare at the girl in his arms.

He was afraid. He was afraid of himself. He did not trust himself not to fall for her anymore. Now he regretted the way he had treated her all those months before. She gave up her life to help him and his children and he had treated her like trash.

The rules he had set were not strong enough to hold him back and now he had fallen for her. Thea Addington could not pick a better woman than the one in his arms.

He did not care about her past. Everyone had a past and it differed from the present and also the future. But Roux Addington knew that he stood a chance to have a future with her.

Bending to place a kiss on her forehead, he straightened his posture and looked away from her, " I think I have fallen for you, Raina McCoy "

They were nine words and he meant every single one he had uttered. With a heaved breath, he stepped out of the elevator as the doors slid open.

Well, there was a saying that the universe does not give you what you ask for with your thoughts, it gives you what you demand with your actions.

And now, he had to act.