Wife of fortune

Chapter 8

"You don't owe me anything, I'm not expecting you to give me back the money or repay me in any other way" he's saying "think of it as a gift"

"A very expensive gift" I point out.

"It's nothing" he says and finally start walking again.

"It isn't nothing" I say quietly but he heard me because he stops again and the next thing he says "you had no problem accepting a ring that cost a lot more than that painting"

"I'm gonna give it back after the year anyway" I say defensive.

"I don't need you to return it" he's saying.

"But I will" I say and he pinches the bridge of his nose. "And I'm also transferring you the money for the painting"

And the next thing I know he's grabbing my chin by his hand and holding it tight so I'm looking up at him. His look is serious and searching my eyes. "You're not giving me back anything" he says in a low tone. His eyes dip to my lips and I'm holding my breath, my heart racing.

"And from now on, as long as this contract is up to date, I can spend as much money as I want on you and you have to get used to it" he says so possessive and serious looking back up in my eyes again.

"Understood?" He asks and I'm at loss for words so I just nod. "Good"

For a while there he doesn't let go of my face. He's holding tight, his eyes looking straight into mine and I can hear my quite breaths. I'm hyper aware of everything, my chest raising in even beats, my heart beating in my chest, cold sweat ticking up the back of my neck. And his eyes travel to my lips and suddenly I'm holding my breath but not even a second later he lets go.

For a moment I'm frozen to the spot but then he nudged for me to walk and I do.

***

We walk back inside the house and it's surprisingly empty, there's no sight of Malika or Cole here. Maybe they went out.

"Where are they?" I'm asking and Grayson is shrugging his shoulders. "I'll call Cole" he says.

I watch as Grayson talks on the phone and then I notice a weird hole in the ceiling that for sure wasn't there before. What the hell. I stand up from the couch and walk over to Grayson who's still on the phone he furrows his brows as I approach him and I point to the hole. He looks at it and immediately pulls me to him and behind his back.

I feel him reach in his jacket and he pulls out a gun. That's new. He points it at the hole and shoots, all while still on the phone and the next thing I know there's someone screaming in the attic.

He hungs up the call and slides the phone on the counter. "You okay?" He asks and I nod.

"Who the hell is there?" I ask quietly.

"I don't know, stay here" he says and leaves to the hallway where there's and opening to the attic.

GRAYSON

I make my way up to the attic. There's a man rolling around with his head bleeding from the shot. I don't think I've seen him before. Just as I approach him I pin him to the ground and point the gun at him, he's begging, tears in his eyes. But sadly for him, I don't give out second chances. No matter what he was trying to do.

I take one shot and his eyes go blank. The life slowly draining from them as he stops moving and bleeds out of his forehead.

"Where the hell are you?" I answer the incoming call.

"I ran out to check out the shipment" Cole says.

"Get back as fast as you can, and call the pilot, we're leaving today" I say.

"What happened?" Cole is asking.

"I'll tell you later" I look at the lifeless body again "and stop messing with Malika, I'm not dealing with Kate when you're done with her"

"How did you-" he starts to say.

"I have eyes, I've seen how you look at her" I step down from the attic and walk back to the living room.

"We're just having fun" Cole semi laughs but I find nothing funny about this.

"Call someone to clean up" I say and hung up.

My eyes meet Kate's. She's visibly shaken up, she's not used to my world, she doesn't belong in it. We come from totally different family's and backgrounds. She's like an Angel, sweet and innocent, extraordinarily beautiful, but here she is, in my dark and cruel world.

And if I could I'd kill her grandfather for sending this upon her, but luckily for him, he's already dead. So all I can do for her is keep her safe for this year, and then send her back to her family and never let her see the dark again.

"Who was it?" She's asking.

"No one I know" I tell her and walk closer to her.

"What did you do?" Sweet and innocent.

"You don't want to know, Angel" those big green eyes staring back at me, trying to read mine, worry lingering in them. I can tell she wants to run, just now all this became real for her and she wants to run, but yet she's frozen to the spot, the curiosity getting the best of her.

"Get your stuff, we're leaving" I say and she walks past me but then stops in the middle of the room.

I can see her chest rising and falling from here. How tense her muscles are, how on edge she is.

"I'm scared" she says so quietly I almost hear it, it's more like a breath. And then she turns around again and I find myself walking towards her.

I grab her head, her hair going through my fingers and she's looking up at me with sparkly eyes. "I won't let anything happen to you" I whisper and I mean it.

"Don't let a little set back scare you" I say and now her hands are on my wrists but she doesn't break the eye contact.

"You just killed someone" she breaks the eye contact and zones out at a further corner of the room.

"I never said I was a good guy" I say and her eyes drift back to mine "but, I am a man of my word" she's listening carefully.

"And I promise you, I won't let anything happen to you"

I drop my hands and so does she. And I'm already missing her touch, feeling her warmth against my palms.

She takes a breath and turns to walk away again. And this time she makes it to her room.