Rina sat by the window of her home, staring at nothing in particular. She could hear the world go by – the flowing traffic of distinct people, wrapped up in their bubbly worlds. Of course, there were the others, the vengeful ones that lurked in the comment sections of blogs and social media posts, scratching out their vile nails and clawing deep enough to draw blood.
But they weren’t the ones to blame and Rina Powers knew that. She leaned on the window sill, her features hardening. The faces flashed in her face – Kayla and Finn. She handed them her lives in trust and they mangled it beyond recognition.
And now, she was subject to this; hiding out in her cottage, the only glimpse she had of her taken through her ears. Rina laughed out loud, the sudden melancholic sound breaking through the fragile silence. It sounded foreign to Rina too, almost like a new person had been birthed from her loins.
Her bare feet touched the floor as Rina strolled into the kitchen. She gazed at the carton of orange juice standing on the slab, then focused her gaze on the closed drawer above her head. Rina needed something stronger and orange juice wasn’t going to cut it.
“I can’t believe the mess my life has become,” Rina mused, her tone sounding more amused than sad. She had gone through all the stages of grief, maybe quite faster than the average man. And at the point of acceptance, she had made her decision.
Rina Powers wasn’t going to sit back doing nothing. They’d hit her with many strikes, but this time, she was going to strike right back.
Grabbing a stool, Rina climbed onto it to reach the drawer. She screamed out in frustration when her hand barely grazed the finely polished wood, cursing Finn for making her think high-ceiling kitchens looked greater than the regular ones.
It hit her there, suspended in the air, how gullible she’d been, accepting every single thing he’d told her because that was what trust looked like. Now, he’d left her with such a gaping wound that she would forever question people’s intentions even though they were the nicest people on earth.
It probably was for the best. Rina didn’t want to ever be used that way again. Her kitchen was almost devoid of groceries, and she didn’t think she had enough to sustain the lifestyle she’d gotten used to since the age of nineteen.
Finn had taken everything away from her, throwing her at the rock bottom. But she had no plans of staying there.
The shrill of her phone interrupted her thoughts and the first thing Rina thought about was the possibility of that being a producer. Maybe George had finally been able to get the higher-ups to do something about her situation.
Rina held on to that hope as she attempted to get off the stool. The spring in her steps made her stumble and sway on the stool and Rina already imagined herself on the floor in a weird angle before her legs left the stool.
She mentally prepared herself for the impact of her body on the ground, closing her eyes and steeling herself for the pain. But when she landed on something hard yet warm, Rina had to think she had fallen to her death.
It stung that she had died that way, without exerting her revenge. But if heaven smelled as nice as that, maybe it was all for a great cause. Rina’s eyes were still closed but she released a soft sigh from her lips, resigning to fate.
Abruptly, a dark chuckle snapped her back with such force that she almost fell to the other side, where the slab was. Warm and firm hands wrapped around her waist with such fast reflexes, pulling her against a strong warm.
The hands lifted her off the stool, planting her feet firmly on the ground. Rina could place the scent now. It was the same one that had taken her to the hospital that night when she was involved in an accident.
Zayn Graham.
As the sudden realization dawned on her, Rina pushed away from him, taking a few steps back. Her gaze reached his face, stunned all over again by how perfect and menacing he looked. His powerful aura had settled in her kitchen, making the space almost overwhelming, almost bending her into submission.
Her phone rang again from the living room, startling her. Zayn looked at her with concern, angling his head. “You look like you’ve seen a ghost,” he muttered, his baritone reverberating through the walls. “Has anyone been disturbing you of late?”
Rina had had enough time to digest the aura that had settled in her kitchen. All the emotions had passed through all her eyes, leaving nonchalance and a tinge of anger.
“What are you doing here?” Rina replied with a question of her own. Zayn wasn’t supposed to be back from China for another week. She’d hoped she would have gotten a producer to employ her so she could break the news of her disinterest in marriage by the time he returned.
“Shouldn’t the question be how did I get in here?”
“That’s true!” Her eyes appeared deeply buried in contemplation. “I locked the doors! I made sure of it with all the craze going around.”
“Won’t you go answer your phone?”
Rina was put off by the fact that since he got here, he only had questions to ask her, answering none of hers. But he was right. She needed to go pick up the call.
Giving him a wary look, Rina scurried out of the kitchen, arriving at the living room just in time to receive the call before it went off. Her heart thrummed in her chest as she pressed her phone against her ears, waiting for either an acceptance or a rejection.
“Finally!” Kayla’s voice traveled into Rina’s ears, and her face immediately shrank into a scowl. She could feel Zayn’s eyes behind her, searching, waiting. It was strange having another person in this house. She’d gotten so used to solitary living that now, she felt like she had been set on fire.
Or was that something else?
“Rina?” Kayla’s voice came up again.