Kayla and Finn had already been gone for a few minutes, but Rina still stood there, staring at nothing in particular. Her plans of coming up in the industry were getting stronger, with the brand spreading further than she had imagined. They had gotten a lot of calls for collaborative shoots, and Joel had ensured to communicate her reservation, that she would only partake in it if her identity remained a secret. That meant none of the other party could be in the studio during the shoot and she would only do it with the media team she was used to.
Surprisingly, they followed through with it, only wanting the sensation that the media had gone crazy over. Sometimes, Rina tried to gauge what their reaction would be the minute they discovered Rina Powers had been the one behind the image all the while. They sang her praises now, but would they do the same the minute the anonymity cloak got ripped off?
But Rina felt a sense of urgency, now more than ever. Kayla’s threat wasn’t going to fall into bad soil. If being friends with Kayla for so long had taught her anything, it was that Kayla was never one to be underestimated. When she threatened to do something, she usually went through with her threats. Rina knew this was no different.
“Why don’t you go in to rest, ma’am?” William said suddenly, snapping Rina out of her thoughts. She’d forgotten he was still standing in front of her. And just then, she realized she hadn’t even asked him for the reason behind his sudden presence.
“Did Zayn ask you to drop something over?”
William nodded.
“Where is it?”
“There.” He nudged towards the car, and Rina, thinking it was something inside the car, remained rooted to the spot, waiting for him to get it out. When it felt like she had gotten something wrong, with the way William stared at her, Rina bit her bottom lip and asked. “Aren’t you going to get it?”
“That’s it, ma’am,” William replied. “The car.”
Her eyes fell wide open. Who on earth casually made a purchase of a car just like that, to someone he didn’t have any commitment to other than some damn paper? Rina found it hard to believe.
“I don’t think I understand,” she said slowly, angling her head.
William was really patient with her. It was either that he was an emotionless man because Rina could read nothing from his expression.
“Mr. Graham requested I bring the car to you.”
“He got me a car?” Rina repeated, looking from William to the red BMW.
William handed the key over, but Rina still felt like she was floating. She took it from his hands gingerly, her lips parted, her face flushed a bright shade of red, and her eyes disbelieving.
“He really did,” she whispered.
“He should be here…” Just as soon as William had those words out, a white sports car sped in and pulled up at the driveway. Rina had no doubt this time that it was Zayn. He got out of the car and walked briskly over to them, a scowl plastered on his face, and a sense of urgency in his steps.
“Where are they?” were the first words he growled the minute he got close to them. His hands folded into fists by his side, and he looked from William to Rina, waiting for a response.”
“They left already, Sir,” William provided him with an answer. “I took care of it.”
“I’m going to get one of my men to watch you while you’re in the house.”
“Zayn…”
“He’s going to be conspicuous. I promise you are not going to notice him.”
“It’s not that,” Rina said, looking up at him. The sun danced in her eyes with all its ferocious glare, making her turn her face back down, making do with staring at his chest.
“Don’t tell me you want me to stay out of this too.”
Rina looked up at William, but he was already stalking away, disappearing from view before she could blink.
“I can take care of Kayla myself. It’s the least of my worries right now.”
“And your sneaky ex-husband?”
Despite the situation, Rina’s lips raised in an unheard chuckle. She liked the solidarity – the fact that despite the fact that Zayn hadn’t ever met Finn personally, he hated him just for the mere fact that she did too and that he had hurt her.
“Finn is the least of my worries right now,” Rina lied through her teeth. In truth, she was scared about losing her cottage as she hadn’t gotten around to calling the lawyers who had once worked with her when she was still a huge name in the industry. Although the chances of them helping out were slim, Rina wanted to keep an open mind.
“He just instituted legal action against you. How aren’t you worried about that?”
Rina sighed. “I can handle it, Zayn.”
“Just let me put one of my men out here at night,” he pushed. “I would feel better if I knew someone was here with you.”
Rina thought about it for a minute. It was going to draw undue attention to her cottage if someone parked out all night, but Zayn was already trying to meet her halfway. The least she could do was allow him.
“Okay,” she breathed, licking her lips. His eyes followed the movement, slowly, deliberately. The blue of his pupils darkened and his lashes framed his face.
“On one condition,” she breathed. Even though they were out under the evening skies, Rina felt like a sudden surge of heat had overtaken the atmosphere. “You have to take the car back. I can’t accept such a gift from you. It’s…”
“Would you rather accept rides from Joel in the middle of the night?”
“Zayn…”
“I’m not taking it back,” he announced. “So, you either use it or just let it sit pretty around here. But when you need a ride back from work, call me.”