Rina couldn’t breathe. No. She didn’t want to. It was hard to imagine what it felt like without this moment etched in her memory, clawed so deep that it would be hard to uproot it. She stayed that way, memorizing every bit of the moment, from the smell of his skin to the silent whispers of his clothes as it kissed hers softly.
And even when her phone vibrated in her pockets, it didn’t register to Rina. Her eyes remained closed, lost in the feeling of being held, and the notion of being protected. The last few minutes had been unpredictable, and even though it was weird that she found stability here, in Zayn’s arms, she refused to think about it on the spot.
Zayn pulled her impossibly closer to himself. Fear had never been an emotion he’d felt before. Even his father used to say there was nothing that scared Zayn Graham, right from his infancy. He’d always taken things head-on, only bothering about the consequences later, when he was done with it.
But the minute he’d heard that William’s car was being tailed when Rina was in it, Zayn felt a sudden bout of fear overshadow him. It had taken everything in him not to bound into the road to go get her himself. That, and the fact that he knew William was his best man. There was no one better than him, and that alone was enough assurance that Rina was going to be safe.
But that hadn’t stopped him from pacing the length of the villa when he’d arrived. And at the sound of the approaching car, he’d run out through the doors, just wanting to ensure Rina was fine. But now that all of that was behind them, Zayn wondered how he was going to explain the situation away. There were a ton of things that made no sense right there, and he knew Rina was bound to ask questions.
But a part of him wished she wouldn’t, that she would just chuck it up as one of those things that happened and let it go.
When he pulled away slowly, he saw that William had gone around the villa with the car. He wouldn’t have wanted to be there to witness that scene. Zayn looked back at Rina, looking for traces of the rough ride she’d just been through. But she looked great, giving nothing away. Zayn knew there was a reason he’d chosen her to be his contract wife, but every day, he kept discovering new things.
“Let’s go in,” Zayn breathed, leading her inside. Rina followed him quietly, different thoughts running through her head. But at the same time, she was scared that the minute she had them out, they would become so meaningless and that she would blame herself for even thinking that this meant anything more than the superficial.
She of all people should know how Zayn was. It was hard to predict his actions, and just when anyone thought they’d figured out what he was thinking, he turned around and flipped it up on them. That was enough proof for Rina that this wasn’t what her body desperately wanted it to be, even though every rationality in her tried to fight it off.
So why didn’t she want to believe it? Why was it so hard to take it the way it was?
“I use this place when I don’t want to stay in town,” Zayn said, walking further into the villa. They passed through a small room for welcoming guests, into a larger living area with a state-of-the-art decoration. Rina nodded as his eyes took in the sight, pleased and impressed with Zayn’s taste in art. Almost everything was built in glass, from the railings on the stairs to every door in the villa. The windows were floor-length and the rug felt so luxurious under Rina’s feet.
She smiled easily as her eyes fell on Mona Lisa’s portrait hanging on the wall. When Zayn Graham’s name was mentioned in public, she understood why it opened even the grounds. No one had enough money for that, yet he still lived comfortably, like it hadn’t scratched his pockets in the slightest.
“What would you love to have?” Zayn asked lazily. His initial fervor and intensity were gone, replaced by a shield he had put up around himself. Rina didn’t know how, but she recognized it on the spot.
“I haven’t had breakfast,” she answered, suddenly feeling the fatigue poke at her. She had totally forgotten she hadn’t slept the whole night, and now that the ordeal with the ride was over, she just wanted to close her eyes and go to bed.
“Okay. Let’s do that then. We can talk while you eat.”
“Hi, Zayn,” an older woman strolled out from the kitchen easily balancing a plate of waffles on one hand and a clear jug filled with orange juice on another. Her head was full of tidy wide hair put up into a tight ponytail, and her pretty green eyes made Rina feel she could see into her soul without even getting to know her. The skin beside her eyes folded into beautiful wrinkles as she placed the food carefully on the table and beamed at him.
“I never thought I would see the day where you aren’t at work this early in the morning,” she said. “I’m happy you’re taking a break.”
“I’m not, Su,” Zayn rolled his eyes. “I just needed to talk some business with Rina before going in to work. See? This is still a form of working.”
“Business, hun?” She scoffed; her doubts obvious in her tone. After serving Zayn a few pieces of waffles, she left him to handle the juice himself and turned to Rina.
“Rina Powers,” she beamed, smiling all over. “The last time I met you, you were way asleep and couldn’t even raise your arms to take your clothes off.”
Rina didn’t understand what was happening. She looked to Zayn for some form of explanation.
He rolled his eyes again. “Rina, this is Susan. She’s been taking care of me since I was a kid. My parents employed her but I asked them to give her to me because…”
“Because he’s a picky little eater and doesn’t trust anyone else to look after him as well as I would.”
“Su…”
“What? I didn’t say anything not true.”