Rina mulled about it all through the night, tossing and turning under the comfortable sheets. She had promised herself that the issue of being Zayn’s contract wife was only going to be a bother for her after the fashion show when she had the whole burden of getting the models ready for it out of her mind. But now that Zayn had brought it up, it was hard to shelf it back up in her mind.
Rising from underneath the covers, Rina pranced barefoot through the room, then deciding she needed a glass of warm milk, walked down the stairs to get one from the kitchen. She walked into the darkness, forgoing the need to turn on the lights. The hum of the refrigerator was her anchor until she stopped in front of it, pulling the door open to get out the carton of milk.
Grabbing a saucepan from its hook, Rina poured a healthy amount into it and turned on the stove, balancing the pan on it and leaning on the countertop, counting the seconds in her head. She tried to be as quiet as possible, not wanting Susan to meet her here in the middle of the night, snooping around. She understood that a woman never wanted another woman in her territory, and this right there, belonged to Susan.
Satisfied that the milk was warm enough, Rina turned off the stove and grabbed a glass, pouring the milk into it. She settled on the barstool against the kitchen island to enjoy the milk, staring at nothing in particular as she drank. She had left her phone back in the room intentionally so she could have just her hands and her mind to work with.
Rina didn’t buy the idea of always having gadgets at her disposal. Sometimes, like tonight, she wanted her mind to wander without restraints, to grow wings and fly, zoom over the world and act like everyone bowed to it, before returning to her.
She raised the rim of the glass against her lips, taking a small gulp. The warmth of the milk traveled down her throat and Rina closed her eyes, taking solace in the silence and the dark. She began humming a song in her head. It was a lullaby her mother used to sing to her when she was much younger. It stopped when Rina started Elementary school and it made her angry. But her mother had wanted her to grow up on time.
Rina thought about her family far from her and wondered if she should go see them when she left the villa that day. She could return on Monday morning, then go to the cottage first to get ready before heading into the fashion house. She had a shoot later that day for some pieces of clothing in an old line. Joel wanted to get that done before the fashion show.
And then she would train her models for the night before heading back home. Rina didn’t include Zayn in her plans because not including him made her excited. She anticipated the little things he always had planned, inserting them into her day so perfectly, almost like it was planned with the rest of it.
Her mind strayed to the contract marriage and what it would mean to her. Zayn had been right when he said she would be unstoppable the minute she added his name to hers. Rina could imagine the looks on Finn and Kayla’s faces when the wedding was announced. It would get to every corner of the country and beyond because of how popular she and Zayn were.
Kayla would be more enraged and would want to do anything within her power to stop Rina from getting married. She knew her best friend was that type of person. Or rather, former best friend. The minute she had it out for anyone, she would do anything within her power to ensure nothing good ever came out of the person. But Rina wanted her to know that she messed with the wrong person. There was no way Rina Powers would ever stay back and do nothing, after being publicly embarrassed.
“What are you doing in the dark, Ma’am?” The lights flipped on suddenly and Rina looked up, expecting to see Zayn. Instead, Williams sauntered in, fully covered in pajamas. He opened the refrigerator and grabbed a bottle of water, gulping it all down at once before facing Rina.
“You should go to bed,” he said. “It’s pretty late.”
“I couldn’t sleep,” Rina sighed. “Hoping this glass of warm milk would help.”
“Is it something I can help with?”
“What?”
“The thing bothering you.”
“Oh.”
“Whatever it is, you should tell Zayn. He always knows what to do about everything.”
“Thank you.”
William plunged the kitchen back into darkness when he turned off the lights.
“William?”
“Yes, ma’am?”
“Did you ever go back to investigate the guys that were chasing us after you got me from work? I never got to ask you about it.”
If the lights had been left on, Rina would have seen the reservation in William’s eyes. Still, she registered the silence that seemed to span many more seconds that needed before he breathed and said, “Do you want me to tell you when I look into it?”
At that moment, Rina knew that he had. William knew the people in the car that had chased them down here, but he wasn’t going to tell her. And Rina had a huge inkling that Zayn had put him up to it. She understood how loyal William was to Zayn, and nothing she said was going to change that.
“Thank you for working on it so quickly,” she said instead. “Do you think Zayn would tell me if I asked him directly instead? I don’t want to put you in an uncomfortable situation.”
“Maybe,” William shrugged, then he realized that she couldn’t see him in the darkness, that she wasn’t even looking. “Goodnight, Ms. Powers.”
“Goodnight William.”