“Where is Zayn?” Rina couldn’t stop the question from falling from her lips as William led the group of men, taking the underground entrance out of the building. She was kept in the middle, surrounded by heavily built men, totally obscured from the view of prying eyes. It hadn’t been difficult to make the decision to go with them, because Rina knew she sure as hell couldn’t get herself out of the building without risking getting attacked.
And going with Joel wasn’t even in the plan.
William shrugged, back to his quiet self. He hadn’t given Rina any response to all her questions since they left the dressing room, and it was beginning to irk her. But she knew William. He never spoke until it was totally necessary.
“Where are we headed?” She tried again, hoping that this time, a response would be met with her question.
“In a bit, ma’am,” was William’s only response as he suddenly took a sharp turn. The car came into view, and the men all stepped out of the way with William walking around to get the door open for her. They all waited for her to get in before disappearing away from view. William was the only one who went with her, getting behind the wheel, zooming away, and putting distance between Rina and the hall.
“So?” She prompted from the backseat.
“Where do you want to go, ma’am?” William questioned. “Mr. Graham wanted you to make that decision.”
“I want to go home,” Rina muttered. “It’s been a hell of a day, and I don’t think I have it in me to talk to one more person.”
William nodded and turned in the direction of her cottage, increasing the volume and allowing the voice of SZA to echo through the walls of the car. It was a seamless journey, as half the country seemed to be preoccupied with Rina Power and her role as the anonymous model of the O. S. N fashion house. News broadcasting stations were already on air, making the scintillating announcement as well as clips from the fashion show which had somehow leaked to the public. Rina was just relieved she didn’t have to come in contact with that. At least, not yet.
William pulled into her home, not stopping until he was right in front of her door. He got down at the same time as her and noted the empty driveway. Still, he walked around the cottage just to be sure no one was waiting for her there. William was certain that he hadn’t been followed.
Rina didn’t move an inch until William returned with a satisfactory look. “Have a good night, ma’am,” he said. “You need all the strength in the world for the battle you are about to embark on.”
Although William barely spoke unless he was being spoken to, on the rare occasions that he did, he never said something that wasn’t important. He nodded in the direction of her doors, asking her to go in first before he pulled away from her cottage. Rina was just so relieved to be in her comfort zone. Fishing for her key in her purse, she put it in and gave it a twist, hearing that satisfactory click before pushing the door open.
Closing the door behind her after stepping in, she gingerly took off her impossibly high heels and heaved a sigh of relief. She didn’t stop in the living room, only bending to pick up her heels with one hand as she padded across the hallway into her room.
Rina met the door slightly ajar, but she dismissed it easily, chucking it under the fact that she must have forgotten to close it before leaving the house earlier that day. She’d been in such a hurry so that was a plausible explanation.
Placing the flower vase by the other side of her bed, and the shoes in her closet, along with her emptied purse, Rina stared at her reflection in the mirror. She raised a hand to pinch her face, finally feeling the weight of everything that had happened that day. Of course. There was no way they were just going to accept her that way back into the industry, after everything they’d been made to believe. Still, for the slightest of seconds, Rina had thought that was going to be possible. Since all of those accusations were false, she thought her doing something astounding was going to shake everything they believed in.
But staring at her reflection, Rina realized that William was right. She still had a fierce battle to overcome, and even though she’d been kicked down, Rina had no plans of staying there. She was going to fight back as hard as she could, unrelentless until she got what she wanted, until the whole country finally learned the truth and restored her back to the point where she’d been pushed from.
Sighing, Rina tried to place her hands around her hips to undo the zipper of the dress. She couldn’t reach it easily after a few tries, but suddenly, she felt a pair of warm hands graze the naked skin on her waist. Rina sucked in a sharp breath, her body tensing up immediately. But after that woody scent drifted over to her, she released her body and her eyes fluttered close.
Rina felt Zayn’s hands undo the zipper, taking all the time in the world to get it down, and she enjoyed every bit of it. His fingers splayed on her waist and Rina leaned into him, taking a deep breath, soaking into the warmth and strength he was offering.
“Your legs must be hurting,” he murmured as he reached up to her shoulders, pushing the sleeves of the dress down. The top of the dress slipped off her body, and Rina shimmied until it pooled at her feet, then stepped out of the puddle made by the dress, all without Zayn taking his fingers off her skin. She stood facing the mirror, her back to him, in just her black lace panties, her eyes still closed and her breath erratic.
“I heard you wanted a glass of dirty martini,” he whispered into her ears, and a delicious tingle ran through Rina.