“At least, it’s going to be yours for the next five years after we get married, and honestly, I was thinking about changing the name on the property deeds to yours. I noticed you’ve grown attached to the space, and I wouldn’t want to take that away from you.”
“Zayn, no,” Rina shook her head. “You can’t give me a whole villa just because…”
“I can,” he chuckled. “I own a hundred of these scattered all over the country. And besides, you might consider it an early marriage annulment gift. We will be required to sign a prenup as the contract says, but I don’t want the villa included in that.”
“Zayn…”
“And you might want to get away from me sometimes,” he continued. “You know how annoying I can be. I’m certain you wouldn’t want to see that for twenty-four hours every single day.”
Rina wanted to tell him that there was nothing annoying about him, that it was in fact the opposite. She was lost in his presence each time he came around, and in those moments, nothing ever seemed better. The whole world might go up in flames right then, and Rina wouldn’t even realize it. With Finn, it was just a safe kind of love that brought nothing over the top. But with Zayn…
Every part of her suddenly stopped. Did she just use love and Zayn in the same sentence? Rina shook her head abruptly, muttering no over and over again in her mind.
“Are you good?” Zayn asked, with concern laced in his tone. He reached out for her instinctively, his fingers grazing her arm. It was things like these that made Rina think all sorts of weird things, like her being in love with him. Where did that even come from?
She slid out of his touch and chuckled awkwardly. “Erm … I’m fine. I just…”
“Rina?”
She let out a breath she’d had no idea she was holding as George approached from the corner, the moonlight reflecting on his face. He halted mid-steps when he saw Zayn beside her. “Sorry. I didn’t know…I can come back…”
“It’s fine,” Zayn said. “I was just about going inside.” Then, he turned back to look at Rina. He could feel the sudden change in the air like she had realized something that had made her recoil away from him. It hurt, strangely, but it was the last thing Zayn was going to admit.
“Don’t stay out too late,” he whispered to her. “The air is chilly, you do not want to catch a cold.” He walked briskly back into the building, leaving Rina with her racing pulse and roaring blood.
“You two look so in love.” George got closer, his boyish charm on display with that smile. “If I didn’t feel that Mr. Graham would snap me into two each time I get too close to you, and if I didn’t know he is the most powerful person in the country, I would have asked for us to be friends. It is only right that your allies in this tough world stick together.”
Rina couldn’t help the chuckle that escaped her lips. “You want to be friends with Zayn.”
“Now, when you put it like that, I hear how impossible that sounds. But by some miracle, if it happens, I would let the whole world know it. I will put it up on all my socials so that every single person who has at some point looked down on me would realize that I am no longer the same shy George.”
“I don’t think you need Zayn to prove that,” Rina murmured. “You have me.”
“You’re right, but I don’t think there’s any person in this country and even beyond that wouldn’t jump at a chance to be on speaking terms with him. It is such an honor that I got to have dinner with him tonight. Isaiah can’t stop talking about how I need to make something greater happen for you so we can do this again soon. He is over the moon with your relationship with him.”
“About that…”
“You don’t have to worry about anything. I’m not saying a word of it to anyone, at least, not until you are ready to do the honors yourself.”
“Thank you, George. For everything. Really. You’ve been such a great manager and friend all this time, and really, I don’t know what I would have done without you.”
George didn’t like compliments. He pulled his attention to the water and sighed. “I’m not sure you know the extent of how much you changed my life the day you decided to give me a shot at being your manager. It was the day I made the promise to forever protect you, even when the whole world doesn’t want that.” He was quick to change the topic, eager to move on already. “When are you signing the papers and getting it back to them? We need to get around the first shoot so you can tidy things up here. We don’t know how long you will be gone for.”
“I was planning on getting around to that tomorrow,” Rina breathed. “I just wanted to soak it all in for tonight, and to bask in the knowledge that I am still Rina Powers, and that I never stopped being that for a minute. I still attract the best in the field and Scottsdale Entertainment knows that. I want to make them apologize for tossing me out and I have to admit that I am right on track.”
“You sure are happy.”
“There’s something we need to do before I leave the country,” Rina suddenly said, the cockiness in her voice disappearing. Its seriousness made George turn to look at her.
“What is it?”
“Regina.”
“The actress?”
Rina nodded. “I still have the tape from that day at the interview, and I have been thinking about how we can use it exactly. Turning it to the cops wouldn’t bring the same gratification as watching her cower with fear before me, so I think I’m going to pay her a visit myself.”
“And how do I come in?”
“I need you to lure her to me. It needs to happen on my own turf.”