Shenaya’s POV
I woke up with a throbbing headache, the harsh morning sunlight streaming through the curtains and hitting my face. I groaned softly and tried to bury my head back into the pillow but the flood of memories from the last night came crashing into my mind which made my eyes shoot open in disbelief.
“No, no… it can’t be real,” I muttered to myself, I sat up abruptly, and my heart began to race as I clutched the bedsheets around me.
“Good morning, beautiful.” A deep, familiar voice sounded beside me. I hadn’t even noticed Aiden sitting there casually leaning back in a chair by my bedside as he watched me with amusement evident on his face.
My breath caught in my throat, I darted my eyes down and relief washed over me as I found myself fully clothed. I could ask the grown to open up and swallow me in embarrassment right now.
“You must be having quite the headache right now.” Aiden stood up with a calm and almost smug look. He walked over to the table and grabbed a tray. He poured a glass of water grabbed a pill and extended it toward me. “Here, take this. It’ll help with the headache.”
I didn’t bother to argue. I took the pills from him and gulped down the water without hesitation. In all honesty, I was grateful for the temporary relief.
He placed the tray back on the table and silence settled between us. It wasn’t an awkward silence but rather loaded with unspoken words. My mind raced with thoughts of what had happened.
Suddenly, I remembered I had pups to get ready for school.
“The pups!” I shouted, attempting to get out of bed in a frantic rush. Aiden moved quickly to block me, placing a firm but gentle hand on her shoulder.
“Calm down,” he said calmly. “Check the time, It’s noon. They’re already at school.”
I blinked in surprise as confusion laced my voice. “What? Noon? But-”
“I took care of it,” he reassured me steadily. “I got them ready and dropped them off myself this morning. So, you don’t have anything to worry about.”
I paused and sank back into the bed as Aiden’s words washed over me. I didn’t expect that level of care from him, but I decided to take it.
“I also called Cynthia earlier to cancel all your appointments for the day,” he added while sitting down again. I didn’t dare to look at him but I could feel his looks piercing through my body.
Everything about last night came rushing back to me loud and clear. A terrible, humiliating scene. I could remember flashes of dancing, loud music, and then… me begging Aiden to fuck me. I squeezed my eyes shut hoping it had all been some kind of nightmare.
After a moment of silence, I finally summoned the courage to speak to him directly.
“Please tell me everything I’m remembering right now is a dream,” I asked in a low, almost pleading voice.
Aiden let out a soft chuckle, which only embarrassed me further.
“If you want it to be just a bad dream, I can keep it a secret. At least no one saw you.”
My cheeks flushed. His words should have reassured me, but instead, they filled me with shame. I couldn’t bring myself to look him in the eye, not after everything that happened.
“Thank you,” I whispered but still avoiding his gaze. As embarrassing as it was, I couldn’t deny that he had taken care of me when I was at my worst.
“If you are really thankful, then you owe me one.” He said with a sinister smile plastered on his face.
“What do you want?” I should have known.
“Go to dinner with me.” He said with a smirk.
“You fox!” I launched at him punching him in the gut but he just let out a loud laugh. “Fine”
His smile widened as I just rolled my eyes at him. Though I wasn’t mad about it.
“I’m picking out everything you are wearing too,” he added.
“Really? Now I hate you” I said making him laugh out loud again.
“You didn’t hate me last night.” He said mocking me which made me embarrassed. Fuck.
There was something else, something deeper that I refused to acknowledge. I found myself sneaking glances at him, I caught sight of his strong build body and his commanding presence. He was still the same infuriating man, but there was an undeniable allure about him that tugged at me.
Just as I was checking him out, our eyes met and I almost entered my pillow in embarrassment.
“You can take a picture, Shenaya. It will last longer” he said with a smirk plastered on his face.
I could feel myself as red as a tomato right now, I quickly turned to my pillow.
“I’ll leave you to get some more rest. I’ll check on you later.” He stood up and without waiting for a reply, I walked out, leaving me flustered and embarrassed. I was disappointed that he was leaving but my ego won’t let me tell him to stay.
Once he was gone, I sank back into the pillows with my mind still spinning. I reached for my phone to see several missed calls and voice messages from Andrew and Lilah. I quickly dialed Andrew’s number, I could remember I told him to get the bartender.
“Shenaya!” Andrew answered almost immediately, his voice was thick with concern. “Are you okay? Where have you been? I’ve been worried sick.”
“I’m fine,” I reassured him, “I just… I’m safe now.”
He let out a sigh of relief. “I found the bartender.”
My heart skipped a beat. “What did he say?”
“Well, I didn’t find him alive,” Andrew replied in a serious tone. “by the time I tracked him down, he was already dead.”
“What?” The bartender is dead? I tried to put two and two together “Who… who would have done something like this?”
“That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Andrew said grimly.
My blood ran cold as I tried to process everything that happened. Someone wanted to ruin me, and whoever it was, succeeded. If not for Aiden’s presence, I would have stripped in the club and begged strangers to fuck me. I feel like I need to thank him again for the rescue.
What did I do to anyone? And more importantly, who the fuck did I wrong?
“Stay safe,” Andrew’s voice brought me out of my reverie. “I’ll get to the bottom of this, I promise”
“But what happened Em? How did you disappear like that?” he asked still concerned.
“Aiden came to pick me up?” I said slowly.
“Oh” was all the response he gave and I couldn’t help but feel a little guilty.
I hung up the call. I couldn’t shake off the feeling that there was more at play here, something dark and dangerous was about to happen.