DERRICK’S POV
The car was filled with an unbearable tension. I could feel it pressing down on me, suffocating me. Joan sat beside me in the backseat. She didn’t look bothered about me at all. Instead, her eyes were fixed on the darkened city outside the window.
She acted like everything was normal, like she didn’t just stand up to or subtly threaten a mafia boss. I knew Antonio wouldn’t take it lightly. Still, it was fun to watch. I didn’t know she had that kind of fire inside her.
The streetlights highlighted her face. She looked even more beautiful at night. The lights sharpened the soft contours of her cheekbones, the curve of her lips. But what kept me staring at her wasn’t her beauty-it was the fire she had inside. A fire I had totally underestimated. Hell, I didn’t even know it existed.
I never thought she had it in her. Not Joan. Not the meek quiet maid who barely spoke when I was in the room. She couldn’t even look me in the eye most times. But tonight… tonight she had proven me wrong.
When she stood up to Antonio, facing him without a hint of fear, I had felt something shift inside me. I had always believed that she wasn’t cut out for this world-the mafia world. It was brutal, filled with monsters everywhere you turned and I was one of them. Joan was too soft, too wrapped in a bubble. Or so I had thought.
But the way she had looked Antonio in the eye, calling him out for actions, standing her ground despite knowing who he was had left me in awe. The reckless bravery, the confidence-where the hell had she been hiding all of that?
Fuck, it was sexy.
What also surprised me was the fact that she did it because she was standing up for me. No woman had ever stood up for me before.
“You were reckless back there.” I said, breaking the silence.
Joan didn’t even flinch. She continued watching the passing scenery with her arms crossed. She seemed completely unaffected by my words.
She didn’t respond.
“You could have gotten yourself killed.” I said again.
“And?” she said nonchalantly, finally turning to face me. Her eyes were filled with confidence. She looked like the total opposite of the Joan I had once known. “Someone needed to say it. He was insulting you, Derrick. I couldn’t let that stand. I saw how troubled you were and I figured he was the cause of it..”
I clenched my jaw. “You think I need you to defend me?”
She let out a short laugh, shaking her head. “No. I think you need to realize that I’m not as weak as you think”
Damn her. She was right, and she knew it. I had spent months assuming she was fragile, that she needed protection. But she had shattered those thoughts in a single night. And now, I couldn’t stop looking at her differently.
“And yeah” she added in a teasing tone “Maybe you do need me to defend you”
I turned to face the window to hide my smile.
Damn you, Joan.
Suddenly, it started to rain.
The rain started softly at first. Then, as if the light rain wasn’t enough, the downpour began. Joan gasped, turning her head towards me. Slowly, her lips curled into a smile.
“What?” I asked in confusion. I was caught off guard by the sudden brightness in her eyes.
She turned to the driver. “Can you stop the car?”
“No.” I answered before the driver could. “We’re going home.”
What the hell was she thinking?
Joan turned her full attention to me “Please?”
I narrowed my eyes in confusion “Joan-”
“Just for a moment.”
I hated that I couldn’t say no to her. With a glance at the driver, I gave a reluctant nod, and the car came to a slow stop by the side of the road.
Before I could say anything else, Joan was already outside, stepping into the rain like it was calling her home.
I cursed under my breath, shoving the door open and stepping into the downpour. Oh no. she couldn’t be serious. What was she? A child?
“Joan, get back in the car.” I said through gritted teeth.
I was already losing my patience. I was exhausted. I needed rest. More importantly, I needed to figure a way to get Antonio his shipment before we went bezerk. I didn’t have time for nonsense like this.
She ignored me.
Instead, she laughed. It was a sound so pure, so free that it sent a shiver down my spine. Her arms spread wide as she tilted her head back, letting the rain drench her completely. The droplets clung to her lashes as she continued laughing. Her dress stuck even more to her frame, and yet she looked completely unbothered. She seemed lost in the moment like a child discovering rain for the first time.
She turned to me with a grin. Her eyes were filled with something I couldn’t quite name.
“Come on, Derrick.” She extended a hand towards me. “Just for a second.”
I didn’t move. I could only watch her, mesmerized. The way the moonlight illuminated her through the rain, the way her laughter echoed through the night-it was hypnotic.
I couldn’t help but admire how beautiful she was. She twirled, laughing uncontrollably.
In that moment, I envied her a little. I wondered how it felt to be this …. carefree.
This was getting complicated. It wasn’t supposed to be like this. it was only supposed to be a contract, a piece of paperwork. If it remained that way, things would be easier.
I had spent so long keeping my distance, making sure she remained nothing more than a maid in my household. But now, standing there in the rain, watching her lose herself in something so simple and beautiful, I realized it was already too late.
I had fallen for her.
Completely.
Utterly.
And there was no turning back.