No One’s POV
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Even after an hour, Grace was still sobbing in her room, thinking about her mother’s words. ‘How could she blame her?’, This thought in her mind was eating her up and she was not able to sleep because of it. She felt someone's hand on her hair and without changing her position, she knew whose hand it could be!
“Th...This w.was no..not my f.fault, Mom”, She said between her cries.
“I am sorry, Grace. I just got angry. I know you would be too scared to be near him. But make sure you don’t help him or meet him again.”, Her mother said.
Immediately Grace remembered what Zayden had said. She quickly sat on the bed and wiped her tears with her hand. “I am not interested in meeting him, mom. But he said that he will pick me up from the restaurant after my shift, at night. What should I do?”
“WHAT?”, Her mother shouted.
“Yes mom!”, Grace said and nodded her head. Her mother went silent for a moment. Now, her mother was sure that Zayden had some bad intentions for Grace. Instead of killing her for leaking his video, he must have wanted to use Grace for his lustful desires. Her mother wanted to share her piece of thought with Grace as well but then, doing this might scare her a little more.
“Listen to me carefully, Grace. Keep in your mind that you have to stay away from him because criminals like them don’t have good intentions for any woman. He will try to trap you in his web by doing all good things and once when you will start trusting him, he will show you his true color. Now, I get why people say that he is a predator. He plans everything beforehand, with accuracy.”, Her mother said.
“I think you are right, mom. That’s the reason he was trying to befriend me. He also asked me to call him Zayden and didn’t rest until he made sure I spoke his name. But he has no idea that I will never fall in his trap and I will never trust a man like him.”, Grace said with determination. “By the way, Mom, don’t tell anything about this Zayden stuff to Dad, Gia, Gina, or Blake, okay? I don’t want them to be stressed. Okay?”, She asked to which her mother nodded.
Out of all the kids, her mother loved Grace the most and appreciated her effort to keep the family away from all kinds of problems, which mainly included financial problems in the beginning. The ZAYDEN problem was something new.
“Have you thought about what you will do tomorrow?”, Her mother asked to which she shook her head. “Well, I have come up with a great idea!”
“And what is that?”
“You should ignore the possibility of meeting him.”, Her mother said. “Unlike the rest of the day, you should leave an hour or two earlier of your shift, so that when he will reach there to pick you up, he will not be able to find you there!”, She added and smiled.
“Wow! You are a genius, mom!”, Grace kissed her mother’s cheek out of excitement. “I wonder why I am not that genius!”, She pouted.
“I think the same. Among all the kids you are the most stupid and naive one.”
“I am not stupid. You have no idea how bravely I faced Zayden!”, Grace lied a little. Even she knew how much she was crying and trembling in fear of having him around him.
“Yeah, right! And received a kiss from that criminal as a prize!”, Her mother scoffed, making Grace shut her mouth. “Anyway, Now, sleep! It’s getting too late. Good night.”, Her mother said, laying on the bed, beside her. Because she knew that tonight Grace would have a hard time sleeping, especially when she had spent a few moments of her life with the devil.
“Good night, Mom.”
***
As Grace’s mother had thought, sleep was far away from Grace’s eyes. No matter how strongly she pretended to sleep, the face of Zayden was popping in her mind whenever she used to close her eyes.
Especially the way he looked at her, lingered in her head. And she couldn’t help herself from getting goosebumps. She was sure that even if she slept, she would definitely dream about him. His pitched-black eyes and ruffled hair. His tall and masculine body. His perfect and beautiful lips. His small ears. His strong jawlines and Adam’s apple. The way he held her and comforted her. The way he kissed her. His smirk. Everything…
‘He is a damn criminal, Grace! Stop your fantasy. He killed John in front of you and you are appreciating his features. Like seriously? Something is definitely wrong with you.’, Grace’s mind scolded her.
***
“So, how the thing went with Mia and Grace?”, Eric asked the moment they reached their Villa.
“Don’t…”, Zayden muttered. “Don’t remind me of anything related to Mia.”, Zayden said in a stern tone, making Eric nod his head.
“Okay, Alpha.”
“And about my meeting with Grace….”, Zayden started speaking and within a few seconds, a smile appeared on his lips, recalling everything, how he talked with her and even kissed her.
“I am waiting to listen, Zayden.”, Eric said in an excited tone.
“Why are you so excited?”
“Well, It’s the first time my friend talked with any woman in a normal situation, so obviously I will be excited. And I am happy for you as well.”
“Everything went brilliantly but she was scared of me!”, Zayden admitted.
“Isn’t it obvious?”
“I know! In the beginning, I wanted her to be scared of me but after observing her situation I didn't want her to be scared of me, even a bit. It was breaking my heart seeing her situation like a frightened kitten. I want her to be a fearless lion when she is with me. I want her to smile. I want her to spend all the time with me, even if that’s impossible as for now.”
“Time, Zayden, time. It will take time. And I don’t think she is among those girls or women who throw herself at anyone at first sight. You will have to work hard to gain her trust and love.”, Eric explained because he didn’t want his friend to do something stupid because of his new feelings which he was feeling for the first time in his heart, while Zayden nodded his head in agreement.
“Do you think I deserve her?”
“Yes! You guys are made for each other.”, Eric replied immediately.
“I want to know the truth, Eric”, Zayden asked curtly. Eric gulped wondering whether he should say the truth or not.
“If you really want to know the truth, Alpha, then I don’t think you deserve her. She is way too pure and innocent as compared to you.”, he replied and mentally said goodbye to all the readers because he was not sure that Zayden would leave him alive after hearing him out and was cursing the author for writing these lines for him. Hehe ;)
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#TBC