I smiled at Ryan, grateful for his help, even though I was still scared inside. Someone is targeting me, and I don't know who. That made me alert.
"Thank you," I whisper. He didn't have to come to my rescue, but I was glad he did.
"I wasn't going to let someone take my woman from me," he answers with a smirk on his face.
I rolled my eyes at him, even as my heart flutters. I like it when he calls me his woman.
"So how did you know I needed help?" I ask, curious to see if my telepathic communication worked.
"When you took a while to come back, I came after you, and it was a good thing I did, or it would have been too late."
It seems I am not a Vampire after all.
Bummer.
"I am glad you did," I mumble, grateful but slightly downcast. The idea of being in danger terrifies me. Should I call Daniel and let him know?
He would freak out and not let me leave the house. Maybe I should hold off for now. Maybe this is a case of mistaken identity, and I wasn't the target.
I decide to change the subject to something lighter. The mood in the car seemed a little heavy.
"How did you learn to fight like that?" Ryan had moved like some movie ninja when he took down those guys.
A sad look appears in his eyes—which made me curious—as he answers.
"I learned Twakwedo as a way to cope with my life. The responsibilities were stifling, and I needed an outlet."
I reached out without thinking to touch his hand in comfort. "I am glad you did." I smiled at him.
His sadness recedes from his eyes, and the sparkle returns. He smiled back, his eyes grinning at me as well.
Something passed between us, which I severed when I looked away, choosing to look outside the window through the glass to give my pounding heart a break.
It is raining cats and dogs outside, but I could see clearly enough to realize we aren't heading back to work, and we aren't going toward my house either.
I snapped my head around to face Ryan, my expression a little alarmed. "Where are we going?"
"To my house," Ryan replies with a straight face. "Since we don't know who those men were or why they came after you, you might still be in danger."
My heart flips in my chest as he mentions his house.
His family's house?
To his family?
Right, as if I wasn't scared enough already, he wants to drag me into his family. I would rather face those men.
"Um...Ryan," I began cautiously, not wanting him to think I'm ungrateful. "I'm glad you want to protect me and all, but I don't think I want to crash into your family like this. I mean, what would you say?"
"Hi, Dad, Mum, this is my assistant—the woman I left my fiancée for. Oh, by the way, can she crash here? Some bad men are after her," I sneer in my mind. I won't be surprised if he says something along these lines.
"The truth," he answers firmly, his eyes on the road ahead.
My heart sinks. His penchant for honesty is not funny.
"I was afraid of that," I grumble under my breath, my tone a little sarcastic.
"What was that?" Ryan looks at me with a frown between his eyebrows. I smile thinly at him before changing my words. I said.
"What truth would that be?" And then I saw the look in his eyes and decided I didn't want to know.
"You know what, never mind."
Of course, Ryan ignores my words and answers.
"That you are the woman I love, and that some people are after you, and I need to keep you safe."
I dropped my head on my palm, asking myself what I had gotten myself into, before raising my head to look at Ryan.
"Please, let's not do that. Your parents might kill me before the actual bad men."
"I won't let that happen," Ryan promises firmly. I ignored his words as something else occurred to me. Something I wished I had thought of earlier, before we started this journey toward his house.
What if it is Ryan's parents who sent those guys? Melissa did threaten to tell his parents. Maybe she did, and they are trying to eliminate me.
Going to Ryan's house has just become next-level dangerous.
"I think I will be okay in my house," I tell Ryan, trying hard to sell the idea that I am not scared out of my mind by whatever shit is happening right now.
"But—"
Ryan tries to argue, but I shake my head, insisting that he take me home.
If his parents sent those men, I don't want to make it easy on them.
"Then I am coming with you," Ryan states firmly. "I don't want to leave you on your own."
"Say what now?" I stared at Ryan, wondering if his middle name is stubborn. Can he not see that I am trying to get away from him? Maybe not him, but his family. But if he stays with me, then he could run into Daniel, and that is not supposed to happen.
Now, I have to choose whether to protect my secret or face Ryan's evil family.
The devil and the dead sea.
Fun!
"I think your house would be better." I gave in after much deliberation, with a nervous look on my face. Hopefully, I get to see another day.
I would rather take my chances with his family than have Ryan find out that I have been deceiving him.
Ryan took me to an apartment that is a carbon copy of his sister's, and when we walked into the huge, fancy space that is his, I wondered how he could leave here with his parents?
I had imagined Ryan's family house as an estate with so many bedrooms and servants that they know what to do with, not this very fancy, though expensive, bachelor pad.
"Do your parents stay here with you?" I asked as we walked into the living room.
Ryan gives me a funny look, silently asking what I was talking about. I blush at his stare, realizing that I have misinterpreted things.
"Whose house is this?" I asked—a question I should have led with instead of making an assumption—looking around: cream-colored walls, with leather couches of the same color; few artworks on the walls, not a single family or personal photo.
The house, though grand and ultra-modern, had just the essentials. It looks too clinical and sterile. I had this nagging feeling that it was missing something, but I couldn't put my finger on it.
"This is my home," Ryan answers, dropping his keys on the center table. He looked at me, and his eyes narrowed. "I think you need to get out of those." He looks at my soaked clothes. "Or you will catch a cold."
I looked down to see all my business on display. Suddenly self-conscious, I raised my hand to cover the pointy bits.
I returned to our initial conversation because something still isn't clear to me. Earlier, when we met, Ryan had led me to believe he lives with his parents. And now he doesn't? Did he lie to me?
"I thought you lived with your parents?" I asked, my voice a little accusatory.
Ryan didn't get annoyed because I was asking too many questions or seemed obsessed with his living arrangements; he just answered me.
"I do. This is just my getaway pad. A place I go to when I want to be alone or when I am pissed at my parents."
"Ah!" I muttered, sounding a little envious. I guess it is good to be rich. You can have several homes littered across the country. One for holidays, one for when you are pissed, one for parties, and so on and so on.
"Any more questions about my home?" Ryan quirks a brow at me. So he did catch on to my obsession.
I shake my head with a flush to my cheeks.
"Now come with me."
Ryan took me to his guest bedroom and showed me the bathroom. "Now, go shower. When you get out, I will have something lying on the bed for you to change into."
He left the room afterward, leaving me to my thoughts. Slowly, I got out of my wet clothes, while I got lost inside my head.
I never imagined that a day would come when I would voluntarily be in the house of the man who destroyed my life years ago.
When I started on this revenge plan, this was not how I envisioned it would go.
Down to my skin, I walked barefoot into the shower. As the hot water ran down my naked body, I asked myself what I was doing.
Have I lost my mind?
How could I trust him to be alone with him here? But then again, the few weeks we have spent together, Ryan has shown me a different side of himself that conflicts with the one I knew before.
Hopefully, I am making the right decision to trust him with my safety.
And your revenge? My mind asked, and I couldn't answer it.