Apologies for the long chapter, but I hope you're enjoying it 🥰🥰
Reene woke up the next morning to what was probably the best sleep of her life.Never had she slept so peacefully before.For a moment, while being swallowed by the softest bed ever, it felt like all that'd happened to her didn't exist.Chicago. Her parents. Nora's existence. Moving to California. Her house burning down. Jake being nowhere to be found. Every bad thing just seemed to have vanished into thin air.All that seemed to exist was the happiness luxury could offer.She even woke up the next morning to a huge grin plastered on her face.The type that made her mutter a grateful prayer.And that must speak volumes because Reene couldn't remember the last time she prayed.You know what, she might just live in the bed forever.For as long as ever, she would not mind letting the comfort swallow her whole forever.In fact, she didn't mind being buried in it.Which was when when the knock came on the door, it was the most disturbance ever.'I'm going to ignore it, this comfort was a
Zayne had his gaze focused on the work he did on the computer in front of him in his house office, when a knock came on the door.“Come in.” He said, not bothering to raise his head.Aeden sauntered in after opening the door, moving to stand in front of the desk with a small bow.“What's the status of the pack?” Zayne asked.“The rogues once again came to attack, sir, but our soldiers were there on time and successfully destroyed all five wolves without any of our men dying. Also in a way that makes their death look like a car accident to the human eyes.”Zayne nodded once, his fingers typing on the keyboards. “The company?”“The status of our stock growth seems to have doubled that of last year's sir.”"Okay." Everything seemed to be going well.That was good.“You can go.” But Aeden didn't leave. At least not yet.When Zayne noticed, he raised a brow. “Anything else?”“Huh… Actually, I just got news that…”“That?” He asked when Aeden trailed off.“Miss Clove is now living with the
Three hours had never felt so long. Especially sitting beside Jaxon. He had his focus on his phone the entire time while she (phoneless) sat there, nervously. It didn't help that no one said a word, which meant silence surrounded them the entire journey. At least that gave her time to think it all through. She was literally on her way to Jaxon's mansion. A Mafia. A billionaire Mafia's mansion. And to live there at that. What? At that point, she wasn't even sure if to say that was good or bad. For one, she was homeless and here was free accomodation. But then, they might or might not like her. What if they wanted her to join their illegal activities? Would she? Of course not. She could barely succeed in killing a cockroach, holding a gun was certainly out of the picture. So no… there was zero way she would involve herself in criminal acts. But then what if they were keen on that? What if they hated her for refusing and kicked her out? Or worse. Jaxon tells them not to
“Huh? What do you mean?” She asked, brows drawn in confusion, while he maintained the plain, emotionless look.“Do you have a place to stay?” His tone had that deep roughness only a man who just woke up could possess.In fact, he looked exactly like book characters in the morning (unrealistically still hot even after twirling and turning on the bed).His hair was all ruffled, but in a way that any lady would drool over.Then with his shirtless upper body, exposing that thickness he possessed… Okay yeah, everyone's got to admit, Mafia or not, he was hot.‘Snap out of it girl. You're here jobless and homeless yet all your senseless brain can think about is how handsome a criminal is’That shook her out of whatever world she'd dozed off to.To prevent embarrassment, she was quick to reply to his comment.“No. But-But I was thinking I could go search for a hotel to lodge or something.”“You don't have any money.” He reminded, causing her to suck in a breath just by recalling how those fir
Jaxon didn't ask what happened.He didn't even say anything.All he did was let her soak his shirt with tears.But that sight… The sight of her in so much hurt, caused an aching in his heart.Something he hadn't felt before. A different type of aching.The way her grip tightened around him was enough to make his entire system want to punch the gut of whoever was the reason.But instead, he felt the need to comfort her.To ensure she was alright. To be a chest to sob on.To be there for her.And so, once the tears were over, he took her to the back seat of his car, not caring how her wet body would affect it, then sat beside her, while Owen, who'd been in the driver's seat, drove off.The ride to his cottage was the most silent it had ever been.Reene just sat there, feeling small and awkward beside him, while his gaze couldn't help but occasionally shift to her like she might disappear anytime soon.How he got there, she had no clue, but she was glad to have him beside her at the mome
Firefighters piled the place, pouring water from pipes to her house.Her only home.The place filled with all her memories.All her belongings.All her sources of joy.All her parents' last moments. The gifts they last gave her. Photos they took together before their death. Reene stared at the flames take all that.Tears filled her eyes, unable to fall from shock.“No.” She muttered again, her feet finally moving, running towards the place.What she'd spent her last savings on. Her last penny to buy.And it was burning. On fire. To ashes.And Jake.Jake. No! No! Jake.“No!” Her body trembled as she rushed towards the house, not caring if the heat would overtake her.No, nothing must happen to him. Nothing must.An arm quickly wrapped around her from behind, locking her against its chest while she screamed her protest, flailing her arms and legs in the air to try escape the grip.“Use your senses Reene. You'll burn if you go in.” It was Jake's voice.Her body relaxed a little, at leas