A Secret Kind of Rescue
The air was electric, every eye in the crowd fixed on them. Aria was engulfed in his arms, her body immobilized. Her heart was pounding a frenzied rhythm against her ribs.
"What. what are you doing?" she stammered, the words spilling awkwardly from her throat.
His voice was a low, steady growl, for her ears alone. "Don't move if you don't want them to notice the stain on your skirt."
A burning wave of humiliation washed over her. She should have known. The cramping, the ache, the utter betrayal of her own body. And it had to be now, with him, of all people.
"You owe me again if I can get you to my car without anyone seeing us," he said, the words a low challenge. "Deal?"
"I didn't ask for your help," she spat.
"Okay," he said, making a big production out of letting her go. "Then I'll just leave you here."
"Okay! Deal!" she snapped, and a slow, victorious smile spread across his lips.
"My car or yours?" he drawled.
"My car, for heaven's sake?" she swore under her breath. But her car was in the other garage.
"Mine's closer," he said.
Her resistance crumbled. "Okay. your car."
He moved with an unsettling smoothness, his arm a protective bracket around her. They went slowly, a quiet, intimate procession through the stunned bystanders. He didn't let go of her until she was ensconced inside the passenger door.
"What if I spill something on your car?" she stammered, afraid to glance at him.
"I don't care," he said, his voice a low, playful rumble. He leaned a bit closer. "Sexy."
She laughed, but couldn't argue with the effect of his words on her. He closed the door, a finality to the movement, and walked around to the driver's side. He offered the shocked stares of the bystanders an impassive look before getting in and driving away.
"What the hell just happened?" Levi said out loud, speaking everyone's collective thought.
Unexpected Care
"Are you alright?" Kayden spoke up as the car turned onto the main road.
"Don't talk to me," she replied.
He chuckled. "Are you embarrassed? You don't need to be. Even if they did catch a glimpse, no one would have the balls to say anything."
"Kayden!" she spat, a sharp, unexpected pang in her voice. The words silenced him.
"That did sound sexy though," he went on, a smile in his voice.
She exhaled a frustrated sigh. "Just be silent. Please."
As the silence prolonged, her head began to ache. Her gaze fell to his forearm. She could see them now—small, red marks, appearing and vanishing in some bizarre pattern. She gasped, but he already yanked his sleeve down, covering them.
"Let it go, Aria," he told her, his voice cold and commanding, the complete opposite of his tone a few minutes ago.
The tone change was abrupt and effective. Her mouth closed, shocked by his reply.
Another wave of pain washed over her, and she bit her lip to keep from crying out. Kayden glanced over. The mask was gone, and in its place was a hint of a grimace. He placed the back of his hand against her forehead.
"You're burning up," he said, his voice laced with an uncommon concern. "What's wrong?"
"It's cramps," she managed to get out.
He didn't respond, just continued to stare at the road ahead, his face a scowl of concentration.
"Are you ignoring me now?"
"I thought that's what you wanted,"
He pulled over in front of a pharmacy. "Stay here," he commanded, already opening his door.
"You don't even know what I need."
"I'll figure it out."
He marched into the pharmacy, a disruptive presence. He approached the receptionist straight away, disregarding the other customers' murmurs. "What does a person on their period require?"
The woman's smile hesitated briefly, taken aback by the inquiry. "Your girlfriend?" she queried.
He didn't respond to her. The woman produced a number of packages. "Is that all?" he asked. She produced pads. "You'd best get her some snacks too. Chocolates, cookies, ice cream."
"I'll take them all," he said. He paid, making the woman blush, and returned to the car with two full bags.
Aria's mouth opened. "How did you know?"
"I have my ways." He handed her the bags, and she found the medicine, pads, and all the snacks the receptionist had recited. He even handed her a bottle of water from the back seat.
"Thanks," she whispered. The word felt odd on her lips.
"That's a first," he said.
He stopped at a supermarket, getting out of the car once more and returning with two more bags full of all types of sweets. She didn't say a word. He just shrugged.
He drove her home, waiting until she was inside safely before he departed. His eyes followed her until the door closed, a hint of a smile on his lips.
Family Matters
The next day, Courtney stormed into Morris's office, her face contorted with rage. "You know what that son of a bitch you have for a son just did?" she shouted. "He beat up Richard! His face is unrecognizable!"
Morris was shocked. "Kayden did that?"
"He has to pay for it!" Courtney claimed.
"Calm down. I'll find out what's happening," Morris said, but his words just fueled her fire. She stormed out, a dangerous glint in her eye.
She ran into Noah in the exit, who was on his way to see Morris. "When are you going to stop working for Morris?" she snarled.
"Maybe when he fires me," Noah replied, a slight smile on his lips. "Which I'm sure he can't."
Courtney pushed closer, her own voice dropping. "Why do you call him Young Master? You never call Richard that."
"He doesn't deserve the title," Noah said, his own voice flat. "When someone deserves a title, it comes naturally from your mouth. My mouth has never had the mistake of calling Richard such."
"That same bastard you're calling Young Master beat up my son!" Courtney fumed.
"Young Master Kayden wouldn't have beaten him up if he had done something wrong," Noah answered immediately.
The Coldest Call
Kayden was inside his cabin, reading some documents, when his phone rang. He glanced at it, and his eyes widened. It was his father. For the very first time in his life. He picked up immediately.
"Dad?"
"I heard you beat up Richard," Morris said, his voice unfriendly.
Kayden's shoulders sagged. His little glimmer of hope, gone. "Is that why you called?"
"Yes."
He ground his tongue against his teeth hard enough to draw blood. "You won't ask what he did?"
"There is no excuse for you to beat your brother," Morris said, the words an icy knife to the stomach.
Kayden's voice was hollow and low. "You want to know something, Dad? If I get the chance again, I won't hesitate to do it again."
"Kayden!"
"I'm hanging up." He banged the phone into the wall, the breaking glass ringing out in the cabin. The pent-up anger he had struggled so hard to contain finally broke free. He took his laptop and smashed that too, a final, destructive act of a man at the end of his tether.