Walking over to Rebecca, Kenzo stops and stares down at her as she shrugs him off. He crosses his arms.
“What do you want?” Rebecca rolls her eyes. The fact that she found him with another woman tells her what he wants to do with their relationship.
“You’re in so much trouble, young lady. What happened to nine o’clock? Why are you wearing pink, and what are you doing out?”
“Grayson asked Dante for permission.” Rebecca huffs and Kenzo narrows his eyes. “He said yes on your behalf. There has never been a problem with the color pink, so why is it an issue for you now?”
Rebecca takes a sip of her wine, not in the mood to sort out the issue at hand. Neither is Kenzo. Kenzo glances down at her glass. Cheap wine. Why would any of his employees give her that?
He will be calling a meeting because of their careless behavior this past week. VIP members are to be given premium drinks, not the cheap shit that he would never drink himself.
Rebecca is drunk. He doesn’t hand out punishments to those who are intoxicated, so he will have to wait until morning to continue with what he has planned.
“And your collar?” Turning his head to the side, he looks around the club before looking back down at her.
“Why should I wear it? You don’t give a shit. Fuck off, Kenzo, leave me alone.” Once again, another rule broken by Rebecca. Swearing is one of his top rules.
Yes, he knows he’s a hypocrite because he swears himself, and no, he doesn’t care. Cursing coming from a woman’s mouth should never happen in his world.
It is downright disgusting, making the woman filth not only in his eyes but every other man’s too.
“Have it your way.” Kenzo walks away from Rebecca, shaking his head.
“I will,” she shouts over to him as he makes his way back to the BDSM club. He will sort her out when she is sober and out of her bratty character.
Kenzo catches sight of Grayson, who walks across the dance floor toward Rebecca. Snapping his fingers, he grabs his attention and calls him over.
“Yes, boss?” Grayson asks Kenzo, pushing his headset into his ear because it is missing the soft sponge that covers it. The earpiece is plastic, and it is hurting him.
“I want Rebecca in Arlington by tomorrow morning. It has come to my attention that Prentonville may be a target, and the last place I want Rebecca to be is in a red zone.”
Grayson nods his head, and Kenzo slaps his back as he walks past him over to Rebecca.
“What’s up with you?” Grayson asks Rebecca the next day as she brushes down her blue jeans and pink, fluffy, floral top. Her brown hair is pushed up in a bun at the top of her head.
Grabbing a woolly sweater, she pulls it over her head. Grayson watches as Rebecca shrugs her shoulders, and he leans up against the wall.
Grayson wonders how she can wear a fluffy sweater in eighty-seven-degree weather. He’s sweating in his suit, and it is made out of breathable materials.
Perfect for the summer weather and comfortable too.
Rebecca places her head in her hands. Her head is booming, a raging hangover overtook her this morning, and now she regrets going out to drink at the casino with Grayson.
Rebecca hasn’t seen Kenzo all night. She heard him go out in the early hours of the morning. It didn’t bother her.
She thought about him and the woman all night until she decided that she wasn’t going to beat herself up about it anymore.
She is stuck with him, but that doesn’t mean she is going to sit around and whine about it all day when he’s obviously enjoying himself. No, she’s going to go and give him the same treatment in return.
She doesn’t know how she will get back at him yet, but she will figure that out as she goes.
“He has annoyed me, Grayson!” Rebecca sighs, and Grayson holds his hand out to her. He’s concerned about her well-being.
He remembers the day he had a girl like Rebecca in his life until she left him for a man who has the exact same character as Kenzo. Cold with anger issues.
She came running back to him after a couple of years with bruises all over her body. He helped her get out of the relationship and as far away from him as he possibly could.
But he refused to get back with her. The haunted look she had in her eyes sits in Rebecca’s, which in turn is breaking his heart.
“Come on. I want to take you somewhere,” Grayson tells her. He knows what happened with Rebecca’s parents. Still, he cannot figure out how they could have treated her the way they did.
For money to be worth more than their own daughter’s happiness, now that doesn’t sit well with him.
He knows she wanted to stay with Kenzo, but by the way he has been treating her and dealing with the situation, Grayson doesn’t believe for one second that Kenzo deserves a woman as pure as Rebecca.
Hard to find. As rare as a big diamond, and Rebecca is exactly that.
Shaking his hand, Grayson waits for Rebecca to take it and pulls her into his embrace when she does. Wrapping his arms around her petite frame, he moves from left to right with her.
He doesn’t want Kenzo to hurt her anymore. A conversation he overheard makes him want to wrap her up in cotton wool.
Kenzo is going to punish her. What gives him the right to do that to her? Then again, Grayson has never been a man who follows the dominant and submissive lifestyle.
He believes that each and every time a couple gets intimate, it should be for the sole purpose of love. To show how much you love that person.
To show them how you feel and how much you admire their body and who they are as a person. You shouldn’t change them. Once again, Kenzo makes her work out daily. Why? To change who she is.
The same with her clothes. Black or red but he likes Rebecca in pastel colors. That’s who she truly is. Kenzo has his dark characteristics, and Rebecca has her light ones.
That doesn’t mean any of them should change who they are for the other person. No, not at all.
Rebecca allows her tears to fall freely. They land on Grayson’s suit jacket. He doesn’t care. He wants her to be happy and to feel protected not empty and alone.
Even if he can be there for her just to help her smile, then that is what he will do. He doesn’t want to break her and Kenzo up.
He wants to fill in the blank space until Kenzo can take over again and give her what she truly needs. The leader who will protect her at all costs.
Grayson isn’t the type of man who wants to break up relationships because he knows how it feels after having it done to him previously.
Rebecca is in the same situation as he was, and that is why he is willing to step up to the plate and help her to feel again. To give her what she needs, to support and protect her. To cover for Kenzo.
Wrapping his hand around Rebecca’s, Grayson pulls away from her and guides her out to his car. Opening the passenger door, he tells her to climb in.
Once she is comfortable in the seat, he walks around to his side, climbs in, and starts the ignition, driving out of the driveway.
“You enjoyed that first phase of your relationship with Kenzo, and you caught him with another woman last night, which is making you think about the last couple of days.
“You are trying desperately to find a way out, but you know you can’t leave because you double signed that contract when you came back from your parents’ house. Is that right? He’s hurting you.
“Leaving you to feel lonely and empty inside, but you try to cover that up by placing a fake smile on your face. I can see it in your eyes. You truly are sad.
“You remind me of a time in my life when I felt the same way you do. I was cheated on by my ex-girlfriend. I wouldn’t mind, but she left me for that man and broke me in the process of doing that.
“I didn’t think I could move on from it, I felt lost, alone, used, and so I let myself go. I couldn’t get out of bed for months. Nobody was around at that time in my life.
“I had nobody to turn to, so it was up to me to drag myself up and out of my pit of depression. It does get easier, trust me.”
“I guess you are right,” Rebecca mumbles, dropping her head down to look at her knees.
Grayson grins before he presses down on the accelerator hard, throwing Rebecca back in her seat. He doesn’t say another word and neither does she.
Grayson pulls up outside a small cottage, and Rebecca looks at the pretty flower garden in the front behind a white picket fence. It reminds her of Kenzo when they first met. His rose garden truly was breathtaking.
They have been driving for twenty minutes.
Grayson opens his door as he switches the ignition off. An old woman with white hair runs out the cottage front door toward the car.
Opening Rebecca’s door, the old lady smiles.
“Hello, dear. I’m making cottage pie. I hope you will join us. Grayson has told me all about you. Staying inside your room all day sleeping isn’t good for you mentally.”
Rebecca turns to look at Grayson who laughs. Shrugging her shoulders, Rebecca smiles, and the old woman grins, rubbing her hands together.
“I am so hungry.” The old lady giggles, and Rebecca feels a love like no other wash over her. She is excited to eat for the first time in weeks. The cottage pie smells divine.
“Sure,” Rebecca tells her, not too sure if her answer is the correct one.
Taking her hand, the old lady pulls her toward her home, and Rebecca follows her, glancing back at Grayson who signals for her to go inside. He will shut her door for her.
Guiding Rebecca inside the cottage, the old lady pulls out a seat at her wooden table, and Rebecca sits down.
Picking up a kettle, the old lady places a small teacup in front of Rebecca and fills it up to the halfway point. Rebecca doesn’t know what to do and clasps her hands together.
“My name is Tilda. I’m Grayson’s mother. He asked me if I could cook more food so that you could join us. It’s great seeing a young lady like yourself inside my home.
“I’ve always been surrounded by boys,” Tilda tells Rebecca, smiling, and Rebecca plays with her fingers smiling.
Her parents always have treated her badly, and Kenzo’s parents don’t accept her either, but here she is sitting inside Tilda’s house, and the old lady is welcoming her inside her home with open arms.
“Oh hello, Rebecca.” An old man enters the room. Both of them have white hair and croaky voices, which makes Rebecca grin.
“Such a sweet girl.” The man takes a seat opposite Rebecca before picking up a newspaper and whacking Tilda across the bum. Everyone laughs, and Grayson enters the kitchen shaking his head, laughing.
“My dad, Brian, and my mom, Tilda.” Grayson takes the seat next to Rebecca, and she turns to look at him.
“It’s good seeing Grayson with a woman. He has had a hard life growing up with females,” Brian tells Rebecca, and she turns her head to the side, confused.
“Our Grayson here has always had a heart of gold. The problem with that is many women take advantage of him because of it. That’s due to the way we brought him up.
“Being older parents, we were able to raise Grayson in this cottage. It’s now our retirement home,” Tilda jumps in.
“Mom. Don’t tell her all of my secrets.” Grayson grins, and Rebecca giggles.
“That’s not very nice.” Tilda pouts her lips out, and Grayson nods his head.
“He told us about what you’re going through. I’m so sorry that you have to go through that, sweet pea.”
“It’s my own fault.” Rebecca picks up the tea and takes a sip of it.
“No, dear, no woman should be treated the way you have been treated. If anybody can help you, then it would be Grayson. He can help you to feel again.
“I showed him how, so I’m sure he can pass the information on to you. Then you can help your own babies in the future.”
Tilda plates up the cottage pie, and they all eat it together. Not in silence but in laughter. Rebecca loves how open Grayson’s family is.
They ask him how everything is and offer him some money to buy a new car without him having to pay them back. It makes Rebecca happy but sad at the same time.
She has never been accepted anywhere, so it isn’t news to her. Kenzo’s mother called her a whore the first and last time she met her. That wasn’t the only name she called her.
She called her every name she could think of the entire night, and in the end, Rebecca went to bed just so she didn’t have to speak to her or listen to her. Kenzo’s dad told him to kill her.
She didn’t do anything to them to deserve the name-calling or the demands for her death, but they hurt her more than words could explain.
Passing Rebecca a piece of her famous cherry pie, Tilda tells her to take care, and Rebecca nods her head innocently, smiling.
“You ready?” Grayson asks Rebecca, who responds to him with a nod.
It has been a good day. For her to be around people who actually want to spend some quality time with her makes her heart melt like butter.
Waving to Tilda, Rebecca runs out to the car, and Grayson unlocks it.
“I hope you will come back soon,” Brian shouts over to Rebecca, and she nods, smiling.
“Make sure you bring her back, Grayson.” Brian points at Grayson, and Grayson laughs. “I will.”
