Rachel slammed the door shut behind her the moment she got home, the echo of the door sounding off the walls of her apartment.
She remained at the door, her back leaned against it, her chest rising and falling in frustration.
The kiss, that damn kiss.
It still burned on her lips, like it had just happened a moment ago
Her fingers touched her mouth involuntarily and she jerked her hand away almost immediately.
"What the hell is wrong with me?" she hissed, finally tossing her bag onto the nearest chair.
She walked toward the kitchen, needing something, anything, that would distract her. She filled a glass with water and gulped it down, but the liquid did nothing to cool the fire within her heart. She takes another cup and still, nothing.
She could still feel Nicholas's lips on hers, she could still hear the arrogant rumble of his voice when he threatened her, she could also still remember the hunger in his eyes, when he kissed her like he had every right to.
Her knuckles turned white as she gripped the counter.
"I hate him," she whispers to herself.
But her body didn't agree with her words. She still crumbled with the feel of his touch, her knees had weakened when he had her against his body. And no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't deny she still wanted him so bad.
Rachel cursed under her breath.
She turned toward the hallway, needing to check on David.
When she opened David's bedroom door, she found him fast asleep, clutching his favourite stuffed dinosaur.
Her heart softened.
Rachel stood in the doorway for a while, her gaze fixed on David's peaceful face. She watched as his chest rose and fell in a slow and steady rhythm.
Rachel didn't notice Tessa was sit
"You okay?" the teen asked Rachel with a concerned look on her face, "You look…tense."
Rachel jumped, her hand flying to her chest, "God…. Tessa! You scared me."
Rachel finally noticed Tessa, who sat in the room, a storybook in her hand.
Tessa blinked, startled a bit, "I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, but I've been in here the whole time."
Rachel forced a smile, smoothing a strand of her hair with a hand that still, "I'm fine," she said quickly, "Just a long meeting," she let out air, "nothing to worry about."
Tessa didn't look convinced, but she let it go, since Rachel didn't feel like sharing.
Rachel spends the rest of her evening curled up on the couch with David who had woken up and nestled in her arms. He kept on babbling excitedly about his drawings from school. She smiled and nodded in all the right places, her fingers brushing gently through his soft hair.
But guilt clawed at her slowly as usual.
She had done everything to protect David, even lied about his age and kept him out of the public eye, making sure no trace could lead back to Nicholas Grey
And yet….
She closed her eyes, fighting the tear building behind.
David had a father, a powerful one and she had kept the truth from both of them.
She pressed her lips against her son's forehead, his voice an echo in her mind.
Meanwhile, in the dimly lit living room of his penthouse, Nicholas paced around. One hand was in his pocket and the other was running through his hair, repeatedly.
He could still feel the sting of Rachel's slap on his cheek and his lip still tasted blood. Yet, it wasn't the pain that lingered. It was their kiss.
That damn kiss.
He had kissed plenty of women in his life, elegant women, wild women, beautiful women, but none of them had ever made him feel the way Rachel just did, and with just one kiss.
He hadn't planned it before then.
It was desperate and raw.
He growled under his breath, taking out a bottle and pouring himself a drink. He didn't drink it, he just stared into the glass, as if it held something that could help him.
He knew she hated him and she had every reason to.
He finally downs the drink and pulls out his phone and hits the speed dial.
It barely rang once before a voice answered.
"Stephen."
"Yes, sir."
"I need you to draft a marriage contract, effective immediately."
There was a pause on the line and then Stephen cleared his throat, "A marriage contract, sir?"
"Yeah, you heard right," Nicholas said sharply, walking over to the windows overlooking the city.
"I want it tight, ironclad and with strict confidentiality clauses. No leaks, no press, I don't want a whisper of this in the media until I say so."
"Understood. And the terms?" Stephens asked.
Nicholas takes another sip from his glass as he stared out into the night,
"Six months and no obligations beyond public appearances when required and no shared assets and she gets a hundred and fifty million at the end, if she fulfils the terms without any breach."
"And if she does breach sir?"
"She gets nothing." Nicolas replied sharply.
Stephen was silent again, typing quickly in the background.
"Yes, anything else sir?"
"No, that will be all."
He ended the call and set the phone down, his reflection staring back at him in the glass window.
The next morning, Rachel opened the door to find a sharply dressed courier standing there with a sleek black box and an envelope balanced on top of it.
It read, "Delivery for Miss Rachel Crawford."
She signed without any questioning and watched him walk away before shutting the door.
She took the box to the table. The packaging was a luxury-embossed ribbon, a velvet casing and she could smell the faint scent of roses.
She opened the envelope first.
Dinner tonight, 8 PM, Le Maison Royale and wear the dress –Nicholas
"Unbelievable," Rachel mutters in a wry smile.
She opened the box to reveal a breathtaking dress, a purple silk, fitted bodice with off shoulder sleeves and a flowing slit that screamed seduction. A dress from a high class brand.
The dress and the dinner at the five-star restaurant, would have surely freaked out the girl he once knew. But not her.
She would still go.
Not because he asked, but to make a statement.