Bianca's POV
The drive back home after the dinner was quiet.
Not cold at all or awkward.
Just there, as if I had used all the words I was supposed to say back at the house.
It had been a long day. I didn't expect all of this to happen. But I knew when I was taking up this deal, I had to be ready to deliver anytime
Kenneth hadn't said much since we left the mansion. Maybe he was reflecting on something, maybe he was tired, or maybe he was just letting me breathe after all of that or maybe, he had used up all his words.
But I was still shaken, a little panic in my mind
Not by his family. No.
Not by the weight joke from his brother.
Not even by the way his grandfather's gaze seemed as if he was taking out every part of me and trying to figure out my very roots, the way he looked at me like I was a company fit, not just a woman.
No. It wasn't any of that.
I was still feeling shaken because….I enjoyed all of it.
I had impressed them. I even stood my ground.
And for the first time in a long time, I felt like I was more than a girl drowning in debt and bad luck.
I was someone.
When Kenneth finally spoke, it was low and quiet. But his words shocked me.
"I'm not taking you home."
I turned to him, my brow coming together. "What?"
"I'm not dropping you off," he repeated his words, his eyes still on the road. "You're coming with me."
I blinked. "What do you mean?"
"To stay with me," he said and then glanced over to me, like he wanted to see my expression, "I want you to move in."
The car seemed to close in on me.
"I….no, that wasn't part of the deal." I immediately refused, just as I refused him the first time.
His eyes seemed to go distant as if he remembered how hard it took to get the first deal done.
He turned back to the road and nodded once, like he expected me to say that. "I know. I'm adding it."
"Just like that?" I argued
He pulled the car into a side street, parking just under a tree, and turned off the car engine.
I could hear him now, he's breathing, my breath. We were clearly out of it.
"Bianca," he said, turning and facing me now, "you've had two near attacks in the last week. You may think it's bad luck, but I don't believe in coincidences."
I stared at him, my lips slightly parted.
"And I won't always be there to throw punches," he added. "If I'm going to do this, to have you as my fiancée, in front of my family, in front of the press i'm going to make sure you're safe."
I looked down at my hands. They were clenched tight.
This wasn't part of the plan. I didn't want to live in his mansion. I didn't want to get caught up in something that felt bigger than me. I had already agreed to be his, even if it was fake, fiancee.
Now he wanted my space, too? I didn't even know if I wanted that, I didn't even know if I wanted anything more. I haven't had time to sit and think. My mind began spiraling, my gaze distant from the man seated beside me.
"I don't even have anything worth bringing," I muttered, trying to make light of the tension that has already built in the car.
Kenneth gave a dry laugh. "That makes it easier. Leave it. You'll get everything new, I'll get you new set of everything."
I blinked at him.
He was serious.
Dead serious.
"I'm not doing this to control you," he said after a moment. "I just… I need to know you're okay. That you're protected." I stared and listened to him.
And damn it, he sounded genuine. It all sounded too real to be fake.
I wanted to argue with him. To tell him I didn't need any protection. That I could handle myself.
But my memory flashed back to those encounters with those men. The two times I couldn't out run them. The two times I needed this same man to save me.
And the truth hit hard into my chest.
He was right.
I wasn't safe. Not out here. Not alone.
I took a slow exhale and fell back in the seat. " Just know this doesn't make us real." I said, glancing at him from my side eye.
His eyes were still locked onto mine. "I know."
"And we have rules." I said again. Still facing the dark road ahead of us.
"Agreed."
"No touching unless we're in public or when needed according to the contract."
His lip twitched. "You might like it if I do." His smile became wider after his statement.
I rolled my eyes, and he smirked.
But just like that…..
It was settled.
I didn't have much to pack from the house anyway. Only a few clothes. A toothbrush I could replace. Nothing worth more than what he had already spent on a single pair of shoes today.
So when we pulled up to my building, I climbed out of the car slowly, looking at the old house, I had struggled to take care of it everyday, to make it presentable despite my debts. The house that hid me from all the dangers of this world.
Kenneth didn't follow me up to the house.
He just leaned out of the car window and said, "I'll be back tomorrow morning. Be ready."
I nodded.
He didn't drive off right away, as usual. He waited until I opened the door and got inside.
I stood, my back rested on the door, taking the whole house into view for a last time. I was sad leaving the house, but something deep inside me knew it was for the best.
Leaving the house would feel like a fresh start. I didn't have any other choice
Did I?