The Heiress

Grace woke up the next day, determined to figure out what was going on.

I need a phone to contact Pez; he'll can check if I was right about Floyd. But I'm still locked in this room, so it's not like I can go swipe someone's phone.

She spent the morning pacing around her room, going through various scenarios, with only a few quick visits from Mary throughout the morning.

Knock, knock.

"What?" Grace responded.

The door opened, and Zain entered. "Thanks for answering this time."

"Sure..." Doesn't seem like he's angry anymore. "What is it? I'm assuming you're here for a reason. The whole house seems to be running about preparing for war or something, and this is a bit late for your first visit of the day."

"Yeah, I'm here for a reason. Sorry we didn't go for a run today."

"It's not like we go every day, anyway."

"You have a visitor downstairs."

"Oh?"

"And before you get excited thinking it's Vincent, it's Floyd."

Floyd? She froze for a second, her heart racing, before she shook it off. "Oh, I see... Looking for a date or something?"

Zain eyed her suspiciously. "Ask him yourself." He pointed out of her room with his thumb.

"Fine." Finally out of this room, at least. Now, how do I ask him about yesterday without him catching on that I spotted him? Grace followed Zain downstairs to the foyer.

"Looking lovely as always, I see." Floyd narrowed his eyes as he smiled at her.

"Uh, thanks..."

"Would you care to go out on a date?"

Grace looked at Zain

"As long as I come along, then fine," Zain grumbled.

"I'll take that as a yes." Floyd tugged on his lapels, his head held high.

"Where to? I should probably change into something else." She looked down at her jeans and t-shirt, then at both of them in suits.

"No need; you're fine as you are. And as for where... How about I give you a tour of the Russo estate, and then we can sit down for a nice home cooked meal?"

"Uh, while I might not directly be a mafia member, Zain is, so I'm not sure it's a good idea to invite a rival over for a tour of your estate."

"It was already approved before I came here. My brother, my boss, wants to do what he can to help me win you over and join hands with the Bertolottiss."

Might be my chance to find out what's going on, but if it's as busy as this place, it'll be hard to snoop.

"I'm not really supposed to interfere with dates with your marriage candidates, so unless I have a reason to deny this request, I'm obligated to go along with it." Zain watched Grace carefully as he spoke.

"Good, then we should go now!" Floyd waved his hand towards the door.

"Shouldn't I change into something else? This isn't exactly 'bring them home to meet the family' kind of attire." Grace plucked at her t-shirt.

"You look fine; there's no need to dress up."

"But both of you are in suits..."

Floyd's cheek twitched. "Don't worry about it..." he trailed off as she vanished back upstairs.

Zain's eyes followed Grace as she went, and he knew Ran would be nearby in case something happened. He turned and found out Floyd was staring at him. "What?"

"You don't really have to come, you know? I can keep her safe."

"That only made me trust you less."

"Well, I don't like having the competition for her hand around. You can't blame me for that, can you?"

"All I heard was either you have no confidence in yourself or you're planning something." Zain stepped closer to him and crossed his arms as he stared him down.

Floyd tipped his head up, pointing his nose into the air. "What in the world would I be planning?"

"I don't know what it is, but you are planning something. I'm sure of that much. And that means I'll be keeping a close eye on you, Russo."

"Might want to stick to my first name at my family estate, as to not confuse others."

Zain rolled his eyes and sighed. It was going to be a long day.

"Uh, is this okay?" Grace came back in a blue blouse and a long, black skirt.

"Of course it is; you look... lovely," Floyd said and held his hand out to her.

This place is farther than I was expecting, and more in the middle of nowhere than the Bertolottis estate. Grace looked into the woods as they drove on the winding path up to the estate.

"It's nice to be surrounded by all of this greenery, isn't it?" Floyd asked from beside her in the back of the limo.

Grace swallowed hard, her stomach doing flips. I've been to worse places; I'll be fine. "Yeah, it looks like a great place for a hike."

"Oh, I wouldn't suggest hiking out here unless you're staying close to the road. A number of people have gotten lost in there for days. It's almost as if the forest lures them down the wrong path. I've heard of some even going in circles and only ended up making it out alive because of a rescue team."

"Is that so? How big is this place if people can get lost for days?"

"It is quite sizeable, but people think it's because the forest itself wants to keep the hikers. They talked like there were repeating patterns in the forest, so they ended up getting turned around."

"No one knows how to use a compass?"

"Compasses don't work in here. Something about the minerals and whatnot around here making them go haywire. Either that or the forest is haunted."

"Now you're just messing with me, right?"

Floyd shook his head. "There are stories from well before I was even born."

"Then why do you guys stay here?"

"Why not? The forest works as a good defence, so no one attacks our home. No one spies on us. And rats are too scared of it to try to infiltrate our ranks."

Grace shuttered. "I-I see..."

"I hope I didn't scare you." Floyd reached for her hand as he displayed a thin smile.

"Nope; I'm good." She forced herself not to twitch away from him.

What's going on? He feels completely different from the first day we met. Even Vincent said he must not have been too bad if my grandpa chose him. But he doesn't even feel like the same person. How can someone change so fast? Something must have happened. I have a bad feeling about all of this.

She glanced at Zain on the other side of her. He wasn't paying attention to them. He was staring out the window with a hard expression.

I wonder what he's thinking about.

"We're here," Floyd said as they went through the gates up to a mega-mansion with tall columns lining the front of it. A handful of guards stood at attention. One came over and opened the door for Floyd, who turned to give her a hand getting out.

"Thanks."

He tugged her closer and wrapped her arm around his. "I don't want you getting lost." He glanced over his shoulder at Zain. "You stay close, too. I don't know what will happen to you if you go wandering off and get caught."

"I'm just here for Grace, not to go snooping."

"Well, I hoped so, but I had to give you the warning." Floyd led them inside, and the guards at the entrance bowed to him.

The double doors near the front opened, and the head of the Russo family, Samuel Russo, walked out. "Little brother." He eyed the three of them. "I hope you'll make sure they have a pleasant stay here."

"Of course."

Samuel approached Grace and kissed the back of her hand. "Benvenuta, Miss Bertolottis.'

Much to her dismay, Grace shuttered. "Thank you." She forced a smile.

"I will be busy dealing with a little problem. If you're still here when I get back, we should have a coffee together." Samuel brushed her hair back as he walked by her, heading for the door.

Hopefully, I won't still be here for that.

Floyd led them around the mansion, even stopping by out the back to show her the pool, before heading to the dining room where they had a full table of hot food waiting for them.

"I hope you like to eat." Floyd pulled out a chair for her at the dining table and then sat down at the end of the table right beside her. "There's plenty of food; you sit down, too." Floyd pointed at the seat on the opposite side of the table as Grace.

Zain glanced at the seat Floyd pointed at, and then sat down beside Grace with his arms crossed.

"Okay, sit wherever you like. Please enjoy a meal. We have some excellent food here."

"Just nothing spicy, please," Grace said. I don't want a repeat of that night.

"No worries there; none of this is spicy."

Grace's stomach growled as she looked at the array of food.

"Please, dig in," Floyd said as he served himself a piece of lasagna.

Not even bothering to fight the urge, Grace filled her plate with a mixture of pasta, vegetables, and even a buttered bun on the side.

"Hearty appetite."

"Oh... I guess this big plate of food doesn't look too good, does it?"

"No, no; it's fine." Floyd swallowed hard. "I encourage you to enjoy your food."

"Don't mind if I do." She dug in and her face lit up. "This is really good. My compliments to the chef." She hummed as she continued eating.

Zain watched her in amazement. She didn't even hesitate to eat their food. He had missed his chance to test the food for her first. "Tch..." The scent of luxurious food tickled his nose, and he could feel his stomach wanting to growl. He took a deep breath to calm himself, and it only made the hunger worse.

"Look, we're both fine," Floyd said, referring to himself and Grace. "So just eat something—"

"I'm good."

"Suit yourself." Floyd ate his food, glancing at the two of them all the while.

Grace suddenly yawned. "Oh gosh, I'm sorry. I swear I should've had enough sleep." She yawned again and started blinking a lot as her vision blurred.

"Grace?" Zain shook her shoulder. "Grace..."

"Mmm..." She dropped her fork as her head dipped. No matter how much she fought it, she couldn't keep her eyes open.

Zain slid her plate away before her head hit the table.

"What the hell did you do to her?" Zain stood abruptly, knocking his chair over. He pulled his gun out and pointed it at Floyd, who was calm the entire time.

A flood of men in suits filled the dining room, each with their gun out and pointed at Zain.

"Tch..." He knew it was a bad idea to go there, but didn't want to be seen as getting in the way. "You lying son of a—"

"What did I lie about?" Floyd stood and stared him down. "I know things were going better for the other candidates, and my brother won't tolerate losing, so I had to go to extreme measures. You understand, right? You might want to put the gun down now. Even if you shot me, you'd be dead seconds later, and I don't know what they'd do with her. She's much safer with me than my brother, don't you agree?"

"You just drugged her; how is this safe?"

Floyd shrugged. "Safe compared to what my brother would do if he got his hands on her." Floyd brushed the hair out of her face. "The precious granddaughter of the Bertolottis family. I wasn't sure this would work, but she seems to be pushing to trust people because of this whole 'marriage' thing."

Zain's hands shook. "What do you plan to do with her now?"

"Shouldn't you be worried about what I plan to do with you? Lower the gun, Zain, unless you want to be killed."

"Are you looking to start a war?"

"Haven't you noticed? It's already started." Floyd took the gun out of Zain's hand, and a couple of men grabbed him from behind, restraining him.

"You won't get away with this," Zain growled. And if it wasn't for Grace asleep at the table, he would've used one of the guards as a shield to get out of the place. "Tch..."

"Now, what shall I do with you?" Floyd picked Grace up.