The Heiress

"You can't stay out here for the rest of the party," Zain said, boring a hole into the back of Grace's head.

"I know," Grace sighed. "I still have the other one to talk to."

"Only one? What about me?"

"What about you? I talk to you all the time."

"Ouch." Zain held his hand over his heart. "I am one of the candidates, you know? Shouldn't you spend some time with me?"

"You'll still be here after the party, so I have to find the other one."

"Doesn't seem like you want to."

"He hasn't exactly shown me his good side so far, but I have to give him a chance." Grace reached for the door to head back in, but Zain grabbed her arm.

"I can talk to the boss about him for you. I know you handled yourself, but you didn't seem too happy with how he approached you."

"You're one to talk." Grace rolled her eyes and yanked her arm away from him.

Grace scanned the crowd, but it was hard to see through the mass of people standing around drinking as they talked.

"Looking for me?"

She jumped to the side, her hand reaching for her gun, but she stopped. "Actually, yes." Grace relax and looked at Floyd.

"I knew you'd come around." Floyd reached out to her, and she brushed his hand away.

"Careful, Floyd; I'm only here because I figured I'd give you a chance, since my grandfather chose you. There must be a reason."

"Indeed, there is; my family has been getting bigger and stronger, so who better to connect to than the Russo family?"

"That would only be one of the reasons. There must be more."

Floyd went silent as he thought, and his expression relaxed. "More than just my family name?"

"Yes, more than that. Something about you must have stood out to him."

"I... I don't know what it would be. I'm not the leader, you know? I'm not even in line for it; my older brother is..." Floyd trailed off, and Grace could hardly hear him.

"Come." She held her hand out to him.

He absentmindedly took her hand and let her lead him over to the far tables, away from the crowds and music, like a lost puppy.

"Sit." She pulled a chair out for him, and he sat without any fuss.

How do I even approach this? Sad how unused to dating I am.

"Why don't we go out on the balcony like you did with Vincent?" Floyd asked.

"Do I even have to say it? You're a bit on the aggressive side, and I don't trust you not to try anything. Besides, it's starting to get chilly, and I wanted to rest my feet."

"Do you want my jacket?" he offered.

"We're inside now; I'm alright. Thank you, though."

A few words, and he goes from an aggressive dog to a little puppy.

He nodded and sighed as he leant back. "I have a feeling none of my usual ploys will work on you."

"Like trapping me against the wall in a kabedon." I always thought my heart would skip a beat, and I'd be flustered, not angry, if it ever happened.

"A what?"

"Never mind." I have to stop watching so much anime.

"Well, it works on other women. It makes their heart race."

"It was oppressive, and it felt like you were actually going to attack me."

"Why would I... Oh, you mean in that way? I guess I can see how you might think that. Different things work on different people."

I need to do things differently. "So, why do you want to marry me? I assume he showed you a picture and had some sort of profile, right?"

"He did, and he talked about you quite a bit. He was right about you, too. A strong and beautiful woman who won't take crap from anyone. I like you; it's the only reason I did a... what did you call it?"

"Never mind that."

"If you say so. I've always had to be strong to support the family, and to them, being strong meant acting a certain way." Floyd sighed and roughly ran his hand through his hair. "Why does this feel like a therapy session and not a date?" He moved his chair closer to her and rested his hand on the back of her chair. "The best way I know to get to know a woman is to be intimate, so how about we—"

Grace narrowed her eyes. He was getting somewhere, but he's resisting!

"Don't even finish that sentence. I just met you; I'm not going to sleep with you." Grace sighed and turned away.

"I'm always disappointing people," he mumbled, but she didn't hear him. "Ahem. What about a walk outside?"

"I'd love to, but I'm not allowed."

"Not allowed? How can they do that?"

"I can technically go outside and around the estate, but Zain will be on my heels." Not sure if I should've mentioned that; might hurt my grandfather's reputation.

"I guess since you just got here, they're worried you'll do something, and the cop thing," he whispered the last part. Floyd looked around for Zain and spotted him by the wall nearby. When their eyes met, Zain narrowed his eyes. "Hard to have a date with him around. How about we give him the slip?"

"How?"

"Join me for a dance?" He nudged his head towards the crowd of couples dancing and held his hand out.

"What the heck?" Grace took his hand, and he tugged her along. His arm around her waist, he pulled her close, and carefully checked on Zain. He pulled her along as they danced, getting closer to one of his men. "Alex, block his view," Floyd commanded a large man standing around as Zain was.

"Sir." He sighed and stood beside them, towering above, and pretended to talk to one of the other people there.

"Duck." Floyd led Grace out of the room and kept going down the hall around the corner. "And the tail is gone." He slung his arm over her shoulder, and they headed for the back door.

This suddenly feels like a bad idea. I let my guard down too much because I wanted to give him a chance. Since we made it out of there, it would've been a chance to go for Roger.

"You know what? They might have guards out there, too. We should find some other way out," Grace suggested.

"The living room, then? There're doors to the outside there, right?"

He's been here before and to more than the grand hall.

"Yes."

"Then let's go that way."

"Can I ask you to help me with something first?"

"Hmm?" He raised an eyebrow as he looked at her. "What are you up to?"

"I haven't been able to move around here freely, so I haven't gotten a good layout of the place."

"You want to wander around the inside? I'm not sure that's a good idea. They have more people around patrolling, just in case. They'll probably let you search the place better in the future. For now, let's go outside." He took her hand and dragged her into the living room.

Damn; I thought I had him.

He looked outside the glass door to the backyard. "Looks clear from here." They headed outside, and then it dawned on him. "It's a bit dark at this time of night, even with the extra lights."

"You're not afraid of the dark, are you?"

"Of course not. I thrive in the night, but you..."

"I'm trained; I'll be fine."

"You're a girl, and I know you're taught to be more careful at night, and for a good reason."

"We're still on my grandfather's estate; we'll be fine." Although, I was shot at out here already.

"You should learn to care more about yourself, and to be more careful in general." Floyd loomed over her. "You shouldn't trust people so easily."

Grace rolled her eyes. "I don't trust you, and we both know I can take you down."

"Intimidation really doesn't work on you."

"Why are you trying to intimidate me? You're smart enough to know that's not going to make me like you."

"I was hoping you'd go running back inside. I have a feeling it's dangerous out here." Floyd looked out into the distance. "Like something is lurking in the shadows."

Kur-chink.

At the sound of a gun being cocked, Grace tackled Floyd to the ground and reached for her gun, automatically turning around with it pointed.

"If I was out to kill you, I could have," Zain said, pointing a gun at them as he huffed. "You didn't even go for cover."

"Not much cover here, so I had to stay low." Grace stood, her gun still pointed at Zain.

Floyd clawed at his face. "I should've been the one to react," he groaned.

"Are you planning on shooting me?" Zain asked.

"Shouldn't I ask you that? You drew your gun first." Grace glared at him, her hand steady. I could easily shoot it out of his hand. I'm good enough for that, but the noise will draw more people.

"I thought he might've been up to no good, bringing you out here."

"So you'd shoot him over it? Don't you know how to use your words?"

"Don't forget what I am; of course, I have to be ready to shoot." Zain shook his head and put his gun away. "Party is over. You can leave," he said to Floyd. "You, you're coming back with me." He stepped towards her, but her gun was still pointed at him.

"If she doesn't want to go, I'm on her side." Floyd stood beside her. He would've drawn a gun, but they didn't let him inside with one. He combed a hand through his hair, trying to hide the shake. He had been in worse situations, but normally he had his trusted gun with him.

"She will be coming with me, and she knows why." Zain stared into her eyes.

Roger...

"Besides, she's not going to shoot me." Zain grabbed her hand and pointed the gun straight at his chest. "Are you? If you're so keen on getting away from the family, shoot me now."

"Tch..." A tremor ran through her hand, and he smirked. He had felt it.

"Is this any way to treat your boss' granddaughter? Or how about your potential fiancée?" Floyd asked.

Rich coming from him, but I guess it all depends on how much he's trying to keep up the facade versus being himself.

Zain glanced at him. "Don't talk like you know about what's going on. We need to go inside now," Zain practically growled at them.

Wait a moment... "What's wrong?" Grace asked.

Zain manoeuvred to take the gun from her and grabbed her wrist. "Your family is waiting for you to go. Come on."

"Hold on." Floyd wrapped an arm around Grace's waist, cradled her cheek in one hand, and kissed her before she even knew what was going on.

"Wha..." Grace's eyes widened. Zain shoved him away and pulled her into his arms before she could even react.

"Go to your family, Russo, before something bad happens."

Floyd licked his lips. "That was fun. Until next time." He walked away, knowing he wouldn't be able to fight Zain off.

"And you, how could you leave an opening like that?"

"Hmm...?" She gave him a blank look.

"Up you go." Zain picked her up over his shoulder and shoved her gun in the back of his belt, in range of her.

"Ugh... I told you to stop carrying me like this." She spotted the gun and frowned. Why in the world would he leave it available to me?

"You were being a brat and not coming with me; what do you expect?"

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? Do you expect me to drop everything at the drop of a hat when you come calling?"

"Yes, because it means something serious has happened."

"You mean you're not just mad I left you behind?"

"As annoying as it is to have to stalk you as your bodyguard and keeper, no, it wasn't just because of that. Someone followed you and the Russo boy out of the grand hall. Why do you think it took so long for me to find you? You two didn't exactly hide all that well."

"Someone followed me? Why?"

"I don't know for certain, yet. The boss is currently finding out."

I'm afraid to ask what he means. Who am I kidding? I know what that means. Grace cringed.

"He never should've brought you here," Zain grumbled.

"When are you going to put me down? It's not exactly comfortable up here."

They had passed a number of people she didn't recognize, and yet still no one gave them more than a glance.

"You better not take me to my room; I want to see Roger."

"Even now you're thinking about him?"

"We were partners for years; what do you expect?"

"You know, when you vanished, I thought you were trying to get your partner out of his captivity, but you ended up outside. Why?"

"Fresh air." Liar!

"You've had plenty of that, haven't you?"

"I planned to have a walk, but he didn't want to."

Zain walked into her room, dumped her on her bed, and headed for the door. "Don't do anything stupid. I'll be back soon." The door closed with a click.

She stared at the ceiling as she lay there.

What am I even doing? She rubbed her face. Am I really going to go through with this? Will Roger be a captive forever? I wonder what's going on in my department. I miss the gun... Grace touched the holster on her leg.

Not feeling motivated to do anything, Grace didn't bother to change and closed her eyes.