Rachel's POV Following the uneventful encounter with Douglas and his family, things had surprisingly started to simmer down. Easier than I had expected, both Alan and I had managed to fall into a quiet routine. After the initial shock had subsided, I’d begun to grasp the situation. Since I was no foreigner to acceptance, I had little difficulty in moving on from it. It didn’t mean that I no longer felt threatened to stay alone anywhere, but that notion wasn’t damaging my regular life as much as I’d expected it to. Alan was pleasantly taken aback with this, he had said earlier, as he had expected me to live in that trauma for at least a few weeks. Our conversations were always limited, but one particular evening, he made time to check up on how I was doing, and that was when he affirmed this. Like myself, Alan was a busy man. As expected of him considering his profession, he had barely any time for endeavours that people tend to do in their free time. Like a young trainee at the hos
Rachel's POVSince I wasn’t someone who let their past interfere with their present, I was quick to get back into my full spirits at work. Moreover, I had grown numb to fall outs like this since I had grown up witnessing plenty of them at my house.Emilia was a complete sweetheart when it came to restoring my spirits. She had a keen eye to notice my foul mood and she acknowledged that I needed cheering up without verbally stating it. Perhaps it was a connection we had developed over the years where we didn’t need to have a conversation to let eachother know what was happening inside our minds, and I was rather glad about it.Toward the end of the day, I was positive that it was the most exhausting working day of my life - physically and emotionally.Dealing with complex cases and performing risky procedures was one thing - handling my emotions without letting them affect the workflow was another.“So, this is how it’s going to be now? You get married and stop sharing stuff with me?” S
At first, I didn't understand what he was on about, but soon enough, I realized that he was answering my prior question. Understanding, I nodded, urging him to continue.“Men in his circle aim just for two things - money and power. Most of them originally come from a poor lifestyle and traumatized past, which, in my opinion, drives them to things that acquire them control of their life. In the process, they stop caring about what is just or not, and what is right or wrong.”“How do they get to roam around in public when you know they’re criminals?”“It’s not that simple - sure, we can arrest them or kill them, but that’s just a temporary fix. In my opinion, it’s not even a fix. If anything - it’ll eventually create more pressing issues. You see, it’s not just one person - it’s his entire empire that we need to kill.”“Won’t arresting him destroy his entire base?”“Not necessarily. In a mob, there are too many people involved. Let’s take the case of Douglas. If we kill him, his men wil
Rachel's POVI kissed a fair share of men in my life and few of them have proven that they were rather excellent at their skill, but never was I kissed so ardently until this moment. Mere movements of his lips against mine have sent my heart into such a racing pace that I feared it would implode within my chest.It felt like he was made for me as no pair of lips have fit into mine as perfectly as his did. As his lips moved expertly against mine, his hands sought the chance to explore my body, seeming to have known my anatomy at the back of his mind. He had an undeniable knack of turning my entire body into molten lava as I fought with all might not to melt within his arms.As I immersed myself into the blissful movement of his lips against mine, he slowly pushed me backwards by my hips and soon my legs met with the couch in the living room. Falling on my back, I pulled him by his collar along with me to hover over my body, reluctant to let go of his lips.When a groan left his mouth,
Rachel's POV“You sneaked out on him?” Emilia’s voice alarmed the crowd around us, drawing out a groan from me.Before giving a reassuring smile to a few of the ones around me, I turned my focus toward her and fixed her with a glare, “Lower your volume!”Looking around to notice that she indeed gathered some attention, she moved forward to grab some fries as I trailed behind her. “Sorry, but did you really sneak out of your own bedroom after spending the night in his arms?”Wearing a guilty expression, I groaned behind her, “I did. I didn’t know what else to do.”When I had woken up earlier this morning, I was almost startled to find an arm draped over my chest. Images from last night came crashing back soon enough, making me aware of what a fool I made out of myself. Thoroughly mortified, I escaped his embrace slowly and rushed out.When I finished getting ready, I noticed that he was still asleep. That relieved me, as I had no clue what I was supposed to do if he had woken up. On my
Alan's POV My self-control was never put to such a test before. Seeing her within my reach, so close, and knowing that if I wanted, I could have her any way I pleased, and yet to have resisted her for the right reasons was probably one of the toughest things I’d endured.When I eventually pulled away from the best kiss I had had in my life, I couldn’t help but groan at the sight of her.She was indeed a beauty. If that mere sight could torment me so much, I could only imagine what seeing her completely bare could do to me. Would I even survive it, I wondered.There was no doubt that she was the most desirable woman I had ever seen, and how I managed to overlook her beauty all this while was beyond me. I was bloody blessed to have her as a wife if we talked about her physique.Curvaceous in her figure, her skin was velvety as I ran my hands down on it - not a flaw could come to my notice at that point. When she essentially insisted on having her, I knew better than to give in to my ur
Alan's POVWhen I did wake up the next day, the unfamiliar feel of the mattress drew my focus toward it. Upon the realisation, I groaned in disappointment that I had woken up alone. Since I’d found the entire apartment empty, I was sure that she left for work.I was rather gutted. After last night, I was looking forward to talking with her. I wanted to know what her thoughts were, now that she was sober.Did she regret kissing me?I didn’t, for sure. And given the chance, I would do it again. I was not afraid of admitting my feelings. Initially, I dreaded it, and I didn’t exactly want it to happen - but I grew fond of her anyway. I was definitely into her.Last night made my feelings for her abundantly clear. Maybe I was not paying them a lot of thought earlier, given the clusterfuck, we were thrown into right from the moment we entered each other’s lives, but since we did end up finding time for each other, I realised that she was indeed my type.But there was still a lot that I need
It was exactly eight o’clock when I heard the front door open. I watched her drop her purse onto the couch beside the door and wondered why she was staring at it for long. When I realised that it was the same couch that we made out on last night, I couldn’t help but smirk at her flushed face.Noticing my gaze on her, she instantly looked up and locked her eyes with mine.“Hey,” I said and nodded at her.Gulping, she opened her mouth but seemed to have been at a loss of words.I couldn’t help but feel amused at her, she was clearly as affected by it as I was, if not more. To help her out of her agony, I continued.“I made dinner, hope you haven’t eaten already.”“Um, I didn’t. I’m starving, in fact.” She said.“Good, I’ll fix the table while you get changed,” I suggested.She nodded at me in relief and escaped into her room.Sighing, I realised that if her guard was going to be up like this for the entire evening, it would be very difficult for me to strike a conversation. Well, she wa
RachelMy eyes widened in disbelief when I looked at the screen. Three brand new emails had made their way into my mailbox last week and I had finally kept some time aside this weekend to respond to them. All of them had the same message - that they would be pleased to have me as their Cardio Fellow.To be honest, I wasn’t counting on Ingard and Boston Medical to even consider me for the job, let alone offer me one. Hence, I assumed that the only option available for me was to continue my service at Weston Hale Memorial hospital here in New York. I wasn’t sure what I was feeling about this.“What’s wrong?” Alan asked as he walked toward me with two cups of coffee in his hands. After placing them by my side, he hovered over me to peek a glance at the screen.It had become his routine to make me breakfast and coffee every morning. Ever since I was discharged from the hospital two months ago, Alan had made sure he was doing everything he could to give me a smooth recovery period.Knowing
Alan's POV“Oh, my God,” Rachel’s mother froze in her step at the sight of her daughter. Beside her, her husband mirrored her expression of absolute astonishment.“Rachel...” She frantically cried and rushed to her side, “Oh, my God, look at you.”Seeing as her father wanted to have a closer look at his daughter for himself, I quietly stepped back to stand by my mother, "Rachel, are you alright? How are you feeling?”The new found love and affection in her parents caught her completely off guard. Looking quizzically at me, her eyes sought answers regarding how to proceed with her situation at hand. It was perhaps the first time she was watching her mother cry for her and that essentially caused a wave of panic to rush through her.“Mom,” She hurried to say, “Mom, I’m okay. I’m completely fine, please don’t panic.”“Oh, my God, am I scaring you? I’m sorry, Rachel, I just-”“Mrs Windsor, it’s alright.” Emilia spoke, “Rachel is fine. She’ll get better in the next few days. I assure you s
Alan's POV While I waited for the news of Rachel’s surgery, Emilia, Henry and Mark decided to accompany me. The four of us were in a similar mental state dominated by angst and fear, and the only person keeping us from sinking into waters of lost faith was Dylan. Though I hadn’t acknowledged his involvement then, I have grown to appreciate his support more than anything. From a distance, I could recognise Emilia and Dylan approaching me. Their faces showed evident exhaustion after a tiring day, supplemented by sleep deprivation. Soon enough, they reached me and propelled down beside me. Emilia took the spot beside my seat and Dylan, the one beside her’s. “Is she asleep yet?” I asked as I peeked at the view of her tired face. “Finally,” She nodded, “She was exhausted. She’s not showing it but I could sense that she was in a lot of pain. Pain meds don’t ease everything.” Dylan wrapped an arm around her and drew her closer to himself, “Good thing she’s asleep then, yeah? She won’t fe
Rachel’s POVThere was an unknown hesitation in me that didn’t allow me to acknowledge him. Why I felt the fear was beyond my understanding. Perhaps it was my subconscious preventing me from looking at him, although my racing heart was looking for him to sate its pace. Deeply buried, a memory from when I last saw him. It was then that I had slipped into the darkness. The vacuum of nothingness.Long after Henry and Emilia exited the room, I refused to turn my head toward the door. Waiting for his touch, I stared blankly at the wall clock. But it never came.Giving up, at last, I desperately let my eyes search for him. Looming over my figure by my side, he stared at me. There was a look of restored hope in his face, as though he was watching a miracle unfold before his eyes. Utterly heartbroken, his face spoke to me of his exhaustion and grief and that seemed to paralyze him momentarily.After his initial shock seemed to subside, he took a seat beside my bed. Carefully then, he reached
Rachel's POVWith heavy eyelids, I attempted to catch a whim of the world outside my brain. The white light that had previously blinded me, dispiriting me from trying again, had managed to dim in its intensity.I heard noises around me again, but their coherence remained a mystery. Blinking my eyes, I tried to focus on the clock on the wall opposite of me but it was a futile attempt. All that seemed to matter to me right then was to be able to comprehend the words.In desperation, I felt moisture pool in my eyes. Defeated, I closed my eyes. My persistent effort to keep myself conscious was deemed counterproductive as that very attempt was wearing me out. I was afraid of reliving the dream should I fall asleep again and I couldn’t afford it. But there was little in my body that was still in my control, and my mind sadly wasn’t one of them.‘Keep your distance for the next ten seconds’ I typed.Immediately, I shut down the phone and ran my eyes over our surroundings for another quick in
Alan's POV“Emilia?” I shrieked out, “Who are you talking about?”“Douglas,” A chill went down my spine, “Rachel told me that he was responsible for the attack last night and that I should tell you-”“Did he say where he’s taking her?”“He just said his wife needed a doctor and asked if Rachel could come and see her.”“Fucking hell,” I groaned, “Did you give Rachel the phone I gave you?”“Yes, she has it with her.” She said, “Alan, is she going to be okay?”“Yes, she will.” I said, “I’ll call you back.”“What the fuck?” Bruce asked once I cut the call.“Page Cameron to send in more people,” I said, “I know where Douglas is.”“Is it that black car?” Bruce asked me.My eyes that were previously fixed on the GPS on the screen flew up to see what he was talking about. Answering his question, I nodded, “Yes, that is it.”“Has Rachel texted back?”In dismay, I shook my head, “No. But it does say that she’s seen the message.”“What did you tell her?”“That we’re following closely behind, an
Rachel’s POVFreezing in my step, I looked at him with a frown. Noticing me, a hesitant smile latched onto his face, “Hey.”“You’re here early.”Shrugging, he clumsily scratched his neck, “Well, yeah...”“You didn’t give him a choice...” Emilia muttered from behind him as she stirred some vegetables on the pan.Instant guilt cruised through me. He was there because he was worried about me. He was worried that I was upset with him.“Alan, I didn’t-” I stopped myself and looked hesitantly at Emilia, silently gesturing her to leave us alone for a while.My dear best friend caught onto the message and decided to oblige. “I’ll be in my room.”After I heard the room door close after her, I approached him with a guilty pout. Understanding my intention of straddling him, he welcomed me with open arms. Position my legs on each side of his, I felt his hands travel up waist to hold onto me.“I’m sorry about earlier,” I mumbled. “I didn’t mean to upset you or get you worried. I should have been m
Rachel’s POVWhen I had woken up the next morning, my mind had paused in perplexity. Everlasting pain remained within my chest, making even the most fundamental movements difficult to perform. Enervated by the events of last night, my body yearned for some more rest. But the questions in my mind needed answers.Groaning, I peeled the warm duvet away from my body. It was only after I had stepped onto a familiar carpet along the bedside did I realise my current location. What was I doing in Emilia’s Bedroom? More importantly, how did I get there?Ignoring the pain in my ribs, I rushed out of the bedroom. The hallway was calm except for the noise coming from the living room. When I’d entered into it, the news was running on the Television. In front of it sat my dear best friend with a bowl of cereal in her hand.“What are you doing?”“Having breakfast.” She said and mouthed a spoonful of it. “Want some?”Clutching my head, I walked to the couch and took a seat beside her. With my head in
Alan’s POV"Of course, we did." I smiled back and looked out the window. A feeling of overwhelming triumph took over me. Douglas was the first big project that I was assigned to. When I started working, like any agent, I was mostly assisting in cases of theft, murder, harassment and domestic violence.I had always craved for more, as any officer would, and having my dad as an idol didn't help at all. All through college, I had been in the loop with him as to what he was up to, the kind of work he was doing, the risks that he took and the saves that he made. I always wanted that. I wanted to be like him, if not better. But I wasn't sure if I would be trusted like his superiors trusted him.Not that I questioned my ability, but just that he was better than me in a lot of things that I could only dream of. Perhaps he had his experience to steal some credit in that regard.When I was assigned Douglas' project, I had very little knowledge about those kind of cases. But since I had already