Rachel's POVI realised that the playful banter he was using as a shield to protect the real question was doing a very awful job, for I could see right through him. Gone were his light aura and the playful gleam in his eyes and it was carefully replaced with longing and hope.His patience for hearing my answer was driving my own heartbeat into an abnormal pace and I worried that if I didn't give him a reply soon enough, I would set it free from the agony by blurting out the three words I had been holding back. "I'd still choose to keep you around."A wave of relief flooded through his face, as though he already knew he answer but was still taken aback by hearing it out loud, "Would you, really?""Yes." I nodded with a smile, "And I'm guessing you would too if you had a choice."With a tender smile, he tenderly placed his fingertips over my cheek and tucked a strand of hair behind my ears, "Well, I did have a choice and I chose you."By this point, I realised that I stopped breathing.
Alan’s POV"How many fingers are these?" I saw Rachel's worried face through her two fingers. She looked intolerably adorable when she was concerned about me and it motivated me to mess around further."Three." I lied just to catch her face fall."No, they were two." She said in agony and face-palmed. "You are a lost cause."Emilia's tipsy laughter boomed behind her as she offered a comforting hand to soothe her shoulders, "Relax, Rach, he's just messing around."Rachel's worried expression turned to an accusing one when she looked back at me and raised her eyebrows in question.Giving her a lazy shrug, I admitted truthfully, "I couldn't resist. You're so adorable when you're mad that I might just eat you.""You are definitely drunk out of your mind. We're going to call it a night.""But we just started having fun!" Henry, the enthusiastic groom protested."You just started. But it's time for us to go to bed." Rachel said in a strict tone. And then, she looked at me like how an annoye
Alan's POV Her phrasing brought a smile onto my face and I let myself enjoy the thought of it, "You sound very sure." "Because I am." "Does this mean you're beginning to trust me?" I asked her playfully. I was obviously joking and trying to pull her leg when I said that but I was taken aback by her prompt answer. "Yes." She nodded her head against my shoulder. But before I could consider whether I misread her, she removed all my doubts by continuing further, "See, that's the problem with my head you know. Or the way I'm built. I cannot fully say that I trust or don't trust someone. There's a sense of doubt always lingering in the background. The way I've lived - I never tried to lean onto someone for support. I've always taught myself to manage on my own. So this, what we are sharing right now, is a completely new experience for me. I needed some time to warm up to that idea and I'm guessing I've come to terms with it recently." "Wow. I was definitely not expecting our conversatio
Rachel’s POV"Mom practices minimalism like it's her religion." She continued. "In striking contrast to me.""Well, I don't always agree with the more the merrier." April shrugged casually, "Sometimes less is more.""We have some common ground there." I winked and sent her a grin."Where is Douglas? Won't he be joining us tonight?" Alan asked from beside me as a protective arm came around and rested on the small of my back."He had to leave to tend to some urgent matter just a few minutes ago. He warned me that he might miss the dinner." April clearly seemed upset about me where as I had just relieved the hugest sigh of my life. Inward, though."That's alright. We can make up for it some other time right?" I suggested although I'd rather not have to see that man's face again."Of course, yes." she said. "Please sit down. Linda, dear, will you get us some wine?"Once seated, I watched as the maid brought four wine glasses on a tray along with two bottles of wine. Once she'd reached me,
Alan's POV Before the second bullet could hit April in the head, I dived forward onto her chair to drag her down. She released a strangled cry upon the impact but I didn’t give her much of a refractory period to recover from the sudden shock. “April, we’ve got to run.” I quickly mumbled and paid little to no heed to the voices behind me. I only looked up to find our nearest exit and noticed that one of the working staff members in the house was already in the attempt of helping us. Shots fired over our heads once more but this time, I made sure we quickly crawled our way to the window that was held open by him. I pushed April through it first and quickly followed behind her. It was only after I landed on the floor outside that I finally gave myself some time to recollect what all had happened in the last twenty seconds of my life. Although my feet were already taking me away from the house to the safest distance possible, my mind was still amidst complete mayhem. I had not seen it
Alan’s POVChanting the two lines inside my brain, I proceeded. Since the source of the previous voice had come from the stairs, I had temporarily disregarded the idea of taking that route and took the opposite one instead.The other end of the hallway led up to the library and the study room. Holding the pistol alert in my hand by my legs, I prepared my body for the offense that would potentially ensue. I stopped dead in my track when I heard some footsteps.Ragged breaths and hurried footsteps.Gripping onto the metal of the pistol harder, my forefinger lingered on the trigger. Following the noise, I searched in my vicinity to find my target. It was only when I found a black lock of hair hovering over a table did my heart almost skip a beat.With air caught in my windpipe, I knew that I couldn’t afford to make even the slightest mistake. Seeing as I was responsible for the movements caused by myself and the person in my sight, I walked as slowly as I could.By the time I had reached
Rachel’s POVWhen I first realized my feelings for him, I was taken aback by the reality. It was difficult for me to wrap my head around the fact that I didn't suffer from Stockholm syndrome, since I was essentially falling in love with my captor.When I was enlightened of his intentions of marrying me, I believed that Alan was the most manipulative person I had encountered and that he had managed to capture me in his trap with very little effort. That reality had always astounded me. I couldn't believe that I was set up that way, and for that very reason, I decided that there was no way I would ever develop romantic feelings for him.So, naturally, since I had such strong emotions with regards to that subject, I was taken aback when I found myself succumbing to his charms. What was more unexpected than that event of my life was the fact that I was essentially enlightening him of that truth on the verge of our life.Taking into account all I've been through in the last half hour of my
Rachel’s POVBoth of us merely stared at it for seconds until we could come to terms with the second blow we had received that evening. In those few seconds, we seemed to have forgotten about the threat to our lives that we had above our head, literally and stared in pure horror at the revelation of one of the greatest mysteries that had Alan and the better part of the intelligence group work on endless days.Letting go of my hand, Alan proceeded to tear open one of the boxes to confirm his suspicion - just so he could believe what he already knew. To his relief, we had been right."So this is where he has been hiding them." He scoffed. "No wonder we couldn't spot them, even after months of searching.""How could he have brought them here?" I wasn't sure how he could get away with carrying them without having someone catch him on the way."It means just one thing," Alan muttered and faced me. "Follow me."Without bothering to question what he was talking about, I silently followed him