Fifty Eight

***Ruby***

I quickly rushed to the door before something disastrous could happen but her footsteps happened to be faster.

Or… his footsteps?

I wore a small frown as Zion casually walked into the room.

Zion didn’t appear to notice the presence of the other person as he went straight to talking. “Ruby, Mom is calling you. She wants to ask you why the door was not locked and why-”

As he paused, my eyes dramatically followed his line of sight and when it fell on Adonis who was standing as still as a tomb, I closed my eyes for a second, my mind uttering a prayer that things wouldn’t go wrong from there.

“Anyway…” Zion surprised me as he said nothing and continued his sentence as though he didn’t see anything. “We met the font door open and Mom thinks you are growing so old that you forget things easily now.”

As I cleared my throat, my hands reached for the scarf around my neck and with the intention of not ruining the tense atmosphere any further, I replied, “I will go and see her now. Didn’t she tell you to go to bed?”

“Yes, I am doing that now. Jeez.” He pouted like a child that had been refused his favourite sweet.

I pushed him out of the room with my approaching footsteps. I closed the door as soon as we were both outside. For a short while, Zion and I made a really impactful eye contact, shared some telepathic conversation… I think.
Bottom line is, as we both walked towards our respective direction, it was established that he wouldn’t say anything about the man he saw in my room.

As I walked towards the living room, I wondered if Zion noticed the stained bed sheets too. If I were him, I would have questions rolling out of my tongue.

I just can’t never understand what goes on in my brother’s head but I appreciate what he was doing for me at that moment.

“Hey Mom,” I greeted the woman who was massaging her back as she had her seat in one of the couches.

“Why was the door open? Don’t tell me you fell asleep without realizing the door was open? What if someone had come in to hurt you or to steal something?”

As my eyes glanced towards the door, I wondered how Bryan did it. The knob didn’t seem broken and the door was closed just fine. My feet digging into the lushness of the carpet, I bit into my lower lip as I walked closer to her. “I am sorry. My mind must have been elsewhere.”

She eyed me with her serious eyes as I jumped into the couch beside her. “Nothing seems to be missing and I hope that’s the case at the end of the day.”

My attempt to wear a small smile failed as the sides of my eyes began to sting. “I am sure nothing has been stolen Mom, so don’t worry too much.”
I was the target, so there’s nothing to worry about.

I definitely could not say that. I was not ready to tell her about the incident. I was not even ready to tell myself that it really happened, so I left that thought in my head.

“What’s with the scarf?” The couch made a weird sound as she moved in order to get a good look in my direction. “Are you cold?” Mom reached for the material, I quickly pulled back earning me a concerned look. “Is everything okay, Ruby?”

I threw her a smile as I attempted to climb out of that uncomfortable situation. “Yes, everything is fine.”

“You are not looking at me anymore,” she replied. “I can tell something is going on. Is this about the disagreement between you and your dad?”

“What disagreement?” I tried to play dumb.

“Don’t try hard, young lady. I know something is wrong. What did you both argue about? What did he tell you to hide from me?”

My head darted in her direction the next second. “You heard that part?”

“No. Zion did.”

My eyes narrowed. Perhaps the earlier telepathic situation has been misread on my end.

“How much did he hear?”

“He caught the part where your Dad made sure to mention that you should not tell me about whatever you discussed.”
I sighed as I reminded myself that I was going to talk to her about it regardless what my father said. I have this feeling that she wouldn’t be aggressively dismissive in her reactions.

“So?” As though she could read the dilemma in my head, her word pushed the discussion out of me.

I took a deep breath, hid the part of my cloth that was wearing the evidence of Bryan’s visit with the throw-pillow that was laying carelessly beside me. “I am dating someone.”

She chuckled. “What’s so bad about that? Your Dad is really a drama queen.”

“He is ten years older than me.” I closed my eyes as it was beginning to feel tumultous inside me. “He is also my English teacher and he used to be a gang member. That’s why Dad is so against him.”

“Is that so? A gang member?”

I opened my eyes and looked in her direction. “Mom, I need you to know that-”

“Do you really like this person?” she asked, concern all over her face.

“I can’t help but like him, Mom. I can’t explain how awesome I feel around him but that’s how it is Mom.”

“Why does he have to be your teacher? Why not someone else?”

“I can’t force myself to like a person I do not like.”

“But liking this person spells trouble already,” she retorted and I looked away for a second to collect myself. “Listen…” She reached for my chin and directed my head to have my eyes on hers again. “… I am not against you dating someone. But if dating this person will put you in trouble, I am afraid I can’t be in support of such a relationship.”

“I felt this way in the beginning, Mom. I told myself it was a dangerous thing to attempt.” I placed my right hand on my chest and tears threatened to fall once again. “I even tried to stay away from Adonis after Dad found out but it was hard, Mom. It was hard to stay away from him. It is hard to stay away from him, Mom.”
My voice became a tone softer on the last statement.

“I know that feeling,” she said, her eyes softening as her thoughts took over for a second. “You feel scared as much as you yearn for the person.”

“Mom, I know it seems like I could be in danger if I’m not too careful but Adonis won’t let anything happen to me. Even before we started dating…” I paused as it occurred to me that we never officially mentioned it that we were dating. Am I being ahead of myself or am I overreacting?

“Ruby, are you okay?”

“Uh… Yes, I am. As I was saying, he has always found a way to protect me even when I didn’t like him.”


”Protect you from what? Something is going on, isn’t it?”

“Mom!”

“It is obvious that something is going on. What is it?”

“Nothing Mom. He just vowed to protect me after the Diane incident happened, that’s all.”

“Really?” she asked with her brows cocked dramatically. “That’s all?”

“That’s all.” I hated that I was lying but I had to lie to prevent her from disapproving Adonis too much. If she heard about the gang going after me to get to Adonis, she would be the one to make sure I am tossed into a boarding school.

“Just be careful Ruby. The fact that he used to be a gangster bothers me and it should bother you too because people’s pasts never dies, it always comes back no matter what.”

“I will be careful.” I nodded. “I will make sure of that.”

“That reminds me, has anything been found regarding Maddison’s death?”

“Actually, no. The funny thing is, the detectives stopped coming to the school, investigations have not happened in a while.”

“That’s suspicious.”

I nodded absentmindedly as I reprimanded myself for not taking note of something so important. But, come to think of it, Bryan definitely killed Maddison. It would be easy for him to use his connections to get rid of any charges.

My hands formed a tight fist as the thought of him getting away with everything angered me and I expressed disappointment at the police force who seemed like they were going to do something meaningful about the entire situation.

“Mom?”

“Yeah?”

“Can I ask you a favour?”

“What is that?”

“I’ll text you the details but please promise me you will bring Dad on board when I drop my idea.”

“What is this about?” she asked, her brows knitted together as her eyes searched for answers in mine.

I held her hands and said, “Please promise me.”

“Okay darling. I promise to try to bring you Dad on board but I hope it is not something illegal.”

“Hardly.” I jumped out of the couch. “You will find out soon, Mom and I promise you, you will love my idea.”

“Alright. If you say so.” I was about to bade her goodnight when she called me back. “You have an appointment with the doctor on Sunday.”

“Are you sure that this heart issue is nothing serious?”

“Why would you think it is?”


”Because you and Dad were acting weird when you told me about my condition.”

She dismissed my sentence with a single wave of her hand. “There’s nothing wrong with you. It’s just an aftermath of what happened to your heart when you were little.”

“But it didn’t feel like nothing when my chest began to ache. Are you certain it is nothing too serious?” I just couldn’t shake the feeling that her words were not entirely true.

“Nothing serious is wrong, Ruby. After some checkup and regular use of medication, you will be fine.”

“Okay Mom. Goodnight.”

“Where’s my kiss?” Her voice sounded so determined in a comical way, I just had to chuckle as I turned to give her the kiss she wanted. “Goodnight my beautiful baby.”

My hand ran through her back and we hugged. “Goodnight to you too, my beautiful mama.”

We shared a smile as we broke the hug.

Soon, I was back in my room and it all came rushing to me. As the heavy, crushing feeling that held me back then came back to me, I slid down the door, my buttocks landing a bit loudly on the floor. I buried my face in my palms as the feeling became unbearable.

I could have died. My mother and brother could have met a Ruby that was not alive. Devastation could have gripped our household.
I am grateful things didn’t turn out that way but if it had happened, I can’t imagine how terrible things would have been.

To think that Bryan would find a way to cover his crimes if something disastrous had happened made me feel so angry but still, grateful that things didn’t turn out that way.

“Hey.” Adonis’s touch dragged me out of my saddening thoughts.

“Adnonis…” I gently called him and he sat right in front of me, his arms inviting me the next second.

“You should take a bath,” he said as I relaxed in his comforting embrace. “And you need to get those vicious thoughts out of your head.”

“I can’t help it.”

His fingers running through my hair, an action of his that always made me feel mushy inside, he said, “I don’t want Bryan to disturb your thoughts. Just leave Bryan to me. I will take care of him.”

I looked up at Adonis as something occurred to me. “Adonis?” His beautiful eyes met mine. “What did you do to Bryan after you dragged him out of school?”

“I made him pay for his crimes but things didn’t go as planned,” he replied sternly. “Ruby, listen to me. I don’t want you to think about that psycho for now. Go into the bathroom, have a long refreshing bath and come back to bed to sleep in my arms.”

I looked towards the bed and I noticed he had changed the sheets. “Will I really get to sleep in your arms?”

He smiled as he leaned in and kissed my forehead. “I will be waiting for you, peanut.”

Adonis’s words made me smile, I just had to agree to his suggestion. So, I got up with his help, grabbed the clothes I was going to change into and walked into the bathroom.

Few minutes later, I walked out, my hair still wet from the long shower and my body feeling less dirty.

True to his words, Adonis was seated on my bed, his whole physique making the picture of my room look so great at that moment. A smile on my face, I turned off the central lights, dimmed the light of my table lamp and the next second, I jumped into his arms.

“You smell really good,” his husky voice commented as he changed our positions and hugged me from the back.
Our fingers interlaced, I closed my eyes as I appreciated the protective and loving vibe I was getting from the man at that moment. I loved it so much that I turned to plant a kiss on his lips.

The darkish night made his eyes seem more green and as my eyes connected with his, I wore a brighter smile. No words spoken, Adonis leaned in and pulled my lips into his for his own version of the night kiss. It lasted for about a minute and when his gentle tug on my lips was over, my heart began to pound and I suddenly wanted more.

Perhaps I wished to erase the deadly touch that was Bryan’s or my hormones were just acting up, I just wanted more.

As our eyes smiled at each other, Adonis reached for the side of my face then he lifted himself a little and the next moment, as though he had read my mind, his head tilted and his lips landed on mine again.
I didn’t feel hunger in his kisses. As his lips sucked and pecked and tugged, I felt assurance. I read his message of guarantee of my safety and of his love for me loud and clear and I returned the kiss with so much happiness.

In fact, when the kiss ended, I immediately hugged him, said thank you with a low voice and I used his kiss and our shared hug to propel myself to have a goodnight rest.

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**HELLO AND HAPPY NEW MONTH. THANK YOU FOR BEING PART OF THIS STORY. ;)**