Chapter 32: Chapter 32

Karen's POV

The house suddenly seemed quiet with no one around. I suddenly turned back and saw someone looking at me. I couldn't see his face but he was outside the window. When he turned back, he was putting on a mask and I screamed.

As I ran to lock the door, it was too late. He was already in the house. "Who are you?" I asked, retracting my steps. I was scared as many thoughts flooded my mind.

He refused to say a word, he probably knew the reason for that question. I wanted to detect his voice. As I tried running towards the stairs, I slipped and fell down. Facing back, I found him directly in front of me.

I screamed and he dragged my hair. I winced in pain and he ran out of the house quickly when he heard a car honk.

My heart raced quickly as I ran out of the house. Brody came out of the car looking at me. "What's wrong?" He asked.

"Someone was....here.... He tried to kill ....me." I answered, stammering. Brody quickly took me inside and locked the door.

"Did he hurt you?" He asked and I hugged him tightly.

"I'm not hurt."

"Where's mother?" He asked as we climbed the stairs. He pushed the door open and I entered still shocked.

"No one's around." I informed him trying to smile even though I was really scared.

"Where did they go?"

"They had a surprise."

"I'm beginning to suspect them."

My eyes blinked. I didn't understand what he meant by that but I decided not to ask him. It was his family's business and not mine. "Have you informed the cops about Bill?" I inquired with a concerned look.

"Yeah, his wife's back. She has taken her kids to another town. The cops don't have solid evidence so they can't actually believe that Bill's a criminal. We don't even have evidence."

I nodded. I wished I had removed the man's mask. My mind went to Bill and Michael, the both of them could do anything to kill me. "What do you suggest we do?" He asked.

"I don't know."

"Will you like to leave the country? I can make sure you're flown to another country before tomorrow." He suggested.

How could I leave him? Why couldn't I tell him that I was already in love with him? Why was I afraid? "That sounds like a good idea, I'll leave tomorrow morning. I can't leave tonight."

He nodded and smiled. I didn't know what he would think of me but I wasn't a bad person. I just wanted to be safe.

"Let's go out on a date." He suggested and I nodded.

"A fake date?" I asked and he chuckled.

"A real date! Maybe we can really know what we feel for each other. I mean, if we...." He paused and looked at me. Was he indirectly telling me that he loved me?

"Alright, I'm interested."

**********

"So is this a new restaurant?" I asked as we occupied a seat at the back.

"I'm not sure about that but it doesn't look like one, does it?"

His eyes were lit with humor. "It's actually a big restaurant, I honestly didn't expect it to be big." I told him with a smirk.

He grinned in reply. "You didn't?!"

I slanted a look at him and he chuckled. "Ouch."

I caught my breath and he smiled at me. Picking up the menu, I stole a glance at Brody, he was looking at me.

The waitress bustled up to our table in an efficient manner, apologizing for the delay. She put down two tall glasses of ice water and pulled a pad of paper from her apron pocket. "What will you like to have?" She asked.

I had not even checked the menu yet, Brody snatched the menu from my hands with a grin. He scammed through it with his eyes. "A double cheeseburger with fries, a dish of vanilla ice cream with a pile on the bottom."

My face broke out into the biggest grin. His choice of food made me almost scream. She smiled down and wrote down his order. "You?"

"I'll also have what he picked, it sounds great."

She nodded and left. "You decided to have what I'll eat also. I'm hoping you would enjoy it."

"We should do this more often." I suggested and he looked at me.

"A fake date?" He asked.

I chuckled and suppressed a smile. "A real date. It's actually nice that your mother loves me now. My life has become easier and I was happy to see my dad."

He frowned and softened his voice. "Why didn't he stay at my house? I didn't get to apologise and have fun with him."

Laughing, I replied. "My dad went back to his New York, he doesn't play with his job."

"Sounds like a true workaholic, maybe you took after him.".

I laughed and looked at him seductively, why didn't I see this side of Brody from the start? I was totally falling in love with him even though I tried to stop myself. "Yeah, I guess so."

"Huh, I found an application from Emily, she wanted to work in my organization but it didn't seem like a good idea so I tore her application letter."

Remembering Henry's words, I heaved a sigh of relief. "Have you spoken to Henry recently? I haven't heard from him for a while and I'm worried."

"Should we visit them?" He asked.

"Absolutely not." I answered with a smile.

"Are you angry with Emily?"

I nodded. I was really angry with her, she was a bad friend. I noticed that through her words and behavior when I got the contract. "She's a bad person."

He chuckled lightly. "You're beautiful." He complimented and I felt goosebumps forming on my skin.

"Thanks Brody, I didn't know you would be this nice." I replied.

"I'm certainly not a vampire or an evil character in a movie." He retorted and we laughed.

The waitress brought the meal and placed it on the table. It looked delicious that I couldn't help but smile. "This looks so great." I murmured.

She quickly calculated the bill for Brody and he paid her. "I told you it would be nice." He said and she went to attend to other customers.

"No, you didn't say anything like that."

He frowned and raised an eyebrow in surprise. "Yes, I did." He argued, refusing to admit that he didn't say anything.

"We should probably eat now." I suggested.

*************

Brody's POV

As we walked out of the restaurant, I smiled at her. "I'm happy you decided to follow me here. I knew you were stressed up and I wanted to thank you for everything."

She shrugged. "You don't have to thank me, I can do anything for the people I love."

My heart raced slowly. Was she trying to tell me that she was in love with me? What did she mean by that statement? "Of course, you should. Are you going to be less busy tomorrow?" I asked, concerned. I wanted to know if she could escort me to the opening party of my competitor.

"I'm not sure about that." She simply answered.

"Will you follow me to the opening party of one or my competitors?"

She chuckled and narrowed her eyes at me. "I'm done with parties."

I nodded. "We should head back home, we've had enough fun." I suggested with a broad smile.