Trinstan's POV

"Aye, mo chridhe. I am well. Ye take care of yerself and the children. I love ye so much." said David as he ended the call as he finished talking to his wife.

"Why are ye reading the reports on Miss West again?" He asked.

I looked up from the reports and scratched the back of my neck. "I'm trying to gather as much info we can on the stalker. The holidays will be over soon and Ri...Miss West will be out and about. We need to stay alert." I said.

"Look at ye lad. Now ye wanna know about her stalker. You didn't even want to know her name up until we got to Mr. Maddox's office. What did ye call her? Ah yes 'Just another spoiled brat'." He said.

I clenched my jaw shut. He is right. I didn't care about the client earlier because I thought it was just another over-privileged child of a big-shot billionaire. But no. I was there standing in front of the love of my life. She was just as I saw her ---- years back. Beautiful as the day I first saw her. The hurt in her eyes felt like a knife through my heart especially because I was the one who caused it. I was reading her files to know about that son of a bitch that was stalking her. I would lay down my life to protect her.

He bent down to pick up the water jug. "Looks like there is no water," he said.

"There's water in that mini-fridge," I said. The Maddoxes were loaded. We were given an entire wing in the house, close to Riley's room. Dave and I had two separate rooms and a common sitting area that had a mini-fridge, coffee maker, all the basics. The rooms were beautifully decorated which reflected Riley's style. She was always passionate about her work.

"I don't like drinking water from the fridge. Did ye put all the bottles in?" he said with a grunt.

"What's up, old man? Scared of getting a sore throat?" I teased. He gave me the finger and went to look for any bottles of room temperature water. I chuckled.

"It's okay. I'll get you some." I said taking the jug. I walked out of the room towards the main kitchen of the house. I stopped shortly after hearing voices. I leaned in from the back of the wall to look closely. I heard the laughs of children and Riley's voice.

"Is the ice cream to your liking, Princess Lai Lai?" she asked the little girl sitting on the kitchen counter. She smiled widely at Riley showing her teeth. There was a gap in the front which showed she lost her tooth.

"Yes. It is so good RiRi." she said devouring the next spoonful. Riley adjusted her sister's crown before turning to her brother.

"What about you, Prince Oscar? Do you like it?" she turned to her brother.

"Yes! I wish I had the cookies you make. Would you make us cookies RiRi? Please." he said.

"Yes, Riri. Please," said Alaia pleadingly.

"Alright. Alright. Tomorrow for sure okay?" said Riley.

"Yayyy." They cheered on.

"Would you like some ice cream, Princess Riri?" said Alaia offering the spoon to her sister.

"Oh, thank you. You are so kind," she said letting her sister feed her.

"Wow. I get to be a princess too?" asked Riley with an incredulous expression.

"Yes. We are both princesses because we are sisters," she explained.

"And I am your brother Prince Oscar. I will protect you from bad guys," he said raising his spoon up in the air. I held back a laugh at that.

"No! Princess RiRi already has knights to protect her," she said scowling at her twin.

"Knights? Who are you talking about baby?" Riley asked.

"The men who are staying with us. Daddy said they are here to protect you. That's what a knight does." she said. I smiled. So, we are knights now. Makes sense.

Riley shook her head her smile disappearing at the mention of us. Most certainly because of me. 

"You have been reading too many fairy tales Lai Lai."

"What am I supposed to do then?" asked Oscar crossing his arms angrily.

"We will watch movies together silly. You get play with us too."That cheers him up instantly. "Yes! We can watch The Lion King."

"No! I want to watch Frozen!" she argued. They started bickering for a while and Riley shakes her head.

"Hey, hey. Don't fight now. Go to your room and choose a movie together okay? I will be there after putting the dishes away." she said in an authorial tone and placed kisses on her siblings. She helped them get down and they went away holding hands. She turned her back and hummed slightly as she put away the bowls and spoons, behind the counter. I took this moment to admire her. My Estrella. The kitchen lights were dim against the dark and she looked like a star. Exactly like the time I first saw her six years ago. Her hair is hanging over her one of her shoulders in a loose braid, the blonde and brown contrast making her look super sexy. She has no makeup on right now and the dark circles under her eyes are showing which suggests she doesn't sleep well. She covers up well so that no one sees it. Oh, Ry. Always hiding her pain away.

Should I go in now? Or should I wait? Ah, fuck it! I wanna talk to her or even look at her closely. I yearn for her touch but I simply cannot reach out. I clear my throat and she jumped at the sound of that placing a hand on her heart.

She looks at me with her eyes widened. "I just came to get some water," I said. She kept looking at me unresponsive. Surprisingly I didn't see hurt this time in her eyes. I felt like I was saw longing. I may be mistaken but was glad that she didn't run away this time. I hate to break this trance but I had to so I cleared my throat again and she snapped out of it. I stepped towards her with the jug in hand and stop as the counter separates us. She reaches for the jug avoiding my eyes and gets to work filling it with water. My eyes follow her as her hands fidget with the hem of her sweatshirt. She hands me the jug and this time she looks at me clearing her throat.

"Goodnight," she says leaving the kitchen. I watch her walking into the dark and smile. At least she talked to me. Even if it was only a simple goodnight. I'll take that.

Riley's POV

I returned to my room late at night after tucking the twins in bed. They kept insisting on me to sleep with them but I couldn't. My nightmares would scare them. So, I waited as they fell asleep watching "The Princess and the frog" and snuck out.

The meeting with Trinstan in the kitchen was a subtle reminder that he is here. For real. I was almost distracted by those bulging biceps. Why is he still so attractive? Couldn't he go bald or have a double chin by this time? No offense I just want him to tone down his attractiveness so that I can concentrate on disliking him again. Hermoso. My old nickname for him. He is just as handsome as he was six years ago. I lay down to try to sleep though I know that it wouldn't take long and I would be surrounded by nightmares. However, this time there were none. Instead, I dreamt about the first day we met.

"How many more beakers do I have to wash? Ughh." I wondered as I kept on scrubbing. Being a janitor late at night sucks but I need that cash and so I am in the chemistry lab on a Saturday night cleaning pieces of lab equipment with earphones in one ear playing One more night by Maroon 5. Godforsaken cheap headphones! Always stop working in one ear. Moreover, working in a candlelight

Cross my heart and I hope to die........ I sang along the lyrics when I heard a thud and a muffled curse. Fuck! What the heck! Who could it be this late? I quickly turned off the music and was ready to call 9-1-1. I heard the rattling of the doorknob and I quickly grabbed the broom next to me as a weapon. What the fuck do I do? The door opens and I yelp charging my broom at the intruder.

"What the fuck dude! Chill out!" he said.

"Who the fuck are you?" I screamed.

"Shhhhh. Stop screaming," he said coming closer to me.

"Relax. I'm not here to hurt you." He said raising his hands in surrender. I quickly turned on the flashlight of my phone and shined the light on his face. He cringed because of the brightness. I smiled sheepishly for a second and then again I looked at him with scrutiny. But then I saw his hand. There was blood across it and now the blood was dripping down to the floor.

"You are hurt," I said.

"Shit yes." He said reaching for the discarded cloth on the table that I was using earlier to clean the beakers.

"Wait! What the heck are you doing? You need a clean cloth for that. Do you want to get infected, you dumbass?" I said. I patted the pockets of my jeans and took out my bright red bandana. I pulled his arm towards me and carefully tied it around his palm.

I finished doing that and found him staring at me. "What?" I asked. He shook his head. I scrunched my forehead.

"You are going to need better first aid than that," I said turning away. Then we heard hard banging on the door. I gasped out loud and he came around me putting his uninjured palm on my mouth.

"Shhhh. They will hear you." He said through his teeth. I bit his hand and he yelped.

"Who the fuck are they? You stole something, didn't you? That's why you are hiding here." I whisper yelled.

"Whoa, whoa. Easy with the assumptions there. I'm not a thief I just owe them some money. Just shut the hell up and wait for them to get out." he hissed.

The shadows under the door seem to disappear. I let out a breath.

"They are gone. You can go now." I said pushing away from him.

"Nah. Those assholes are probably searching through the whole building," he said running a hand through his. I noticed the piercing on his ear as the stone glittered in the dark.

"Nice stone you got there. Why don't you pay off the debt with those?" I said.

His face hardened and he clenched his jaw. "That's none of your business." He spat out.

"Hey watch how you are talking to me. I'm your only way out of this place." I said.

He raised an eyebrow and started grinning at me. "A thousand apologies to the angel of the night, the beautiful first aid fairy. Please guide me to the way out Señorita Estrella."

I started laughing. "What did you call me?" I asked.

"Get me out of here and I'll tell you," he said with a wink. I shook my head. This night could not be more interesting.

A/N: Hi my beautiful friends. This is chapter 3. Let me know how you like the story so far. Please check my other book "The Mafia and his nerd" while you wait for the next update.

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