True to his words he let me out of the room once again in the morning for breakfast. And then again for lunch at late in the afternoon and I sat opposite to him and ate in silence contemplating whether to ask him about the ice cream or not and for a second I even thought of thanking him but then I stopped myself.

There's no need of talking to him at all or else I will end up ruining my mood.

I was about to finish my lunch when his phone rang and he paused eating and picked up the call, pressing the phone to his ear. "Yes?"

Whatever the other person said made his brows furrowed. "What?"

And then a few seconds later his jaw clenched. "You better be saying the truth."

And after a pause, he hung up the call and placing the phone down, he pinched the middle of his forehead.

What the hell happened?!

And then without finishing his food he got up and marched to the front door and walked out of the house, locking the door.

What the actual fuck? He left the house without locking me up? What if I try to escape?

But above all, what happened that was so urgent for him to leave me like that.

Who cares, I have got an opportunity to roam the house and find some weapons even.

Even though I knew the front door was locked, then too I once tried opening it. Next I searched all the kitchen drawers and found some knives from which I picked two and proceeded to search the whole damn house.

I found a few doors on the ground floor but they all were locked, so I searched the ones upstairs and they were locked too. Wow. This man is smart.

So I went downstairs again and thought of breaking the windows but no those were bullet proof ones...I know because I have the same ones at home. So, no I can't break it or something.

So that means there is nothing that I can use to my advantage beside the knives but they never seemed to hold him off.

I thought I might be able to escape after all this time but no, luck isn't on my side.

But if I can't escape then I am not going to my room either. I am going to enjoy this little freedom I got.

So I walked to the living room, grabbed the remote for the television and settled down on the couch comfortably and switched on the TV. I streamed a movie on Netflix and silently watched it.

.
.
.

By the time the movie finished, it was dusk and yawned loudly and stretched my arms and legs.

He wasn't back yet. Where the hell did he go leaving me like this? He is such a stupid kidnapper. And I am even more stupid for even caring.

Soon, I head a car pulling up in the driveway and I stood up, bracing myself for whatever fury he is going unleash on me when he sees me and I pick up the knife lying on the coffee table infront of me in case he tries to hurt me.

The door was pushed opened and Zale stumbled in, his eyes shut in pain, hair messy, his navy blue shirt clinging to the side of his abdomen and stained with blood. A drop of blood flowing down the side of his forehead, someone else's blood cause he didn't look hurt on his forehead.

But even that didn't shock me as much as the baby crying in his arms did.

What the fuck?! Don't tell me he kidnapped a child?!

The child was crying loudly and he winced and walked in and closed the door, his legs were trembling.

Cautiously, I took a few steps towards him, my eyes on the baby and when Zale saw me coming closer, he thrust the baby forward and I quickly took the child, wrapped in a small blanket in my arms because it looked like he was going to let the child fall down if I didn't.

I awkwardly held the baby in my arms and Zale groaned loudly. "Just shut him up for fuck's sake!"

"What am I? A babysitter?! I don't know how to handle a child!"

He clutched his abdomen where he was bleeding and once again shut his eyes tightly in pain and grunted. "Just...take him to your room for sometime." He paused for a moment and then muttered. "Please." He sounded in so much pain and he looked exhausted and definitely not in a mood to argue with me.

I nodded my head even though his eyes were closed and before I could comprehend what I was doing I walked upstairs to the room with the baby crying in my arms.

I don't know how to handle kids...how am I supposed to silence him? What if he is hungry?

When I was in the room, I finally looked down at the baby and gasped noticing, it was a just born...he wasn't even cleaned. It's not that I was disgusted or something but...how can he snatch away a baby from a mother as soon as she gives birth?

God, this man is completely heartless.

Okay...how do I clean him up though? I mean I have to clean him but...new borns are very delicate, you need to be extremely careful with them.

But first I need to silence him. I started to slowly rock him in my arms, shushing him and even tried humming a song.

And a few minutes later his cries subsided and gradually he became silent and fell asleep. Thank goodness.

I have so many questions right now but baby first, so, I went inside the bathroom and took a towel and spreading it over the bed, removed the baby from the blanket and placed him down on the towel.

Okay...I remember reading that for cleaning a newborn, you use a wet cotton ball and wipe him gently with it.

I found some cotton in the bathroom drawers but I need a bowl or something for water so seeing the baby was still asleep, I went downstairs to the kitchen and found Zale standing near the dining table, his hands resting on its edge, blood still dripping from his abdomen and his phone lying infront of him, on speaker as he was calling Maverick.

He saw me approaching but didn't say anything and I quietly searched the kitchen and found a bowl as I was about to leave I noticed he was glaring at the phone as it kept ringing. "Fucking pick up!" And he grabbed the phone and threw it at the wall.

Oh God. Clutching the bowl, I ran back upstairs not wanting to be near him at that moment.

And I spent my time cleaning him up very carefully because their skin is too sensitive right after birth, I don't care whose baby it is but I can't hurt him in anyway.

Once he was clean, I sighed loudly and disposing everything washed my hands and walked back to the baby.

I knelt down on the floor and watched him, noticing his every features now, his mouth, nose, his closed eyes, the colour of his hair. His hair...wait a damn minute.

And then suddenly, he opened his eyes, big and greenish blue in colour. What the fuck?!

They were the exact copy of Zale's eyes and his hair was too. He's Zale's kid?!

I stared at him in shock, not moving. But why would he take away his own child from his mother as soon as he was born?

He roamed his big eyes around the room curiously and for a moment they stopped at me before he started looking around again and a few seconds later, his bottom lip trembled and he started to cry again.

I guess he is hungry now.

I carefully picked him up in my arms and gently rocking him, I walked out of the room and went downstairs again and into the kitchen where Zale was still present and he had lifted his shirt and was trying to wrap uo the wound on the side of his abdomen at which he was definitely not succeeding. Not my problem.

"He is hungry. I need a bottle for him and--"

He pulled out his car keys from his pocket and tossed them to me which I managed to catch. "There's a bag in the car, it must have something. Take it out."

What? He is trusting me to go out to the car?

He must have noticed the confusion on my face as he quickly added. "Don't even dare to try something. I'm not in a mood to deal with you."

Well, I guess what, even I am not in a mood to deal with him. So, I picked up the keys and walked out of the front door which was unlocked this time and found a baby bag on the passenger's seat. For a moment I was tempted to just take this opportunity and run away, he is injured...he won't be able to catch me.

But then the baby's cries pulled me out of my thoughts and I grabbed the bag and walked back inside. Not once did he glance at the baby...I mean it's his kid after all and he is acting like he doesn't care while me, who doesn't need to give a shit about all this is warming up water for the baby so that I can feed him.

I scoffed mentally at that but I guess some kind of maternal instinct got activated inside me.

In that bag I found some baby blankets and a few clothes, diapers and a bottle and baby formula which I used to make some milk for him.

Once it was done, without sparing Zale any glance I took the baby and the milk bottle upstairs to the room and sitting cross legged on the bed, held the baby in my arms and fed him with the bottle.

I sighed when he stopped crying and drank the milk hungrily and the moment it was finished, he fell asleep.

I changed his blanket and placing the pillows around him, letting him sleep peacefully on the bed.

I think I got the baby fever.

My mind went back to Zale in the kitchen trying to clean his wound himself and from what it looked, it need stitching. And Maverick is not picking up his phone.

But why should I care? He kidnapped me.

But then...he stitched my wound once too...

Fine. I am going to regret this later.

I walked down to the kitchen and he was still there trying to stitch the wound himself, holding the shirt up with the other hand, like that would work.

He glanced up at me but didn't say anything so I grabbed his wrist, stopping him. "Let me see." I spoke in a cold tone.

"What are you doing?" His voice came out hoarse, he was extremely exhausted having lost this much blood.

"I am trying to help you, asshole." And I took the needle from his hand.

"Why?"

I finally looked up at him as he stared at me in confusion. "I'm just returning the favour."

I placed the needle inside the first aid kit and closing it, grabbed it by its handle and grabbed his hand with the other and started to drag him upstairs.

And to my surprise, he followed me quietly to the room where I made him sit down on the edge of the bed right next to his kid but he didn't seem to care about him at all.

There was a stool in the corner of the room which I placed next to the bed and sat down on it, placing the first aid kit on the nightstand.

"Take off your shirt." I ordered in a neutral tone.

And he started to unbotton it but his fingers were trembling and he was taking a lot of time so I pushed away his hand and started to unbotton it myself trying not to stare at his chest.

He was breathing heavily due to the pain and as the shirt was unbottoned, I pushed it off him and he helped me take it off.

I made him lay down on the bed and started to stitch his wound. Someone stabbed him and there were a few more scratches over his torso but I focused on the main one.

Then my eyes went to those two small tattoos over his heart. Two names. Noah. Lucy. That's his parents' names as far as I remember.

I should focus on the task though.

He groaned as I pushed the needle through his skin, his eye shut firmly, his one hand lying on his chest, clenched into a fist while the other lay on the bed.

"That's... that's your kid..." I said, more of a statement than a question.

He didn't reply for a few seconds. "Yes." He gritted out in pain.

"Why did you take him away from his mother?"

His jaw was clenched. "She...she died."

I paused. "You killed her?"

"She died during birth." He raised his voice even though it shook.

Oh. Oh...okay... that's sad...

"But why didn't you let the doctors take care of the baby first? Why take him away with you?"

If it was any other day, he would have yelled at me or told me to shut up but at this moment, he was vulnerable.

"I didn't know about the baby, it was a one night stand, she never told me she was pregnant. She only tried to contact me when she went into labour and somehow the Japanese Mafia got to know about my kid and after she died giving birth, they attacked me at the hospital, trying to kill us both." He explained.

That...makes sense.

I spoke up once again after a few minutes. "What's his name?"

He groaned as if I was irritating him. "I don't know."

"Can I name him then?"

"No." He said way too quickly making me scowl and I lightly poked the needle in his uninjured skin making him wince.

He then let out a hoarse, deep chuckle. "Why are you stitching me up, princess?"

"Told you I am just returning the favour."

He slowly titled his head towards me and half opened his eyes which were filled with amusement. "Is that it?"

"Yes. Why else would I bother helping you?"

His lips formed a lazy, lopsided smile that God forbid made my heart skip a beat. "Hmm...who knows you may have started to grow soft for me?"

I once again poked the needle and he winced again but then chuckled.

I scoffed loudly. "I am not growing soft for you. Never. It's just that unlike you, I have a heart."

He sighed softly and stared at the ceiling. "As you say." And that sounded sarcastic. I felt like stabbing him again but decided against it.

Once I was done, I cleaned the blood and bandaged him and by the time I was done washing my hands, he was fast asleep. On my bed. And his kid slept next to him.

Great. Now where am I supposed to sleep? On the floor?

I grabbed my pillow and placed it on the couch attached to the front of the bed and curled up on it, falling asleep soon.

Chapter completion on: 14/6/22
Published on: 26/6/22