In the middle of the night, Grace slowly stirred as she felt a presence come near her. The bed pressed in, and her hand shot over for the gun Zain gave her, currently hiding under the pillow.

They were faster.

They grabbed her wrists and pinned them over her head with one hand. Before she could scream, they covered her mouth with their free hand. She tried to wriggle free, but they locked her body in with theirs.

They knew how I'd counter. Dammit!

"It's me," he said as he leaned in close.

Roger? She stopped moving and just stared at him, her heart racing. She didn't know what she was supposed to do.

"I'm sorry about the rough treatment, but you've already found out the truth about me, right?"

He can read me like a book, so it's not like I can lie to him; I never could. Grace nodded.

"Ugh, this is no way to talk. If I move my hand, can you promise not to scream?" Roger asked.

Funny, he'd trust me now. Grace nodded again.

He pulled his hand away, but kept her pinned down.

"What are you doing, Roger?" Grace asked. "Why are you here? If you got out, you should've run far away."

"I'm here for you, silly."

"Me?" Grace frowned, and he leaned in closer.

"Why wouldn't I come for my partner? Who stopped visiting daily..."

"I'm not really a cop anymore, and it hasn't been that long—"

"It was you that day, wasn't it? You were coming to see me and overheard Herald talking with me. We were too careless."

Grace bit her cheek as she held back from speaking.

"You know, you always do so good undercover, so I find it baffling that you give away your thoughts so easily in daily life."

"I guess I become someone else when I'm undercover."

"Like a method actor." Roger nodded as he thought. "Yeah, I guess that makes sense."

"Can you get off me?" Grace tried to move, but he wouldn't let her.

"I'm not sure I should. You see, I don't know where we stand anymore. At the beginning, we were still best friends, and you believed I was a good person, but now... you're not sure about me. And I know how good of a fighter you are. If I even move a little bit from this position, you might be able to manoeuvre your way out, and we'd end up in a real fight. I don't want to fight you, Grace."

"What do you want, then?"

"Didn't I already say? I want you."

"Ha... You want to use me for revenge against my grandpa?" Despite her best efforts, having Roger here in front of her was too much. Tears filled her eyes, though they didn't fall. "You're not really here for me, Roger, or should I call you Silvio?"

"I'm surprised you'd know that name, unless..." Roger's eyes widened. "You brought Pez in on this, didn't you? I had that deeply hidden, and the Bertolottiss don't have someone good enough to dig that up."

Grace froze for a moment too long and he knew the truth.

Damn it all to hell.

"Don't worry, Grace; I'm not the monster you think I am. I wouldn't go after Pez; we're friends."

"Really?"

"Of course. I'm also sure you'd hate me if I did that."

"But you're still planning on taking revenge against the Bertolottiss?"

Roger's eyes narrowed. "I've been working towards this since I was a child. Others may have given up, but they have to pay for destroying us."

"Funny, from my understanding, it was the Kuros who messed up in the first place when they killed his son unnecessarily. Your family crossed a line—"

"And we paid for that with Zain!" Roger snapped at her, and she flinched.

Where did that come from? He's normally never angry.

He took a deep breath. "I'm sorry; I didn't mean to yell." He couldn't help but glance at the door, wondering if someone had heard him.

Grace nodded. "You did, but that can't bring him back. And besides, didn't they leave you alone after they got Zain?"

"Is that what they told you? Well, I suppose they didn't have to do much after they took Zain. It's more like what they did before that. They went after us to the point of destruction! They ruined everything. They got some of our prime members, also known as my parents, put in jail for life. They destroyed our businesses, and we had to give up the estate. You have no idea how lost we became. The family offered Zain up to stop him, and while he did stop, it was too late. Everything snowballed and got worse. The Kuros broke up. Between the fighting that lead to deaths, Zain being given away, and people moving away, there was barely anyone left. Barely anyone had any fight left in them. The Kuros were destroyed!"

"And you really think taking revenge on the Bertolottiss will fix everything?"

"Tch... No, of course not, but it'll help me. It'll feel like justice to me. Taking everything from Raymond Bertolottis will help revive my family."

"Taking everything? Is that including me?"

"Of course, but I could never kill you, Grace."

"You know, I didn't have family to rely on after both my parents and my grandparents died. He is family to me. It may not have started the right way, but I've been happy to have someone who cares about me—"

"I care about you. You should know that after all we've been through."

"You've been lying to me the entire time, so why would I believe that?"

Something flashed by his eyes she didn't expect to see.

Hurt.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

"I didn't... I didn't know who you were related to until recently, and then I didn't want to believe it. None of what we had was a lie. It doesn't matter if my birth name is Silvio; I am Roger. I am your partner. I'm the person you turn to for everything. I'm your best friend. I'm your rock. Are you really going to throw away this friendship over someone you've known for what... less than a month?"

"He's not just anyone. They're not just anyone to me, not anymore. They're my family. You know how much I've missed having a family."

"I thought I was like family to you. I'm your partner..." Roger cringed as he tried to fight back his emotions.

"In some ways, you were, but—"

"But what? I'm not enough?"

"But things are different now. I'm not sure how I can feel about you now that you want to kill my grandpa and take everything from him. It's a bit extreme, isn't it?"

His eyes shook. "Family isn't just blood, you know? Family are also your friends who are there for you. When you were first attacked by that family, who did you run to, Grace?"

"You..."

"Who has had your back for years?"

"You..."

"So really, who should you be loyal to?"

Grace stared into his sharp yet worried eyes as she thought. Is he even the person I thought I knew? "If you knew me so well, then you'd know I don't condone unnecessary killing."

"Tch." He knew she was right. "But..."

"See, you know that's true. How can you ask me to side with you and let you kill my grandpa, and whoever else?"

"Ah, the whoever else. I'd heard you got close to my cousin. Zain, the traitor—"

"He was forced to come here; what did you expect? If he stayed their enemy, his life would've been hell. It's much better that he grew close to my grandpa and had a half-decent life, unlike what he had with the Kuros."

"What are you talking about?"

"His parents beat him – whipped him even – I've seen the scars. He even tried to kill himself after he got here, and my grandpa stopped him."

"Do you really think your grandpa didn't beat him, too? What if they lied? What if it was your grandpa who did it to him?"

"Did you even know his parents?" Grace asked. "It's like you're defending them without knowing anything. His life with the Kuros was bad. You might've had a nice family, but he didn't, so before you think of Zain as a traitor, think about how much his quality of life improved when he got here."

"What are you trying to say? The Kuros family deserved to be disbanded? Destroyed? It isn't worth my family sticking together?"

"No; I'm saying not everything was good for him there, and if you want your family back, restart it somewhere else. You'd be surprised how much people want a fresh start in a place where people don't know them."

His grip on her wrists tightened, and she cringed. "You want me to give up on my revenge and leave? After everything I've been through? After everything I've done to get the family together? After all... the planning I did to destroy Ray. I can't give up now, not on Ray or you."

Bam!

The door burst open, and Zain stood in the doorway. When he saw Roger on top of her, rage flared in his eyes. He charged towards them like a bull.

"Tch." Roger released her and rolled off to the side of the bed. Not stopping for even a moment, he brought his arms up and smashed through her balcony door. He gripped the railing and launched himself over top of it.

Zain ran onto the balcony and looked down, but couldn't see Roger. Whether he was hiding in the darkness, or already had an escape route, he couldn't tell. He pulled out his phone.

"Ran, Roger was in Grace's room. Get everyone checking the grounds and the cameras. We must find him."

He slipped his phone back away in his jacket and stepped over the shattered glass door. "Grace..." His eyes trailed along her as he approached. "Are you okay? Did he hurt you?"

Grace held onto her wrists as he sat down on the edge of her bed. "I'm fine."

He gently took her hands and leaned in to kiss her wrists, his eyes staying on her. "You don't look fine." Zain lightly ran his thumb over the red marks Roger left behind.

"That'll go away fairly quickly, so don't worry about it." Grace sighed and closed her eyes.

"I shouldn't have left you alone; we should've known he would come to visit you. What did he say?"

"..."

"Grace, talk to me."

"I'm not even sure of it all, other than I don't think he'll give up on destroying my grandpa." Grace opened her eyes. "I tried to talk him down, but it didn't work. He's so single-mindedly focused on my grandpa that he can't fathom any other path."

"Good to know, I suppose."

What did he mean by not give up on me? He can't mean as more than friends, can he? I've never seen him that way, but I guess that doesn't mean he saw things the same way. Maybe if I offered to go with him, he'd stop with his revenge plot.

"Grace?" he called to her again after she didn't respond.

"Hmm?" Zain came into her focus again. "What?"

"That's what I want to ask you. I can see the wheels turning, so you probably won't tell me yet, but you might want to share more of your burden."

"Nope."

"Understood." Zain backed off faster than she expected. Without another word, he leaned in close while he had a hold on her arm.

"What are you doing? Oh!" Grace gasped as he picked her up over his shoulder. "I thought I told you not to carry me like this!"

"My other shoulder is still injured, so I'm not sure I'd be able to carry you otherwise. This is the safest way right now. And I can't leave you in this room." Zain nudged his head toward the broken glass door. "It's not safe. You can use my room."

"One, I can still walk, and two, I'm sure there are other bedrooms—"

"Are you sure about that? You're shaking a bit much to walk."

"That still doesn't mean I need to use your bedroom," Grace huffed. Seriously, not a good way to have a conversation.

"Well, I prefer to use my own room, and I'm not leaving you alone again, so it's for the best."

"You're going to stay in the same room as me?"

"That's what I was saying, yes. It's too hard to protect you from another room, and we don't know if Roger will come back, nor what he would do to you."

"He won't do anything to me."

"Don't be so certain. From what you said, he's more than a little bit on edge, so he might do things out of character for him. I'm sure the boss will agree with me when I say you need a guard at all times again."

I suspect there's no arguing with him over this. Grace sighed and closed her eyes as he carried her away to his bedroom.

Zain set Grace down on his bed. "You can sleep here; I'll use the couch."

"Thanks..." Grace looked around his room. To her surprise, it was neat and tidy, and filled with books and trophies.

"You don't have to look so shocked." Zain chuckled. "I may be a ruffian, but when I actually bothered to go to school, I did well in both athletics and academics."

The athletics part isn't surprising, but academics?

"I never actually thought about what your school life would've been like, or that you had a school life."

"What? You think because I'm a part of the mafia that I wouldn't have gone to school as a kid?"

Grace raised an eyebrow. "Can you blame me?"

"I guess not; I did skip a lot of school, and I got into quite a few fights back then. Even had one teacher say if I put the effort in, I would've been the top of the class."

"Do you regret skipping out on school so much?"

"Na; I wasn't suited to it, anyway. People were terrified of me, and then there were those who purposely tried to start fights with me."

"Why? Did you do something?"

"I was seen as a top dog there, and if someone wanted to look tough, they'd call me out for a fight. It never went well for the other people, but I did end up expanding the family a bit there."

"You recruited the people who tried to fight you?"

"A couple of them, but there was also this little kid who used to get picked on. One day, I was walking by when one of his bullies was kicking him on the ground—"

"That's horrible."

"Yes, which is why I stopped him. That bully didn't stand a chance. I warned him not to pick on people weaker than him, or else I'd have to step in again. Didn't have an issue after that."

I can only wonder how bad of a beating that bully took, not that he didn't deserve it.

"And the kid – by that I mean he was slightly younger than me and tiny – he started following me around. I told him I wasn't there to be his friend or wait around to protect him, and you know what he did?"

"What?"

"He got on his knees and begged me to teach him how to fight. He didn't want to be protected all the time, and apparently, had more than one bully. He wanted to become strong enough to stand up for himself. I understood where he was coming from, and thought he had a warrior's heart, so I taught him. It took a little while, and a lot of training, but eventually, he stood up to one of the bullies himself and bam, knocked him out with one good punch." Zain pushed against his own chin with his fist.

"It's good to be able to defend yourself, but who is this kid? You recruited him, right?"

"He followed me around like a little duckling even after he learned to fight, and one day, when someone tried to jump me from behind, he protected me. I pummelled the guy after, but also let the kid join – with Ray's permission. You've met him a number of times now, and he tends to be nearby me. Ran was that kid."

"Guess it makes sense why he seems so loyal to you."

Zain nodded and looked at her hands, which had stopped shaking. "Well, missy, enough of story time; let's sleep."

Grace nodded and crawled under the blanket. Zain's bed was huge and as comfortable as the bed she was given, but it also had a slight scent of coffee like Zain seemed to.

Zain flicked the light off and lay down on the couch. "Goodnight, Grace."

"Goodnight... and thank you."

Zain smirked and nodded, even though she couldn't see him. He may not want to go around protecting everyone – even though sometimes he can't seem to help himself with vigilante acts – but Grace edged her way to the top of the list of people he'd protect with his life.