Chapter #4

ZARA LANG

I didn’t know whether the image of Reins Eiser I saw that night was real… or just a hallucination. 

But one thing was certain, my whole body ached. 

I tried to open my eyes, and instantly a sharp pain throbbed through my head. 

“Argh…” I groaned, holding back the pain. 

My right hand reflexively reached up to my head, only then did I realize there was an IV line attached to it. 

I looked around slowly. 

“Where… am I?” I murmured. 

As I tried to sit up, I suddenly noticed a man beside me, sleeping face down. Part of his bare back was visible. 

My eyes widened instantly. My mind snapped fully awake. 

A man? Why is there a man next to me? And he’s… sleeping here? With me? 

My thoughts spiraled, until he suddenly turned over. 

My eyes widened completely. My breath caught in my throat. “EISER?” I shouted the moment I recognized his face. 

Eiser… was sleeping next to me. 

Why?

What happened?

I didn’t understand anything. 

“Engh…” he groaned, clearly disturbed by my voice. His body shifted slightly, and a second later, his eyes opened. 

His sharp gaze locked onto mine. 

I froze. 

Then I saw the corner of his lips curl into a smirk. 

My brows lifted. Is he mocking me? 

“So, you’re awake.” His voice was deeper, probably because he had just woken up. 

“Where am I?”

He let out a low chuckle before sitting up, leaning back casually. The upper half of his body was clearly visible, and annoyingly distracting. 

I almost forgot who he really was. 

“How did I get here?” I asked again. 

Eiser closed his eyes briefly, as if shaking off the last traces of sleep. 

“You don’t remember anything from last night?”

“Last night?”

I tried to recall.

Last night… I was chasing a drug dealer who escaped. 

Does he know I’m a cop?

That would be bad. 

My heart started pounding. I swallowed before speaking again. 

“Answer me. Where is this? Why did you bring me here?”

I had read somewhere, mafia bosses often take their captives to torture rooms. Is that what this is?

Every second felt tense.

Maybe Eiser noticed the fear in my eyes, because he smirked again. “Are you scared?”

“No!”

He let out a small laugh. 

“You’re obviously scared. You’re shaking,” he said, staring straight into my eyes. 

I turned my face away. 

What’s with him? Is he playing with me?

“Just answer me. Where am I?” I pressed. 

Eiser straightened, then leaned closer to my face. 

“You’re in my house, sweetheart,” he whispered. 

His house? No way.

Did he bring me here to torture me?

“W-why did you bring me here?” I asked, my voice faltering.

Again, he chuckled. 

“Where else should I have taken you?” he replied, his sharp eyes fixed on me. 

I swallowed hard. 

Oh my God, this man is dangerously handsome. His sharp jawline was so  close to my face. 

I bit my lower lip, trying to suppress the strange reaction rising inside me. 

What’s wrong with me?

I’m losing focus.

Eiser leaned even closer. I instinctively moved back, but a sharp pain shot through my back. 

“Ah…” I winced. 

Eiser immediately touched my back.

“Don’t move too much. You’re still injured,” he said. 

Only then did I realize my body was wrapped in bandages. 

“Why…?”

“I should be the one asking that,” Eiser said. “Why were you injured that badly?”

I couldn’t tell him the truth. 

So I stayed silent. 

If he finds out I’m a cop, this isn’t the time to explain anything. 

“Not going to answer?” he said, pulling away and leaning back against the bed, arms crossed. “I don’t really care anyway.”

“Good. Because I’m leaving. Thanks for taking care of me.”

Even though my back still hurt, I forced myself to move toward the edge of the bed. 

I needed to leave, before he started suspecting me. 

“Who told you, you could leave?” His cold voice stopped me.

“After throwing yourself at me, you think you can just walk away?”

I froze. 

What does he mean?

Eiser got off the bed and walked toward me, his half-naked figure making me even more alert. 

I glanced at the nearby table, a small knife lay on a plate. 

Without thinking, I grabbed it. 

Just in case. He smirked. 

“You’re threatening me with a knife? Seriously?”

Yeah… it did look ridiculous. 

A mafia boss, being threatened with a small fruit knife. 

As expected, Eiser took it from me effortlessly. And in the next second, he was behind me. His head lowered to the curve of my neck. 

I froze, closing my eyes as his warm breath brushed against my skin. 

“Turns out you’re calmer when your eyes are closed,” he whispered. 

I quickly shifted and turned to face him. 

“What do you want?”

“Nothing,” he replied casually. “What could you possibly offer with a body full of injuries like that?”

He crossed his arms again. “Who are you?”

I froze. 

That question, his expression had turned cold. Seriously.

“M-me?”

“Hmm.”

“I’m… no one,” I answered quickly. 

“Then why is ‘no one’ injured that badly? Did someone beat you up?”

My mind raced. I couldn’t tell the truth. 

“Yeah. I got beaten up.”

He watched me closely. 

“By who?”

“A bad guy,” I replied shortly. 

“A man?”

I nodded. 

“Does he go to nightclubs often?”

“Maybe,” I said, confused by his line of questioning. 

“Ah… I get it now,” he said.

“You’re too embarrassed to admit you got beaten up by a customer from that club, aren’t you? Not surprising for a slut like you to be treated roughly… but I didn’t expect it to be this bad.”

He kept talking, completely convinced that my injuries were caused by a nightclub customer. 

So… He still doesn’t know anything about me. 

Good. 

That means I still have a chance. My expression softened. 

Eiser raised an eyebrow, noticing the change. 

“What’s with that look?”

“What do you mean?”

“You look more relaxed,” he said. 

I gave a small smile. “Of course.”

“Why?”

“Because now I know… you came as my savior. Not as a bad person.”

He chuckled. 

“Not a bad person?” His eyes narrowed. “You’re wrong, miss. I might be worse than that.”

I know who you are Eiser, really know. I answered in my mind.

***