GRACE

'Grace.' I stirred when a voice reached me in my sleepy state. 'Grace.'

I felt a tap on my shoulder but I shrugged it off.

"Go away," I grudgingly replied to the small voice that was distracting my sleep from God knows where.

"Grace. It's me, Dominic." My shoulders felt another tap and my eyes snapped open without delay. Indeed, Dominic was by my side, his worried gaze piercing my worried, slumber-filled eyes.

I sat up, let out a loud yawn, and asked, "You are back already? Uhm... I thought your trip was for a week."

He reached for my hair and swept a strand away from my face. My heavy eyes followed his every movement as he stood straight.

"I hurried my plans and came back as soon as possible."

"Oh, you shouldn't have bothered. Ruby is fine now." I carefully got off the little bed and reached for the covered plate on the table that was not so far from Ruby's bed.

As my mouth began to munch on the cake that was earlier hidden from plain sight, my gaze fell on Dominic who kept his sight glued on me in a way that gradually made me conscious of the fact that I was possibly looking like shit.

It has been a day since Ruby's breakdown. And just as I feared, the whole thing had to do with her heartache. So, for the past few hours, I tended to her and forgot that I had to take care of myself as well.

"I came back for Ruby. And for you," Dominic responded to my statement. I nodded and my eyes flickered to the plate in my hand. By the time my focus returned to Dominic, his figure was overpowering mine, I could immensely feel the warmth he brought along.

"Grace." The next thing I knew, the plate was back on the table and my upper body was glued to his chest. "You cried. You cried for Ruby. No one has ever done that. Not me, not even her mother." His chin found a way to settle on my forehead. "I hurried my plans to check up on you. I wanted to make sure that you are fine. And going by what I'm seeing," he partially dissolved our hug to observe my face, "you don't look fine."

"I..." I didn't know what to say.

"Come, you need a good bath." He grabbed my hand and we quietly walked out of the room.

Once I took one last look at a peacefully sleeping Ruby, I closed her door.

"Dominic," I watched as his broad back swayed its way into my room, "how was your trip?"

"Leave the talking till later. You need to bathe first." The instant he closed the door behind me, his hands found the hem of my gown, they were ready to take the cloth off me.

"Dominic, what are you doing?" I frowned, my words stopping his hands.

The man who was crouching looked up at me and replied, "Helping you take your clothes off?"

"Why?" I took a step back. "I can do that myself."

Dominic got to his feet, he didn't appear to be taken aback by my refusal.

"Grace, I owe it to you to take care of you just as you have taken care of my daughter. So," he brought the back of his hand to caress my right cheek to my delight, "please allow me to take care of you. You truly deserve it." He punctuated his statement with his rare smile.

Feeling all bubbly inside, I bit my lip to avoid a huge smile from spilling out.

"Well, if that is what you think," I finally replied nonchalantly.

"No, tell me what you want." I pointed to my chest, the mild perplexity in my brain etched on my face. "Yes..." His voice wore a certain strain. And each time his voice drags that way, it's certain that my hormones will be in trouble. "... tell me what you want."

"I... I guess I want to shower and," I looked on dreamily, "take a long, long sleep on my bed." My eyes connected to his. "And in your arms. Your strong, firm, warm arms." My hands went on to grab those arms of his. And a short smirk played on his lips after my confession.

"Well, Miss Sands, that can be arranged."

"But I would like to take off my clothes myself, please."

"Well, that is a shame, because I planned to do that myself. But if that is what you want, I am fine with it."

I sent him a tired smile and headed for the bathroom.

After I closed the bathroom door, my hands reached to take off my gown. But my eyes soon flickered back to the mirror that my eyes had earlier momentarily gazed upon. The ends of my garment were dropped and my hands clutched my chest as I stared in great surprise at the words written in blood red.

"Mr. Powers, you need to see this."

I heard him groan. " Dominic. Call me Dominic." The door creaked open and I turned to face him. "What is...?" His eyes travelled to the mirror and they squinted.

Then, I walked to his side and we both stared at the small fonted but boldly written words.

WHORE!

"Did you notice anything out of the ordinary while I was away?" Dominic's question brought me out of my bewilderment.

I adjusted my stance. "Well, I did hear a door close suddenly. I thought it was Ruby, but when I got upstairs, she was still sleeping. Then, I noticed that your door was a bit ajar. But before I could investigate, Ruby started-"

He nodded to indicate that he understood my unfinished sentence and my eyes went back to the demeaning word.

"Hmm," Dominic hummed.

And I asked, "Who do you think could have done this?"

He let out a slow exhale and replied, "I do not know."

My hands grasped the thickness of his arm as I recalled the message I got earlier. "Do you know what's funny? I got a threatening text message earlier."

With a short frown on his face, he swiftly faced me. "What message?"

"The person threatened to kill me if I do not leave you."

Dominic's free hand swiftly cupped my cheek. His fingers trailed my skin and his eyes told me that he was determined to be thoughtful about that moment.

After many seconds, he asked, "Are you sure you are fine?" I nodded but his worry didn't disappear. "You are sure?" He repeated.

"Yes, I am. I am aware that this can be a scary situation, but trust me, I am fine. I am hardly scared."

Dominic smiled. "I believe you. You are a fierce woman when you need to be. But don't hesitate to reach for my hand when you need to."

"Alright. And, thank you for the compliment, sir." My smile didn't feel forced and tired anymore. I was more relaxed and that led me to lean against his built tricep. "So, do you have any suspects in mind? The culprit might be someone that knows you have a stairway in your bathroom."

"I really can't say."

"You don't think it might be one of your ex-girlfriends? I mean, I am all over the tabloids or whatever they are called. One of your exes might be angry or..."

"Jealous?" He completed my sentence.

"Yeah. I..." Realising I was about to tread on a topic that could be sensitive, I unclasped my hands from his arm. "I think, to figure out the person behind this threat, we should, first of all, make a list of your former girlfriends. Maybe from there we can-"

"A list?" His darksome expression resurfaced and I took a step back before responding.

"Yes, a list."

"Why would I make a list?"

"You know." I shrugged as if we were about to discuss a casual topic. "We have to figure out which one of your exes could still be into you. There might be someone that doesn't approve of you having a girlfriend."

Dominic took a step forward. "What makes you think I have many exes?"

"Well, well, y... you used to date Regina and you were married to Diane. So, you probably had other women too."

"What..." His head ducked closer to mine. "...makes you think I have had several women?"

I pushed a hand forward to create a space between us. Then I took a step back.

"Well, rich men like you mostly never fail to have women around and uh..." I stole a look to read his reaction but his eyes were still carrying undecipherable emotion. I was not ready to stare back at him, so I looked to the side and continued, "Well, you uh... are also good-looking. What I am trying to say is that you don't exactly have issues with having women around and probably before getting married you had a lot of them around and you..."

"Stop that, Miss Sands," his low growl stopped my ranting which was oddly starting to feel good.

As I pressed my lips, I replayed the words I just spewed and easily deduced that a part of me always had a hidden curiosity about his past relationships.

Or to speak honestly; I wish to confirm whether or not he is a player.

After a sigh, I finally brought my eyes to meet his.

And they carried... Hurt? No, maybe anger?

"As much as I appreciate that you see me as a good-looking man, I need to ask, what kind of man do you think I am?"

"Sir?"

"You heard the question, Miss Sands. Don't make me repeat myself." The fact that he was referring to me officially with a stern voice, made it clear that I needed to be cautious with the words I would reply to him with.

"Truthfully, I think you are a very responsible man." I could feel a smile forming on the side of my lips. "You are a good father. I know that because despite being previously blinded by the need to pay more attention to your job, you were ready to set things right with your daughter."

He motioned for me to go on. "You also uh... can be a child sometimes. Or to put it better, you badly want to feel like a child sometimes. But with your stoic persona and all, you can't be one. Not to sound creepy but, I noticed the way you were with Regina is different from who you are when you are with me."

My legs took a step towards him and he stood straighter, his eyes totally into mine.

"As I spend more time with you, I see a man who wants someone to be with him for genuine reasons. It seems opening up your real self to me means you are beginning to trust that I am that someone. And I am really glad about that." I reached for the side of his face. "I really am."

"The man you just described now, do you really think he has the time to deal with flings or numerous partners for the fun of it?" he asked after a few moments of silence. He had slowly peeled my hand off his cheek before asking me the question with his voice on the verge of going hoarse.

"I..." I crossed my hands behind me. "No."

"Are you being honest?"

"Yes, I am." Soberness all over my face, I reached for his arms. "I am sorry I said those words earlier. I guess I have been unknowingly having second thoughts about... you." He frowned. "I mean, that you would be interested in someone like me felt so unreal. I thought along the line that I was probably one of your..."

"Flings?" His hand found my chin and set my line of sight to meet his. "The only fling I have had is Regina and you are not a fling. You are different, Grace." He sighed. "Okay, I admit that manner with which you found your way into my mind is still a mystery, but I just can't help but be drawn to you every second."

A smile sprouted on my lips at his soft words. "Trust me Grace when I say, you are different. You are special to me."

"I am?" My voice broke out like I was about to cry. Or maybe I was crying already, I had no idea. I was just so elated at the words I was hearing at the moment. Unspeakable joy accompanied his confession and even though he wasn't saying the three magical words or spewing quotes from Google images, I could tell that he was being honest. And that was enough to make my heart dance.

"You are special to me," he confirmed and in response, I cried out in laughter before wrapping my arms around his neck.

As his arms circled my waist, I said, "Thank you, Dominic."

"What for?"

"For not being a player."

"Uh... Isn't that a weird thing to thank me for?"

I chuckled into the thickness of his neck. I knew I sounded silly, but only I knew how much bliss that moment brought to my whole being.

So, I just slightly nudged Dominic and said, "Just say you are welcome."

"Well," he dissolved our embrace and stared into my eyes, the blueness of his eyes wearing some kind of perkiness, "in a way I am a player."

"What do you mean?" A short cry followed my question as the man swept my feet off the floor without holding back. "Dominic, what are you doing?"

"My plan to put on a show to eventually take your clothes off by myself worked."

Slightly gasping, I smacked his arm. "You... So, you pretended to be angry at me earlier?"

"Well, yes. But things got serious along the line. But that turned out to work out in our favour, didn't it? Look at us, about to take a bath together."

Shaking my head even though a huge smile kept playing on my lips, I said, "Mr. Powers, you are unbelievable."

"Yes, I am." He began to walk towards the bathtub.

"Wait, are we really going to do this when a threatening word is just a few inches away from us?"

He sat me down on the edge of the white ceramic tub and made to take off my gown.

"It is just a word, Grace. And it is not going to stop me from making love to you."