I headed to the door and actually rang the doorbell. I was half expecting Carol to be the one to answer the door, but instead the man of the house himself did, looking breathtaking in an all black suit. He looked like he was about to say something, but his words caught in his throat as his eyes widened.

"Good evening Mr Black," I said softly.

He shook his head. "Good evening Miss Kidman. Please, come in. Let me take your coat."

I went in and he took off my coat, standing behind me, before whispering. "Jesus!"

"Problem Mr Black?" I asked, turning to face him with my most innocent look.

He cleared his throat. "None Miss Kidman."

"Where's your lovely house guard?" I asked.

He chuckled. "I'm going to assume you mean Carol?"

I nodded. "I gave her and everyone the weekend off."

"The whole weekend? You have big plans for your weekend?" I asked.

"Depends on how tonight goes," he replied.

I turned to face the direction of the dining room. "Hmm. Am I to assume that you cooked our dinner then?"

"Slow your roll Miss Kidman. I don't cook for women I don't know. My chef cooked for us before he left," he informed.

I ignored his jab. "So you can cook? I was beginning to think you'd die if you were ever left alone."

He laughed. "What would give you that idea?"

"Fabio mentioned that everyone you hire has to know how to cook," I pointed out.

"That is true, but that's only for Grace's benefit. I never want my daughter to be stuck with anyone who wouldn't be able to take care of her," he explained.

"Well, I don't know how to cook. Does that mean I'm fired?" I tested.

"In order to be fired, you would've had to have been hired. Besides, I highly doubt you can't cook," he played back.

He's right about that.

"Are we going to stand here the whole night?" I questioned.

He laughed. "I look forward to getting past this hard shell you're protecting yourself with. We can head to the dining room."

"It's not a hard shell. I just haven't eaten all day since some arrogant man decided to ruin my day," I retorted as we headed to the dining room.

We arrived and I was amazed by the transformation. I've been in this room before, but I have never seen it look so elegantly set up. There were candles lit around the room, giving it a soothing ambience when combined with the smooth classical music that was playing softly in the background.

"It is a hard shell Miss Kidman. You're adamant on shutting me out for whatever reason, but like I said, I love challenges," he replied, opening my chair for me.

"Thank you," I said. He nodded before heading to the other end of the table.

The table is long enough to seat at least twenty people, so there was quite some distance between us.

"Pardon my manners for not mentioning just how exquisite you look right now. You're truly a sight for sore eyes," he commented.

I blushed. "Thank you Mr Black. You don't look bad yourself."

"I took the liberty of pouring your wine for you. I noticed that you like it red," he informed.

I took the glass and took a sip of the obviously expensive wine. "It's superb."

"I bought it in a winery in South Africa. They make some of the best wine there is in the world," he replied.

"I've never been there, but it is one of the places I'd like to go to before I die," I found myself informing.

"We'll see how kind time is to us. Tell me more about yourself," he requested.

"What don't you already know?" I countered.

He guffawed. "Despite what you many think Miss Kidman, I have not run some background check on you. I simply needed to know where you lived because Grace asked me to find out. I know nothing else except where you currently live and where you teach."

"I'll take your word for it. I'm twenty five years old. I'm the eldest child of two. My little brother is in his first year at UCLA, while my mom is back home. I'm from Denver in Colorado. I grew up there my whole life before deciding to move about three months ago, which means I've been here around that long," I informed.

"What made you decide to leave?" he asked curiously.

"I did something stupid, but it's through that that I realized that too much had happened in Denver, and it was more bad than good. I met your sister on a flight back home and she happened to need a math teacher, and since I was looking for a job, I figured this was my chance to move to a new place and start afresh," I explained.

"So both you and your brother are in California, leaving your mother in Colorado?" he questioned.

I nodded. "We call her every day so that she misses us less. This is the first time in six years that she's had to be without us."

"What about your father?" he asked.

"Pass," I replied.

I wasn't about to entertain talking about that man.

He pursed his lips. "Fair enough. What drew you to teaching?"

"I think it's my turn to ask questions. What exactly happened on the Saturday of the exhibit?" I asked.

He sighed. "On Friday, Grace came home and she was in a better mood than I'd seen her in a long time. I asked her about it and she smiled and said your name. Just from that alone, I was intrigued. She hadn't given me an update on how school was going, but that night she told me everything about how she enjoys your classes. She asked for my permission to take you to the exhibit with her, and I agreed. She came back later to tell me that you didn't have a dress for the event, so she asked me to let her use her card to buy you stuff. I transferred more money into her account as requested. When I woke up on Saturday, she was already gone. That's how excited she was to get back to you. In that moment, I decided to move the meeting I had and instead try and find out more about you."

"You moved the meeting because of me?" I asked in shock.

He nodded. "You need to understand that Grace is everything to me, so I wasn't only curious about you, but about your intentions too. I know what she goes through because of me, and I'm always afraid that someone will take advantage of her to get to me, so I knew I had to at least find out if you were being genuine. I asked Fabio where you were, and he told me that you were headed to the mall, so that's where I went. Unfortunately for me, I didn't know that my purpose would be squashed just from seeing you in that gold dress."

"What are you saying?" I asked lowly.

"I was ready to confront you and ask you what your intentions were, but when I saw you in that dress, I was speechless. I'd just bought the jewellery set with the intention of gifting it to someone, but right there and then, I knew that it was more perfect for you than its intended recipient. I managed to remain unseen by my daughter, and after our encounter, I left the set with one of the salesladies to give to you. I left the mall and called Calista, asking her to change the theme of the exhibit to a black and white masquerade. She-"

"Wait! You mean you made me wear a gold dress on purpose?" I interrupted.

"I wanted you to stand out because I wanted everyone to witness the same beauty that I did. With your hair done up and the jewellery set on, you looked like the angel I had thought you to be in the store," he replied.

I couldn't hide my blush even if I wanted to.

"Anyway, so I managed to once again stay hidden from Grace, thanks to the masquerade theme. Once again, the plan was to confront you, but when I found you, you looked so intrigued by the catalogue, so I engaged you on that. After leaving, I watched from a distance as Castro approached you, and I was glad to see you brush him off, despite thinking he was me. When I saw you with Grace, I watched how you handled the situation because I could tell that she was upset that Calista didn't show up. When I came to talk to you again, the last thing I expected was for you to speak so passionately about being there for her, and that's when I was sold that you didn't come into her life with malicious intent. You genuinely care about her and that's more than I could've ever asked for," he finished off.

I sat in silence, taking in his words. It was the first time I'd seen him so sincere, and mixed with his words, I was starting to see the man that Fabio described to me, and not the pain in the ass that pestered me.

"Is there anything else you'd like to know?" he interrupted my thinking.

"Tell me about yourself," I replied.

He looked shocked. "You really haven't looked me up?"

I shook my head. "I promised Grace I wouldn't. She asked me to trust only what I see with my eyes."

"She asked you to give me the benefit of the doubt," he commented knowingly.

"She loves you beyond anything I've ever witnessed before. She protects you and your name so fiercely, despite everything. I respect her for it, and it's one of the reasons I didn't look you up. I guess a part of me wants to see you through her eyes," I admitted.

"That's a whole lot more than I've been afforded from most people," he responded.

"If only I'd known that I'd see you through the eyes of someone who must clearly think of you as a pain in the ass," I joked.

He laughed. "I guess I must apologize for my persistence. I promise I'm not always like that. In fact, I don't think I've ever been like that, but I have a track record of not handling rejection well."

"Well, with an apology normally comes change, so show me the side that's you," I said.

"Fair enough. As I mentioned, my name is Olivier Myron Black. I'm the middle child of three with an older and younger sister. I grew up in Atlanta before we moved to California when I was fifteen. We lived in Los Angeles, and then I moved here once I was eighteen to start up my first company. It was a logistics company, and at the time I never fathomed that I'd be where I am today. I went to college to obtain multiple certificates. I didn't want a degree because I had a vision to have my fingers in multiple industries, so I instead learnt the basics I needed to know about each industry. I eventually branched into telecommunications, gaming, real estate and most recently biomechanics," he informed.

"And how did you come to adopt Grace?" I asked.

I almost regretted asking when the look on his face changed.

"When I was seventeen, I travelled to South Africa with my dad. He was initially there for business, but he decided to do some outreach for the company, and I went along with him to a children's home. Grace had been left at the doorstep of the home just days before, and I learnt that she was only a week old according to their predictions. I fell in love with her the moment I lay my eyes on her, and when she wrapped her hand around my finger, she stole my heart. I had to fight for her from that point on," he said.

"You were only seventeen. How were you able to adopt her?" I asked.

"My parents were quite wealthy and my father was the CFO of the company he worked for. I'd been a problem child for a while, but he told me that when he saw me with Grace, he knew that she was my salvation. He got in contact with people who would make things possible for me, but as you say, I was only seventeen. He adopted her for me and once we were able to, we came back home with her. He explained the situation to my mother, and once she was sold on the idea, they helped me to get my life in order. They bought me my own place and gave me the money I needed to start up my company. Once I was stable, my father relinquished his parental rights, and once I was cleared by social services, I was able to adopt her as my own," he continued.

I wiped away tears I didn't even know had escaped. "That is so beautiful."

"My daughter saved me from a dangerous life, and I'm grateful for that every single time I see her smile. It breaks me to think that I took her from a potentially incredible life back in South Africa, only to bring her into the turmoil that is my life," he said, sounding more vulnerable than I'd ever heard him.

"Surely that isn't the case," I argued.

He was about to say something, except the thundering roar of my stomach stopped him.

He laughed. "I really am a terrible person for keeping you from food the whole day."

"No argument here," I joked, laughing as well.

"Let me go and get our food then," he said before leaving the room.

It gave me a chance to sit and think about everything that he'd told me. Obviously we haven't gotten to the parts that have his name tarnished in the eyes of everyone, but I was happy about all that he'd told me.

He is a good man, and for now I would trust that.

"I should've probably asked if you're allergic to anything, but I figured that no one's allergic to good chicken," he joked as he brought the food to me. It looked delectable.

I giggled. "I'm not allergic to anything."

"Noted for future reference," he said with a wink.

"Do you and Grace eat here?" I asked curiously.

He frowned. "No, why?"

"I can understand why you don't. This space is so impersonal with how far apart we are," I commented.

He smirked. "Are you saying you want to get up close and personal Miss Kidman?"

I couldn't let him have one up on me.

I gave him what I hoped was a sultry look. "Maybe I am."

I was pleased when he gulped. "Well Grace and I normally eat in the lounge."

"Then let's go and eat in the lounge," I said as I stood up.

"Whatever you say Miss Kidman," he said amusedly.

We moved off to the rather chilly room and he proceeded to surprise me by setting up the fireplace. It wasn't an electric fireplace, which impressed me a little. We sat on the couches and I moaned when I bit into the roast chicken.

"I take it its good?" he teased.

"Oh you know it is," I commented before taking another bite.

"What kind of foods do you enjoy?" he asked.

"I'm the kind of person who doesn't believe that that question should exist," I hinted.

He chuckled knowingly. "You love all food."

"I do, and I love to eat a lot of it. I've always been that girl every other girl hates because I eat a lot but never gain weight," I explained.

"Ah, I see. What about treats? Are there any that you like specifically?" he asked.

"Give me doughnuts and anything with caramel and I'll do anything you want," I joked.

He laughed. "If only I'd known it was that easy before I spent all the money that I did today."

"Did you really pay for all those things?" I asked.

"Where it was service related I did. With everything else, I loaned it from the different places. I'm a valued customer at those places, so that worked in my favour," he replied.

"You're a mad man," I commented.

He smiled. "I'll let that one slide because I did behave like a mad man."

We continued eating while asking each other about our favourites. We're polar opposites on many things, which he found amusing. He noted that it was a case of opposites attract, and I could only sit there and think about just how attracted to him I am.

"You look cold. Let's move to the fireplace," he suggested. We were done with eating.

"Is this your ploy to get me all warmed up?" I teased.

He smirked."It's a hell of a lot safer than what I truly have in thought."

The connotations never die.

He laid a blanket in front of the fireplace and I sat down, having taken my shoes off, while he went to get our dessert. Unlike the complicated dish we'd had for dinner, dessert was a plain bowl of chocolate and vanilla ice-cream.

"Here you go," he said, handing me the bowl.

I giggled."I feel like such a kid."

"If it had sprinkles, I'd definitely think that you're one," he taunted as he took off his shoes before joining me on the floor.

I stuck my tongue out at him. "Ice-cream is a weakness for me."

"From what you've told me, food in general is a weakness for you," he said, laughing.

I joined him. "You're learning."

"Like I said, I want to get past your hard shell. How am I doing?" he asked.

"Definitely better than most," I admitted.

"Do you date a lot?" he asked.

I shook my head. "I've only ever had three boyfriends and one fiancé."

"You were engaged? When?" he asked, staggered.

"I was engaged until four months ago," I replied.

"Does it have to do with why you ended up moving?" he asked.

"Not quite, but in a way yes. It was the nail in the coffin," I confirmed.

"The stupid thing?" he questioned.

I shook my head. "I'm not telling you about that."

"Too emotional?" he queried.

"No, too stupid. I guess it's embarrassing now that I think about it," I said thoughtfully.

"It can't be that bad," he commented amusedly.

"Except it was. I've been accused of being too trusting, too kind hearted and too naive. What I did shines a major light on those flaws," I said, looking down.

Cool fingers tipped my chin up. "There's nothing wrong with being any of those things."

"There is if it means I get taken advantage of easily. The people who care about me are always afraid that I'll get myself into trouble because I'm too nice," I pointed out.

"There's still nothing wrong with being who you are Rose. It's what makes you as immaculate as you are," he argued.

He thinks I'm immaculate.

I blushed, his fingers still on my chin. "That's the first time you call me by my name."

He brushed his fingers across my cheek before letting go. "It's a fitting name for you. It's beautiful."

"What about you?" I asked.

We were finished with our ice-cream, and he lay down and put his head on my lap, something I startlingly was ok with. "What? Do I have a beautiful name?"

I chortled. "No man. Do you date a lot?"

"I don't date at all. It took me a very short time to realize that it was a waste of my time. There are women who are scared of me based off of rumours, while the ones who are brave enough to try and date me, end up being shallow bimbos who are after my money, so I've stopped bothering myself with the whole thing. Besides, if I'm going to truly entertain a woman, Grace must be accepting first," he replied.

"What exactly are the rumours said about you?" I asked.

"There are many, and they are different. There are people who believe that I beat women, there are people who believe that I sexually assault women, there are people who believe that Grace is abused by me; the list is endless. I don't think there's anything I haven't been accused of," he responded.

"And these people just decided to turn against you?" I asked sceptically, unconsciously running my fingers across his head.

He sighed, closing his eyes. "It all starts with my ex-wife. She's at the root core of all of this, but I'd never call her out on it."

"Why not?" I questioned.

"Because despite everything she's done, she's still the woman my daughter called 'mummy' for more than half her life. I refuse to ruin that for her, so I take it all," he said.

I found myself once again seeing this man through his daughter and Fabio's eyes. Just like with Grace though, I could tell that there was a lot more he was withholding, and I wasn't sure if I wanted to truly know.

To truly commit myself to finding out.

"I'm sure Grace has figured it out though. She's too smart," I commented after a while of silence.

His eyes were closed and I was almost certain that he'd fallen asleep, until he spoke. "Even if she has, she's too young for us to have that kind of conversation. Maybe one day when she's older I'll make her understand everything."

"And what's there to understand?" I asked.

He sat up, his back to me. "That I'm a horrible person."

"You're not a horrible person Olivier," I denied.

"I am. This was a bad idea. You should go," he said lowly, about to get up.

I stopped him and made him face me before cupping his face. "You're not a horrible person Olivier, and I'm not going anywhere."

"I may not have done more than half of the things people believe I did, but I'm still a horrible person Rose. I can't change that," he said, maintaining the low tone.

"The things that you insist make you a horrible person; are they from your past?" I asked, caressing his cheek.

I didn't know where I was going with this.

He nodded. "I'm guilty of many terrible things."

"But they are in your past. You can't let them hinder your present," I argued.

He took my hands and put them on my lap. "It's not as easy as that."

"Why? Because you've deemed yourself a horrible person?" I questioned.

He sighed. "It's not as easy as you're making it seem Rose. I can't just move on like nothing happened."

"And that's not what I'm saying you should do. You can't let the past hinder your present and determine your future. Only you get to decide how you want to move forward from here," I said.

"I'm undeserving of love. That's probably why fate seems to agree with me," he whispered, tears in his eyes.

I grabbed his face and pulled him for a kiss. He was unresponsive for a few seconds, but I wasn't moving away, and he eventually gave in. He gave in and gave way to a whirlwind of passionate emotions.

Suddenly the room felt scorching.

I don't know how long we kissed for, and I honestly didn't care. All my attention was on this moment as everything else disappeared from my mind. When I'd run out of breath, he moved his kisses to my neck, leaving a sizzling trail everywhere his lips touched.

I only noticed then that we'd started undressing each other.

"I haven't been with a woman in seven years," he murmured onto my skin. The zip on my dress was already down and I managed to get the straps off.

"I've never been with anyone," I said lowly as he kissed lower and lower into my bosom area.

Until my words that is.

"You're a virgin?" he asked as his head shot up. I nodded nervously.

"How? Why? Men must be fighting for the honour to worship you," he said, looking genuinely confused. His arms were still wrapped securely around my waist.

I reddened, feeling even more embarrassed. "I've never felt like this with anyone. I've never been turned on."

"And you are right now?" he asked.

I kissed him not only as a response to his audible question, but as well as a response to his unasked question. I knew he wanted to know if I was sure that I wanted him to be my first, and I found that I did.

He didn't fight me and instead proceeded where he'd left off. I've heard all sorts of things about how sex should and shouldn't be, and this experience was definitely the kind people rave about. Even when there was pain involved, I was stuck in my high.

I could especially understand the hype through the multiple orgasms I had.

"What have you done to me Rose?" I thought I heard him whisper as my eyes drifted close hours later.