Dedicated to my motivation 

-I love you, baby girl...❤❤❤

Esme's POV

What I hadn't expected was for Micah to find me in the wee hours of the morning, punching the bag like my life depended on it, drenched in sweat.

I heard him walk in but didn't turn around, stuck in my hazy head.

It was 6 am.

I was getting my anger out.

My mother.

My father.

Lincoln fucking Davidson.

The history we had.

The stories I'd hid.

This whole situation with Asher.

Fuck it all...

I didn't hear Micah calling me. But I felt him pull me away, with his arms wrapped around my waist, locking my hands under his so that I couldn't punch or move.

He set me down on a bench and knelt in front of me.

"Esme," he softly called, as I was panting for breath, my head bent down, with my hands on my knees, and only then did I see the damage I'd done.

My knuckles were bruised and bleeding in some places, tears burned behind my eyelids and i drew in a shuddering breath, sniffling slightly, wiping the sweat away from my forehead with the back of my hand.

"Esme?" Micah called me again softly.

Drawing in a deep breath once more, I composed my face and looked up. He was still kneeling down in front of me, his brown eyes so warm and kind, that I almost broke down.

How could a stranger look at me with so much to give? With so much that I didn't get even from my family?

Shaking my head, I cleared away the thoughts.

"Yeah? What happened Micah?" I asked him softly with a smile.

"No, I should be asking you that. What happened?" He asked me.

Out of habit, my fingers gently started tracing the small scars scattered on my fingers, and that was when I noticed how badly my fingers and my hands were trembling.

"Nothing happened. I just woke up early. Couldn't sleep. So I came down here," I shrugged, my voice even and bland.

But he was still looking at me like he didn't believe me. Maybe because he didn't...

"Try lying again please," he said, concern and mockery entwined in his voice, and i flinched slightly.

No one ever called me out.

Not my parents, not my siblings, no one...

But he did...

Clearing my throat I said, "I'm not lying. I couldn't sleep, so I came down to clear my head. That's all," I said again.

What I hadn't expected was his hands taking mine into them, and holding them, bringing my attention to him.

"Look, I don't know what shit your family gave you, and I definitely don't know the details of the deal your father made with Asher. I don't know what the situation between you and Asher is, and I definitely don't know for how long you're gonna stay. But just remember this. You're not alone. Not anymore. You have all four of us. This might be a contract, this might be a marriage of convenience that you're signing up for, but that doesn't change the fact that you've gained all four of us on your side. You're not alone. Mom, dad, Ash, and me. All of us are there. For you, with you. Okay? I want you to always remember that. Whatever it is, we're always there. Okay?" he asked looking into my eyes, filled with sincerity, and I could do nothing except nod, holding in a breath.

He slowly rose up to a kneeling position and pulled me into a hug. My hands stayed by my side as he wrapped a hand around me and another bringing my head to his neck and holding me there.

Slowly I wrapped my hands around him, loosely, releasing the held breath.

I closed my eyes and let myself soak up the warmth in my freezing heart.

"Thank you, Micah," I softly whispered.

"Anytime sis," he said, stroking the top of my head. "Come on. Let's get you cleaned up. Mom should almost be done breakfast," he said, standing up and going to fetch a first aid kit.

He sat beside me and cleaned my knuckles, taking extra care to be gentle on the bleeding parts. He then took out the bandages and I stopped him.

"No. Just leave it. It'll be okay," I said, and he gave me a questioning look.

"It's fine Micah. I'm fine. Two days tops. It'll be gone," I said, slowly standing up.

"It could get infected," he warned. "No. It'll be fine. Trust me, I speak from experience," I reassured him.

"Is that supposed to make me feel better?" he asked standing up and pulling me into his chest again and kissed the top of my head.

"Come on. Go take a shower and come down. I'll tell the others," he said, as we walked out of the gym.

"Can you please not tell the others about this?" I asked him.

He nodded with a conflicted look in his eyes.

"Thanks, Micah. For everything," I say softly and climbed up the stairs.

"Anytime Esme. You're family," he said, and I was glad that I wasn't facing him. A lone tear slipped down my face and I clenched my fists, took a deep breath, and continued walking.

After a shower, I came down wearing white leggings and a dark blue top whose sleeves came up to my knuckles to hide the damage and took a seat at the table, opposite Alaric.

Making sure my sleeves were completely down, I looked around and asked, "Where's Ginger?"

"She's still sleeping, Esme. Oh, there she is. She must've sensed you coming in," Val smiled, as I felt something rub against my leg under the table and looked down to see Ginger. Swift as light, she jumped onto my lap, and I hugged her close. "Hey, baby. Missed me?" I cooed at her.

I got a meow in return. I slowly scratched the back of her ears as she cuddled up and curled on my lap, closing her eyes and relaxing.

Feeling eyes on me, I looked up to see Asher's gaze burning into me.

I smiled. Adjusting Ginger on my lap, I put my hands on the table and reached for the syrup, the action causing my sleeve to shift away a little from my knuckles.

I quickly pulled my hand away and pulled my sleeve down, forgetting the syrup momentarily. Asher's gaze flicked down to my knuckles briefly before returning to my face, silent questions filling his eyes.

I shook my head, silently telling him that I was fine. Besides he wouldn't have seen my hands that well to see the extent of damage.

Finishing up breakfast, during which Val made sure to stuff me up with pancakes, bacon, and some more eggs, I almost cried from the fullness of my stomach, feeling pregnant with a food baby, I left their house, after a lot of hugs and kisses.

I kissed Ginger goodbye, and Val promised to spam me with Ginger's pictures.

As I drove away I heard my phone chime and I pulled it from the cupholder to read the text.

Asher: Drive safe fire...

Asher: Text me when you get home.

Smiling at the texts, I texted him as I drove.

Esme: Sure hotshot. Tell the others that I already miss them.

Putting my phone away with a smile, I continued driving.

Pulling into my house's driveway, I walked up to the door, pushed it open and walked straight up to my room, and started getting ready for work at the company.

Quickly shooting a text to Asher, I stepped into the shower again and made sure to follow my extensive skincare routine and then exited when I was almost as wrinkled as a prune.

Stepping into my father's company, I entered my office, picked up the required files, and stopped by his office.

"Good morning father," I greeted.

"I see you're back to being responsible," he commented. "Yes father," I replied with a tight-lipped smile.

"Good. The Lincolns are coming in today earlier than expected, so I canceled the other meetings. The meeting will run till lunch. As of now, there's nothing for the evening. Take care of the finance reports, I've told Cameron to file the stock report. I want you to handle that too. Also, we have an upcoming contract with the LeBlancs. I want you to draft it, also make a fair of it, and i on my table first thing tomorrow morning. That'll be it," he said, going back to looking over files on his computer.

"The contract would take hours to prepare, draft, and edit. You want all of it done after I sit through the meeting the whole morning sir?" I asked, feeling my anxiety rise.

"Will that be a problem for you? After all, you did take an off yesterday night," he mocked.

"No sir. I'll have the papers ready," I said, giving a clipped smile.

This was punishment for brushing him off yesterday.

"The meeting's at ten. Which is in half an hour. Get the papers ready, and send a copy of it to me," he said.

"Yes sir," I said, walking out. 

This was gonna be a long day...

A/N: Hey lovelies... Hope you all are enjoying the story so far...

He calls her 'fire'... Aaaaaaaaaahhhhh... Just how cute is it...

Any expectations?

What are your feedbacks?

Be happy, spread love.

Until next time,

Love,

Jeff ❤❤