It took two weeks for Zara to get out of bed without Melanie fussing over her. But even then, she held onto the walls for support until one day, when Adrian suggested that she lean against him instead. She had stared at him for a few seconds while his eyebrows knitted together. But he didn't wait for her answer. He reached out for her but she pulled away sharply, almost tripping over. "Sorry...." She mumbled. "I don't....I don't want to be touched....just for a while, at least."

It hurt Adrian to see her that way. The Ferraras had impacted her so much that she needed some time before she was comfortable with someone touching her. "I understand."

They continued walking and Zara kept opening her mouth to explain. "I need time." She said. "I can still feel their force....their...." She remembered everything carefully and it hurt. It hurt really badly that she couldn't tell him about it.

But that didn't stop him from walking on her left to protect the cast from sudden impacts and always had his hands ready to steady her. "Don't complain." He told her. "I don't want you falling down the stairs and giving me more expenses."

Zara had smirked silently to herself but she nodded while he helped her get her daily limit of steps to be walked. Marvin had been doing it but Adrian took over. Why? Zara did not know and frankly, she was scared to ask him, not wanting to hear a speech about being a gentleman and righteousness meeting her in return.

After a month of speculation, Zara finally asked Marvin about the closet. He was distraught when he found out that she hadn't asked him earlier. "Well, I guess I cannot complain since you didn't like my services here that you had to escape and-"

"That had nothing to do with you!" She knew that he was joking but it was nice to get to know someone other than the brooding "master" of the Cardenas. "And I did not leave because of the food either." She said, knowing that he would talk about that next. "This isn't where I'm meant to be."

Marvin lifted his hand to pat her arm, but knowing what she was going through, he clenched his hand and dropped it to his side. "You should know that you are not a prisoner at all. Now," They stood in front of the double doors that were always locked in her room. He pulled out a key, showing it to her before opening the doors. "The closet."

Automated lights switched themselves on due to motion sensors and in walked Zara into the biggest walk-in closet she had ever seen. Her jaw dropped to the floor, she was sure of it. She had been wrong when she said that her room was the size of the apartment she lived in. This closet was twice as big as it.

"This is...." She searched for words, forgetting her second language for a second. "Wow!"

"I'll let you get settled in then."

Zara walked the entire length of the closet after arranging her belongings on one end neatly. Seeing the space inside and then her small area of belongings should have made her feel insecure. But she had grown up only owning the items that she would need.

But there was a corner that cut left from where she stood. She was sure that she was in a mall of some kind but she continued walking forward and turned left.

She realised what made the closet seem so big.

It wasn't meant only for one person.

The closet connected two rooms.

And this side of the closet could have only belonged to one person because of the suits and polished shoes....

"Welcome."

And he had crept on her like a cat.

"Stop doing that!" Zara held her chest in shock, the sudden rush of adrenaline startling her. "I'm so sorry. I...." She looked at the lights that were already switched on when she walked in. She should have known that someone was there. "I did not know that the two rooms were connected. This must be Marvin's way of revenge."

The corner of Adrian's mouth twitched. "It's not an unpleasant revenge either." He eyed her before walking towards his closet. "Please. Come in."

She smiled as she walked into his closet and looked at the expensive coats that stood on one of the cupboards. There was one rack of shirts, one with casual shirts, one with pants and another with jeans. On the other end were shoes, sunglasses and a long mirror.

"Nice closet." She nodded, pursing her lips together and taking a seat on the single leather chair at one corner. She rested her left hand against the arm as she waited for him to continue talking.

"Your aunt is safe, by the way. I tracked her down to a location outside New York. She is in Henderson's area, so you don't have anything to worry about. They are the Switzerland of the mafia, but that only makes them more dangerous. No one will dare cross them." He said, leaning against one of the cupboards. "But you have to stay here, Zara. I need to keep you safe."

"I would say that I can take care of myself but...." She lifted her left arm, making him laugh.

It was the second time she was hearing him laugh genuinely. It felt good in a way. He was always so serious that sometimes she thought that he had forgotten how to smile. But he seemed less serious around her, or maybe that was her paranoia. She should have been suspecting him like she did the first time.

First impressions always lasted.

"But we could go out sometime?" She asked, trying to look innocent. "The only reason I escaped was because this is my personal prison. And because I was being kept out of my will."

"Sometime."

She looked up at him, shocked that he had agreed. "W-wow uh....thanks? I guess?"

He walked towards her and sat on his knees in front of her. He wanted to reach out for her and hesitantly placed his hand on her cast. "I won't hurt you, Zara." She looked into his eyes that reminded her of the calm before the storm. "That's not who I am. I want you to feel safe here."

She nodded, swallowing with difficulty. "I do feel safe. And that's only because of you. But I'm trying to...." She sighed. "I'm trying. I don't even know who they were and why they wanted to kill me and-"

"Wait." Adrian pulled his hand back sharply. "Kill you?"

"Yeah. I thought they must have told you since you have them in captivity." She assumed that the three goons would have revealed everything to Adrian's interrogators by now. "Have they not-"

He stood up and started to pace the closet. After two paces or so, he closed his eyes. "You should get some rest." He told her. "And don't worry about intrusion from my side. I sleep in my office on the other end of the manor anyway."

"You don't have to do that. I don't need my side of the closet anyway." She stood up and almost walked over to him to comfort him, but his jaw was really clenched together and she had never seen such uncertainty on his face. "Adrian?"

He looked at her. "I have to go now."

She nodded. "I'll see you later."

But closing the doors of the closet from her room, Zara wondered if there was another side to Adrian. One that he would never want her to see and one that she was dying to know the truth about.

*****
Do I hear wedding bells?