I woke up in an absolute daze trying to remember why I was sleeping in a dress when everything that happened yesterday came rushing back. That dread that had filled me last night creeping back up in my stomach but I pushed it back down. It was better to treat the incident more robotically, I didn't have much time to worry over it. I fell back into my pillows feeling mentally exhausted. How ever had that man brought me back here? I distinctly remembered passing out.

I peeled the dress off of my body, getting rid of my undergarments and throwing them all into the hamper, after what had happened while I was wearing that dress, I doubted I was ever going to wear it again. I didn't really care if my laundry machine ruined it. I took about as quick a shower as I could after thoroughly brushing my teeth, grimacing when I saw some bruises and handprints on my skin.

A shiver shot through me as I remembered the way his hand had felt on my face, dirty dry skin against my own. I would have to use some concealer to cover the marks up, I really didn't want people asking unnecessary questions. I didn't know the first thing about makeup so usually I relied on Sophie or my mom to both get me my supply and apply it, but today I would have to make do myself. Makeup could be really beautiful if you knew how to apply it properly, I'd always envied people who could. I just didn't have the patience firstly to learn how to put it on or to apply it regularly, so there was no point of me learning it.

I rushed around getting ready for work trying to put socks on while eating a muffin was a lot more trouble than it may have seemed at first. I went to grab my purse and saw my phone that I had dropped last night sitting right under it. A small crack was visible in the corner of the screen, and I made a face remembering why I had dropped it. I promised myself I would talk to Jay and Sophie about this because keeping all this in was horrible for my probably already a little wankered mental state.

I had always been a weird person when it came to trauma, I was either very nonchalant or just loosing it completely. There was no inbetween with me. When I had been 17 and learning how to drive, some idiot had veered out of their lane while texting and hit me head on. The driving instructor had to yank me out of the car, I was completely fine but just unresponsive. He had to call an ambulance to take me to the hospital. I had only recovered when my parents had gotten to the hospital and slowly coaxed me out of shock.

Strangely after last night I just felt a little numb, like I was going through my daily routine but nothing was registering. Surely that was better than being upset over what had happened, but it was just very frustrating to go about life so robotically, feeling so faint and being unable to knock myself out of it.

I rushed into work five minutes late sending a quick wave to Maggie, while tying up an apron. I loved this cafe, but honestly the place opened up much too early and that definitely clashed with my love for sleep. If it just started more in the afternoon then I'd have absolutely nothing to complain about, not that this was ever going to hinder me from loving the place.

The bell rung signaling the day's first customers had come in, I turned to greet them only to find a rambunctious group of boys tumbling in instead of our usual elderly customers this early in the morning. I tended to them ignoring their snarky comments which made me want to tip the hot coffee pot over their heads. But of course I had to hold my violent thoughts in as I would quite probably get arrested for doing so. More frighteningly Maggie would yell at me. She barely ever got mad, but when she did it was terrifying, it was the reason no one dared to misbehave in the cafe. Everyone knew better than to trigger Maggie's wrath.

By the time lunch rolled around I was starved, after just having a muffin for breakfast and running around serving customers I was basically salivating over the baked goods I was bagging for customers. As usual right around lunch, in came Sophie and Jay bickering over something small once again. They fought more than they spoke civilly to each other, and yet they were best friends.

They gave me side hugs, giggling manically when I glared at them as they'd caused me to spill some of the coffee I was holding. Cleaning that up I shooed them away to the back room. They were better far away from messes, they wouldn't be any help even if they tried. After cleaning the spilt coffee, I made my way into the back room, after doing a quick sweep of the cafe with my eyes to ensure the few customers didn't need anything.

I had promised myself that I would tell them the story, and I did but of course I should have been more prepared for their reactions. Jay actually scooped me out of my seat putting me in his lap while rocking back and forth shrieking. He curled me up on his lap, only serving to make me mourn my short height of 5'4 more than I already did. His voice was so shrill it was indecipherable as to what he was saying. Sophie threw herself at both of us, enveloping us both in a giant hug, murmuring her thanks that I was alright under her breath. I was simply surprised the chair didn't break. I finally managed to yell for Maggie over Jay's screams and she, God bless her, got me out of their mess. Although Jay was very reluctant to let me go, his hand patting my hair messily as Maggie got me settled into a chair away from them so I could explain what had happened to her.

I quickly explained what I had told them to Maggie and she silently hugged me and of course the doofuses joined in acting as if I had just woken up from a decade long coma. Maggie tried to convince me to tell my parents about the incident, but it would terrify them and they'd surely insist on me coming back home. That wasn't possible, the semester had already started, so they would worry unnecessarily.

They all urged me to report it to the police, but truthfully I just wanted to forget that it had ever happened. It was very difficult to not think about it as it was, having to recount it to the cops and go to court for it would make the experience worse for me. Surely my parents too would then find out. But then I couldn't be selfish, I should report it to prevent the man from attacking someone else. Perhaps they wouldn't be as lucky as me. A shiver passed through me as I thought of what could have happened if my saviour hadn't come in time.

When everyone had calmed down and Jay had completely assaulted me, which was supposedly his way of checking for injuries, they finally all sat there smirking while I looked at them horrified. They had all finally cracked, I wished they wouldn't have all gone simultaneously insane, but I couldn't control that. Jay held on for longer than I expected, I had thought he would go insane about three years ago, right around when I'd met him.

"What?" I said thoroughly creeped out after they just sat there smirking for a steady minute.

"So knight in shining armour ay?" Sophie said still smirking and Jay made hooting sounds while Maggie just observed me. I flushed slightly. Her gaze soft but calculating. It was impossible to hide anything from Maggie.
Trying to change the topic to something that had been afflicting me since I woke up.

"How did he get into my house? I don't know about you but that's a little freaky, how did he know where I lived?"
"Darling calm down he probably checked from your phone which unluckily you don't have a pass code on otherwise you would probably wake up in his house with him tending to you with his shirt off." I stared at Jay, wrinkling my nose slightly grossed out.

"What would he even be tending to, I don't have any visible injuries, a runny nose?" I ask and Jay's nose scrunched in distaste at unromantic statement.

"He probably found that note on your phone, the one titled for emergencies that has all your information on it, where you live, first priority contact." Sophie says nonchalantly making my jaw drop.
"How do you know about that?" I asked in a hushed voice.
"Once again no passcode." Sophie said and I frowned at the floor, after once getting locked out of an iPod for not putting the passcode in correct I'd sworn never to use passcodes again. That note had been put in incase I ever lost my phone and it was found by somebody intent on returning it, or if I got into an accident.

"He probably got your keys from your purse, honey you really shouldn't be questioning him he did save you." Maggie said.

"But you guys didn't see him fight, god he was ruthless. It was horrifying." I added feeling like if I didn't tell them they would probably start naming our imaginary children.
"He was saving you."
"No well yeah but he almost killed the guy." I shivered.
"Raine you were about to pass out and to you even a slap is violent." Sophie said rolling her eyes.

"I know what I saw you know what lets check the camera he was horrifying not that I'm
not grateful. But I really wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of his punches. Plus that way I can report that creep who attacked me." I told them proud of my idea.
"Yes please I'd love to see the man who saved you I bet he's gorgeous." Jay said dreamily and I scrunched my nose at him, was that all he thought about.

Maggie quickly rewinded the cameras recording to around the time I had come in. We watched me walk in and  the creep sneak in behind me, Jay letting out a shrill scream that had me rubbing my ears to stop the ringing, he had great lungs. My hands grew clammy as we watched him drag me out roughly and Jay grabbed me into his arms again as if I was still getting hurt and although it was sweet I had enough of him groping me today. I quickly struggled out of his hold glaring at him while he pouted letting out what I deemed to be a menacing snarl for good measure. I was basically terrifying.

We saw silver eyes run upto where I was, I hadn't notched how large he was or the way he moved last night, with a beast like precision, an animal hunting its prey with absolute natural but terrifying grace. We watched as he ripped the man off of me. And I was right, he was absolutely ruthless he even had Sophie, the most violent person I know wincing. But as he turned to check on me all four of us gasped.

I hadn't realized how attractive the man was yesterday. I also happened to conveniently not notice that the man who saved me was the most dangerous man in the country, probably even the continent. The man who owned most of the town, probably even most of North America, and was feared by many, Xavier Night.

We watched him as he finally let go of the limp man, and made his way towards me, reaching me just as I had begun to collapse. His arms wrapped securely around my waist tugging my small nearly lifeless form into his chest. His eyes glancing me over, checking for damage before he tugged me closer to him, mumbling something to me softly. He picked me up bridal style and stormed out of the cameras reach, gazing down at me in his arms.

After a few minutes Maggie finally shut the recording off. They all turned to stare at me.

"Okay so not a knight in shining armour." Jay said finally breaking the silence.

"More like mafia in a well tailored suit." Sophie murmured.

"Raine, we owe a lot to that man for saving you, but you need to stay away from him, only the lord knows what runs through his head." Maggie said and I nodded in response fully planning to sprint the other way if I saw this man in public.

This man wasn't some ordinary gang leader, nobody could prove his work was illegal. He owned the largest company in the country but there were so many theories of how he got there. He was the type of man your parents told you bedtime stories about to scare you and keep you on the right path. Although most were simply theories, but there were actually witnesses of him killing his own father. Although in court he had somehow managed to prove it was self defence though according to the witnesses it was anything but. Other recounts of his brutality too existed, some terrifying but others most definitely fictional.

After forcing me to promise them all about ten times that I would never go near that man they all finally left me and Maggie and I were able to get back to work.

They all sat around me as we called the police, Maggie had shut the cafe down for a few hours. I spoke to the operator, having to explain to them I was safe at the moment, the incident had taken place last night. Our town was normally a very safe place, to the point where most people didn't bother to lock doors, so the operator didn't know how to handle the situation. The poor woman sounded more panicked than me even. She told me the police would be there shortly, a cruiser having conveniently been patrolling in the area.

"Did you get a chance to hit him?" Sophie asked and I nodded.
"I hurt him more than he did me." I told her making her smile in approval.

"We shouldn't have let you leave that party alone. I felt so bad last night, even before you told us about this, because we'd ruined your birthday." Sophie says, looking down sadly.

"You didn't ruin my birthday, I'm not a huge fan of them anyway. But none of this was any of yours fault, incidents like this are always the attacker's fault alone." I tell her and she nods, leaning forward from her seat to give me a hug, and I hug her back.

A knock sounds on the glass doors, and voices call out for us to open the doors, telling us they are officers. Maggie gets up to go open the door and we all trail behind her. Unlocking it, she looks at their badges that they've held up before letting them in.

"Are you Raine Pierce?" The blonde man asks me, looking almost too young to be an officer, his partner a man with dark curly hair and chocolate coloured skin, looking to be his supervisor.
"That's me." I say and he nods introducing himself and his partner to us and shaking our hands.
"We're going to have to speak to you privately Ms.Peirce." The older officer tells me and I nod, showing them the way to the back room.

We all take a seat around the table, and get behind me by asking me about what I was doing last night, and about the scene of the incident, before asking me about to recount the details. They listen carefully, the blonde man taking furious notes while the other scribbles only a few things down as I speak, neither of them interrupting me. After I've told them about what had happened, I show them the camera footage.

"Ms.Peirce we are going to send out an arrest warrant for this man. We will make sure to contact you when we've found him. If you happen to ever see him anywhere, call us immediately. If you need people to speak to about the incident, which would be a good idea because I'm sure it was traumatizing, here's a little package with different people you can contact. I'm very glad you are safe, but god forbid if something like this happens again, make sure to contact us as soon as possible. It gives the attacker less time to escape." The older officer hands me a little pamphlet from one of his pockets. I grab onto it, thanking them both and they shake my hand once more before they leave.

Although Maggie wishes for me to go home and rest, I need the distraction so I ask for her to reopen the cafe. Hesitantly she opens it to customers again, and in just a few minutes customers are filing in again.

I busy myself with serving the customers, even getting in a few book orders. It wasn't often for people to buy books, and usually those who did went to Maggie for help. I guess the constant mumbling to myself made me look a little crazy and made people hesitant to approach me. I usually was quite busy with making drinks too admittedly. Time passed by quickly as I made drinks and baked goods, their scents wafting throughout the cafe.

The day was almost over, only about twenty minutes left to closing time and most people had cleared out. I had just given the last order of drinks and a person had accidentally spilled some of their chocolate mocha. At least they had had the decency to let me know. I quickly grabbed a cloth to wipe the spill when the bell rung signalling a customer had come in. I was furiously working at the chocolate syrup and cream that had spilled when I heard footsteps come towards me.

I looked up, blowing my hair out of my face and felt my heart stop as my eyes connected with stormy grey ones, which just happened to be staring very intensely, at me.