The Masked Hero

Chapter 4

Valentina's POV

I slowly peeled my eyes open, before pressing it close again. I knew it was morning, but no matter how hard I tried, I just couldn't bring myself to get up. Something blared beside me, but I made no attempt to move. Instead, I turned to the other direction, hoping it would mute the loud noise. It didn't though, but I couldn't bring myself to bother.

I had barely pushed the noise to the back of my mind when something caught my attention. Not something though, someone.

The man from yesterday was sprawled on my bed, nothing but a couple of inches separating the both of us. I watched his chest rise and fall as he slept and call me crazy or whatever, but at this moment, he looked like the most handsome man on earth. I fought the urge to run my hands through his hair, and as his soft breaths reached my ears, I found my resolve breaking slowly. How could one man be so handsome?

A small frown made its way to my face. Despite the fact that he was good looking, it didn't spare him from the ill fate he had. Not only had he washed up in a strange place, he had no idea who he was. Not even his name.

But if he didn't have a name, then how was I going to address him?

A small groan cut through my thoughts and I immediately traced it to the man in front of me. My eyes widened and I jerked up immediately.

It was already bad enough that I had been staring at him while he was sleeping. If he caught me, then I would never be able to stare him in the face.

I turned my back to him as I pretended to be busy with something else. Only when I was sure he had gone back to sleep, did I pause a little. I turned back to him, and let out a breath I didn't know I was holding when I realized he had gone back to sleep again.

My alarm clock blared again, but instead of turning it off this time, my eyes widened in shock.

I was already late.

After he had realized that he couldn't access his memories, I'd decided to take him to the hospital. In fact, I had already set up an appointment at the city hospital last night before we fell asleep, and now, I was already late.

Without wasting any more time, I got to work immediately. I needed to pack and prepare for the journey ahead. It was a long one since the hospital was situated in the heart of the city, and our ancestral Villa was on the outskirts of town, far far away from any form of civilization.

Luckily for me, I was able to finish up in a total of thirty minutes. When I was done, I woke him up to get dressed for the journey.

********

The wind whipped at my hair as I sped down the road. Since we e were already late by forty five minutes,I realized there was no way we could get there in time, and since the journey had a beautiful view, I thought, why not enjoy it?

The view wasn't the only thing I was enjoying. From the corner of my eyes, I had a good view of my savior.

If I had thought he was handsome when I'd first met him, then clearly I was mistaken. After he had freshened up and joined me in the living room, I was stunned.

His hair had been slicked into a different hairdo, a couple of strands framing the side of his face. His blue eyes shone, and as he spoke, I couldn't bring myself to look away from his face.

As I drove down the road, I couldn't help but steal glances at him. Even in the borrisedd clothes, he could easily pass as a model, or even a hot bouncer at a club.

“You've been staring at me for a while now.” His deep baritone broke through my thoughts. “Is there something on my face?”

“Um, I…’ I turned back to the road again, but it did nothing to hide the red hue tinting my cheeks. I even pushed my hair forward, but it was too late. I was sure he had seen them by now. “Nothing, it's nothing.”

“It's okay to stare.” His face lit up as a smirk made its way to his face. “I would stare if I were you too.”

I understood how cocky he was, but I couldn't bring myself to get mad about it. Instead, I burst into a hearty laugh.

“Oh really?” I quipped. My body thrummed, and I wondered just where this new found courage was coming from. “Well, I like to say things the way they are, and I think you're really handsome. In fact, having a boyfriend like you, wouldn't be such a bad idea.”

It was his turn to laugh, and even a million symphonies wouldn't be able to describe what his sounded like. If I could, I would listen to his voice over and over again, without getting tired of it.

I didn't even try to hide the smile that made its way to my face, but unfortunately, it didn't exactly last long. All it took to wipe the smile off my face, was the thought of a certain someone.

Felix.

No matter how hard I tried to ignore it, it did nothing to hide the fact that I was still supposed to get married to him. I could turn a blind eye to him and everything, but it still didn't change the fact that I was to be married to that reckless playboy.

My smile faltered all the more, and I could make out a wave of grief seeping into my skin. I didn't deserve to be married to Felix. No one did. Getting married to him would be the worst mistake I'd ever make and the fact that no one else saw what I was seeing, made it all the more tragic.

I had tried running away, but somehow it had backfired. Uncle and father had….

A loud thud filled the air, the noise piercing through my thoughts. My heart leapt to my mouth, and I struggled to get a grip on the car wheel. The wheels swerved from underneath me, and a billow of smoke snaked out from the car's bumper. The thick black smoke shot into the air, further preventing me from seeing anything. I wasn't sure what to do,but I knew this was a bad sign.

Like the worse hadn't just happened, the tires began to spin around. I didn't even bother to hide my fear this time. I screamed out loud as the car jerked forward, my finger slipping from the wheel. Beads of sweat lined my forehead, and my heart lurched in my throat. The world around me swirled and I felt dizzy, but just when I was about to lose hope, the car skidded to a halt, just in the middle of the road.

My entire body trembled, even after the car had stopped over five minutes ago. My heart thumped so loudly I'm my chest, that I heard the sound in my ears. Beads of sweat trailed down my face and back as I tried to gasp for air.

What the hell just happened?

Like it was going to give me any answers, I jerked out of the car. As quickly as I could, I pulled open the bumper and regretted it immediately.

More smoke hit me in the face and I coughed. My eyes burned as the substance wormed its way into my eyes and nose, disorienting me in the process. Since it had caught me unaware, I lost my balance, and just when I thought I was going to hit rock bottom, strong hands wrapped itself around my waist.

I didn't need to be told who it was. As he held on to me, his scent filled my nose and I felt oddly comforted. As his blue eyes came into view when he steadied me, I felt my heart stop for a second.

“Thank you.” I muttered underneath my breath. My voice was hoarse and I was breathless, but he heard me nonetheless. “thanks.”

“Anytime.” He grinned. While I wanted nothing more than to keep staring at his handsome face, the car chose the worst possible time to interrupt us.

Another sound escaped the engine, but instead of a loud bang, this time it sounded more like it was giving up.

“Oh no.” I was faced with our reality once again. I thought it was bad that we were late for the appointment. At this rate, there was no way we would be getting to the hospital at all. “What the hell? Why did this have to break down now? And here of all places?’

We were in the middle of nowhere and the sight of the deserted scenery did nothing to help.

How were we even going to get out of this? Was there even any signal to call a mechanic? And would they be able to …

“Do you have a tool box?” The man beside me spoke up, and as he did, I realized I needed him to figure out his name as soon as possible. “I think I can fix this.”

“A tool box?” I muttered. “I don't think I I have one of those.”

An amused grin lit his face up as he headed to the cars behind. He popped the trunk , before pulling out a red box.

A tool box.

I didn't even know that was in there.

“Watch and learn.” He winked, before getting down to business.

And I did. With a childlike excitement, I watched him tinker with the car's engine, and it was as good as new in no time.

“Wow.” I muttered, staring at the engine. “You fixed it. What are you? Were you a mechanic in your past life?”

“What?” He muttered, clearly amused. “You think I'm a mechanic just because I helped you fix your car?”’

“Yes.” I nodded slowly. “But let's go. We're running out of time.”

He said nothing as seconds slowly ticked by. Instead, he wore an expression that seemed to show his disbelief at my statement. It felt like he didn't see me saying that at all, and instead of getting mad, I watched his eyes twinkle in humor.

Once he was done, we sped straight to the hospital.

I muttered a string of prayers as we didn't encounter any more accidents, and in no time, We were back on the road that led home.

We barely had a couple of minutes left to get home when something caught my eyes.

They were a group of people displaying excessively. A wave of anger hit me as I thought of the little distraction they were causing, but as I inched closer to the scene, I paled.

The people in front of me weren't just average people, they were a group of soldiers in a military convoy from Area A.

Area A in the south was one of the world's top ten military regions in the state, and they didn't fail to ignite fear in the hearts of everyone, everyone being me.

As we slowly approached the soldiers, I couldn't help but gauge his reaction. He just stared at them, like his heart had been filled with a million unsaid words.

As I fixed my gaze on him, my stomach churned with anxiety and I just knew that was a bad sign.

What exactly was going on?

Shit.