The Masked Hero

Chapter 2

Valentina's POV

Time seemed to crawl to a halt as I stared at the man in front of me. My breath hitched in my throat and no matter how many times I blinked, the angry man in front of me just refused to disappear. At least, if he did, I would be able to convince myself that I was daydreaming or overthinking things because I was scared of my uncle and my upcoming wedding with Felix.

Fear gnawed in the pit of my stomach when my uncle didn't disappear. Instead, he stepped aside for another man to walk into the room, and I fought the urge to run into the nearest wall.

“Dad?” My voice was barely a whisper. He had a sullen expression on his face and I just knew it wasn't going to amount to anything good. “Dad, I…”

“Valentina!” Dad's voice boomed all around me, cutting me off immediately. “What the hell is happening here?. Who is he?”

Father's eyes raked over the stranger sprawled on my bed, and I just knew the kind of thoughts that were running through his mind.

“Dad, I can explain…”

“Then you better.” He snarled, cutting me off again. “Now.”

“I went for a swim and I saw him unconscious in the water.” I rushed out the words immediately. My uncle Oliver scoffed, but dad's wrath was too heavy to ignore. “I couldn't let him die out there, so I decided to bring him in. I was about to change his clothes when you walked in.”

“Lies!” I flinched at the loud octave that reached my ears. It wasn't father this time, but uncle Oliver. “How dare you lie to us? Do you think I'm that dumb?!”

“I'm not lying…”

“Can you see this?” I was ignored again for the umpteenth time. With a flourish, my uncle turned to his brother, before continuing. “I told you this was going to happen, sooner or later and my words came to pass. You gave her too much Freedom,that's why she had the guts to bring in a man, a stranger, just days before her wedding to someone else. And to top it all off, they're both half naked. What do you think would have happened if we had come a little later?”

I blanched at Oliver's insinuations. Father was mad, but certainly he could find it in his heart to be able to tell who was the truthful one between us, right?

Blood rushed to my ears as father stared at me. If there was one emotion I could make out clearly, it was anger, pure, red and simmering underneath his suit jacket.

“Why you little rascal!” He took a couple of steps towards me. “So this is your plan to embarrass me right? I'll teach you a lesson you'll never forget!”

I pressed my eyes shut as I anticipated my father's next move. Seeing his hand high up in the air meant only one thing, he was coming for my cheek, and I mentally prepared myself for what was coming.

But it never came. Seconds and more seconds passed, and father's palm still hadn't hit my cheek yet. Had I imagined the whole thing?

I peeled my eyes open, as slowly as I could, and the image I laid my eyes on wasn't one I was expecting, even in a million years.

“Oh God!” I gasped, but was quick enough to press my hand against my mouth. That was the only way to stop myself from screaming out loud.

I stared at father's outstretched hand, just inches away from my face, and the beefy hand that seemed to hold dad's hands in place. It didn't belong to my uncle either. It was the stranger I'd saved.

“What are you doing?” I turned to him immediately. From my spot on the bed, I had only the view of his side profile, and that was more than enough to blow us away. Blue eyes shone like the sea, and I could see nothing but rage and determination in them. His hair slicked backward and around his face and I fought the urge to thread my fingers through his chocolate brown tresses. His nose was pointed and his jaw was so sharp, I had every right to believe it had been chiseled into perfection. “Let him go.”

“No.” His voice was deep, almost inaudible too, but I'd heard him, and it sent shivers down my spine.

“How dare you!?” Dad beat me to speaking. If I had thought he was furious earlier, then this was a discovery. His eyes were blazing embers and not just at me this time. “Let go of me you rascal.”

“Let him go.” I pleaded again. From the stoic expression on the stranger's face, I doubted he wanted to do that. “Please, just let him go.”

Apparently, that was all I needed to get him to listen to me. Barely seconds after I'd pleaded with him to let Dad go, he let go of him. I turned to the side, just in time to catch uncle scoff, disdain written plainly across his features.

I had barely recovered from the events when the door to my bedroom burst open. My heart leapt to my throat as three bodyguards stormed inside, anger and rage in their very footsteps. With just a nod from Uncle, the three men charged at the stranger seated next to me.

“Please, no.” I wanted to scream. The stranger was in a bad state and definitely not in the right state to fight three able-bodied men. If he did, I wasn't sure he was going to survive it.

The first bodyguard landed a blow in his direction, but luckily for him, he was able to dodge it. Only when the stranger gave the bodyguard who had attacked him a blow to the nose did I realize he could actually hold his own weight.

I watched mesmerized as the man dealt with each of the bodyguards. Even when they tried to come at him all at once, he was quick to deflect their blows and punches, before beating them into a pulp. The supposed fight didn't even last that long. In the blink of an eye, he had beaten them into a state of unconsciousness too.

The silence that settled in the room was unnerving. Neither one of us moved as my eyes raked over the guards who were supposed to attack him. They darted to uncle and father, and I didn't miss the shock and disappointment in their eyes.

“Father, I….”

“Save it.” Uncle Oliver cut me off in an instant. “ You don't have to say anything else, I've seen all that I needed to see. You're a shameless young lady, who has no regard for the family's honor.”

“I'm disappointed in you Valentina.” Dad's voice was gentle and his words ran deep. However, his next strings of words struck something in me. “You're a disgrace! How dare you go against my orders? Just how dare you!? You'll pay for this; I will set this act if defiance right. From today onwards, you are no longer my daughter.”

“But, I…”

“I disown you.” Father's words stabbed me straight in the heart. My vision blurred as his words echoed in my ear. “You mean nothing to me now.”

My heartbeat increased by a million times and tears stung the back of my eyes. Even as my father, uncle, and the rest of the bodyguards dragged themselves out of my room, I found it hard to breathe.

I couldn't believe it.

What the hell had just happened.

I had no idea how much time had passed, but when I could get a hold of myself, I found the young man staring at me again. At the mere sight of him, a rush of emotions bubbled underneath my veins.

“You.” I pointed a finger at him. My heart was heavy, and if I listened closely, I swear I would be able to hear the pieces breaking or cracking all the more. “This is all your fault. Just look at what you've done.”

I had no idea why he had done what he did. I didn't even see it coming, him stepping up stop dad from slapping me. It was a nice gesture, but probably beating the guards up was a little bit of an overkill.

Tears welled up in my eyes, and I struggled to push them back. I didn't mean for any of this to happen, but I doubted anyone was going to believe me now. There was no way I could have left him to drown. That would make me a monster and I wasn't one.

I snuck a glance at the man one more time. The least he could do was apologize right?

“Couldn't you…” the rest of my words slid past my lips as he fell onto my laps immediately. Carefully, and with all the strength I could muster, I managed to push him off me, and onto the bed again.

He was heavy, too heavy if you asked me.

Confusion etched into my facial expression. What the hell was going on? First he was strong enough to stop my father and beat us those bodyguards, and now he was passing out?

I sighed. Only heaven knows how long he'd been in the water for, and he needed more than enough time to recuperate. My eyes ran over his wet shirts and pants. He still needed a change of clothes, and despite everything that had gone down, I couldn't help the urge that still wanted to help him.

If I was being honest, his entire being resonated a kind of gentleness and calm that signified his goodness. Whether I was overthinking it or not, or if my observation was spot on, that was going to have to wait till later.

I dug into his pockets, checking for anything that could potentially harm him, or me even. It didn't take too long for me to pull out a medium sized pendant.

“What the?” I stared at the object. It was circular in shape, with inscriptions and drawings on it. It had a vibrant red color and I found myself drawn to it. But no matter how hard I stared at it, I just couldn't bring myself to figure out what it was.

After trying and failing, I decided to toss it aside. Maybe if I had known just how important that emblem was to the both of us, I just wouldn't have thrown it away.

Maybe.