Billionaire's Love Story

Chapter 8

Author's POV

Iris entered the restroom and leaned against the sink, taking deep breaths and patting her heart to calm her own self down.

She told herself nothing is going to happen. She tried to remind herself that she is in a party, there are so many people, no one would try to do anything.

She washed her face and came out of washroom after calming down a little. As soon as she came out she bumped into a hard chest and when she was about to fall, two strong arms held her in place.

When she lifted her eyes to see and thank the person who helped her from falling, her heart stopped. The same man who earlier asked to have a dance with her was standing there with an evil smirk plastered on his lips. His eyes filled with lust. He was reeking of alcohol.

Iris quickly pulled herself away from his grip whispering a little thanks. She was about to leave the lobby but before she could walk away he held her wrist and pushed her hard against the wall hurting her in the process. Blocking her with his own body.

“I want to have a dance with you”. He held her close tightly, his grip on her was so tight that it was hurting her. Saying she was terrified would be an understatement.

She started struggling in his arms telling him to leave her alone. Tears were falling from her eyes. But he was having none of it.

If this person wasn't reeking of alcohol then she would have probably handled it but the fact that this man was drunk has made her loose all her senses.

On the other hand Ace was getting restless. He was waiting for Iris. His eyes never leaving the corner from where she disappeared to go to washroom. And he felt something is wrong because a lot of time has passed and she still didn't come out.

He stood up from his chair. Riya and Mike didn’t ask anything because they knew what was the matter. Ace made his way towards ladies washroom and suddenly saw something which made him froze in his place.

He saw the same person who he met earlier was trying to molest Iris. Ace's blood started boiling.

He didn’t waste a second and strode in their direction pulling him away from her. He started throwing punches after punches on his jaw and face causing his nose to bleed.

As soon as that man left her body Iris fell on the ground shivering with fear. Tears were flowing from her eyes non stop. She was getting a panic attack which she was trying her very best to avoid. She wanted to stay sane. But she was now on the verge of loosing it.

When Ace was done with that man he turned to look at her devastated condition. He started taking steps towards her but she pushed herself away from him.

“Don’t, please don’t come. Please don’t do anything to me.” She whispered while stuttering uncontrollably. He stopped listening to her pleas. “It’s me don’t worry. Don’t be afraid.” He requested making his way towards her slowly.

She was pushing herself further into the wall. He sat in front of her and when he tried to take her hand in his, she begged again.

“ please, you are not in your right mind. Don’t do this to me. I’m begging you. Please don’t hurt me” and then whispered in a very low voice, "don't r**e me" and he could not understand what she was saying.

“Hey, I won’t..” she didn’t let him complete and kept repeating, “ please, you are drunk, you are smelling of alcohol. Please don’t touch me”. She was sitting while holding her knees to her chest hoping he would not harm her.

He held her face between his palms making her look in his eyes and she started panicking again. Her eyes unfocused. He said, “it’s me. Nothing will happen to you. Come to your senses” but she was shaking her head in no. Loosing her senses making him panic.

He shouted, “ Iris, look at me” she stopped shaking her head after listening to his voice. This time he whispered softly, “it’s me, Ace. Don’t worry. Nothing will happen. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

She came to her senses and hugged him, she started sobbing on his chest. He held her securely close to him trying to give all the comfort she needed.

At that time Mike, Riya and Mia reached there. Mia was looking for her when she couldn’t find her in party and met Mike and Riya. And they came here looking for them.

Mia panicked as she asked, “what happened to her, did any drunk person came near her?” Ace nodded and told her what happened.

Mia lightly pulled Iris from his embrace and hugged her, Iris was still crying. Mia started crying apologizing for what she went through.

“I am sorry Iris, I shouldn’t have left you alone. Oh my god, why is this happening to you.” Ace was confused. He wanted to know so many things, He wanted to ask so many questions. But he stopped himself from asking as right now calming her down was most important thing to do.

Iris got tired and fainted on Mia’s shoulder. Ace quickly held her close to his chest and said I’m taking her in the room. He turned to Mike and said, “please call Dr Jane.” Mike nodded.

Ace picked her up in his arms in bridal style. He carried her to his room in this hotel. Mia and Riya followed him. He laid her down on his bed gently and took her heels off. Soon Mike entered the room telling him that Doctor is on the way.

Ace sat down beside her on the bed holding her hand in his. He didn’t like how pale she was looking lying down there in this condition.

Mia kept staring at him. She couldn’t understand why was he this worried about Iris. She could feel there was something more than she knew about them.

Doctor came and started doing her work. She asked, “did she went through something shocking?”. And Ace told her everything. She wrote some medicines and told them it’s just because of shock that she has fainted.

Doctor left and Ace said, “let her stay here for a night” . Mia hesitated at first but Ace assured her that it would be for the best. At last she accepted because she noticed he was genuinely concerned for her.

Before leaving Mia said, “please don’t go near her after drinking alcohol. She will not be able to handle it properly.”

Ace nodded but asked, “can you please tell me what is it. Why is she so afraid of drunk people, why was she so terrified and about panic attack, does she often gets them” Ace was devastated too. He was feeling his heart paining really badly.

Mia spoke, “I can not tell you as this is not my story to tell but I can tell you that she gets panic attacks some times. So I think you should first change your clothes if you are going to stay here with her.” He nodded.

Riya and Mike asked them if they should stay with him. But he denied. And they didn’t argue because they knew, he won’t express his sadness in front of them so they left him there with her. So that he can let out his real feelings.

And as soon as they left, a lone tear left his eye shocking his own self. It was first time a tear fell from his eyes since that incident in his childhood after which he stopped crying forever.

He sat beside her on the bed, caressing her cheek with his fingers very lightly as if he was scared that he would hurt her.

One more tear left his eye when his eyes fell on her left cheek. It was red and fingers were printed on her cheek. Then he scanned her body with his eyes and saw some scratches on her neck and collar bone. He started boiling in anger.

He called Mike standing up before kissing her softly on her forehead and leaving the room.

Mike received the call on second ring and he said, “where is that fucker? I will kill him”. Mike replied, “relax man, he is already in police custody. I will take care of him. You should focus on Iris. How is she?”

He sighed, “still unconscious” after taking a deep breath he continued “That bastard hit her Mike”.

“ Don’t worry I will make him pay for what he did” Mike replied.

After disconnecting the call Ace went into the room to find her still unconscious. He took out his sweat pants and t shirt. He always keeps one or two pairs of clothes at all of his hotel rooms.

He entered bathroom to take a quick shower and change his clothes. He stood under shower. His mind was unable to take out her devastated state.

What has happened with you to make you this terrified of the alcohol, he thought.

Flashback

(7 years ago)

Iris came from school. She could hear her mother’s cries coming from their parents' room. Tears formed in Iris eyes. 14 years old Emily was holding 11 years old Eric tightly to her chest who was crying uncontrollably.

Emily was trying her best to cover her brother’s ears so that he cannot hear their father’s shouting and her mother’s cries and pleas.

Iris so badly wanted to enter the room to stop his drunk father but he has threatened them that he would kill their mother if they ever interfered.

It’s been happening since last 2 years, his father lost his job when the company he was working in went bankrupt and started drowning himself into alcohol.

He was really caring father and husband for his family before. He still was. But when he would be under influence of alcohol meaning whenever he would be drunk, he would loose his mind and hit his wife.

And when Iris tried to stop him from hitting her mom, he threatened them.

David started drinking to avoid the stress caused by job loss. When creditors started visiting their house for money and landlord for rent it was embarrassing.

And after drinking he would not be himself anymore and hit his own wife. Alcohol was making him insane.

Isabella was trying to muffle her cries so that her children won’t listen. Suddenly David picked up the vase from table to hit Bella and a scream left her mouth due to fear.

Iris quickly entered the room and when she saw what his father was about to do, she screamed at the top of her lungs and her father stopped. When he saw his daughter’s condition, the vase fell down from his hand.

Bella screamed running towards her daughter, “Iris….”

Iris was having panic attack for the first time. And that to a very severe one.

(flashback end)

Iris suddenly woke up from her nightmare. Their laugh still clearly echoing in her mind.

She looked around and found herself in a hotel room. She released a sigh of relief thinking nothing will happen, it was just a nightmare, No one is here. She touched her forehead and she was sweating profusely.

Then realization hit her. She doesn’t recognize this room and again fear started creeping into her body and heart.

She got up from the bed to get away from here. She was shivering tremendously. Her legs gave in and she fell on the floor hitting the water mug in the process that was on the night stand beside bed.

Glass breaking sound alerted Ace. He was talking to his driver and assistant Robert, about Iris in his walk in closet. He quickly disconnected the call and made his way to his room.

He found her sitting on the ground shivering. Glass shattered on the floor. Her palms bleeding because of the pieces of glass that wounded her.

But she was unaware of it. Her face wasn’t showing any signs of pain, there was only fear. He made his way to her sitting in front of her.

He tried to touch her but she whispered, “please, don’t do anything to me. You are drunk, don’t touch me.”

Ace was feeling helpless. He was not liking the terror in her beautiful brown eyes. He said softly trying to make her believe, “I’m not drunk.” And she looked up in his eyes.

He slowly and carefully held her hands, smiling at her, “ it’s me Ace. Don’t worry nothing will happen to you.” And this time she let him hold her. She didn't know what was it about his voice but she always felt relaxed after listening to him.

He picked her up from the floor and made her sit on bed. He started moving towards the bathroom to bring first aid kit. But she held his hands with her bloody ones making him stop and look at her.

She said begging with her eyes, “don’t go”. She was feeling comfortable with him. Even she didn’t know why she always had this sense of security with him.

He bent down to her level sitting in front of her, “ I’ll be right back in a second” he told her like she was a kid. He got up not before placing a soft kiss on her forehead.

He quickly took the kit from bathroom and made his way out. She was sitting on the bed like a lost child. Which was breaking his heart.

He sat beside her taking her small hands in his and started applying the ointment and bandaged her palms.

She was staring at his face. And this was the first time she noticed how prominent his features were. He was handsome.

But more than his handsome face what caught her attention was that he had this sincerity on his face and in his eyes.

She thought what is it that he is so sincere about.

He asked without looking at her, “ like what you see” and she blushed. She quickly moved her eyes away from his face and said, “ what.. what are you talking about”.

He smiled and lifted his eyes to look at her blushed face and asked, “ what were you thinking?”. She got confused and asked looking into his eyes, “huh? When?”.

“Just now while staring at me.” She was about to deny but he again spoke, “ don’t lie, I know you were thinking something.”

“ I was … I was thinking why am I here? Where is Mia?” she lied.

“ oh, she had to go home. Her grandmother was alone at home. I told her to let you rest here. And she has informed your family that you will be staying at her place tonight so they won’t be worried about you.” He replied, even the questions she didn’t ask and she nodded.

He asked if she was hungry but she denied and he didn’t force. She said, “ I should get going now. Thank you for your help.” and got up from her place but he held her wrist pulling her back but now she was sitting too close to him.

He said, “you are welcome but it is 3 in the morning. So sleep for now and I will drop you off to your house in the morning”.

Her eyes widened and she asked, “it’s 3 am, so why are you not sleeping?”. He said “ I will sleep now. But first you have to sleep.”

Both of their hearts were pounding so badly as if asking for the permission to come out of their chests because of their closeness. She nodded and he got up from bed and made her lie down on it. He covered her with duvet.

He so badly wanted to kiss her lips which were trying to tempt him. He controlled himself because he didn’t want to scare her away. But he leaned down to kiss her cheek which was bruised making her heart skip so many beats.

She was shocked that she didn’t stop him and let him kiss her.

He wished her good night and she also whispered the same, after that he left the room to let her sleep comfortably.

But he was unaware that she will not be able to sleep with this heart which is beating rapidly because of his action.