#Chapter5

Claire's PoV :

I went inside my apartment and saw my mother lying on the couch wasted. I felt remorse and deep sadness towards my mother's condition. Now, however I had given up all hope of her recovery and did not have any more optimistic approach regarding her.

I went up to my room and flopped onto the bed. Suddenly, I remembered. Blowing the strand of hair from my eye, I grabbed my laptop and turned it on .

Typing Rodriguez.co, I stumbled upon a whole page filled of information regarding Zachary Rodriguez. My mouth hung open in astonishment making me gasp.

I just took lift from a billionaire and not only that but the most eligible, handsome and richest bachelor of all America. He owned many five-star hotel chains across the world, all very successful. If that wasn't enough to make him rich he also had a company named Rodriguez.co.

I scrolled down a bit more and saw him at balls and parties with different girls each time. I felt uneasy seeing that but shrugged it off.

The next thing I searched in the search engine was Zachary Rodriguez and in results I saw plenty of biographies and interviews of him. I clicked open one of them and read through the article.

While reading and searching about Mr. Rodriguez I lost track of time. A good two hours later I had done PhD on Zachary Rodriguez. Surprisingly, he has a criminal history but no evidence was found against him to get him arrested. The rumor has it that he works for an underworld Russian Mafia whose leader is his dad and also that he is a man who demands respect but the girls can't resist him because he has cold stone facade with a tint of darkness that make him irresistible.

I looked at the half-broken wall clock which said it was eleven and I quickly shut down my laptop and went to sleep , I am not going to lie but him being a part of Mafia scares me but the thing is that he has been nothing but nice to me something not many people have been to me .

Zachary Rodriguez:

I went back to my mansion and went straight to the office. Grabbing a bottle of my favourite brandy from the liquor cabinet in my office I went towards the office desk.

I opened up my I Mac and put on the CCTV footage of the club my dad owns and tried to look at the men's face a bit closer .

After figuring things out I rubbed my temples and glanced at the time. It was one thirty in the morning.

I went to my room stripping to my boxers and laying on my bed sinking into my love's thought, soon I'll be holding her in my arms and sleeping with her, just you wait my darling .

The next day :

Claire's PoV :

I went inside the cafe, on time and wore my work uniform, getting out of the changing room. Today was a busy day and three employees were on leave, leaving all the burden on me and of course my manager wouldn't pay me extra for doing the work of my coworkers, I hope I get the scholarship in medical school, it's my dream to become a doctor and up till now all my grades are A plus.

I was cleaning the table and about to take order from the other table when the cafe bell rang again, indicating there was another customer and I sighed.

As I looked up towards the customer he was quite tall and magnificently built, I was a bit shocked to see it was none other than Zachary .

I bit my lip nervously why I felt him move a strand of my hair from my face and tuck it behind my ear and I was lost in his mesmerizing stormy gray blue eyes, I shook my head to bring myself back to earth, when I heard a customer calling me and I realized that I am wasting time .

"Hello Zac, good morning , what would you like to have today?" I said trying not to be nervous and running away like an idiot, believe me his presence makes my mind numb .

" Buenos Dias to you too darling, why don't you suggest me something today?" He said

Oh god oh god what should I suggest him to have ?

"Perhaps a gingerbread latte and a cupcake would be nice ,they are my favs" I said without thinking and told him my favourites.

God you idiot why would a man like him want sprinkle cupcake and a latte with a happy face.

"Well gingerbread latté and a cupcake it is then." He said smiling a heartwarming smile at me and I returned the favor .

"I'll be back with your order then." I said and I was about to turn when he took hold of my wrist and sparks shot through my body again, I wonder if he feels these weird tingles too .

"Darling make the order for two people." He said and I wonder why he wants to make the order for two people, maybe he has a big appetite .

I went off to clip the order slip.

God it’s such a busy day today.

As I was taking orders I saw the worker place Zac's order on the countertop and called for me to take it so I went and got the order tray and went towards Zac's table .

I walked towards the table and placed the order on it a flashed him a smile as I do to every customer and I saw his eyes soften a bit.

I was about to leave when he called me again, "Darling please have a seat and join me, I know you haven't had your breakfast."

"No thank you Zac I have a lot of work to do here, too many customers and my manager would kill me." I said

"Darling don't worry about the customers or the manager I will handle it." He said and shouted for my manager lady and my eyes widened as she came towards us.

''Y...y...yes .....s...s...s....sir is something wrong , has this skunk done something wrong?" she asked stuttering and giving me a dirty look at the end and I lowered my head.

" DON'T YOU DARE INSULT HER LIKE THAT EVER AGAIN OR BELIEVE ME THE CONSEQUENCES WOULDN'T BE GOOD!!! " Zac boomed loudly at her standing and intimidating her completely and she had a stunned look on her face, like she did not expect such a behaviour from him.

I saw everyone in the cafe look at our direction shocked and some a bit scared but all went back to their business after a while .

"Darling you please sit here with me and have breakfast. I ordered your favourites". He said and I took a seat, scared of not obeying him after all he is mafia but he must have seen the hesitant and scared look on my face.

''Hey darling no need to be scared I won't ever hurt you." He said and I kind of relaxed but couldn't help but be a little scared.

He looked at the latte and raised an eyebrow in amusement and then chuckled making me forget all the events earlier. I just gave him a wide smile in return.

''You know this sprinkle cup cake and gingerbread late with a smiley face makes me feel happy." I told him. I licked the smiley face from my latte and closed my eyes savoring the taste.

''You are so adorable darling.'' He said as I took a bite from my cupcake. I pouted when it finished too quickly.

''Hey what’s wrong darling?'' He asked leaning forward towards me.

''My cupcake is finished.'' I said whining like a child.

''Gere you can have mine baby.'' he said and I looked at the un-touched cupcake.

''Why aren't you eating ?'' I asked him.

''Well I actually had my breakfast and I am not much of a sugar person.'' He said and I smiled and hesitantly took the cupcake from his plate.

''Darling did you google what I told you?'' He asked

''Ummmmm..... yes I did and found a lot about you." I told him

''So what did you learn?'' He said taking my hand in his.

''Well I learned that you're a very rich man, you own many hotel chains and a company of your own too in fact you're a billionaire and your full name is Zachary Rodriguez." I narrated the whole information that I had gathered during my research of two hours last night.

"Very well then. Looks like someone did their homework very well." He said

''I also searched your name and got some more information about you, that you are also related to mafia and some other crimes but no one has any proof against you and that's what scares me.'' I said and he took a deep breath.

"Well darling you weren't supposed to find that out and I can't really tell you anything about it to you right now but you should always know one thing, I am never going to hurt you.'' He said while stroking my cheek. His words soothed me and almost made me believe that I could trust him.