The Heiress

"Ugh..." Grace woke up twenty minutes later with her head feeling fuzzy. "What happened?" She held onto her head.

"How are you feeling, dear?" Mary turned off the fan she had set in the room to cool her down. "Can you sit up?"

"A little out of sorts... and weirdly thirsty..." Grace groaned as she sat up, and then realized she was in a thin nightgown. "Uh..."

"I couldn't leave you in that wet towel. I dried you off and put you in something light to help you cool down. Here, drink some water." Mary held the glass up to her.

"Ah... Thanks," Grace sighed. "Wait..." Grace froze as she thought about it. "Towel? Oh my gosh, I passed out in the bath?!"

"Yes. You really have to be careful about things like this. I don't know what we would've done if Zain didn't find you."

"Zain found me?"

"Apparently, you were taking too long and stopped responding to him, so he broke your door down. Don't worry about the door; it'll be fixed this evening."

"Zain..." More heat crawled up her cheeks. "Are... Are you saying he picked me up out of the tub?"

"It certainly wasn't me, dear."

"But... then... he..."

"Breathe."

Grace's eyes shook as she looked at Mary. "That means he saw me naked!"

"It's not like he could leave you in there and take his time to get a woman to help you out."

"Holy crap!" She grabbed a pillow and screamed into it. Why him?!

"It's not the end of the world, dear. I'm sure he's seen plenty of naked women in his time."

"That's not helping."

"Well, that's the reality of the situation. Do you think you'll be able to have dinner with the boss?"

"Does he know this happened?"

"I didn't tell him, but I don't know if Zain did."

"Don't tell him, please. I already have enough supervision as it is."

"I can hold my tongue, but Zain tends to tell him just about everything, so it might be too late."

"Ugh... How am I going to face Zain now?" She buried her face in the pillow again.

"If he left you there, you could have drowned."

"I know, but... Ugh, I'm so embarrassed."

Mary brushed her hair back. "There's no avoiding him, so you'll have to find a way to get past it. I'll leave your dress out for the dinner later. Keep an eye on the time; the boss doesn't like tardy people." Mary squeezed her shoulder and left.

She heard muffled voices, and her bedroom door opened again. Zain came in and closed the door behind him.

Grace kept hugging the pillow and avoided looking over at him.

"What in the world were you thinking?" Zain asked as he stomped up to her, a vein popping out of his temple.

She stayed silent, face buried in the pillow.

"What are you giving me the silent treatment now?"

Heat rushed through her all the way up to her ears. "Can you go away... please?"

"No," he flat-out refused.

"Ugh..."

"This is how you treat your saviour?"

"Well, thank you for saving me," her voice was muffled by the pillow.

He pulled the pillow away from her. "Mary was right." He shook his head. "But it doesn't matter if you're embarrassed; you can't avoid me."

"Grr..." She tried to take the pillow back, but he held it out of her reach.

"What will it take for you to get over it? I did what I had to, to save you. It's not like I was peeping at you to see you naked or anything."

Grace turned away, hunched over, and buried her face in her hands.

"Would it help if you saw me naked? Then we can be even and go back to being normal."

"What?" She turned and got hit in the face with the pillow. She wrestled the pillow back into her arms, and her eyes widened. Zain was in the process of unbuttoning his shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Evening things out, so you can get over it." Zain pulled his shirt off and reached for his belt.

"Stop, stop, stop! That won't make me feel better." Her eyes trailed along his torso. He had tattoos covering from shoulder to shoulder all the way around. A tattoo of a dragon started on his shoulder and went to his chest. On the opposite shoulder, he had one of a tiger heading towards the dragon.

"Like the tattoos? Want a closer look?" Zain leaned onto her bed towards her.

"There's so much detail. What's this?" She lightly touched his chest where there was a scar and he twitched.

"A scar from when I got stabbed. I got the tattoo over it, part to hide it, part because I like the tattoos, and part because it shows loyalty to the family."

"I don't have to get a tattoo, do I?"

"No; they're optional, but many get them."

"I can only imagine how long all of this took to do." Grace cringed just thinking about it.

"It wasn't all at once, but if you put all of them together, it was easily more than a day of tattoo work."

"Ouch..."

Zain smirked as he watched her eyes trail along the tattoos, taking in all the details. He turned around to show the phoenix on his well-defined back.

"Whoa..."

"This is probably the most attention you've given me since you got here." His shoulders shook as he laughed. "In case you've forgotten, I'm also a marriage candidate."

"Since the other two would bring families together, wouldn't those be preferable?"

He looked over his shoulder with a raised eyebrow. "I know he's pushing you into this, but he's also hoping you'd at least like one of us. Although, I'd say you seem to have taken a liking to Vincent."

"He's charming, and he's open to me going back to being a cop, and keeping this family together and strong."

"Why do I feel like there's a 'but' in this situation?"

"I don't know what it is. I feel like there's a darkness lurking beneath the surface."

"We're mobsters; I imagine all of us have some of that."

"I'm not sure how much Floyd has, but Vincent's feels different than yours."

Zain sat down on her bed as he thought. "At the risk of scaring you, I don't think you're wrong. We've all been through a lot, but from what I know of them, I'd say Vincent is easily the most dangerous of us."

"I don't know if I'm out of line here, but how'd you end up as part of the Bertolottis family? And the underboss at that." Grace pulled the blanket up, feeling like she wasn't wearing enough clothes.

Zain sighed as he fiddled with his shirt in his hands. "The boss is a major part of my past. I'm not sure if I should tell you, or if it should be him to."

"To be fair, I don't seem to get a lot of time with him, so it'd be hard to ask."

"I guess... You know how he had two sons?"

"Yeah, my dad and his younger brother."

"The younger brother, who by default would've been next in line to be the boss, was accidentally killed by the Kuros family."

"Accidentally?"

"I question if it was an accident or not, but that's what they said. Boss wanted compensation for his son, but no amount of money was enough. I was the second son to the Kuros family, and they gave my life to him." Zain touched the stab wound on his chest.

"Wait, are you saying my grandfather stabbed a kid? You were a kid when you joined, right?"

"Yes, I was still a kid, but no, he didn't stab me. I did this to myself."

"W-why?"

"When I was taken here and faced the boss... he told me to join the Bertolottis family as a member. I said I'd rather die than no longer be a Kuros, like the stupid kid I was, I pulled out a knife and tried to kill myself with a stab to the chest. I didn't even make it through bone, though."

"Ouch... What kind of kid does that? And why'd you have a knife? Didn't they search you?"

"I was ten; they didn't think I'd have a weapon, and they didn't see me as a threat, anyway. And I grew up in a mafia family, is it all that surprising I'd do something crazy?"

"Yes?"

"Well, the boss stopped me. He yanked the knife out and fixed the wound himself as he scolded me the whole time. Even he called me crazy. He said he wanted my life, but he didn't want to waste it like that. He planned to put me to use. Although, it's more like he raised me. He treated me like his own son the whole time." Zain held his head as he laughed. "After I had healed from stabbing myself, the boss literally slapped some sense into me, and I got scolded more."

"Does my grandfather hit you a lot?"

Zain shrugged. "Less than my family did, and normally I deserved it, so it doesn't really bother me. If he didn't discipline me, I'm sure the others would think he was soft."

"But hitting isn't a good way to raise a kid. Hitting isn't good in general. I mean, sure playfully, or to defend yourself, but otherwise, I don't think that's a good go-to."

"You're too nice for this place." Zain shook his head.

"I have a good heart, but it's also strong, and I've had to deal with a lot. I already worked in a male-dominated profession, so I had to work extra hard to stand out. I've killed people too, but I'd rather avoid it. I've been in more gunfights than I'd like to admit. I've also had to fight and wrestle with too many people." She sighed.

"You sound tired of it."

"I know I make a difference, which erases any fatigue from it."

"I know you've done a lot as a cop; you're quite accomplished. I know more about you than you know."

"That sounds creepy."

"I guess it is, but it's under your grandfather's orders."

"Still creepy."

"Gee, thanks."

"By the way, are you saying you kept an eye on me?"

Zain froze.

"I know I was told someone was around trying to keep me safe. Was that you?"

"I will admit to having been around you a number of times... We've even met once, not that you remembered, but most of the time I had other business to attend to. He only sent me when there was suspicious movement, and he wanted someone he trusted could handle himself to be there."

"How'd you earn everyone's trust? You were a kid from a different family; I can only imagine that everyone was suspicious of you."

"I faced a lot of backlash at first, since I came from the family who killed one of their own, until the boss had his way with them. He made it abundantly clear it wasn't my fault, and if anyone treated me badly, they'd have to deal with him."

"Meaning everyone backed down?"

"Yeah. After that, I mostly got the silent treatment for a while. Eventually, they started to accept me, and when I was a teenager, I ended up saving the boss' life. Suffice to say, the family was eternally grateful to me. It wasn't long after that I became the underboss."

So young.

"I still don't understand why he doesn't just pass the title of boss to you. You are basically his son; he raised you."

"Since I'm not blood related and officially a Bertolottis, he knows people will have an issue with it."

"So? Beat'em in a fight or something and prove you're the top dog."

Zain's eyes widened, and he burst out laughing. "I didn't expect to hear something like that from you. I guess you really are a Bertolottis. Your grandfather said something akin to that, but I didn't want to put him in a precarious position, and I knew he truly wanted his blood to continue it."

"Aren't there Bertolottiss other than me?"

"Well, you do have cousins here, but it's not the same as it being you, his granddaughter."

"Doesn't that mean they might be the ones after me? Other than the Marinis... or working with them."

Zain froze. "I... I wish I could say with certainty that they aren't after you, but they never had much interest in becoming the leader. They liked sitting on the sidelines getting paid as they lounged. I can't imagine they'd chance being cut-off by attacking you."

"But wouldn't it make sense that they were able to get close enough to attack me, then? I imagine they've been here more than a few times over the years."

"And the Marinis haven't... I see what you're getting at. Ha... I wish I could go and check things out." He glanced at her.

"But you're too busy keeping an eye on me. I know." She rolled her eyes. "Don't blame me. I didn't ask to be here, and I didn't ask to have a babysitter."

"You climbed out the third-floor window and down the balcony when we left you alone."

"And you guys kidnapped my partner; what do you expect? Ah, hey! Don't do that!"

Zain ruffled her hair. "Such a troublemaker."

The bedroom door opened, drawing their attention. Ray looked at Grace, then at Zain. "I thought I heard your voice." He glared at Zain. "What are you doing in here? Why are you half naked?" He stomped up to Zain. "What did you do to her?"

Zain stood toe-to-toe with him. "I didn't do anything to her."

Ray poked him in the chest. "Then why is your shirt off?"

"Well..." He scratched the back of his head. "Since I... uh... saw her naked when I saved her from passing out in the bath. I thought I'd even it out so she wouldn't be embarrassed every time she saw me."

Ray's eye twitched. Zain had already told him what had happened, but he didn't expect that. "Does that mean you were going to flash my granddaughter?"

"I... Uh..."

"Can still never lie to me, can you? Good," Ray growled.

"He didn't have a chance to, by the way," Grace chimed in.

"Zain, get out of here before I lose my cool and beat you."

"Right." Zain dipped his head down and headed for the door. "Ah, I dropped my shirt." He started to head back, but the look in Ray's eyes stopped him in his tracks. "I don't need it. I can find another." He backed away, staring at the ground. "Excuse me." He closed the door behind him.

Geez... Grandpa really has him on a short leash.

"Was he telling the truth?" Ray asked as he sat on the end of her bed.

"Yes; that's exactly what happened." Grace sighed and hugged her pillow again.

"Are you feeling alright now?" Ray's arm twitched as he resisted the urge to check her forehead for a fever.

"Yes, I'm okay now. I'm sorry to scare everyone like that. I just stayed in the hot water for too long."

"I see. Well, I would've thanked that brat more, but I can't believe I found him half-naked in your room."

It's not like I'm a child. "Isn't he a candidate, though?"

"Still inexcusable, unless you've made your decision."

"No."

"I didn't think so." Ray sighed and rubbed his neck. "Are you well enough for our dinner?"

"Yes; as I said, I'm okay now. We can still go out for dinner."

"Good." He nodded. "I wanted to take you to your father's favourite place growing up. He's always loved their pasta and pizza. We can order whatever you want, though. More than enough, even, and we can bring what we don't eat home."

"Is it going to be just the two of us?"

"I didn't rent the place out, so I can't say how many people will be at the restaurant, but if you're talking about my men, I plan to have a few of them nearby. Don't worry; we'll still have enough privacy to talk between us."

"So Zain is coming to?"

Ray raised an eyebrow. "Are you sure you haven't taken a shine to him?"

"I-I was just wondering, since he's basically my personal bodyguard or babysitter."

He nodded. "Of course, he'll be there. I trust Zain, but if he gets out of line and tries something, don't be afraid to come to me. I'll deal with him swiftly, and he won't even think about doing something you don't want again."

Even though Zain is like his son, it feels like he'd trust my word over anyone else's. Maybe blood does mean that much to him.

"I think I can deal with him." Grace chuckled. "But I'll keep it in mind. Thank you, grandfather."

His brows furrowed as he frowned.

"What's wrong?" Grace asked.

"Grandfather feels too stiff and formal. Call me grandpa."

That was on purpose... Her heart ached as she thought about her other grandparents. "O-okay, grandpa."

"Feels so much better." He patted her on the top of her head and sighed. "How I wish I got to be there while you were growing up." He shook it off before his thoughts spiralled again. "Anyway, you're sure you're okay to go to dinner?"

"Yes, I'm sure."

"I look forward to seeing you, then." Ray stood and kissed her on the cheek. "Please don't make me worry more than I already do."

"Sadly, I can't make any promises."

He laughed and shook his head. "Just like your parents." He sighed as he left.

He must really miss them... I do, too.

Grace sighed as she laid back and looked out the window. I should probably be getting ready for dinner, anyway. Good thing Mary chose out my clothes; I'd have no idea what to wear.