"What are you guys talking about? Share with me too."

Emily's attention was pulled towards Bianca who joined her and Jackson on the balcony where they were discussing the banquet and the stupid theories that everyone was making about the changes that had happened in the relationship between Evans, Sullivans, and Alessandro Family.

Emily could not even make herself look at the woman as she tried her best to slip away. She knew that she should tell Jackson about what she saw, however, no matter how hard she tried, it was just impossible for her to ruin his Christmas.

Jackson was almost like a big brother to her and she would never want him to be unhappy.

But at the same time, the thought of hiding the truth from him and keeping him in darkness was also not right.

The contradicting thoughts made a headache built as she decided to first escape from Bianca's company before thinking about what she was going to do next.

However, her luck was not as great as she assumed. Just as she was about to slip away, the slightly drunk woman turned her focus towards Emily.

"My sweet little Em, wanna join me for a dance?" Bianca asked in her usual chirpy voice as she stretched her hand out towards Emily, waiting for the girl to accept her offer.

A warm and friendly smile was visible on her face while her eyes were filled with affection for the little girl.

"Babes, the banquet has almost ended, and you are too drunk to be left alone. Moreover, I'm sure Em is currently in no state to join you on the dance floor. You made the poor girl wear those killer heels. Her feet must be aching."

Jackson immediately interrupted as he tried to save Emilia from his drunk mate. He knew very well that once Bianca started dancing, she won't let go of Emily anytime soon.

"You are just jealous of our friendship. Don't even dare to interrupt. Who cares if the banquet is ongoing or already over? I'm still going to enjoy a dance with my little beautiful princess."

Bianca berated her mate before she turned towards Emily, who had been silent all this while.

Her expressions were filled with happiness as she moved forward to pull the girl in her embrace so that she could finally make her agree for a few minutes of dance.

However, what she did not expect was for Emily to sidestep as soon as her hand moved to touch her (Emily's) arm.

The girl was not looking at her, rather, her eyes were fixed on her feet as she shuffled uncomfortably.

Bianca turned to look at Jackson with worry covering her expressions. The two of them were just as concerned about the girl as they were surprised by her sudden action of pulling away.

"Emily, dear are you alright? Is something wr..."

Bianca once again tried to move closer towards the girl as she spoke to her with a soft and calm tone.

However, as soon as she stepped towards her, Emily once again stepped away, creating a clear distance between the two of them.

Both Bianca and Jackson were left surprised. The former one feeling a bad feeling taking over her heart as she saw Jackson slowly walking closer to Emily and this time, the girl did not pull away.

The realization that Em was only avoiding her, made Bianca feel shocked and sad at the same time.

Worry took over her as she could not understand the reason behind the sudden change in Emily's behavior.

"Em, what's wrong child? Are you feeling alright?"

Jackson asked the girl as he pulled her face up to make her look at him.

"I.....Jackson, I w..."

Emily tried to speak but words failed to come out of her mouth as she looked at worry and concern for her that was filling his eyes.

She took in a deep breath before she hurriedly shook her head to get a hold on her emotions.

"Jackson."

She heard a very familiar voice calling Jackson's name and soon enough, Domenic and Sam appeared near the French doors.

"Is everything alright?" Sam asked as he took in the weird environment that had taken over the balcony.

Emily did not even spare a single glance towards the Vampire doctor as she immediately ran towards Domenic and threw her hands around him.

"Are you alright, Emilia?"

Her brother asked her softly as his hands pulled her in his warm embrace without missing a single beat.

"Yeah. Can I go and wait in the car? I don't want to stay here anymore."

She looked at him for permission and to her surprise and relief, he nodded his head, allowing her to skip the awkward situation.

"Dom, is she alright?"

She heard Sam asking her brother with his voice filled with worry for her.

She knew that both Bianca and Sam cared about her but no matter how bad she felt for acting so rudely towards them, she just could not unsee the image of the two of them cheating on Jackson.

The banquet hall was almost empty, only the team of waiters and servants could be seen as they cleaned the hall.

Emily made her way towards the staircase and just as she stepped down the first step, she felt her ankle twisting on the wrong side.

She felt her balance disturbing as a squeal almost made its way out of her mouth while she waited for the pain to greet her body because of the harsh fall.

However, nothing more than just a small painful whimper escaped her lips as she found herself plastered against a warm chest.

Muscular hands were wrapped around her as they stopped her from falling down the stairs and ending up breaking a bone or two.

The pain in her ankle was too strong for her to not realize that she had successfully sprained it.

All that she could hear was her racing heart that was almost at the edge of popping out of her chest.

Her consciousness returned to reality when she felt the arms shifting around her and soon enough, her savior lifted her in his arms bridal style as he descended the stairs and took her towards the benches which were sitting in the beautiful lawn that was located in front of the council building.

She recognized the familiar scent that used to intoxicate her every time she smelled it.

As her eyes finally cracked open, she saw the serious but breathtaking face of Kaiden Sullivan as he very softly shifted her on one of those benches.

As soon as she was comfortably sitting on the bench, he kneeled in front of her as he took hold of her right leg, the one which was sprained and had already started swelling.

"Aaahh!"

The cry of pain was already out of her mouth before she could stop herself. Her hands gripping his shoulders as she tried to bear the pain that had successfully brought tears walking up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry. I'll be more gentle. Just bear with it for a few more seconds. Alright?"

He whispered to her as his eyes looked at her with concern and fear, fear of giving her more pain.

Kaiden could feel his heart clenching in pain as he watched her tear-filled eyes staring back at him.

The pain that she was experiencing made him both angry and worried. He could not believe that he let her get injured just like that, in front of his very eyes.

"I-Is....Is it going to hurt?"

Emily asked as she tightened her grip on his shirt. Only then did she realize that he was no longer wearing his suit blazer and tie.

His sleeves were rolled up, showing his bare but muscular arms.

The top two buttons of his shirt were left open, giving her a little glimpse of his tanned collarbone.

Maybe it was the right distraction that she needed because while she was busy taking in his handsome and alluring appearance, Kaiden had already called on his healing abilities to fix her ankle.

A sharp cry of pain left her lips as she dug her small nails in his shoulder. Her head fell in the crook of his neck as she tried to not spill the tears that were threatening to flow through the barriers that she had created to keep them at bay.

"Sssh! This is it. Everything is alright now. Just relax, sweetheart."

Kaiden murmured softly in her ear as one of his hands came to rub her head while the other one stayed around her injured ankle.

Emily felt warmth covering her right ankle and soon it felt like soft tingles were flowing under her skin.

His hand felt warm against her cold skin and she could tell that the pain was disappearing from her ankle.

Her hold on his shirt loosened and she tried to pull away from him. However, the hand which was slowly stroking her head immediately pulled her face against his nape once again.

And this time, Emily found her lips landing against the warm soft skin of his neck!