"Your mom?"

"I'd be disrespecting the devil if I call her the she devil"

"Then who?" I raised a brow.

"Someone worse" Ian opened the car door for me to get in. "At least for me"

As I climbed on to the passenger seat, he closed the door and walked around the car, climbing in from the other side.

"What do you mean for you?" I asked as I put on my seat belt.

Ian started the engine and rotated the steering wheel with one hand, pulling the car out of the convention center. "It means the person who we are going to meet hates me more than anything in this entire world"

"Really?" I grinned. "I'll be good friends with that person"

"That's my worst fear" Ian muttered and stretched his arm to my side, opening the glove compartment in front of me. He then took his shades out and put them on as we got to the road.

"It's a four hour ride. Sleep if you want to"

I gaped at him. "Four hours? It'll be late when we come back!"

"Mmm" Ian nodded, his gaze still fixed on the road.

"Why are you taking me? You could have gone alone" I asked in a frustrated tone but Ian ignored my question and continued to drive, pretending not to hear me.

"Wait" I narrowed my eyes and turned to face him with a dead serious gaze. "Are you taking me because you're afraid to meet that person alone?"

At that Ian's face hardened, his grip on the steering wheel tightening till his knuckles turned white.

My eyes widened. "A-are you serious?" I asked in disbelief and when he didn't respond, a loud laugh escaped my lips, "Oh my god! You're really scared" I was shocked at my own words. "I didn't know there's a person who could make our big boy tremble in his pants" I chuckled and playfully smacked his arm.

Ian scowled but didn't say anything.

"Omg! I can't wait to meet that person. I'm so excited" I clapped in anticipation.

"Just sleep" Ian grunted in irritation.

"Okie dokie" I grinned sheepishly and leaned back on the seat, closing my eyes shut.

"By the way, don't you dare kidnap me"

...

"Hailey" I felt a tender touch on my cheek, knuckles brushing against my skin. "Hailey wake up" A soft thumb trailed along my jawline and I sighed contently, leaning into the warm touch.

Someone let out a soft melodic laugh and I sleepily fluttered my eyes open, curious to know whose voice was that.

As I opened them, I saw Ian Kingston, leaning towards me with a small smile spread across his lips. "We've arrived"

He gave me one last stroke on the cheek and pulled back, climbing out of the car. Still in a daze, I blinked several times, trying to figure out where I was and what misfortune brought me here but before I could do that, Ian opened my door from outside.

"Where are we?" I asked in confusion.

"You'll see" Ian grabbed my arm and carefully pulled me out of the car, keeping his other hand on the car roof so that I would't hit my head on my way out.

As I landed on my two feet, I tilted my head up and looked around, scanning our surrounding.

We were standing outside a small stone front house with a neatly cut lawn and a granite driveway. Several bright light bulbs were illuminating the front porch defeating the darkness of the night sky looming above us. The street had an eerie silence, not even a dog making any sound. Only the trees swayed, the leaves rustling as a soft wind blew past us.

"This is too beautiful to be a she devil's lair" I pointed out. "To be honest I expected you to take me to a cave and chain me to a rock, then suck my blood until I drain and die"

Ian let out a heavy sigh at my words and shook his head in dismay. Then he turned back to his car and opened the backseat door, pulling something out of it. Curiously, I stood on my tip toes and leaned over his shoulder to get a good view of what he was doing. Is he pulling out chains?

But instead Ian pulled out a red rose bouquet in which the petals had already withered away. He examined the dry petals and huffed angrily, throwing the bouquet back to the car.

"Wow you came here to confess your love to the she devil?"

Ian shot me a glare. "I don't confess love to family members"

"F-family?" I asked incredulously. "So you really took me to meet your mom?" I gasped. "Omg I've been deceived. That's it" I threw my hands up. "I'm walking back to the hotel"

I turned on my heel to go for a twenty hour walk but Ian grabbed my arm and started pulling me to the front porch.

"I can't meet your mom!"

"We came here to meet my sister in law"

I came to an abrupt halt. "Sister in law? As in the wife of your brother who-" fuck. I bit my lip and slowly turned my face away from him, feeling ashamed for almost saying it out loud. Shit shit shit. Why did I have to mention it? Stupid Hailey.

"You don't have to look away. It's alright"

I slowly glanced at him, giving him an apologetic look and he smiled. "Yes, we came to meet the wife of my brother who-" Ian signed. "comitted suicide" He said the last part in a low tone.

"I'm sorry for mentioning it"

"It's alright. My brother was a douchebag"

My jaw fell open. "Can we um... respect the dead please?"

"If he deserved it, then I would. Now-" He nudged his chin towards the door. "press the bell"

"Me?"

"Yes you"

"Why can't you do it?"

"Just do it"

"Fine" I rolled my eyes and strode to the door, pressing the bell on to it's left. After a few seconds the door opened and a young woman with blond hair came into view.

"Hi! How can I help you?" She asked giving me a small smile.

"Hi, Uhh...umm-I" I stuttered and then quickly turned my body sideways, giving a good view of Ian who was standing behind me - more like hiding behind me.

The moment the woman saw Ian, her face twisted into a scowl and she shut the door in our face.

I blinked. "Uhh...now what do we do?"

"Press the bell"

My eyes widened. "Again?"

"Yes again"

I muttered a curse under my breath and pressed the bell again.

This time the door flew open and the women came charging forward with a broom in hand.

"GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" She swayed the broom, side to side and I ducked, not wanting get hit on the head.

"Alice calm down" Ian said in alarm. "Let's sit and talk"

"I have nothing to talk with you. Get out!" She raised the broom to hit Ian but his hand reached out right on time, grasping it's wooden stick firmly.

"Alice stop it" He grabbed the broom and threw it to the ground. "We drove for four hours to get here. We can't go back"

"Why can't you go back?" Alice barked angrily.

"Because-" Ian hesitated, searching for an excuse and then his gaze fell down on me. "My fiancé is hungry" He blurted out.

That bastard-

"Fiancé?" Alice glanced at me, giving me a confused look. "She's your fiancé?"

"Yes"

Her brows creased. "Please tell me for what reason did you fall in love with an asshole like him?"

"Yesss I knew it" I squealed and jumped onto my feet, grinning happily. "Hi, I'm Hailey Evans" I winked. "And I think we're gonna be best friends"

Her eyes widened in amusement. "Why do you think like that?"

"Simple. You hate him. I hate him. And that makes us best friends"

Alice suddenly spluttered with laughter, her eyes tearing up. "Where did you find her Ian? She's the only person I like in your family"

"We are not family-" One death glare from Ian shut me up.

"So... Hailey" Alice cleared her throat, composing herself back. "You got engaged to the person you hate?"

I opened my mouth to answer but Ian pinched my back. "Ouch" I whined.

"Couples fight" Ian answered with a straight face, his tone cold and serious. "And she doesn't hate me. She's just mad at me for a little while"

Alice scowled at Ian before turning her gaze back to me. "I hope you're mad at him for a very long time because honey, you deserve better"

I gave out dry laugh. "Thanks for the advice"

Alice nodded and smiled. "Come in. I don't want to starve you even though I like to do that to him very much" She shot Ian one last glare and walked inside.

"Thank you" Before I could follow her inside I felt Ian's hand gently rubbing the spot where he pinched me.

I scowled. "Shoo you evil!" I swatted his hand away and strode inside.

Alice was at the dinning table, placing cutlery on the table. "I was just about to have dinner. You can join me. I don't have much so will you be okay with just mac and cheese?"

"Yeah definitely" I pulled a chair and sat on it. Ian took a seat next to me.

"So tell me" She kept three plates on the table. "How did you get paired up with this guy?" She nudged her chin towards Ian, giving him a disgusted look.

"I work in his company" I didn't go into details as I had been strictly warned by Ian not to tell anyone our story. Earlier I was too ecstatic to think twice before talking and the price I paid was a pinch to my back.

"Ohhh company love. Shame, you could have found a better person"

"Ha" I started to chuckle but Ian shot me a warning glare. Uh fine.

"I fell for his looks" I said casually and Alice let out a soft laugh.

"I really really like you Hailey. You can ditch Ian and visit me anytime you want"

"Oh thank you" I blushed profusely.

Alice chuckled seeing my reddish face and pulled a chair across from me to sit down.

"Let's dig in shall we?" Alice asked with a smile and I nodded, taking my fork to start eating.

But before the food could even reach my mouth, Ian decided to ruin the mood.

"Alice"

Alice groaned and kept her utensils down. "What?"

Ian's jaw tightened. "You can come back to New York anytime you want. I can provide for you. You don't have to live in this-" He looked around in disgust. "hut"

Oh boy.

Alice scoffed in disbelief. "I don't want money from anyone whose responsible for my husband's death. I'm fine the way I am. Please leave immediately after you finish dinner" Then she turned to me with an apologetic look. "Sorry Hailey"

"Alice-"

"Just shut up Ian" Alice snapped. "I won't be even talking to you if it wasn't for your fiancé. Please leave quickly. I might have been your friend a long time ago but not anymore. I hate you just as much as I hate the rest of your family"

A muscle in Ian's jaw twitched, his expression hardening as he tried to control his anger.

Akwardly I continued to eat, pretending not to sense the tension building up at the dinning table.

As I gulped down the last of my food Ian stood up and grabbed my arm, pulling me up with him. "We'll leave"

Then without another word he turned on his heel and stormed out the door, dragging me with him. He marched straight to the car and tossed me into the passenger seat like a sack of potatoes.

Ouch my butt.

After he got in, he started the engine and pulled the car out of the driveway, his hand gripping the steering wheel tightly in fury.

We drove in silence for a while before Ian's gaze turned to me. "Are you alright?"

"What?" I asked dumbfounded.

"I threw you like a sack of potatoes. Are you alright?"

A sheepish grin crept up my lips. "Oh I'm alright. Thankfully no broken bones" I patted my arm. "Still intact or else you'd be paying my hospital bill"

Ian smiled and turned his gaze back to the road. "I'm glad you're here Hailey"

"I know right. I'm precious" I nodded in pride and Ian's lips tugged up.

For another hour we drove in silence through the wide forest stretching along the sides of the road. No vehicles passed by and the only light visible was the car's headlights.

The sky was pitch black but I could neither see the moon nor the stars as the clouds grew heavier and darker.

First it was a pitter patter and then puddles of water came falling down to the windscreen, blocking our view of the road ahead. Ian muttered a curse under his breath and turned on the wiper.

But the rain grew heavier and heavier until the air became too thick for us to see.

"You know what happens in books when it rains?" I jumped in to lighten the mood.

"What?" Ian asked as he tried to focus on the road.

"The car suddenly stops" I grinned.

Then not a second passed after I said it, the car actually came to a sudden stop.

"What the hell-" Ian tried turning on the engine but it failed.

"Oh my god" I gasped. "I jinxed it!"