Xia's POV:

"I have to leave now." Antonio said, after showing me to Nicolas' room. "Ric's calling."

"Okay." I smiled and watched him ruffle his nephew's curly black hair, who was on the verge of falling asleep in my arms.

When Antonio left, I carefully placed Nicolas on his race car bed. He stirred in his sleep a little and I hoped that I didn't wake him up by doing so.

Tucking him into the sheets, I was going to sit on the chair in the corner of his room but his voice stopped me.

"Xia."

I turned around and saw that he was raising his hands up. Heh ?

"Hey, what happened ?" I asked softly.

"Sleep with me." He mumbled.

"Are you sure ? I don't think there's enough space for both of us." I said, eyeing the small mattress of the bed.

When he didn't answer, I sighed and climbed onto the bed. He scooted closer to me and laid his head on my chest, wrapping his arm over my stomach.

"Sleep tight." I said and ran my hand through his hair. At first, I didn't plan to, but fell asleep with the little guy in my embrace.

After what felt like a while later, my eyes shot open and I glanced at the clock that hung on the wall in Nicolas' room. 6:30 PM.

I slept for two hours ? Well, that was fast.

I looked at Nicolas who was still soundly sleeping on my chest in the exact same position that he was two hours ago. I smiled and gently placed him on the bed and walked out of the room.

As I went to the kitchen, I saw a women who looked like she could be in her early forties. Her blonde hair was tied up in a bun as she stood at the stove, stirring something that was bubbling up in the pot.

"Hi !" I greeted.

She looked towards me, a warm smile taking over her expressions. "Hello, dear. You're Xia, aren't you ?"

When she said that, my panic mode was turned on, thinking of how she knew my name. Then I realized that either Antonio or Ricardo must've told her about me.

"Yeah, what's your name ?" I mirrored her expression.

"Emma." She replied.

"Could you please tell me where the washroom is ?"

"Sure, Honey. It's right there." She said, pointing towards the hallway behind me. "The white door on the left is the washroom."

I thanked her and followed the direction she gave me which indeed led me to a washroom. The room was more like a whole freaking apartment. The bathroom had a huge bathtub, a jacuzzi and the shower cubicle was made of glass.

I entered the room and washed my face with plain warm water to get rid of the sleep. I grabbed a few tissues and dried my face off, which also got rid of the remaining moisturizer that I had put on in the morning.

Walking out of the washroom, I was greeted with the heavenly aroma of chamomile tea. I followed the smell and reached the kitchen.

"I figured you would like a drink." She smiled and handed over the cup which immediately radiated warmth to my fingers.

"Thank you, Emma." I said and sat on one of the stools that were kept near the kitchen island. We spoke to each other for what felt like hours and it had become 7:30 PM before I knew it.

By this time, the housekeepers, who consisted of one women and two men, in the house left and came back again in the morning. All of them were very kind and welcomed me with open arms.

Now, I was sitting on one of the very expensive-looking leather couches, waiting for Ricardo to come home. A while back, I tried waking Nicolas up so that I could give him something to eat but he didn't get up.

I called Adrian and told him that I would not be going to the club with him. I really wanted a night out but when I heard that Nicolas wasn't well, I knew that I had to adjust. When Adrian asked me what had happened, I told him that I would explain everything later.

Just as I ended the call, the main door opened and I got startled. I mean, I was in a very dangerous person's house after all.

Ricardo entered the living room and closed the door behind him. When he came a little closer, I saw him clearly.

He was wearing a black shirt that had the sleeves rolled up till his elbows and paired it with black chinos; tucking the shirt into it. His curly black hair was disheveled like he had run his hands through them multiple times.

The dark and intricate tattoos that he had, seeped out over his hands like it was secretly demanding to be seen.

"Hello, Ric." I said, using the nickname that I had just made.

"Ric ?" He questioned, furrowing his eyebrows in confusion.

"Yeah, you're new nickname." I clarified.

"Oh, okay." He shrugged. "I wanted to thank you so much for taking care of Nic today. I tried to come home but I was so caught up in.....work."

The way he paused after the word 'in' kind of scared me. I wonder what 'work' he does.

"It's no problem." I said, waving it off. "I didn't do much actually. I only put him to sleep at about 4:30 PM and he has been sleeping since then."

"Really ? I can never get him to sleep in the afternoons." He said, sitting on the couch opposite me. When he did, I saw the holster for his gun on his belt.

"About that....I might've slept with him for a while." I said sheepishly. What if he didn't like that ? Oh my, what if he kills me ? He literally has a gun on him right now. I gulped.

He smiled, revealing the dimples on either side of his cheeks. "I'm not angry, if that's what you're thinking."

Well, he didn't say that he wasn't going to kill me now, did he ?

"I'm not going to kill you." He stated, as if he just read my mind. What is this guy ? A ninja ?

"I can't tell what you're thinking about now." He said. "In the line of...work that I do, it's important to be able to read what another person is thinking. I guess you could say that I'm good at it."

"Okay, then Ninja man." I said, earning a chuckle from him.

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