Chapter 5 Collision

Kingsley Reid

A few hours earlier...

"What is wrong with you?!" Gabriel Reid, my father, yelled, his fists clenched on the arms of his wheelchair. Despite the wrinkles lining his face and the years that had stolen his ability to walk, his presence remained formidable.

"I'm not asking you to murder someone or jump off a bridge!" he continued, voice rising. "It's just a marriage-to the daughter of the Prime Minister, for heaven's sake!"

I remained unflinched and coolly said, "I'm not interested in marrying anyone. I thought you called me back to handle the affairs of the company headquarters. You told me there was an embezzlement of funds. That my uncles and cousins mismanaged company funds, that you needed me to step in."

His eyes shifted. He looked away.

I shook my head. So that was it. The supposed financial crisis had been a smokescreen.

"You never intended for me to come back for the company," I muttered.

He said nothing.

I stood, my jaw tightening. "Then I'll leave tomorrow. There's no reason for me to stay."

I turned and was halfway to the door when his voice struck me again, angrier, louder.

"Don't you dare step a foot out of this house!"

I didn't reply.

But just as my hand touched the doorknob, a loud crash erupted behind me.

"Master!"

The butler's panicked shout yanked me around. My eyes widened as I saw my father sprawled on the floor, his wheelchair tipped sideways. The butler dashed toward him, but I was faster. I knelt beside him, lifting him gently. His hand latched onto mine tightly, his breathing shallow.

His eyes, usually cold, now burned into mine. And when he spoke again, it wasn't with anger-but something closer to desperation.

"Kingsley...this marriage isn't just for alliance. It's...a condition. Left by the generations before you. If you want to be heir to this empire, you must marry...and it has to be soon."

I stared down at him, stunned. The butler quietly stepped away, leaving us alone.

"And if I don't want the empire?" I asked, bitterness creeping into my tone. "I've made my own wealth, father. I don't need the title."

Father coughed, then said more gently, "I know. I know you've become very successful. But...this is what your grandfather would have wanted."

I helped him back into the wheelchair, confused.

"What do you mean?"

His gaze turned distant, eyes fixed somewhere beyond the walls of the room. "I was supposed to be the heir," he began slowly. "Your grandfather trusted me. He never trusted my stepbrothers. Called them greedy, wicked. But I underestimated them. They agitated him so much, he collapsed into a coma. And when he was unconscious, they came for me."

He looked down at his legs. "They didn't stop until they reduced me to this."

My heart thudded. "I thought you had an accident..."

"That's what they made everyone believe. That's what they wanted ME to believe...but I know better, but that's a tale for another day. What matters now is you. You're the future. I kept you abroad, safe from their eyes. But now...it's time, Kingsley. It's time to step up. They are making moves in the company and if we don't act soon, the company, everything your grandfather had labored for...his legacy, his pride...they will all go down the drain."

It felt like the room closed in on me. All these years I had questioned why he never let me return after Mother died. Now I knew.

I sighed, ran a hand through my hair. Things had turned complicated at this point.

"I'll think about it."

His shoulders dropped with relief. "That's all I ask."

"I'll head out now. Need to cool my head."

He nodded, lighter now. "Be safe."

Outside, I got into the backseat of the car. My thoughts swirled like a storm.

"Jerry," I said to my driver, "take me to a bar. I need a drink."

"Yes, sir. I know just the right place."

The silence inside the car was a strange comfort. I was deep in thought, only pulled out of it when Jerry said, "We're here."

I stepped out, still rubbing my temple when-

Bam!

I walked straight into someone.

A woman.

She staggered, and before I could think, my hand shot out, gripping her waist to steady her. The moment I realized what I'd done, I tried to pull back-only for her arms to wrap around me tightly, stopping me cold.

"Please," she whispered, her voice trembling. "Help me. Someone's after me."

Her eyes were wide, terrified. Genuine.

"What is going on here? What are you doing with my boss?! You must be a fraudster!" Jerry shouted, rushing out. "Let go of my boss!"

He tried to pull her away, but she clung harder. Suddenly, her head snapped toward the sound of approaching footsteps. Before I could react, she grabbed me, and yanked me closer.

Her back slammed against the car, her body flush against mine. Then-without warning-she tilted her head up and kissed me, using my height as cover, shielding her face from whoever was coming.

Time froze.

My eyes widened. I should have pushed her away. My brain was practically screaming for me to push her away.

But I didn't.

Her lips were warm, soft, and for the first time in years, my skin didn't crawl.

Since I turned twenty, I had been diagnosed with CAD; Contact Aversion Dysphoria -a psychological condition that made physical closeness with women intolerable. But now? I felt...nothing. No irritation. No revulsion.

How was that possible?!

Why was she different?

The heat of her mouth lingering, the taste of her lips on mine, the shortness of her breath. The wild hammering of her heart and this unfamiliar closeness...

The kiss ended as fast as it began when Jerry forcefully pried her away, shouting,

"Thief! She's trying to seduce her way into the pockets of my rich boss! How dare you touch my boss?!"

His outburst was loud enough to catch the attention of a man running past. The man stopped, turned back.

The woman gasped. "He saw me," she whispered, then

hugged me tightly. "Please don't let him take me. Please."

My whole body tensed.

Everything in me screamed to walk away-to let go, to shove her off and disappear before I got dragged into someone else's mess. And yet... I couldn't move.

I saw it in her eyes. The raw, naked fear. It gripped something in me I didn't know existed.

For the first time in a long while, a woman made me feel something other than revulsion.

Without thinking, I yanked the door open, shoved her inside, and slammed it shut.

Heart pounding, hands shaking, I cursed under my breath.

What the hell was I doing?

Even Jerry looked at me with confusion in his eyes, probably wondering why I was protecting a stranger.

The man walked toward me and coldly demanded, "Hand her over. This has nothing to do with you."

My eyes narrowed as I muttered coldly. "She doesn't want to go with you. Scram!"

The man looked so angered and furious. Before he could do anything, my overly active driver, Jerry, did the unexpected.

He stepped in front of the man and grabbed his collar tightly.

"You bastard! I've seen your face in the police files. You're the one abducting women for prostitution! You're into human trafficking!"

He shouted at the growing crowd, "Someone call the police!"

The man paled in fear and confusion. "What the hell are you talking about? I'm not a trafficker!" He yelled at Jerry.

Jerry smiled smugly and muttered in a low voice, loud enough for just the two of us to hear. "You'll soon be after I'm done with you. Next time, you won't talk to my boss that way." Then with an even louder voice, he yelled,

"Someone call the police fast! This man is a criminal!"

When the man heard whispers and murmurs and onlookers taking out their phone to record, he immediately knew Jerry was trying to set him up. He forcefully shoved Jerry and ran away.

I stood there, surprised by the turn out of events.

Was these the kind of things happening here now?

"Let's go, Jerry. I've lost the mood to drink."

"Yes, sir."

As I stepped into the car and rubbed my forehead, a soft moan broke through my thoughts.

I turned.

I had momentarily forgotten that the woman was still in my car.

What was I supposed to do with her?