Chapter 1

"Have a nice night Mrs. Roger, I hope you enjoy the sugar cookies." I said waving goodbye as I watched her exit the shop holding the batch of cookies.

"You know I will dear, be safe." I smiled. She's such a nice lady. I went back to cleaning the counter being sure not to miss a spot.

I opened up my bakery three years ago. Gran and I thought it would be something fun we could do together to help with things around the house.

In the beginning it was nothing more then a coffee shop down stairs in our home, that is until Gran passed away. I did everything I could to keep the business going although it was very difficult at first. I didn't know what to do without Gran, I almost gave up and shut down the coffee shop but I knew I had to keep going if not for myself at least for Gran.

Once I got the hang of it I decided to turn the coffee shop into a bakery. I love to cook and I knew the bakery be something I'd enjoy to do. The bakery was much easier to run with some help and soon I named it Sugar Sweets Street Bakery or Triple S for short.

I focused on scrubbing the coffee stain off the counter when I heard someone clear their throat gaining my attention. I looked up and saw a man sitting on one of the stools looking so business like.

"Are you Gabrielle Lane?" I smiled extending my hand.

"That's me, but please call me Gabby." The man nodded shaking my hand.

"My name is Carter Scott, I wanted to talk about your shop. You have a very nice business going on here, how is it your sweets are so... sweet?" He asked sounding genuinely curious.

"They're just things I throw together in the kitchen and scribble down in my secret recipe book... I had it for ages now."

"And what is it you put in it?" I knitted my brows together.

"If I told you it wouldn't be a secret Mr. Scott." I said shaking my head. I mean wasn't that obvious.

"Of course, I know with a place like this, things can sometimes get overwhelming. A young girl like yourself taking on a big and well known place like this, it must get hard at times. I'm willing to buy this place and take it off your hands." He told me as if he was trying to do me a favor. I frowned. He wasn't much older then me, at least in his mid twenties, but the way he spoke made it sound like I was too young to run my business.

"Well I'm very grateful for the concern but it's not tiring at all. I love being able to make my customers happy, not saying it doesn't get hard at times. I mean not everything is as easy as pie but I'm learning as I go along. So thanks for the offer but no thank you." He stared at me for a moment before nodding his head. He pulled out a small card from his suit pocket and placed it on the counter.

"I understand, but if you ever change your mind please give me a call." I grabbed his card letting my eyes scan over it. I glanced at him then back at the business card.

"Is this your way of giving me your number?" I teased. His eyes widened and I couldn't help but laugh at his reactions. "I'm only teasing Mr. Scott." The corner of his mouth twitched up before he nodded and went to leave.

"It was nice meeting you." With the cloth still in my hand I waved goodbye to him.

He smiled. "You too Ms. Lane, and I hope you think over my offer." This man does not know how to take no for an answer.

"I will think about it if it makes you happy though I'm sure I will not be agreeing." I said before walking into the main kitchen. There wasn't much to do since it was starting to get late. I helped everyone with the cleaning, not wanting to let them do all the work themselves. As I was about to go check on the front, Madison blocked my path.

"Gabby, I have to leave early and I won't be able to come in tomorrow." I frowned not understanding.

"Why not?"

"Family problem, I'm going to need a couple days off." She said as she examined her nails.

"I guess if it's a family problem." I mean what else could I say, I can't stop her from being with her family if there's something wrong.

"Thanks you're the best." She said grabbing her purse and walking out the door.

"I don't understand why you let her get away with that." Emily said sneaking up behind me. I jumped not expecting her to be there.

"You almost gave me a heart attack." I panted out holding my chest.

She rolled her eyes. "You know she's going to run off with that boy of hers." Huh?

"What do you mean?"

She sighed. "You're way too gullible. There was never a family issue, she wanna spend time with her boyfriend that's why she took a few days off. She was on the phone all day with him planning a trip. She didn't even wash the dishes like you told her to do. Why won't you just fire her?"

I gasped. "I can't do that, it's not fair for her. She's just insecure about not spending enough time with her boyfriend, that's understandable." Emily stared at me in disbelief.

"Okay let's say that was the case. Why not just tell you instead of lying?" I stayed quiet not having an answer for her. "See that's what I mean... you let everyone run over you."

"I do not."

She nodded. "Okay, you're right... I'm going to take the next few days off I'll be back next week."

"But with you and Madison gone I'm not going to have anyone for the icing designs."

She shrugged. "Not my problem, I have things to take care of." If she have things to take care of then it was only right I give her the days off.

I knitted my brows. "I guess you can have a few days off..." I was surprised when Emily threw her hands in the air mumbling something under her breath.

"See what I mean, you knew you needed me yet you still gave me a few days off."

I frowned. "I was just trying to be nice." I mumbled feeling stupid.

Emily's face softened. "I know honey but you're going to have to learn to put your foot down and tell people no." I nodded. "Now come on and help me with these dishes." I smiled. I've known Emily ever since Gran died.

She's much older then me, around her late forties, and was able to help out a lot when I first opened Sugar Sweets Street. Had she not offered to teach me about the business I don't know where I'd be. She helped me with choosing who to hire and who's suppose to do what. She say I took pity on a few employees by hiring them but I explained to her that everyone deserves a chance.

It was getting late and time to close up. Emily asked if I wanted her to stay with me tonight, she know how lonely I can get being here alone. I turned her down, reassuring her that I'll be alright. After a lot of arguing she finally left me to close up the bakery. It was sometimes nice to live over top of the shop, I never had to travel alone at night.

I was about to lock up when I saw the bag of trash Dylan must've forgot to take out. I settled on doing it myself since all I had to do was take it across the street. I dusted my hand on my plain vintage pants before grabbing the heavy bag and making my way across the street. I walked back to the shop and as I was about to open the door I felt a cold metal press against my temple. My heart dropped in my stomach.

"Don't scream and no one have to get hurt." Someone whispered standing directly behind me. I didn't dare move. "Open the door." I did as I was told. We walked into the bakery all while a gun was at my temple. I heard him grunt in pain before all but shoving me onto the floor. I turned to see three men, each with a gun in their hand. The last man that entered locked the door before turning to the other two.

"What the hell man?" He yelled at the other man.

"Me, you were the one that was suppose to do the check."

"You were suppose to handle the cameras, how the hell you fuck that up."

"It wasn't as easy-"

"Easy? You said you had everything under control."

"Fuck you! You were suppose-"

"Shut the fuck up!" The man who had the gun pointed to me yelled shutting up both men and making me cower away. "Don't fucking move!" Yep, that stopped me from moving further. I noticed something soak through his shirt shoulder. "I don't give a fuck which one of you two idiots to blame, what matter now is we have to stay low for a while." They nodded.

"What about the girl?" I tensed not liking their attention now on me.

The guy who looked to be in charge scratched his head with gun before shrugging. "I don't know, we'll figure something out." I was sure I was going to have a heart attack when he grabbed my arm pulling me up effortlessly. "Come," He said pulling me up the stairs leading to the small living room. He sat on the sofa while the other two sat on the couch opposite to him.

"Do you have a first aid kit?" The guy that held me at gun point asked. I nodded stupidly. "Go get it," I quickly went into the bathroom and grabbed the first aid kit. When I walked back in the room I stopped dead in my tracks. Now with the lights on I was able to see their faces properly. They were all fairly handsome, my eyes landed on the guy in charge and I was sure my heart skipped a beat. He was gorgeous. Brightest shade of blue eyes. Black hair, a neatly trimmed jaw... yes very handsome indeed.

I hesitantly walked fully into the room and placed the first aid kit on the coffee table. The guy in charge took off his shirt and I quickly looked away feeling my cheeks heat up. He have a very fit body.

"Girl, clean my wound." My eyes widened. I knew nothing about cleaning wounds, the most I ever did was put on a bandaid. Blood itself made me nauseous.

I slowly looked at him and my eyes landed on the nasty gunshot wound on his shoulder. I swallowed back the bile that rise in my throat and very slowly grabbed the first aid kit and took a seat next to him. He watched my every move as I cleaned his wound the best I could, mumbling sorry every time it looked painful. Although he never showed any signs of pain. My gaze stayed on the work at hand not wanting to look at his hard gaze. I apply some gauze on it before wrapping it up with the bandage.

"Done," I announced. The man nodded and there was a long silence. "What are your names?" I asked not knowing where my sudden burst of confidence came from.

"Are you sure you want to know? The more you know the less chance of you getting out of this alive." One of the other men spoke. He had more of a dark handsome look.

"Ignore him, he's just mad because he messed this up." The other man said. "I'm Noah Brown. That's David Moore-" he said pointing to the mean looking guy. "-and this is Elijah Knight." I nodded not understanding why he told me so easily. If I did get out of this alive I had their full names and could go to the cops.

"Well I'm Gabrielle Lane, but please call me Gabby." I said with a smile. They stared at me for a minute as if trying to figure me out.

"Is she serious?" Elijah Knight asked. I knitted my brows together.

"I'm very serious Mr. Knight, now if you and your men are done I would like to get some sleep... I have to wake up early tomorrow and I'm already up pass my curfew." I glared at them in frustration. The men stared at me as if trying to see if I was real.

"She's fucking with me right?"

I gasped. "Mr. Knight can you refrain from using that type of language around me... I don't think it's appropriate."

"Elijah," I frowned at the very confusing man in front of me.

"Excuse me?"

"Call me Elijah not Mr. Knight." Um, okay...

"Okay... now if you don't mind, I need to get some sleep..." Elijah nodded. Smiling I got up to head to my room but was confused when Elijah stood also. He raised a brow when I only stared at him not sure how to proceed.

"What? You want to go to bed?" I hesitantly nodded.

"Yes..."

"Lead the way." My eyes widen as I understood what he was saying.

"You can't sleep in there... with me. There's a spare bedroom, you can sleep in-"

"No I'm sleeping with you in your room."

"But-"

"What happened to wanting to sleep... you have a long day tomorrow." He said slyly.

"I don't want to sleep anymore." I shook my head sitting back down. Elijah smiled. He was so gorgeous... like drop dead gorgeous.

"No, I'm tired now." He grabbed my arm in a hard and bruising grip pulling me up and away from Noah and David. "Which is yours?" I reluctantly pointed to my room and he all but shoved me inside. I watched as he shut the door and made himself comfortable on my bed. I stood there awkwardly not knowing what to do. My gaze fell on the small couch, I guess I'll be sleeping there tonight.

"Get in the bed." What?

My eyes widened. "I beg your pardon."

"Get in the bed." He repeated so casually. I couldn't sleep in the bed with him. It was wrong.

"No thank you, I'll sleep on the sofa." I said hoping he would just agree.

"Gabrielle, I'm trying, I really am." I knitted my brows together.

"It's Gabby," I corrected him.

He raised a brow. "Gabby, you have five seconds to get into this fucking bed." Hearing the anger rise in his voice I quickly got into be moving to the far end. "If you try anything I will kill you without a second thought." I slowly nodded my head.

He didn't spare me a glance as he turned so his back was facing me and fell asleep. I wanted to go sleep on the couch and away from this attractive man but I was too scared to anger him. I eventually fell asleep hoping they'll leave tomorrow.

I woke up before everyone and settled on preparing breakfast. As I finished plating the food, David and Noah walked in. They stared at me for a good minute as if trying to study me. I placed the plates of food on the table watching as they both hesitantly sat down and began eating. I beamed at them before also taking a seat. Neither of them said a word as they devoured their breakfast. Not long later, Elijah walked in, as soon as his beautiful blue eyes landed on me they darkened.

"Did I say you could leave the room?" Um...

I knitted my brows together. "No,"

"Then why did you?"

"I was bored and hungry so I made breakfast." I said pointing to his plate that was on the counter. He grabbed it taking a seat across from me.

"Why didn't you try to run?" Noah asked after a minute.

"Why would I run away from my home?" They stared at me for a good minute.

"You have all our names... you could've went to the cops." He spoke as if he was talking to a three year old.

I shrugged. "So he can kill me, I think I'll pass." I said pointing at Elijah. "I just want for you to leave as soon as possible." Noah nodded dropping the conversation.

"You don't like having us here sweet heart?" I looked at Elijah not sure if he really wanted an answer. I shrugged before returning my gaze to my food not able to hold his hard gaze.

After breakfast I washed everyone's dish and cleaned up a bit. As I headed to the door Elijah, who was sitting in the living room with Noah and David, asked where did I think I was going.

"Downstairs, I have to open the bakery."

"Yeah like that's going to happen. Sit down." I frowned but walked over to them and took a seat between Noah and David. For some reason I was more afraid of Elijah then Noah and David. Elijah must have realized this because he raised a brow. After sitting there for over a hour I finally decided to speak.

"I have to open the bakery."

Elijah, who wasn't paying any attention to me, nodded. "Yeah, you said that already."

"I have employees." Instead of answering he sat there staring down at his phone. "What am I suppose to do when they come here expecting to work?"

"Text them... tell them not to come in." Was his answer.

"Text them?" I asked in confusion. He nodded. "I don't own any cellular devices, but I do have a landline." He finally looked up at me. His deep blue eyes showing nothing but irritation. It wasn't my fault. Gran never allowed such things in her home, for some reason she didn't like today's technology.

"You got to be fucking kidding me." I wanted to badly scold him for his choice of words but I was too afraid to anger him. "Call and tell them not to come in today. Don't try anything funny, I won't hesitate to kill you." I nodded. "David go with her."

I did as he said and told each of them not to come which they did without complaint, all except Emily. She asked if I was alright and if I wanted for her to come over... I quickly told her I was fine and just didn't feel well. After a lot of convincing she finally said ok and let me be.

The next couple of days consisted with me doing everything to avoid Elijah, which was actually quite easy seeing he time of day. Most of the time he pretended I didn't exist, unless he needed his bandage changed or his wound cleaned, he never even glanced my way. It was Noah who always conversed with me, helping me keep busy. He warned me not to get in Elijah's way and to just stay quiet when he's around. So that's what I did, not like he's a hard man to ignore.

One morning as I exited the bathroom dressed and ready for the start of a new day Elijah shocked me by actually asking me a question.

"Why do you dress like that?" I knitted my brows looking down at my outfit in confusion. I had on a long sleeves knitted shirt with a vintage skirt that reached just below my knees and my hair was tied back into a neat bun to the back of my head. I looked reasonable enough.

"Like what?"

"Like an old woman."

I frowned. "How do you presume I dress?"

"Like a young fucking girl."

My frown deepened. "If you are suggesting I dress in skirts and dresses that shows more then enough skin then thanks but no thanks. I'm fine with the clothes I have." Elijah stared at me for a good minute, his cold blue eyes almost searching for something. God this man was gorgeous, I didn't understand how someone so attractive could be so harsh. Maybe he let his looks get to his head.

"You have a rare type of beauty... do you see it as an advantage?" Not understanding why I asked, I guess out of curiosity.

He narrowed his eyes at me. "What?"

"To lure in women... is it an advantage for you?"

He shrugged. "Something like that." He no longer looked interested to talk to me, almost as if he was suddenly bored by our conversation. I was taken aback when he abruptly stood from the bed and without sparing me a second glance he walked out the room.

To say I was afraid of Elijah would be an understatement. For some reason he terrified me, I never met someone who was so cold... so uncaring. Although he never gives me the time of day I knew he would kill me without any remorse.

I drew in a deep breath and was about to walk out the room when I noticed something on my nightstand. It was Elijah's phone. Maybe I should call the police, Elijah is going to most likely kill me and this could be my last chance.

Without a second thought I grabbed the phone. I played with it strangely trying to figure out how to use the confusing device. Damn cellular devices.

Before I had the chance to turn on the confusing object the door opened. I quickly put the phone behind my back as I watched Elijah enter the room. He stopped as soon as his eyes landed on me and leaned against the now closed door rubbing a hand over his neatly trimmed chin. Those blue orbs studied me as I tried my best not to squirm under his penetrating gaze. He gestured for me to come closer, I hesitated but walked to him.

"Hand it over." I bit my lip nervously.

"Hand what over?" I asked playing dumb. He smiled. Before I had the chance to back away his hand connected to my cheek sending me straight to the floor. I placed my hand on my burning cheek as I stared at him in shock. I can't believe he just did that. I never been slapped by anyone before, I felt my eyes water from the pain.

Elijah's hand wrapped around my small neck pulling me up from the floor. "Let's try this again," I felt my heart pounding in my chest. "Hand it over." Without hesitation I placed the cell phone into Elijah's outstretched hand. He all but shoved me away and put the phone in his pocket. "Don't fuck with me Gabrielle, I will not hesitate to kill you. If you want to continue living don't ever try some shit like that again."

I frowned. "It's Gabby," I mumbled. Shaking his head he grabbed my arm and pulled me out the room.

"Make breakfast." I knitted my brows together but did as I was told. After we finished breakfast I washed the dishes and took a seat in the living room with the men like I always do.

"I want to open my shop." I said staring at Elijah. He raised a brow.

"Do you now?"

I nodded. "Yes... yes I do. I've been closed for a few days, and have loyal costumers and employees that needs me. You doing this is not only hurting me but others also." I said so passionately.

"Is this bitch for real?" Elijah turned to Noah and David who only shrugged.

I frowned. "Please Elijah, I only ask for you to let me open my shop. I promise I will not tell anyone. I just want to open the shop." I whispered the last part pleading with my eyes. Elijah wasn't giving in a bit.

"C'mon Elijah, we're going to have to let her open sooner or later, people will start getting suspicious." Noah argued. Elijah looked to be thinking it over in his head. My hopeful eyes stared at him not missing the small nod of his head.

I squealed in joy. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" I said jumping up and running out the door down to the shop. I quickly called Emily and told her to call everyone in, she screeched when I told her we will be opening today.

With a smile on my face I watched as my shop filled with people. Employees came in looking relieved to be back to work, even Emily looked happy to be back in the shop.

"Oh my god, I missed you so much." I told her pulling her into a hug. She laughed.

"I missed you too. Why didn't you open the shop?" Um...

"I took your advice and took a break from this place." She didn't look like she believed my lie but didn't push the subject, instead something else gained her attention as her features twisted in one of concern.

"What happened to you face?" Oh, yeah. She cupped my cheek and I winced. I knew it was probably red and swollen from what happened this morning.

"I... uh... ran into the wall." Well it wasn't exactly a lie. When Elijah told me I could open the bakery today I sort of accidentally ran into the wall missing the door by an inch.

"Seriously Gabby," I could tell she didn't believe me.

"I did, you know how clumsy I can be." She wasn't given in but dropped the conversation. The start of the day went by like the start of any other day that is before Elijah, Noah, and David made their way into my life. I took orders, made small talk with my costumers... everything felt the way it use to.

I was all too soon pulled back to reality when I saw Elijah, Noah, and David came down to the shop. I furrowed my brows wondering what they're doing down here. I watched in confusion as they took a seat on the stools in front of the long counter. Elijah's gaze shifted to the menu on the dash board.

He raised a brow. "Sugar Sweets Street?" Um...

"Yeah..." I replied with uncertainty clear in my voice.

"Such a chirpy name for a bakery."

I smiled. "A chirpy name for a chirpy girl."

"Right," Elijah looked away, dismissing me completely.

"Well, do you want me to get you something?" I suddenly felt awkward just standing there.

"That sounds great." Noah pitched in trying to lighten the mood. I grinned waiting for him to order. "Surprise us," I nodded happily before going to the back and quickly throwing something together.

"Damn girl, who are they?" Emily asked sneaking up behind me. I followed her gaze to Elijah, Noah, and David.

"Just some old friends of Gran." I lied hoping she would believe me knowing I'm a terrible liar. I was grateful that she was too busy ogling the men outside to catch on to my lie.

"Damn they're hot, especially the one with those beautiful blue eyes." I rolled my eyes at my friend. Emily wasn't one to bite her tongue. Whatever she thought she said.

"Okay missy, back to work now." She groaned and I let out a small laugh. Making my way back to the men, I placed the appetizer in front of them, watching them closely as they dug in.

"Well?"

Noah moaned. "This is delicious Gabby, I never tasted anything so good."

"Oh, it's nothing."

"No I'm serious. I never taste anything this fuc... this fantastic." I beamed feeling proud of myself. "What's your secret?"

"Do you really want to know?" Noah nodded. I gestured for him to come closer. "Vanilla with a little extra love." I whispered trying to wiggle my eyebrows. Noah burst out laughing. David and Elijah must not have found my joke funny, they ate their appetizers without sparing me a glance.

I continued helping around the bakery loving that I was able to make my costumers smile. David and Noah went to sit in a booth which I happily arranged for them but Elijah refused to move from his seat. David and Noah didn't seem to mind going to sit in their booth without him.

I would sometimes catch Elijah's gaze on me, watching me with his cold unique colored eyes. I didn't let his sour mood get to me. It's been days since I was able to open my shop and I wasn't going to let him dampen my spirit.

As I just finished taking an order the bell above the door jingled pulling my attention to a very late Madison. She walked behind the counter not sparing me a glance as she grabbed a bottle of water.

"You're late," Emily stated glaring at a bored looking Madison.

She shrugged "Yeah, and..." Madison sculled down her water without any worries whatsoever. She sat the now empty bottle on the counter and was about to walk into the back when her eyes landed on Elijah. I almost laughed at her reaction seeing her do a double take. Elijah wasn't paying us any attention, he pretended we wasn't there like he always do.

"Hello there sexy, can I get you anything?" Madison asked sounding all seductive. She sound the same way when she talked on the phone with her boyfriend. Or at least I think it was her boyfriend. Elijah looked up at Madison, he tilted his head ever so slightly as he eyed her out before looking away.

"No," Madison's face instantly dropped and I kind of felt bad for her. Elijah was just so cold and thought everyone was beneath him.

Emily shook her head. "You're just going to stand there and let her get away with this." I bit my lip nervously.

"Um... Madison, sweetie is there a reason for your lateness." I asked feeling extremely uncomfortable.

"Oh! I wasn't in the city when I got the call. I thought you bailed on us and was going to close down the shop. I mean you was gone for weeks, what was I suppose to think?" I nodded. That's a reasonable explanation. Emily shook her head mumbling something under her breath. She walked back into the kitchen leaving me to deal with this alone.

"Okay... well, don't let it happen again." I said tying to sound stern.

She laughed. "Sure," She turned on her heel following Emily into the kitchen but not before sparing another glance at Elijah. I walked outside needing some air. It's been days since I've been outside and feeling the bright sun shine down on me made me feel refreshed, lifting the tension I felt minutes before.

"You let everyone walk over you?" I let out a small scream placing a hand over my now rapidly beating heart.

"Goodness gracious, you almost gave me a heart attack." Elijah eyed me out leaning against the wall. "And no, I do not."

"No?"

"No," I lifted my chin higher.

"From what I've seen for the pass two hours, everyone treats you like a child." What?

I furrowed my brows "I'm sorry, I don't understand."

"Everyone treats you as if you have no sense of direction. As if you are a brainless child."

I gasped. "They do not,"

"No?" I shook my head at the confusing man in front of me.

"Why do you mock me?"

He shrugged. "Your distress amuses me."

I frowned. "That's a horrible thing to say." Elijah didn't care as he pulled out something from his pocket. I gasped when I realized it was a pack of cigarettes. Lightening it, he inhaled the deadly substance. "That's a nasty habit," Taking another drag, he blew the smoke in my face taking me by surprise. I cough hysterically fanning the disgusting smell away.

I glared at him. "You're a very cruel man." He smiled, taking a step towards me. I took a step back on instinct. He grabbed my face, squeezing my cheeks painfully. I winced when he dug his finger into my already bruised cheek.

"You're right... I am a cruel man. Most people would think to stay out of this cruel man's way, but you? No. You're too goody sunshine to just mind you business, and that Gabrielle... that's going to get you into a lot of trouble one day." He spoke so close to my face. From anyone else's view it would look like we were kissing. I felt my cheeks heat up at the thought. Elijah raised a brow before letting me go.

"Why do you continuously call me Gabrielle? You asked me not to call you Mr. Knight and I respected that. Why can't you respect my wishes and call me Gabby?" I said feeling fed up.

"You're a real head doer you know that?" I frowned. I am not. Before I could resort to his comment, Elijah tossed his cigarette away and walked back inside. I followed suit going back to work. The day flew by with me doing my usual routine. Emily seemed to be getting more and more irritated at Madison who continued trying to make small talk with Elijah.

I just watched from afar as Emily would go up to Madison and tell her to get back to work before she get fired. Madison would all but stomp back into the kitchen. Other then that the day went by pretty good.

By time the sun was down, I had already told everyone goodbye and locked up the shop. I noticed that Madison didn't clean the dishes and Dylan once again forgot to take out the trash. Sighing, I finished that up and quickly took the trash out. Noah offered to help but I turned him down.

"Isn't that a man's job?" Noah asked when I entered the shop. He was such a gentleman.

"Yeah but I think Dylan forgot again. I'll just remind him tomorrow." I shrugged. We all headed up stairs. Too tired to prepare dinner, I went straight into my room to take a shower. It wasn't until I was done did I realize I forgot to get my night wear.

Wrapping a towel around my body, I peeked out to see if Elijah was anywhere to be found. When I didn't see him I quickly scuffled through my dresser in search for my underwear. I jumped when I heard someone swear under their breath.

Swirling around, I came face to face with Elijah. His cold eyes looked darker as they traveled down my body shamelessly, rubbing a hand over his mouth. I suddenly felt very exposed. My heart stopped when he walked towards me, I tried to back away but was stopped when his hand grabbed my forearm keeping me in place.

His other hand came up grabbing a stray strand of my hair tucking it behind my ear. He looked to be in some kind of trance as if he didn't know about his own actions. Suddenly he shoved me away, making my hold on the towel tighten for dear life.

"Go put on some fucking clothes." Not waiting I all but ran into the bathroom putting on my underwear. I threw on my oversized pajama shirt that read 'Pillow Fight Champion' and my thermal pajama pants. I put my hair back into a messy bun before slowly walking back into the room. Elijah was on his back laying on the bed with his arm over his eyes. My gaze fell on the couch. I wonder if I can just-

"Gabrielle. In bed. Now." Frowning I ever so slowly got into bed laying with my back facing him. Feeling uncomfortable I switched sides the only problem was I was now facing Elijah. I tried to lay on my stomach but I just wasn't getting comfortable. "Stop fucking moving."

I froze for all but a minute before turning so I was once again facing Elijah. I tried to go to sleep but I couldn't seem to keep my eyes close. No matter how physically drained I was from today I couldn't seem to go to sleep. I stared at Elijah. My gaze fell to his bandage and I couldn't help but ask about it.

"How's you wound?" He groaned but didn't answer. "Does it feels better?" No answer. "How did you get it? I mean it's not everyday someone walks into my shop with a bullet in their shoulder." I joked.

"Gabrielle-"

"Gabby, it's Gabby. You asked me to call you Elijah and I did. What's so hard about calling me Gabby? You're Elijah, I'm Gabby." I placed my hand on his chest. "Elijah," Then placing a hand on my chest I said... "Gabby,"

Elijah stared at me. Not saying a word he just continued to stare at me. His brows slightly drew together as he thought about whatever he was thinking about. Letting out a deep breath he turned his back to me, dismissing me.

"Go to sleep Gabrielle,"