Challenging a Cold Heart

Chapter 15: Family

Vincent's POV

I woke up with a start to see that it was already bright outside. I sat up and looked around alertly. No one woke me up to start work this morning. I looked outside the window and saw that it was still drizzling. Why wasn't it bright and sunny? Ever since I came to Luc's house, it had been raining. Actually, wasn't this time supposed to be nice weather in New York? I wondered as I looked outside. But whenever I was able to look outside, it was raining. It was poetic really because it reflected my own gloomy mood.

Just then, someone came in with a big tray of food. They gave me a curious look and then kept the food on the table infront of the sofa. I looked at it warily wondering if Luc didn't have a better place to have his breakfast then his sitting room. When the guy with the food left, the guard who had been talking to me since the beginning came in. It was a bit odd to always call him "guard". I recalled Lorraine calling him Ronan.

"Hey you, you've finally woken up. Get a shower and have breakfast. Master Luc said, you could rest this morning. He will be coming for you in the afternoon." The guy told me. I frowned at that.

"I don't have any duties today?" I asked curiously.

"No. You don't." The guard said, without breaking his serious expression before curtly leaving. I stood up lazily. I still felt exhausted and my brain felt muddled from crying and worrying too much last night. I decided to shake off the feeling of dread and went to my cupboard to grab he stuff I needed to take a quick shower. I looked longingly at the food, hoping it wouldn't become cold by the time I get back from the shower. Without further delay, I hurried out to take a shower.

When I reached my bathroom, I saw several men cutting the trees around the area where my bathroom was. In the first place, the bathroom did not have any privacy and I felt really disturbed that there were so many men working so close by.

"Hey, this is my bathroom. Can you guys please leave for a bit?" I asked one guy working in the area. He just looked at me and laughed.

"Dude. What's the big deal? We are all men here." He said and I frowned.

"I still want to have privacy." I insisted.

"What's the problem here?" A bulky man came over. I explained the same to the man, who looked at me like I was stupid.

"Dude, none of us is gay around here. Just go and shower." He said and I gritted my teeth.

"What's it you've got to hide?" An older man sneered at me.

This sucks! I thought with foreboding. Honestly, I should have just gone about my business without talking to them and maybe they might not have noticed at all. Now, I had everyone's attention and it didn't look good. Mumbling in annoyance, I went inside and showered wearing my clothes. Everyone looked on like I was putting on a show. I felt so irritated that I rushed out even when I didn't fully get rid of the soap I applied.

"What happened to your clothes?" The guard asked when he saw me dripping wet in my night clothes.

"There's a bunch of men working near my bathroom." I said in an upset voice.

"So?" He asked arrogantly.

I clenched my hands into fists by my side. I didn't want to argue. Instead I tried to go inside, without answering him.

"Hey, you are dripping wet. You can't go inside." The guard followed me but I rushed inside anyway and made a beeline straight to Luc's room.

"You are not allowed to go in there." The guard screamed as he followed me. I went inside and came face to face with Luc's pet lioness, Nala.