MY DARLING DAREDEVIL

Forgiveness at last

Her heart quivered even more as she heard those words. Words that she wished she had heard a long time ago, words her father was supposed to tell her, words her mate was supposed to tell her, words that someone, anyone, whoever it was would just say to her. Days and nights she had waited, she had hoped that someone would save her from the hell she was in. That was how it happened, in fairytales, after all the suffering, someone saves you from the darkness and takes you far into the light. It happened in every fairytale story, a prince always came to the rescue or a handsome man. But she did not wait for a prince, she had no right to choose. It could be an animal even, a human, a toad, anything that would take her away and tell her that it would be fine. Someone or something to tell her that he would protect her. What a dream? A very foolish one that died when Ivy, the other naïve and ignorant girl who was left by her father and every other person died. Those words never came, and she learned to live. She learnt to strive, pain became her meal, her sleep, her waking up. Her system took it as a way of life, it adapted to it and it grew inside of her, her immune system became immune to pain.

But after such a long time, years ago after dreaming, someone finally said those words to her. Someone unexpected, the cold and handsome heir of the great Roxwell. The underground lord of illegal activities, the wealthiest of many men, the cold and heartless CEO, the demon prince himself. The man she was supposed to protect, the man who knew nothing about her, talked more of himself. The irony of it.

She chuckled loudly, finding it very funny. The very sound of it made Damon’s heart stand still. It sounded beautiful, it sounded alive, it sounded familiar and he loved it. Why wouldn’t it, when she only just started living. Her dead heart that was still, lifeless and covered with black coal had suddenly cracked a little.

Ivy pulled away from him and turned back to the mirror just to be sure that she was still Ivy. Seeing she was alright, she smiled at herself and his mouth dropped. Her smile seemed to radiate the morning sun and her eyes sparkled like the stars in the night. She was beautiful, so beautiful, like an angel she was.

“You shouldn’t be here,” her voice came as she caught his reflection in the mirror. He shook his head, pulling himself away from the trance he had been, then he ran his hand through his hair. He turned to the door of the restroom and back to her. Quickly he recalled that it was the women’s restroom and smiled.

“It’s my building, I can be anywhere I want to be,” he answered cockily and she rolled her eyes. He caught what she did and smiled even more, while his heart registered everything about her like she was a book he needed so badly to read and understand.

“You might be sued,” she teased and it was his turn to scoff.

“I dare anyone,”

“Oh, I dare your red hair protector,” she entered. His lips stretched even more into a genuine smile and he lowered his head in thought of her.

“She would totally do it,” he mumbled.

“Let’s dare some other people, shall we?” he lifted his gaze to meet hers again. Aziza chuckled, liking that he knew what she could do and what she could not. She felt very proud of herself. Her chuckling died down and it went very quiet, really quiet. She lifted her gaze to the mirror and found his reflection staring at her with concern and a gentle look that made her cheek heat up so suddenly.

“Are you okay?” he asked and her neck turned red. All this feeling rushing in so fast scared her and the redness of her neck made her even more embarrassed that she used her hand to cover it up.

“Yes,” she answered.

“And thank you,” she turned around so she met his gaze. But strangely, she could not, not with that look on his face and the smirk on his lips.

“Well, I needed my assistant to tell me that the reporters were here and ready for the conference,” he entered and her mouth dropped.

“s**t,” she quickly put herself together at the reminder that she was an actual assistant.

“I got Charles instead and he was bent on making me sac you,” he added and crossed his hand over his chest. Her eyes snapped back to him in utter shock and fear that he was actually there to do that, but the amused look he had on his face and the way his lips stretched a little told her otherwise.

“Typical Charles,” she rolled her eyes and turned to the door in an instance.

“I might kill him soon,” her thoughts added as she rushed out of the restroom leaving him behind,

Back to her desk, she found Sloan sitting on her chair with a grin on her face. She saw the boss walk off to the direction of the restroom just when he found out that Ivy was at the restroom as well. She had really wanted to go and see what the both of them were up to but decided to save her head and wait for juicy details later.

“What?” her face turned red even as she approached the annoying woman.

“Hmm Hmm,” she hummed in reply, ignoring the look of ignorance Ivy was playing at. But she was not ready for her attention seeking ways, so she picked her tablet from her desk then suddenly remembered that her supposed annoying colleague was actually the vice president.

“Shouldn’t you be at your desk, vice president,” she lashed, remembering the incident that happened earlier.

“It’s Sloan Devron to you.” She lashed back with her eyes going hard and her air of bossiness coming to view. It went quiet when everyone heard her speak that way and just like before they waited for something to unfold.

“But you can call me Sloan,” her lips broke into a cheerful smile while her beautiful eyes danced with mischievousness. Ivy could not help but smile back, her anger for the woman disappearing. Moreover, there had been a lot of things going on around and she was happy that Sloan had added that to her sentence. She had to call Damon sir, that was really hard considering that she had no regard for power or authority and she was not sure she could do that to anyone else again.

“You better,” she mumbled and they both giggled at each other.

“Charles took the reporters to the conference room already,” Sloan said when she finally got herself together and Ivy rolled her eyes.

“He is trying too hard,” she turned away.

“To get you out of your job, yes he is,” the other responded and finally got up from the chair that she was sitting on. She picked up her phone and picked up her pace till she was right beside Aziza and together they walked over to the conference room. She remembered the conference room from a distance. The same one she had forced herself into the day she wanted to be noticed by Damon. He redid it and made it a transparent and sound proof glass that anyone could see through from both sides. Guards were at the door as always and reporters were all sitting and having a conversation with their camera, notepads and microphones in their hands. Guilt washed over her slightly as she thought of what she did. She was the cause of everything. The wreck on the Roxwell name, the cops and the reporters, she was the cause of it all and he was bearing it alone, while the red hair stayed away from him, angry.

“Well, he deserved it,” her voice whispered. The figure of the man she was thinking about came to view at the door and a smile tucked his lips a little, so little, one could almost miss it. Her heart caught in her chest and the recent incident that happened replayed in her mind, rekindling her guilt and something that laid within even more.

“Finally,” Damon came out through the door and stopped when he saw Ivy.

“Where have you been?” he went ahead to ask. She looked around to be sure that he was actually speaking to her and found Sloan staring at her with a weird look on her face as a grin spread over her lips.

“Stop gaping like a fool,” she took Ivy’s hand, intertwining her arm with hers and pulled her towards Damon.

“I think you have Damon wrapped around your very small and naïve fingers,” she whispered when they stopped in front of him. Ivy snapped her eyes to her and saw that grin again, then she rolled her eyes and turned to Damon.

“I had to pick up something at my desk,”

“That took a long time,” he responded and took her hand gently. His hold was soft and his hand was warm against hers but the way he held her, made her feel protected. He drew her closer and turned to the door.

“Get ready.” His voice came lowly beside her as they both walked into the room. At first, she was confused about what he said, but when they both walked in, it dawned on her.

“Why did you send her to kill those men?”

“Why does she look so different?”

“What is she?”

“Why do you have an assassin working with you at your office?”

“Do you think you are bigger than the law?” The reporters went crazy with their cameras and questions as they all focused on the both people that walked through the room. The flashes were more than a million and they were eye blinding as they were tormenting. Her hands went over her face when her eyes were going to bleed, but her eyes were not the only thing that wanted out. Her ears were bleeding with the many questions that were being thrown at her.

Damon ignored them all and walked over to the high point of the room while she stood behind him, hiding herself from the flashes of their camera. He started what looked like a speech that rather explained in detail what had taken place on the day the senator had died. He further explained who Ivy was and how different she was from Aziza then he left with her, leaving more scandalous questions unanswered.

Quickly the day had run by after that and she had felt really good throughout. Such feeling was alien to her, it was strange and very different but for the few minutes that feeling remained in her heart, she bashed in it. And it only disappeared when she saw the back of Damon entering the elevator. Quickly she packed her things and closed for the day. But unlike the other days that she had remained angry at him, she felt the opposite. The need to see him became even more stronger in her solid heart. It had nothing to do with protecting him anymore. She wanted to see him and be close to him.

She took her bath, changed her attire to the very usual and ran out of her room when she perceived pizza. Her stomach grumbled a little and she went over to it, picking a slice from the box and ensuring the wrath of her roommate, she ran out of the house and into the street with speed.

Her senses became alert as she searched for Damon while heading to his house. She found him rather quickly and also found her uncle as well. He was a distance away from his mansion, at the favourite spot of Aziza, the top of a building. Damon’s car was just rounding up around the street.

“How is he so late?” she asked and stopped beside Russel.

“He decided to see the daughter of that senator you killed,” Russel answered and turned to the girl he took as his child. She flashed him a glare for reminding him of something that she had only just forgotten and he grinned.

“It’s a good thing you are back to your senses,” he added.

“I’m tired of watching that brute, my students are suffering as well and so is my health,”

“Then die,” she retorted and crossed her hand over her chest as she turned to his car. Russel glared at her and shook his head when he got tired of glaring at her. She had such a cold heart and a foul mouth, he wondered if he was the one who actually got to ruin her life to make her always lash out on him.

“I see you are no longer angry,” he changed the topic and turned to the direction she was staring at. She thought for a while, a very long time and the words still replayed in her mind. With it came the familiar feeling. The way he had stood up for the woman he knew as Ivy, that anger which she felt for him days ago, diminished into nothing.

“Not really,” she responded proudly. Refusing to acknowledge that she had forgiven him, her pride simply won’t let her.

“Yet you are here,” Russel chuckled, seeing through her more than anyone else could.

Damon had only just rolled his car to the front of his gate and was waiting to ride in when something struck him. He had missed a familiar presence so much and it was worse when he left the office where her look alike was. He wanted to see Aziza and feel her so much, he regretted why he never asked for her phone number. But right there, at the entrance of his building, that gaze, that gaze that had seemed so familiar earlier fell on him like a bucket of cold water. His heart had slowed down and time had stopped.

“Stop the car,” he ordered and turned to the door. He opened the door and stepped out of the car then he looked around in search for her. His eyes could not find her, neither could his ears sense her close by, but his skin knew that gaze, his heart felt her presence and the joy within him was proof that he was close by.

“Aziza,” he roared into the air like a mad man seeing no other way to communicate with her. But he trusted that her strange abilities would help. Her heart skipped when she heard him roar like that, like a lover searching for his lover.

“You really should not get so hot tempered with me,” he continued and Russel smiled with a new hope in his heart.

“You can forgive him now,” he pleaded for Damon.

“Not even if he says sorry,” she snapped.

“I’m sorry, okay.” Damon yelled. His heart hoped that she would hear him and listen, but for a while she did not show herself. For a while, he wondered if he had gone mad but his heart was simply too sure that his guardian angel was right there.

“I miss you already.”

Those words broke the rest of the coal and solid that served as a cloak in her heart. It pulled at the string in her heart and in thunderous speed, she ran, taking the wind with her till she found herself in front of Damon.