Outside Violet's house, a very expensive black-tinted car had been parked on the curb for the past hour. She was walking towards the curb when she saw someone climb out of the car, it was Gabriel, all 6 feet of pure masculine confidence.

"Get in," he commanded as he opened the door to let her in.

"Why should I?" she asked.

"I don't have all day. Get in!" he frowned, and the command came out a little more forceful this time.

Violet did not understand him. His mood swings were swinging faster than a metronome, and they were very unpredictable. He was asking her to come with him, yet he won't let her ask any questions. She rolled her eyes as she got in to save them both from further arguments.

"Can you tell me where we're going?" she asked, but of course, she did not get any response from the block of ice beside her.

After driving for a while, they stopped in front of one of the famous Cafes in the city. This cafe was the ideal hangout for everybody. Half of the Cafe housed the biggest and trendiest bookstore in the city. Customers can sample their delicious desserts and drinks while reading their favorite book.

"Well, I already had breakfast, so why are we here?" she asked when they walked into the cafe. A small smile appeared on Gabriel's face for a split second before he went back to his stoic self.

A man greeted them at the door, "Hello Gabe, so is this the person you were talking about?"

"Yes, she's the one joining your staff today," said Gabriel. Violet looked at them both cluelessly.

"You'd be working at this cafe from now on. Is that okay?" Gabriel asked her. When he learned that she desperately needed money for her mother's operation, he thought of a plan to help her. The clubs that paid a lot of money were out of the question because of the threat, and the danger it posed for her. She was not cut out for that kind of work. The Santoris family owned a lot of businesses, so they were bound to have a lot of business associates, including the cafe, whose owner was a close friend of the family.

Violet smiled when she realized what he had done for her, "Yes! Yes, definitely I can start working today," she said in glee. The news bought a different twinkle in her eye, and for the first time, Gabriel was mesmerized. Who knew what a big difference it would make when she smiled.

It was a part-time job, so she could come in after office hours, during the week, and be there all day during the weekend. Hopefully, with the tips and salary combined, she could get enough money to help pay her mother's bills.

Gabriel promised to drop her off at work after they negotiated what time she would have to report, and after they finished with all the paperwork.

"Thanks for helping me get the job," she said gratefully on their way to her office.

"Uhm-hmm," he nodded.

"I'm not sure how I can repay you for this kindness though. I didn't know what I was going to do without the extra money," she looked at him with her big innocent eyes.

Gabriel swallowed as he turned away from her innocent face. These past few days he's been seeing her face more and more often, it's like she never leaves his mind.

"You want to repay me?" he asked.

"Yes, I would like to repay you," she had no idea that she had put her head in the lion's mouth just by saying those words.

"Okay. Let me think about it. I will tell you what I want later," he said.

"Okay, I will wait for it," she smiled. Not noticing that Gabriel was holding onto the steering wheel tighter than he should. A very sinister thought appeared in the corner of his mind and stopped whatever it was he was imagining before it went too far.

-=-

It had been a week since Violet had taken the part-time job and the cafe, and it seemed like she was fitting in well. Because of her sunny personality and attention to detail, a lot of customers were pleased whenever she was around. So the owner thought he made the right decision to hire her when Gabriel suggested.

Violet was not aware that Gabriel had been stalking her for the past week. He would wait for her to get out of her day job, follow her to the bus, until she gets on and heads to the cafe, then waits until she heads home to make sure she reaches her house safely. He didn't call it stalking, he called it caring.

It was like no matter what he did, he ended up where she was. Today he found himself outside the cafe, observing her from the other side of the street. He could not help himself from trying to find out how she was doing, there was some force pulling him towards her all the time, asking him to protect her.

Violet was pretty, she wasn't stunning like a movie star, but she was pretty in her own right. She was very polite, so a lot of male customers think of her silence as consent. Her naivety prevented her from gauging other peoples' intentions, so they just kept on hitting on her.

One of her regulars had come in today with flowers, he was tired of giving Violet hints, so he thought he would take the direct route and ask her out.

Gabriel came into the cafe when he saw the man with the flowers talk to Violet. He needed to get close to hear their conversation. He had a bad feeling about this guy, but he wanted to be sure.

Violet was taking his order when he asked, "Violet, do you have a boyfriend?" the man asked.

"I don't. What do you want to order?" she answered.

"That's good. Will you…," he was trying to ask her out, but he got interrupted.

"Violet!" Gabriel called her attention a little too brusquely.