I've Been There Before (Grace and Caden)

Leon and Cayne both froze when the door opened.

But at the next second, Leon smiled to Franklin, "Well done, boy. That's quick." His impression on Grace came from what happened that day in the private room.

On the gorgeous face of Cayne, a meaningful smile appeared,

"We meet again, Miss James."

Franklin and Leon both were surprised.

"You know each other?"

Franklin turned to Grace and smiled, "When did you meet Cayne the first time?"

At this moment, Grace's hands began trembling lightly.

It never occurred to her that these three men were best friends.

But what surprised her more was that Franklin took her to meet his best friends.

Grace asked herself in her heart that if she had known, would she have come? No... the answer was simple and clear.

Franklin was thoughtful enough to pull a chair for Grace, "Have a sit. Don't be so nervous. Leon and Cayne are both my friends. They may look like they are hard to get along with, but they are nice actually." Grace's face remained pale and she smiled reluctantly before sitting down.

Leon bantered, "When did the well-known playboy Mr. Cordon become so thoughtful?" Then he continued, "And why did you mean by 'we may look like we are hard to get along with'? Do we really look like that?" "Right, Cayne?" While saying this, Leon turned to Cayne and elbowed him.

But Leon found that Cayne kept staring at Grace with interest.

Leon frowned, "Cayne, stop staring at Miss James this way. You will scare her. And Mr. Cordon will fight you for it."

Cayne smiled lightly, "Oh, really?" Then he asked Grace indifferently, "Did I frighten you, Miss James?"

Cayne said the last two words in a strange, meaningful way.

Grace's face turned paler.

At this moment, Franklin focused his eyes on Cayne and said, "Why do I sense that you take an interest in my girlfriend?" Franklin didn't like the way Cayne stared at Grace as well as the way he called her "Miss James" ...Maybe he was just thinking too much. But the more the thought about it, the unhappier he got.

Cayne raised his eyes and glanced at Franklin. And in seconds, his interest was gone. Then he looked at Grace coldly and said indifferently, "Relax, she is not my type."

Leon who was sitting beside turned to Cayne and peeked at him...What was wrong with him today? Every word from his mouth sounded weird.

A tinge of unhappiness flashed across Franklin's eyes. He squinted at Cayne and then reached his hand to cover Grace's hand. Then he smiled and asked her gently, "What do you want to eat?"

"I... Where is the bathroom? I need to go to the bathroom." If she remained under the glowing eyes of Cayne, she was afraid that she would break.

"Turn left after you went out."

Right after Franklin finished the words, Grace stood up and rushed outwards.

"She must be in haste." Cayne said suddenly.

Franklin stared at Cayne, "What is wrong with you today? Are you jealous because I have a girlfriend?"

"Hun- Do I need to be?" Jealous? Because of whom? That woman?

Cayne rolled up his eyes and said, "You think too much. I am going out for a smoke."

Then he stood up and walked out of the room.

Leon tried to diffuse the tension, "He ate explosives today. Don't mind him."

Franklin pursed his lips and said nothing. Apparently, he was not happy.

Then he raised his head and asked, "How did you know Grace?"

Leon went silent for a while. He didn't straightly tell Franklin how they met but asked, "She is your girlfriend? Then you should know where she works?"

"Yes, Royal Club. So you are saying you met her in Royal Club?"

...

Hearing that Franklin had already known that Grace worked in Royal Club, Leon breathed a sigh of relief. Now that Franklin had already known, he had nothing to hide. So he told him simply about what happened that day. Of course, he missed some parts. Grace walked to the bathroom in haste. Her head was a mess and she hated to go back to the private room now.

But Franklin called her.

"Okay, I will be back soon." She sighed... There was no way she could avoid it today.

When she opened the door of her bathroom, a figure burst in. Pang! The door was locked.

"Be quiet. You don't want people to know that you and I are locked in such a private place as a bathroom, do you?" By her ears, a familiar voice came up slowly.

Grace trembled and the hand on her waist tightened up. The man said, "Why are you so cold to me, Miss James? I didn't know you were so good at manipulating people. You drew my attention at first and then hooked up with the handsome, rich Mr. Cordon." "I didn't." I didn't try to draw your attention. And nor did I try to hook up with anyone, including Franklin.

"You said so with your mouth, but your body said otherwise..." Suddenly Grace's ear was bit down. Her brows tightened up due to the pain. The man bit her ear with his mouth in a tough way. Then he smiled, "Cry out if it hurts- Do women in your profession all mask up every day and is already used to being insincere?"

"It hurt so much but you still pretended to be fine. Oh... Are you just like the actresses in the action movies of some island country who keep moaning even if they are suffering?"

Grace tried hard not to throw a punch at the gorgeous face of Cayne...Her fists were clenched and then loosened.

"Mr. Filocci, do you know that? It's not that some people don't know how to scream when in pain. It's because when they scream, they will not get solicitude but beating." She was describing her life in those three years.

"Then I want to ask you, Mr. Filocci. For those people who restrain themselves just because they don't want another round of beating, are they wrong? Are they insincere?"

Cayne froze and then a scornful smile appeared on his charming face,

"Miss James seems to be really good at faking innocence. You are talking like if you scream when I hurt you, I will beat you again."

Grace looked down... People who had not experienced those things would never understand. Some people said it only took seventeen days to develop a habit. But...what if it was three years?

Therefore, if someone understood, he understood. But if not, then that was it. Nothing else needed to be said.

"Mr. Filocci, you should let me go now. Mr. Cordon called me and asked to go back quickly. If I remain here for too long, Mr. Cordon will come look for me."

"Are you threatening me?" Cayne raised his brows, "Fine, have Franklin come here. When he comes, he will get to know your true colors."☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐☐