Chapter 8 Mia
eight
Mia
Kieran's body tenses with my words and his voice drops into a menacing tone as he demands, "Who is he?"
The dangerous tone sends a shiver down my spine.
I need to get away from him. Not only can I not think straight, but he can ruin me and I've learned the hard way that I don't want to be involved with men like him. The night my mother told me his true identity, I knew I had to stay away from him—Kieran’s bad news.
Even if Mikhail hadn't warned me to stay away from anything that has to do with his business or the city he lives in, I still would’ve stayed away.
I shake my head. "I'm not telling you." I can't tell him, because who knows what he'll do.
"Mo bhanphrionsa, you will tell me exactly what I want to know, and if you don't, I'll have to find out myself."
Goosebumps pebble all over my skin when he uses his nickname for me.
The last time I’d heard it was the night we spent together in bed, and it's as if my body remembers what it was like to be his, even though my brain is yelling at me to stay strong.
I steel my spine as I spit out, "Leave it, Kieran. It's for the best that I stay away."
He reaches for me and grips my waist, looking deep into my eyes, searching for something. I don't like it. It feels like he can see the real me, instead of the mask that I show everyone else.
Needing to look away, I try to turn my head to break eye contact from him, to help reinforce my walls. Using his other hand, he grips my neck, not allowing me to move.
"Mia, I need you to tell me who you're afraid of."
“What does it mean?” I ask, hoping to distract him from the questions he keeps asking, ones that I don’t want to answer.
His brow furrows and I can see the confusion written all over his face, when he asks, “What does what mean?”
“Mo bhanphrionsa,” I say. Hearing the word off my tongue sounds so foreign, I must be fucking up the pronunciation because it doesn’t sound like the same word he says.
His lips twitch into a smirk before he leans even more into my space, making my lungs seize, before muttering, “My princess.”
He takes a small step back, allowing me to breathe a little bit more, his sexy smirk slides off and his face hardens back into the Mafia heir mask. “Nice try. Now tell me who this man is that you are scared of?”
"Kieran, it's not worth it. I'm not worth it," I say, trying to escape from him, but he doesn't allow it.
A dark look comes over Kieran's face and I don't know what to make of it. I'm not sure what to expect from him. "You are worth everything. Tell me who it is," he grits out.
“Why?” I ask him, hoping that maybe he’ll give me a clue as to why he’s so interested in me and why he’s so willing to come in here, and demand things from me.
“Because you’re mine,” he says, shrugging his shoulders.
I shake my head before protesting, “No. I’m not yours.”
“Yes, you are. Now tell me who you’re afraid of?”
My shoulders sag with his demand. He's asked me enough times that I know I'm not going to get away from this without giving him something. Maybe if I tell him just enough, he'll go and leave me alone.
"It's my brother-in-law. He told me that if he ever saw me again, he would have me killed," I say matter-of-factly.
Kieran's jaw tightens with my confession. If he examines my words closely, he'll know exactly who I’m talking about, but he doesn't seem to make the connection. At least, not yet. He lets go of me, backs away, and begins pacing.
I take the moment of reprise to look and see if any of Kieran's men are around. Anytime I’m in his vicinity, I don’t see anyone but him.
He probably had his penthouse surrounded, his men are probably sitting outside my apartment as we speak, but the moment I see him, for better or worse, everything else fades away.
Kieran must see me scanning the room because he stops pacing. "My men are outside. I wanted to have this conversation alone."
I nod. "Well, now you have my secret, it's time to tell me yours. Why are you here?"
Tilting his head, he looks at me as if he's still searching for something. Letting out a deep breath, it seems he might finally tell me what's going on, or at least, that's what I thought until he asks me another question, instead of answering mine. "Why would your brother-in-law threaten you?"
"I was a part of a scheme to hurt my step-sister," I whisper, realizing my hope of him not realizing that I was talking about Mikhail is out the door.
"Do you still want to hurt her?" he asks me, raising one of his brows.
"No. But you still haven't answered my question."
"Marry me." He demands.
"What?" I screech.
"I said I want you to marry me, Mia Thomas, so marry me."
"No," I answer in a sharp tone.
"Mo bhanphrionsa, I need you. I can protect you. Marry me."
"I don't need your protection. I just need to stay away."
"How do you know he will keep his end of the deal?"
"I don't," I say through my clenched teeth. This motherfucker is pissing me off. My fingers dig into my palms as I use the pain to keep myself in check.
"See? You need me," he says as he plops down on my couch.
I've had enough of men telling me what to do. This needs to end. "I don’t need you. I’m fine."
Turning my back on him, I ignore everything that just happened, and I open the hall closet. It holds everything that I have, other than food. Grabbing out a pair of sweats and a T-shirt to change into, I close the door and head to the bathroom, the whole time feeling his eyes on me.
I lean against the door as I let out a breath, willing my body to relax.
It won't do me any good if I stay tense.
Once I've calmed myself, I look to the shower and yearn to feel the hot water on my skin.
Shaking my head at the thought, I dismiss the idea.
I shouldn't leave Kieran alone for too long or make myself that vulnerable. With my luck, he would try to come in.
Quickly, I change my clothes, the whole time wishing that when I leave this bathroom, Kieran will have taken the hint and left. Opening the door, I peek out, looking into the living room. Nope, he’s still there. Of course, he’s looking all sexy. Story of my life.
I continue to ignore him as I go through the rest of my bedtime routine.
Walking into my tiny kitchen, or more accurately kitchenette, I pull out the kettle to heat the water for my tea.
Once the water is done, I leave it to steep, and look up at Kieran.
He hasn't moved, still just sitting there with his perfectly styled dark blonde hair, his green eyes boring into me, probably waiting for me to freak out over his "proposition”.
I shake my head as I go back into the bathroom to do my skincare routine.
What the hell is he thinking, anyway? Getting married is a preposterous idea.
Why would he even want to marry me? There's nothing special about me. I’m the stupid girl who did what her mother said and ended up doing some pretty bad things without even realizing it.
There’s no way he came to find me just to ask me to marry him.
There are other reasons, and I need to know what they are.
I return to the kitchen and finish making my tea, then taking it over to the couch, I sit down in silence.
I try to focus on my tea but fail when I keep looking at him from my peripheral vision.
I can tell he knows because he keeps smirking at me. This is nonsense. I can't help him like he thinks I can. Placing my mug down on the side table, I decide he needs to leave.
Standing up, I place my hands on my hips and look down at him. "It's time for you to go, Kieran."
"No," he replies.
“It’s my fucking apartment. Get out,” I yell back at his infuriatingly gorgeous face.
"I said no," he replies as calm as ever, pissing me off even more.
I need to get out of here. Away from him.
"Fine. If you don’t leave, then I will."
He just shrugs his shoulders as if he couldn’t even be bothered. "Suit yourself."
"You are so infuriating!" I shout at him.
The fact that he thinks he can just take over my apartment and boss me around is maddening.
I'll show him. I go over to my closet and start throwing my clothes into the old duffel bag I stole from my mother's house when I left, muttering under my breath, "I don’t even know where you got this idea of marrying each other from, but it's ridiculous. I don’t even like you. "
"You were meant to reign, not hide away in squalor," he says in his deep voice that is suddenly closer to me than before.
"Why would you even say that? I'm meant to live my life on my own terms. Not being forced to get married," I quietly say.
“Just look at you, Mo bhanphrionsa. You have an air about you that makes people fall to their knees including me. You are strong and loyal, holding more power in one finger than you even realize.”
Feeling even more confused, he keeps leaving me with more questions than answers. I can’t help but murmur, “You don’t even know me. And if you did, you would know that you can’t force me into a marriage with you.”
"I know more than you think. I haven't forced you, have I?" he says as his lips meet my neck, causing me to freeze in place. This is the second time he's been in my space intimately.
"Well, no,” I say, my gaze drifting to my feet, feeling flustered.
“Exactly. So I’m not forcing you. Yet,” he whispers against my skin, his soft pillowy wet lips trailing down the side of my neck.
My nipples pebble with each and every kiss. I hate the way my body reacts to him. My mind focuses on each kiss, wondering if he will take it further.
Suddenly, I’m brought back to reality when he mutters against my skin, "I just take what I want and need, and right now that is you, mo bhanphrionsa."
A wave of confusion comes over me when I feel a tiny sting right where Kieran was kissing me. "Did you just drug me?"
"Yes," he answers as my vision starts to blur, and my body feels as if it's swaying.
"I hate you," I croak and his mouth opens, but before I hear what he's saying, everything goes dark.