Chapter 10
EDEN
I ’m lost.
I didn’t know you could get lost in someone’s home. I might have no memory of where I lived before, but I saw plenty on the way up the mountain, and I know one this size isn’t the norm.
I half expected Mika to walk me back to my room when she had to leave. To lock me back up like the prisoner that I thought I was.
But she didn’t.
She hugged me, told me that she was a short walk away if I needed anything, and that she’d be back tomorrow. Then she’d left me standing in the foyer, completely unattended.
I didn’t know what to do with that.
At first, I thought it was beneficial for me. I could look around more, try to determine if Kieran really was as evil as Parker told me or if there were secrets about what he wanted with me hidden in his home.
I’ve found nothing. Furnished rooms, a handful of staff, and a ridiculous amount of whiskey.
But there are no torture rooms. No prisoners.
No one screaming or bloody marks or underground fighting or whatever I thought would be up here.
It’s clear Kieran is filthy rich, but his house is gorgeous and spotless.
The sun is already setting—making that ache pull in my chest again—and I’m starving.
The only problem is, I can’t seem to find my way back to my room, where I can rest and sort through this day.
If their goal in sending Mika was to make me feel more at ease, it’s working, but that doesn’t mean I trust any of the mafia bastards.
I bite back a frustrated groan. First, I couldn’t get out of the damn room, and now, I can’t find my way back?
Turning a corner, I pause. Something feels vaguely familiar, and I wonder if my room is this way.
Moving down the hallway, I swear I’ve been here before, even though I can tell this isn’t the direction of where I’ve been staying.
Mostly because at the end of the hall is a clear, glass door that must lead outside.
I hesitate at the door, glancing back. I’m half-expecting someone to jump out and stop me, but Mika must have made it clear to everyone that I’m not a prisoner.
How she has any pull over Kieran—the leader of the fucking mafia—I have no clue.
I’d wonder if she was sleeping with him, but she told me about her husband—Jude, the guard I met.
She joked that he was a possessive man, and she looked so in love that I have no doubt she’s loyal to him.
Which makes me wonder if I’ve been completely misinformed when it comes to the dynamics at the mountaintop.
I’m too eager to pull open the door—my hand moving on instinct—to overthink it. I have all night to do that, after all.
As I step outside, though, my stomach swoops. I edge farther forward, the view so stunning my mouth drops open.
The sun is already behind the mountain peak across from me, the glow soft as it paints the patio in a golden light.
To the side is a fireplace and large dining table, but in front of me is a pool.
One that spills to the cliff’s edge of the mountain, giving me a glimpse of the city below, lights dotting the buildings down there.
It’s beautiful.
A pang echoes through me, and I don’t know how to decipher the feeling. But this… This is familiar enough that it makes me think that maybe it isn’t a lie that I once lived here. A small doubt that I plan to keep to myself. Even if confiding in Mika doesn’t sound so bad.
“Eden?”
Instead of tensing, a rush of something—excitement, maybe—runs through me. It’s unexpected, given I haven’t had the reaction to Kieran’s voice before.
Slowly turning, I find him standing in the doorway.
His green eyes look wary, but his posture is casual.
His black button-down is rolled up to the elbows, his hands tucked in his pockets, and his shoulder is leaning against the frame.
He looks… Fuck, he looks hot. Especially with the warm light spilling across his dark hair and the thick scruff on his jaw.
Even though there’s a part of me that wants to antagonize him—which I probably shouldn’t be doing but the urge always takes over—I try not to piss him off instantly. I wouldn’t put it past him to drag me back inside. I’m surprised he hasn’t already.
I suppose that I haven’t exactly gone into any of our interactions giving him much of a chance.
Something I started to realize as I talked with Mika today, who never brought up Kieran.
But I felt the topic weighing on me as she showed me around and told me about the other people who lived up on the mountain.
Like she was trying to help me understand the small family isn’t made up of cruel villains.
Maybe I didn’t have to attack Kieran every opportunity that was given to me. Even if that felt like it was in my nature.
“Hey.” I glance back behind me, trying not to look so damn awkward. “This view is incredible.”
A soft chuckle has me glancing back at him. His lips have tipped up at one side, and it’s the most open I’ve seen him be so far. “The best view in the city?”
I don’t understand the spark of amusement in his eyes. “It has to be.”
He nods, pushing off the door and taking a few steps forward. “It’s the best place to watch the sunset.”
“I can see that.” I glance down at the pool, sensing his eyes still on me. “Is this heated?”
“It is,” he murmurs, and the tension between us is starting to feel less awkward than I originally thought.
“Are you hiding any other secrets up here?” My tone is lightly teasing even if I don’t look up at him. His gaze is burning my skin, and I’m afraid of what I’ll see in it if I lift my face. “Any game rooms? Perfectly curated gardens?”
“Do those things interest you?” I feel him take a step toward me. “Wouldn’t you rather ask about my extensive weapons collection? Or the nearby waterfall?”
His words send a thrill through me, and I wonder if those are things I enjoy. Given the way I’m tempted to jump in the water and I keep reaching for something not sheathed at my side, I’d think yes.
But instead of being comforting, the words unsettle me.
I don’t like that he knows something about me I don’t.
Especially when I don’t know if he gained the knowledge from spending time with me or watching me from a distance.
He could be using it to get me to let my guard down, to make me trust him when I shouldn’t.
Edging away from him, I glance around his large frame toward the door. I’m suddenly eager to get away from him. He makes it feel like I can’t breathe, and I hate feeling so unsure of myself.
“Maybe some other time…”
Kieran shifts, and I’m surprised when he gives me more space. Where is the guy that threw me over his shoulder and carried me inside? Where is the man who locked me in a room?
“Are you hungry?” He catches me off guard with the question. I tilt my head, trying to decide his angle, and he adds, “I can send food to your room. Or you can join me out here.”
He inclines his head toward the dining area, which admittedly looks much more inviting than forcing myself back inside. With this view and the fresh air, I’m tempted. The only hesitation I feel is spending more time with Kieran.
He’s being too civil right now. It has me on edge. But maybe it’s my chance to get answers to some of my questions.
That reason has me nodding. “Eating out here sounds nice.”
Relief flashes across his face, almost unreadable, but I easily pick it up. I look away, hating how well I can read him.
“I’ll be right back.” He turns on a heel and heads inside.
I suck in lungfuls of air once he’s gone, that oppressive tension easing slightly. My body feels hypersensitive, and I try to shake it off as I cross to the seating area, curling up in one of the chairs. But I can’t seem to relax, my heart rate spiking when Kieran reappears.
“It shouldn’t be long.” His body moves so fluidly it’s mesmerizing to watch as he crosses the patio to the bar in the corner. “Would you like a drink?”
Even though a part of me yearns for what must be the best whiskey in the city displayed there, I know I need a clear head. “No. I’m alright.”
He doesn’t respond as he pours himself a full glass. I watch the muscles in his back flex as he lifts it to his lips and drains half of it in one go. Maybe I’m not the only one who is feeling so affected right now.
Kieran tops off his drink before taking the seat closest to him, eyes sweeping out toward the mountain rage. “I heard Mika visited today.”
“She did.” I note the way the muscle in his jaw flexes. “We had a nice afternoon.”
It does it again, his grip tightening on the glass. His accent grows thicker with the emotion he’s trying to suppress. “That’s good.”
I don’t answer. I’m staring at him in confused silence, not completely comprehending why he looks so on edge all of a sudden. Kieran is not an easy man to understand, and it seems that he’s pretty awful at expressing any of it.
Did he not want me to like Mika? If that’s the case, why did he send her?
I decide to push him a little. I want answers, and he seems almost compliant for the time being. “Who is she to you?” It’s clear she is trying to be my friend, but I haven’t forgotten the interaction she had with the guard outside my room.
“A friend.” He takes a sip, his gaze still not meeting mine. His voice comes out even and measured, something it seems he’s working hard to maintain. “She and her husband are more like family.”
That makes sense from everything I was told. She clearly doesn’t fear any of them, and if he considers them family, then Mika must know Kieran would never allow anyone to hurt them.
I’m debating my next question when a familiar-looking man brings out two dishes. Kieran thanks him as he sets them down, and he offers me a soft smile before leaving.
It smells incredible, and I tug the food close to me. It itches at something else in the back of my mind, just like the patio did, but when I try to remember what, that dull throb starts up.
I decide not to push the memory, instead scooping up a bite from the plate. Out of the corner of my eye, Kieran starts eating, but I don’t yet. He’s been acting so odd, and I wonder if it was all a ploy to get me to stay for dinner.
It makes me suspicious of the food.
Trying to be discreet, I lift the fork to my mouth, but inhale deeply. It doesn’t smell off, but they probably have ways of drugging people that don’t have a scent?—
“For fuck’s sake, I’m not going to poison you,” he snaps, startling me.
That puts me on the defense.
I drop my fork, leaning back in my chair as I glare at him. It’s the most eye contact we’ve had since he came back out here. “How am I supposed to know? I don’t know you, Kieran, and no one will tell me anything?—”
“Would you believe me if I did?” His voice is low and raspy, almost like the words are ripping free without his permission.
“If I told you that we got married four months ago and then those bastards took you, would you believe me? If I told you that you lived here willingly, that you weren’t forced, coerced, or obligated to be here, that you chose me… would you believe me?”
I stare at him stunned, not sure what to say.
He scoffs. “That’s what I thought.” He pushes back from the table, a look of utter disgust on his face as he shakes his head.
“I haven’t offered you an explanation because you are unwilling to hear the truth.
Well, I’m sorry, wife , that I am not the man you dreamed of or the husband you wanted to rescue you.
But I’m the one who sees you, who knows you, who showed you that our souls are the same and offered you a life that you wanted .
” His voice drops, and that same hidden devastation that he’s tried so hard to hide laces his next words. “I guess you don’t anymore.”
And then he stalks off, leaving me alone.
Instead of feeling like I can finally breathe, my chest squeezes harder, and something that feels oddly like guilt trickles through me. I shove it down, refusing to acknowledge the feeling as I remind myself that he’s corrupt. That I shouldn’t trust the leader of the fucking mafia.
Even if I don’t feel as resolute in that as I did before.