Chapter 17
Killian
Mia’s finally asleep.
Seeing her in so much pain like that was fucking horrible. I wish that I could take it from her, honestly.
Something inside of me broke tonight, seeing Mia like that. She’s much more fragile than I ever realized. No matter how tough she comes off.
When I got to the roof and saw Mia lying unconscious on the ground, with Maddox hovering over her, I almost lost my fucking mind. I would’ve murdered Maddox if I wasn’t so worried about Mia.
Maddox swore up and down he had no idea what happened. He said they were just talking when she started to pass out.
My father has an on-call doctor, and I had him come here. He took Mia’s blood, and he already confirmed to me that Mia was drugged. There was GHB and a copious amount of Benzo’s in her system.
My phone rings now, and I look down, seeing Tim’s name on the screen.
Tim is the bartender who was working the roof tonight, and I reached out to him to see if he could tell me anything.
He told me he didn’t notice anything out of the ordinary tonight, but that he would review the security footage to see if he could find something.
I stand up and make my way out of the room. I don’t want to wake Mia, not when she finally was able to fall back asleep.
I close the door quietly, taking Tim’s call in the hall.
“Looks like your brother was telling the truth,” he says when I answer.
I frown. How is that possible?
“She was drugged,” I tell him. “I had a doctor here; he took her blood.”
“I didn’t say she wasn’t drugged,” Tim corrects me. “I said that your brother was telling the truth.”
“What-"
“I just sent you the video,” he says. “Check it.”
I put him on speaker phone and click open the video that he sent me.
What I see makes my blood boil, and a feeling of rage swirls through my body.
Maddox is standing at the bar, holding two drinks, when Farrah and Vanessa saunter up to him. Vanessa approaches him on his left side, and he turns his head so he can look at her.
Farrah’s on his right, and while he’s distracted, she slips something into one of the drinks. It happens very quickly, but it’s plain as day.
I shake my head, swearing, as I put the phone back to my ear.
“Jesus fucking Christ.”
“I know,” he says. “She’s never allowed back in here, not that that helps you in any way. You want me to bring this to the cops?”
“No,” I reply. “I’ll take care of it.”
“Alright,” Tim says. “If you need anything, let me know, okay?”
I thank Tim again, then I hang up.
No, I’m not going to the cops. I want to know what the fuck Farrah is up to, and why she would want to drug Mia. I want to know how she even knows about Mia to begin with.
I try to push the rage down inside of me, because I honestly want to murder Farrah and Vanessa. John, too. They fucking set me up, and none of them deserve to live after what they did to my girl.
I ignore the fact that I just referred to Mia as my girl, and I take out my phone, texting Maddox. I owe my brother an apology, I know that much.
Ten minutes later, I hear the door to the cottage open, and I know that Maddox is here. I check on Mia one last time, making sure she’s still asleep, and when I see that she is, I make my way downstairs to meet him.
“How is she doing?” he asks, looking worried.
I sigh. “She’s asleep. She was drugged. GHB and Benzo’s.”
“I didn’t-" Maddox starts, putting his hands up, but I cut him off.
“I know,” I reply. “Fuck, Mad. I’m sorry.”
“Who did it?” he asks, his face etched in concern.
“Farrah and Vanessa.”
“What?”
“Right after you got your drinks at the bar, when Vanessa was talking to you, Farrah slipped something into Mia’s drink. Tim sent me the video.”
Maddox swears, shaking his head.
“What the fuck,” he mutters. “Why?”
“That’s what I want to know.”
He sits down on the couch, putting his head in his hands. Then he looks up at me.
“I can’t believe you thought I’d drug your fiancée,” he says, shaking his head. “You’re my brother.”
“I’m sorry,” I say again, running my hand over my face. “I thought you set me up.”
“How could you think that I’d do that to you?”
I can’t help but snort. “Seriously, Maddox?”
“Yeah, seriously,” he retorts. “I know I can be a dick sometimes, but it’s all in good fun. I would never do that.”
“Was it all in good fun when you hooked up with my girlfriend?” I ask, quirking my eyebrows up at him.
He lets out a loud sigh. “I didn’t fuck Farrah. We kissed. And I’m really sorry that I gaslit you and told you that nothing happened, but I swear, it was just a kiss.”
“Well, thanks for finally coming clean,” I say with a shrug, and he nods.
“I’m sorry.”
“You’re forgiven,” I tell him.
And I mean it. I don’t care that he kissed Farrah. I don’t even really think I would’ve cared if they fucked; it was more the fact that he kept lying to me afterwards.
“Is she going to be okay?” he asks me now, and I nod.
“She’ll be fine. She’s been getting it all out of her system all night.”
“Fuck,” Maddox mutters. “I’m sorry that this happened.”
He stands up and walks to the door.
“You going after Farrah?” he asks me. “Cause if you are, I want in.”
I nod. “I want to find out why she’s targeting Mia first.”
“I’ll help,” he tells me.
He opens the door, then he turns back to face me.
“I love you, Killa. I’m sorry I’ve been such a shitty brother that you thought I’d do something like this.”
I do feel bad for thinking that he was responsible. He’s so fucking immature sometimes, though, and the whole thing with Farrah…I didn’t trust him. Plain and simple.
I’m honestly glad I was wrong about him, though. His behavior right now is surprising me, and maybe Maddox isn’t as bad as I thought.
I don’t say anything, and he just nods at me as he goes.
Then I make my way back upstairs and climb into bed next to Mia. I know that there’s no way I’m sleeping tonight – I need to make sure she’s okay, and I want to be awake if she needs me for anything.
I listen to the sound of her steady breathing, watching the rise and fall of her chest.
I don’t hate her.
I’m not sure why I think it, the thought just comes, unprovoked.
Did I ever really hate her? I wonder.
I let out a sigh. You know you didn’t.
She hurt me, plain and simple. I thought I loved her; fuck, I think I did love her back then, and she hurt me.
Seeing her again that night at Red brought up so many feelings for me.
But no, I never hated her. I couldn’t hate her. Believe me, I tried.
I won’t let anyone hurt her again. Mia Cavallo is mine, and I protect what’s mine.
I’ll kill anyone that even tries to come near her.
I mean it.