Chapter 4
CHAPTER FOUR
Jade
After realizing that Malachi is not going to change his mind and let me return home, I turn my attention to the passing lights, trying to come up with a plan that can get me out of this mess.
A lot happened at that party, but I never thought it would end with a Kavanagh driving off with me on the passenger seat.
“Why are you stopping?” I notice the care slowing down and Malachi pulling on the side of the road.
“I’m getting you some food,” Malachi breaks the silence.
“I’m not hungry,” I lie.
The truth is that I’m starving, but my pride doesn’t allow me to tell him that.
“I told you already, I need you alive, otherwise you are of no use to me,” he replies, stepping out of the car.
My hand immediately reaches for the door handle but he locks it from the outside before I can reach it.
“Damn it!”
“Don’t get any funny ideas,” he warns me.
Everything happened so fast, I didn’t have time to pick up my phone.
I could have called one of my cousins to come pick me up.
Even though I doubt Papà will let all of this slide without a blood bath.
Malachi might be a pain in the ass, but he’s the first person that isn’t afraid to provoke Papà. Or Nolan.
The thought of Nolan sends shivers down my spine and I bring my knees to my chest, hugging both of my legs tightly.
I’m almost naked, hungry, and furious.
“Wait…” I only then realize that Malachi might have a second phone hidden somewhere in the car.
I take my seatbelt off, wondering for a second where to even start. The place is so clean and organized, it almost resembles a dentist’s office. I wouldn’t be surprised if he disinfected the car regularly, given how it smells.
My heart skips when I realize that the smell might not be because he’s a germophobe or has some strange sort of OCD.
Don’t think about it, Jade!
As I’m about to move to the backseat and continue my search, Malachi opens the passenger seat door, stopping me in between the seats, with one foot on the front, and the other in the back.
He blinks, his face not showing any kind of emotion, and I feel the heat in my cheeks rise.
I quickly jump back into the front seat, pulling my dress down to cover myself properly.
Or at least as much as I can, considering the length of the dress only covers so much.
He drops two large paper bags on my lap before closing the door.
I remain frozen, not sure what to do or say. The smell of a burger and fries fills the air, making my stomach howl in pain.
Maybe I can have a bite or two.
“I told you I wasn’t hungry,” I say once he turns the engine.
“And I told you you are no use to me dead,” he says, keeping his eyes on the road. “Eat. Don’t make me force you.”
“Aren’t you worried I might stain your spotless car?” I raise an eyebrow, but my hand is already half-way in the bag, aiming for the burger.
“Fun fact about cars, they can be cleaned.”
“Right,” I pull out the burger with one hand and then the fries. “What’s in the other bag?” I realize late that I should have checked the other bag before getting both of my hands full.
“Soda, water, and dessert.”
The realization hits me like a truck. He is incredibly considerate for someone of his reputation.
“Just eat the food,” he says coldly.
I don’t need to be told twice to dive into my totally unhealthy meal. “God, it’s delicious!”
It might be the first time I allow myself to eat like nobody is watching, after spending a lifetime following proper etiquette, as Mamma always insisted, and being side-eyed every time I would indulge in something Mamma considers unhealthy. And it feels good.
Before I even realize, my attention fully on devouring the burger and the fries, we arrive at what I assume is Malachi’s home.
I don’t know what would be worse; that he brought me to a place where he lives with his brothers.
Or the thought of being completely alone with him in the house, which makes me a little more self-aware than I would like to admit.
“Where are we?” I ask, cleaning myself up with a napkin
“Let’s go.”Hhe opens the door for me.
“So, to recap tonight’s events,” I follow him, carrying the paper bags with me. “You basically show up at my party, eavesdrop, propose, then kiss me to make Nolan react, and then abduct me?”
“This not an abduction, Jade.”
I follow him inside into a large open concept living room, surprised at how homey and beautiful everything is.
Even though the house where I live with my parents is luxurious and filled with designer objects, it always lacked the homey feeling.
Malachi’s house is a lot smaller than what I’d have expected from him and judging by the lack of servants and security, I’m starting to wonder if he really lives here or if it’s one of the many properties his family owns.
“Then what do you call a situation where you created danger with the purpose to control me and keep me locked up in your house?”
“First of all,” he takes a deep breath, turning to face me. “You’re not being locked up in my house. And secondly, even if I had never showed up in your life, you would be in danger simply in Nolan’s presence.”
“And I’m not in danger with you?”
He doesn’t answer. He’s close enough for me to feel the warmth of his minty breath on my skin, making me realize that my breath probably smells like fast food, and I instantly look away.
“You’re bleeding,” my eyes land on his shirt drenched in blood. I was too busy sulking and then eating, to even realize that his wound had never stopped bleeding.
“It’s fine,” he pulls away.
“Let me take a look at it,” I insist. “You got shot because you were protecting me,” I say, determined.
“Have you ever stitched a wound before?” he asks, not bothering to hide his suspicion.
“Plenty of times,” I shrug. “I wouldn’t call myself a pro, but my cousins have a tendency to get into gun fights as if it’s a normal Tuesday afternoon activity, and I learned by watching them do it. “Just tell me where you keep the medical supplies,” I leave my paper bags on the coffee table.
“In the bathroom, second door on the right.”
I head down the hallway to the bathroom and quickly find the first aid kit. When I return to the living room, I find Malachi seated on the sofa, his suit jacket draped over the back. The blood stain on his elegant shirt looks even worse now.
“That’s nasty,” I set the kit on the coffee table and join him on the sofa. “If you had only kept to yourself without butting in into my life, you wouldn’t be bleeding right now.”
“It’s hardly the first time I got shot.”
“Doesn’t make my point any less true,” I say, watching him struggle to take his shirt off. Now that the adrenaline is washing off, he can barely lift his arm enough to unbutton it. I let him struggle trying to unbutton it with just one hand, and then I push his hand down. “Let me.”
The warmth of his skin hits me immediately but I try not to care about admiring how good looking he is or how great of a physique he has. I unbutton it, barely even looking at him, and then gently roll it over his shoulders.
“Are you trying to make it worse on purpose?” He growls when the shirt slides over the wound.
“Yes,” I say, coldly, even though it’s not true.
“You need to understand that Nolan now sees you as part Kavanagh, as someone who’s on our side, and that makes you his enemy.”
He sounds incredibly put together for someone who has lost this much blood and it takes a minute longer than I’d like to admit to get my thoughts in order once his exposed torso is on full display.
The thing that surprises me the most is the number of minimal tattoos he has hidden beneath his clothes.
“You’re staring.” His voice snaps me out of my thoughts and I look down at the first aid kit, hoping he doesn’t notice the sudden heat flushing my face. I swallow, a part of me wanting to kick myself suddenly for reacting to him.
I can’t really tell him it’s not only him that is distracting me but that it’s the first time I’m seeing a naked man. Sure, I stitched a wound or two on my cousins, but they didn’t require anyone to take their clothes off. And even if it had, they were my own cousins.
“I don’t really care about the beef between your family and his,” I continue, trying to sound as put together as I possibly can as I pour a decent amount of alcohol on the wound and start cleaning it. “I just don’t want my family to be in the middle of it.”
“You don’t know Nolan.” He doesn’t even flinch, his face remaining calm even as I continue rubbing the open wound. “The moment your father got involved with him, you were already in danger.”
I don’t know why, but I believe him. Ever since I first met Nolan, I knew he wasn’t good news. In fact, I hate the fucking guy. Every time he put his disgusting hands on my back, I wished for nothing more than to cut it off myself. Not that I would, but I had fantasized about it.
“Still,” I carefully drop my gaze to the coffee table. “Our deal is off.”
“Just like that?” He flinches when the needle pokes through his skin.
I continue to stitch the wound more carefully.
“Yes,” I say. “You hid your identity from me and used me in your little war against Nolan. That’s more than enough for the deal to be off.”
“I’m still a better option for you than he is. And if you marry me, you get a white marriage… Until you decide otherwise.”
I lift up my head, this time meeting his eyes and regretting it immediately when my chest tightens and a sudden rush of heat pools between my legs.
What is it about this man?
“I was not planning on marrying Nolan either,” I say, hoping to sound indifferent.
“Your father won’t allow you not to, and you know that.”
I do. “Papà can’t control me or what I do, I’ll just flee the country if it comes to that.”
“He’d find you,” Malachi insists, and I know he’s right. Papà wouldn’t stop until he finds me, he’d turn every rock if necessary, and he’d get to me. “My offer is your only escape. We’ll have separate rooms and we won’t act like a couple in private.”
“And why should I believe anything you’re saying?” I stop stitching his wound for a brief moment to look up at him again. His face looks serious. “You already lied to me once, you could easily be lying now as well.”
“I wasn’t lying before,” He responds. “I was just pacing the amount of information I shared with you.”
“Right.”
“Besides, I’m dying to make this deal.”
“Is that so?” I ask, sarcastically. “Because annoying Nolan doesn’t bring you any kind of pleasure?”
He smiles before adding. “Because living together creates a shitload of problems for me,” Malachi looks past my shoulder.
“You’re a crude,” I say, focusing on packing the first aid supplies back in their bag.
“I guess that’s an upgrade from crazy,” he says.
I hate how this man just decided to walk into my life and affect me like this.
I hate how wet my underwear is right now, and I hate knowing how he’d gloat if he knew about it.
But what I hate more than all of that is that, besides not being particularly friendly, he doesn’t make me feel like I’m being traded.
“Come on,” he gets back to his feet. “I’ll show you your bedroom.”
He leads me into a huge, but very dull bedroom. It’ll need a lot of redecorating if it’s ever going to be mine. “You have until morning to think this through and decide if you’ll take me up on my offer.”
“Okay,” I stop at the foot of the king-sized bed.
“I’ll leave clean clothes and towels for you in the bathroom,” he continues. “If you need anything else, let me know.”
“All my stuff,” I blurt out before even realizing that the words left my mouth.
He pulls out his phone from the pocket and hands it to me with the notes app open. “Write down anything you need and I’ll make sure you get it.”
I take the phone and quickly type the first things that come to mind.
“Why do you hate the Devlins so much?” I ask.
“That’s a story for another day.” He takes his phone back, and leaves the room without another word.