Chapter 15

Kia The blood was still dripping down through the knife. Harmony approached me in two steps and her face was dark with an ugly scowl. “WHO. ARE. YOU?”

I felt a dry throat. I didn’t understand what I should say. My one wrong move might cause me trouble even if it would risk my life and I didn’t want to die not before my revenge, not before Vivian, “They came here to kill....” my word died when Harmony hit me right on my face.

“Don’t act innocent!!” She grabbed me by the hair. “I’d told you to think before taking any fucking step. Because you ended up in the worst place, Kiara.”

I would kill her in a few seconds. I would not take the time to bleed her to death. I had never faced a woman like my opponent before. But she was asking for it. I clenched my hand into a fist, struggling to control my will to kill her.

“Let her go, Harmony,” I heard a deep masculine voice and for the first time, I felt panic in my chest. It was Vivian. My knife was left out of my clutch and collapsed to the floor with a thud sound. Harmony let me go and I was grimacing with pain. I fixed my gaze on him, but his eyes were trailing down to my body. My bloody dress, boots and even I had a little spot of blood on my skin. Then his eyes moved to the print of my bloody boots. He silently followed the footprints into the washroom. His six men stayed at their place, and one of them was Leonardo.

He was watching me with pity in his eyes.

I hate pity.

“Kia,” Alice appeared from the corner of the corridor. She didn’t even notice the surrounding men while heading toward me. “Are you alright?”

Before she could reach me, Vivian came in time and grabbed her arm, and stopped her. “No!”

She was trying to snatch away her hand. “Vivian, are you crazy?! Do you think she would harm me?” She hissed at him, “let me go to her,” she was speaking like that because she didn’t see me with a knife. She did not know what I had done ten minutes ago. She looked at me with soft eyes, “Kia, are you hurt?”

I wanted to laugh at her. How innocent she was? She didn’t even see how cruel I looked. How viciously I had killed those three bastards. But Vivian had assumed everything. He had known the entire story without even hearing it. He stared at me with a different look, the look which I had never seen before, and it was furious. I didn’t read what he was thinking but I could guess that he wouldn’t spare me this time. And I wouldn’t make it happen.

Immediately I approached him and hugged him tightly, “They tried to kill me.....” I whispered, “I was scared,” he didn’t hug me back and fixed me at his place. And the next moment he grabbed my wrist and pulled me away from him like I was dirtying his three-piece expensive suit.

“Stay still where you are!!” He snapped and faced Alice next, “And you, it would be better if you walked out of here as soon as you can! Because Henry won’t appreciate it when he knows what happened here?”

Alice glared at him coldly. She opened her mouth to say something but shut it up after seeing Vivian’s horrible expression. Her hazel eyes softened to me. “I should not have asked you to go shopping.” she glanced at Vivian. “He had refused me, but I was too stubborn.”

She was blaming herself. I was glad she had asked me. I was glad I had met a person like her. She was a selfless and kind woman. She did nothing wrong. “No, Alice. It was my mistake, yesterday,” I said honestly. If I didn’t go to the club last night, it wouldn’t have happened.

The confusion was written on her face, but she didn’t raise a single question and walked away, leaving me alone with Vivian and his men.

“Take her to my office,” Vivian ordered his men in his authoritative tone and glanced at me before turning his back. “And clear this mess,” he pointed to the washroom and the man, laying lifeless. “And yes, inform the manager, it’s all happened under my order,” he said and walked ahead.

One of his men grabbed me by the arm, shoving me ahead. I kept my mouth shut and started following them quietly. As a group of mafia men was passing through the crowd, all the people were watching them with fearful eyes. Most of them were looking at Vivian as he was walking straight with confidence, didn’t give a fuck if he was the biggest criminal in the city. A small part of me wanted to be near him. But he didn’t even look back at me.

We went out of the mall. The four black cars were already there waiting for us. Vivian slid into his black Mercedes-Benz. And next, Leonardo and Harmony went into their black SUV. After that, I climbed into the last car. The driver was already behind the wheel and next Max took the passenger seat. He glanced at me briefly, “Are you alright, Miss Stefan?”

I was not okay!

I was in danger under your boss’s territory. I wanted to scream that, but I gave him a slight nod before adjusting myself comfortably. We finally arrived after half an hour of driving. The driver parked the car in the underground garage.

“This way, Ma’am,” Max guided me. He was the only person who was treating me politely. Even Leonardo didn’t talk to me.

“Max, call me Kia,” I said, “I’m not your boss.”

He nodded with a rough smile. “Sure.”

We entered through the black-colored giant gate. I looked at the other side. Muscular men were in black uniforms guarding the building. I assumed black was the mafia’s sign-color because I had never seen Vivian other than black. The wall was black, even the floor was also dark; the air filled with the smell of cigarettes and booze, and I was struggling to breathe.

Max led me to the elevator, where he pressed for the top floor. After a few minutes, the elevator door clicked open, and we walked out. I felt a slight trembling of my hands and sometimes dizziness. I did not know what Vivian's intention was.

“Can you guess what your boss is going to do with me?” I asked him.

He shrugged. “Honestly, I can’t guess him. He is an unpredictable man.”

We passed through the hinge glass door before stopping in front of a black wooden door. How deep was his den? He knocked before entering. “Come in,” Vivian’s deep voice came out. We walked into the office. He was sitting on his high-backed chair and tapping his fingers impatiently on the table. There was nothing in his office except the large wooden table, two chairs, and a black couch in the corner of the room's corner. Everything was black like his black heart. “You may go, Max.”

Max followed his order and walked out of the room. I remained at my place, waiting for him to say something.

“Sit down, Kiara,” his voice was cold.

I approached the chair in front of him and sat down. Why was I behaving like a puppy? Why was I scaring him? I tried to straighten myself, but my body didn’t cooperate with me. I raised my eyes, and a shiver ran down my spine when I met his gaze.

“Who’re you?” He narrowed his eyes.

“You know me, “I said simply. He said nothing, just watching my every move. His deep blue eyes were piercing into me. “They were trying to kill me, but I killed them.”

He abandoned his chair and stood up while removing his jacket. and rolled the sleeve to his elbows, revealing his black ink. It made him look even scarier. “You killed those people, that’s why I am asking you, who are you?”

My palm was sweaty, and my throat was dry. “Do you want to kill me?” I raised my eyes at him, and he was towering over me.

He bent down, placing both hands on the arm of the chair. Now we were facing each other. His sweet, musky smell hit my nose. I didn’t know how I was smelling? Maybe I smelled blood, sweat, and coffee. “This is not my answer, Miss Kiara Stefan. And you’re going to tell me every detail.”

“I was enjoying my coffee with Alice. Then someone knocked on me and all my coffee poured down on my dress. I went to the washroom to clean myself, but before I could get into it, three men appeared in front of me. I was scared. I couldn’t understand what to do. I could run away from them, but it was Alice. It would not only put my life at risk but also Alice’s life. And I didn’t want to involve her,” I was using Alice to soften him. I knew he had a soft spot for her. “Then, I tricked them.”

He was still close to me, his hot breath fanning across my face. But his expression was still unreadable. “How did you trick them?”

This part I didn’t want to tell him, but I chose to be honest, “They thought I was your girlfriend, but I denied it and told them I was just your whore, and I came here to kill you,” I swallowed and met his gaze, something dark flickered in his eyes.

He stood up with a quick jerk of my chair. “Then?”

“Then I took one of them in the washroom, baiting him, and at the right time I grabbed the opportunity and sliced his neck.” I didn’t give him details. I didn’t want him to know that I had used my knife to kill him.

“It was professional!” He hissed.

“What?” I frowned in confusion.

“It was professionally cut, Kiara. You can’t kill people in a single slice if you haven’t practiced your knife skill. And it clearly showed that you are a professional killer.”

Again, I didn’t understand what to say. After a few minutes, “I have been fighting for four years,” I was not scared of death, but I feared my past. And I didn’t want to share my past with anyone else. My past was a horrible nightmare.

He quickly turned around facing me, “Four years?!”

I averted my gaze, clutching the fabric of my jeans, “When I was nineteen, someone killed my father and brother. After that, my mother and I became miserable and helpless. There was no way to go. We had no relatives even though we hadn’t enough money to shelter ourselves. Men stared at me with dirty eyes, a few of them tried to rape me because I was their easy target,” I shook my head, “But I never lost my courage and kept fighting them for me and my mother. But one day came when my skill didn’t work out and Guarin took me into his business,” it was a half-truth and half-lie, “I have been fighting with for four years and I didn’t realize when it has changed into a professional.”

I made it professional. I had trained in martial arts and knife fighting.

He said nothing, quietly observing me. His expression was cold and unreadable.

I cleared my throat, “If you take me as a betrayer then I’m ready to accept your punishment, Vivian,” I was spoiling my plan, but I had no other way either, “If you think self-protection is a crime then that’s fine.”

He clenched his jaw. “Self-protection is not a crime. But betrayal is Kia.” he gave me a hard look, “I don’t fucking know your past and I do not intend to know. But what have you done today is forced me to think twice about you?”

“Then I’m ready for your punishment.”

“I’ll not punish you, Kiara,” his eyes softened briefly, “You have to return to your place before that fucker can do anything to you because you do not know what you have fucked up. You’ve killed Eric’s men. And you don’t know who Eric Wilson is.”

I studied his face to find something, something soft because he was sounding concerned. “I know he wouldn’t be worse than you.”

He smiled darkly, “Believe me, I’m the worst, Kia.” He came closer to me, and his eyes dropped to my lips for a few seconds before returning to my eyes.

“Then why not show him his place? Let’s see who is the worst,” I whispered.

He laughed roughly, “I can’t risk war against him. You aren’t worth it, Kiara. I can’t risk my men’s life for you. It would be better if you stay out of my territory. And this is your punishment.”

“What about our deal? Don’t you want me to be your girlfriend anymore?”

He slid his hand into the pocket of his pants. “No! Alice would have come to know everything. And she may have suspected that we’re pretending to be in a relationship. But now I don’t need this damn fake relationship.”

I stood up and kept my head high. “This time I won’t plead, Mr. Vivian Miller. My pride comes first, and I don't care if Guarin comes after me. I won’t beg you.” I turned around to leave.

“Kia, my men will accompany you to your last destination. You’ll get my complete security, and you’ll take your flight the day after tomorrow.”

You aren’t worth it Kiara.

These words were echoing in my mind again and again. After a long time, I felt a slight pain in my heart. I didn’t know what that was. But I hated this feeling. I turned around, looking at him again. He was in the same spot. But then what came to him he turned to me and gave me a beautiful smile, “Believe me, Kia. I won’t let anything happen to you.”

Again, I felt his warmth.

Stop it, Kia.

He is your enemy.

He is your family murderer.

“I know you won’t. I hope you will never miss me, Vivian,” I said and walked out of his sight.

I walked straight. I was angry. I was angry with me and Vivian. I had spoiled my plan. Now he was throwing me out of his territory, out of New York.

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