Chapter 27
Sophia
With a huff that could do little to make me less annoyed about what I was doing, I added water to a mug in which I had already placed a tea bag, and almost instantly, a chamomile aroma filled the air. ‘I hope it will calm the bitch down,’ I thought as I made my way towards Kieran’s office.
I spotted the woman sitting comfortably in one of the leather chairs, and her posture rang an alarm in my head. Lowering my gaze, I noticed her slightly swollen stomach. Maybe... oh, she was pregnant! The redhead was talking on the phone, so I wordlessly placed the mug on the glass club-table in front of her and hurried out. The air surrounding her seemed thick and heavy, and I needed to be away from it so I could properly breathe.
This day was getting weirder by the second, and I couldn’t seem to wait for the end of the working hours. ‘Maybe I should leave early?’ I considered briefly. It wasn’t like anyone could stop me, and Kieran was MIA. I had no idea where he went or if he was coming back at all. I could get a cab and go home, have a long bath, and relax.
With the plan to take time off and cool my head down from everything that happened, I returned to my office to settle the open files on my desk before I left. There were some preliminary contracts Kieran told me to put on paper and a few reports I wrote, but until I was done with them, it was almost half an hour later and the characteristic ping from the elevator door caught my attention.
‘It must be Clara,’ I thought and hurried out to warn her of the woman in the main office before I took my leave.
Indeed, I saw my dear friend behind her desk with her hands already on the keyboard.
“Hey, Clara. Thank God you’re back!”
“Everything alright?”
“Actually, when I arrived earlier, a woman was standing here. She was looking for Kieran. Even though I explained he was not there, she insisted on waiting in his office, and I could do nothing to stop her. She’s like a typhoon.”
Clara’s face paled as if it was drained of the last drop of blood, and her lower lip trembled when she spoke: “Red hair? Green eyes? Red lipstick?”
Why did she react like I spoke about the Satan incarnated?
“Oh, I’ll be damned!” Clara exclaimed. “That’s Nora!”
Nora? Why did that name sound familiar to me? I sifted through my memories before I gasped in realization. It was the name Kieran mentioned that night when I attacked him.
“She was Mr. King’s fiancée, and she’s bad news,” Clara whispered conspiratorially. “What’s worse, Mr. King came up in the elevator with me.”
I swallowed a lump that rose to my throat, a lump made of fear and rage.
That was what my subconscious was trying to tell me all along. I disliked that woman from the moment I saw her, and I had perfectly good reason. I just wasn’t aware of it.
What was she doing here? Why did she come? What did she want from Kieran? Did she want him back?
The last question froze the blood in my veins and buried my feet in the place. A realization that my dream of getting rid of that arrogant bastard could become a reality hit me like a ton of bricks.
But it wasn’t relief that I felt. It was something entirely different, something completely opposite! At that moment, I realized I didn’t want to let him go.
What the hell was wrong with me? Instead of grabbing the opportunity to get rid of Kieran, I became possessive and jealous?!
Not allowing myself to reconsider my actions, I stormed into Kieran’s office without knocking.
The sight that waited for me there took me aback, and for a few moments, I didn’t know what to do or how to react. What to think of a man that called himself my husband and an incredibly attractive woman that had her arms wrapped around his neck, standing too close to him and trying to pull him in for a kiss?
What surprised me more was Kieran’s reaction, or better yet, the lack of one. He didn’t seem to be pushing her away, nor did he seem to accept her affections. He stood there like a log, like a lifeless being, with pain written all over his face. My instincts told me to go to him and do exactly what he silently asked me to do; to be there for him.
So, I faked a cough, gaining their attention as they both looked in my direction. I locked my eyes with Kieran’s; an unmistakable relief flooded his stormy, dark skies. Before I had a chance to make my next move, the woman I knew as Nora started yelling at me from the top of her lungs.
“Get out! Get out!” She turned to Kieran and ranted: “What kind of secretaries are you employing these days? One is not in her workplace and the other is entering your office without knocking?” She mocked; her voice laced with poison.
“Actually, I’m Kieran’s wife.” I rushed to his side, and he was already a few feet away from Nora. “I didn’t get a chance to introduce myself earlier.”
She looked at me in disbelief for a few seconds, blinking, before she started laughing like crazy with her head tilted back. Well, that was not the reaction I expected, not at all!
“Are you OK?” I whispered to Kieran, but he didn’t answer. I found his hand and held it tightly, wanting to transfer some strength to help him get through this, whatever it was. Only when he squeezed my hand did I know I was doing the right thing; doubts about whether I should interfere were gone.
“You married… this?” Nora gave me one more glance, judging everything about me. “You must be joking! No! That must be a lie, a game you two are playing to mess with me. Mighty Kieran King could not have fallen this low!” she laughed again.
“Why would we lie about being married? Lies are your territory.” For the first time since I interrupted their scene, Kieran spoke. Bitterness rolled off of him in waves, telling me whatever happened between them ended badly. What’s more, he was not over it.
“Oh, dear, you still have no idea… Then I have to congratulate you. I only wish you would survive as a couple after I tell you why I came here today.” Nora stepped back and theatrically placed her hands over her noticeable belly. “I’m pregnant. It’s yours.”
My heart skipped a beat or two before it picked up its pace, beating fast and hard, pumping 100 miles per hour, rushing blood to my brain so rapidly I almost fainted. I tilted my head to find Kieran’s face, to find his eyes, in which I was sure I would see the truth. And the truth I saw. A truth that told me my husband wasn’t the father of the spoken child.
“We both know that’s not possible, Nora. You’re wasting your time trying to screw with my wife and me.” Kieran sounded calm and collected, but the increasing pressure of his hold on me told the opposite.
“I’m pregnant with your child, and I demand you do the right thing!” Nora shrieked like a harpy at Kieran before she turned to me. “You won’t let a baby grow up without a father, will you?” she pleaded, and now I was the one that had to congratulate her. Nora’s capability to change moods and facial expressions was Oscar-worthy!
“Of course not. I could never build my happiness at the expense of a child’s ruined home. That’s why I hope you won’t mind providing me with proof.” Oh, she didn’t expect that. I could see it by the quick shift in her demeanor. “A positive paternal test and I will be out of your hair.” I smiled, not revealing my teeth, enjoying the tiny victory I had won against the beast.
I sounded so confident that I surprised myself because I felt everything but. I was seconds away from falling apart.
“You trust him that much?” Nora wasn’t giving up.
“Yes. I trust him that much.”
Without another word, Nora got her purse and, with face distorted with anger, she slammed the door on her way out.
Once we were left alone, Kieran did the most unexpected thing. He pulled me to him and kissed me like I dreamed he would for so long. And I kissed him back. Not understanding what had just happened and scared of what might happen, I surrendered to him and returned the kiss with all I had in me.
“And that, Sophia, was the reason I married you.”
Confused by everything that happened today, combined with the earth-shattering kiss Kieran blessed me with, I failed to understand what he was referring to.
“You fight like a lioness to protect what’s yours.” He explained it, but I still didn’t get it.
“You’re not mine.”
“Oh, but I am. Just as much as you are mine.”
I wanted to protest, to say something more, to deny it, but all of it died on the tip of my tongue when Kieran’s lips crushed on mine once again.