Chapter 41

Vivian “What are you going to do this weekend?” Leo asked shyly.

I frowned and glanced at both of them through the rearview mirror.

“I haven’t planned yet. Maybe I’ll spend my weekend at my house.” Lucian replied and fixed his gaze through the window.

“Oh. You don’t have a girlfriend?” Leo asked.

Lucian flushed and smiled awkwardly. “I am homosexual. I like men. I had been in a relationship for two years but broke up recently. Now I am looking for someone.”

“Would you like to join me this weekend? I enjoy talking with you.”

“I’d like to but..” Lucian glanced at me through the rearview mirror. “...I am feeling guilty.”

“Guilty for what?”

“I don’t think I deserve you,” Lucian muttered.

Leo didn’t say anything, waiting for him to clear up everything.

“I had hit you...I mean, not intentionally.”

I glanced at him over my shoulder. “What are you talking about, Lucian?” I asked.

He scratched the back of his neck, lowering his gaze. “This happened when I and Kiara wanted to kill you. We had planned to make Leo believe Kiara was actually in trouble. And then we had created that scene where I pretended to be her kidnapper. But to save her, Leo pointed his gun at me but had not seen my face. And that time I hit him with a rod.”

I tightened my grip around the steering wheel. “Oh, it was you who hit Leonardo, and what about Kiara’s arm? How did she get injured?”

“She had shot herself so that you could believe her,” Lucian said.

A wave of anger rushed into my veins. She fucking risked her life so that she could succeed in her plan.

“But you didn’t do it purposely, did you? You just helped your friend. It is okay with me.” Leo said softly and annoyed me with his generosity.

“Are you sure?” Lucian asked with a hint of happiness. “How old are you?”

“I am nineteen and you.”

“I am three years older than you. I am twenty-two.” Lucian laughed. “I think we are going to have so much fun together.” He paused for a moment. “But only after Kiara.”

“Don’t worry, she’ll be fine,” Leo assured.

I hope she will be.

Ten minutes later, we boarded my private jet to Philadelphia. My men had already made all the arrangements. They were just waiting for me. As soon as I took my place, my phone rang out and Wayne’s name appeared on the screen. “Wayne. Have you found her?” I asked in an authoritative tone.

“According to what you sent us pictures of that hottie..” Before he could complete his words.

“Mind your words, Wayne.” I snapped.

I heard him clearing his throat. “I mean that girl. My men saw her at the international airport.”

“Have you caught her?”

He snorted because of the interruption. “Let me complete it first.”

I kept silent.

“My men saw her in an oversized black coat, and she had hidden her face. But her features were clearly defined by Kiara.” He said and paused for a second. “But the very next moment, she disappeared from my men as if she came to know that someone was following her.”

Fuck!

“And.” My tone came dangerously.

“And the good news is that she did not take any of the International flights, which means she is still in Philadelphia. I think she will consider taking a flight the next day or maybe in the evening. Don’t worry, Vivian. We’ll certainly have her till you come here. I am looking forward to meeting you.” He said.

“Do not let me down, Wayne. I want her at any cost.” I said desperately, knowing how it sounded. It must show me weakness. Let’s keep pride aside for a day. I hung up the phone, running my hand through my hair.

“I am not a big fan of chocolates,” Lucian said, smiling at Leo.

I rolled my eyes. Two love birds met each other. But I did not invite Lucian for this purpose. I had a different plan in my mind. “Lucian,” I called him out. “Come over here. I want to talk to you.”

He was hesitating as if I would strangle his neck. He came over to me and took the front seat. “Do you know anything about her?” He asked.

I leaned over in my seat. “Yes, I have gotten some information about her, and it has been confirmed she is in that city. She must have gone to her relative for help or money and booked a flight to another country. She wanted to leave me forever as if I don’t have my men in other countries.” I tightened my clutch around the glass. “She will sit here beside me by tomorrow.”

He rubbed his hands together, avoiding my gaze. “I feel like I have betrayed her. Being her best friend, she would never want me to give her personal information to anyone, not even to you.” He met my gaze. “I should not have told you about her relative. She’ll hate me.”

I shook my head. “She wants me, Lucian. I don’t want her to go anywhere in that condition. She is my responsibility.”

He smiled, which was genuine. “Now I came to know what in you she falls for you. You have a huge heart.”

I ran my fingers through the hair. “The motive for bringing you with us is that I want to know about Kiara’s past. I want to know every detail of her in these four years.”

Anger flashed across his face, and his hands clenched into fists. “She would never want this. It is disloyalty. I can’t tell you anything about her without her permission.”

I leaned forward to him, meeting his eyes. “You will tell me everything about her.” I was not saying but threatening him. “Trust me, her pain is more important than your loyalty. I swear I’ll wipe out every man who has touched her in these four years.”

He swallowed, bowing his head down. “I’ll tell you everything about her only on a condition.”

“What condition?”

He lifted his gaze. “You won’t tell her you know about her past.”

I gave him a nod. “I’ll try.”

He let out a long sigh before starting. “She thought you had killed her father and brother until she found out the truth. While you were hunting her brother to kill him, he went to his parents for help. But his father refused him and in response, Fabian shot his father. Did you know that?”

“I was extremely furious that I didn’t notice his dead father. I just wanted that bastard, and I took him without looking back. I didn’t even know that he had a sister.” I said.

He nodded, looking at his lap. “After her father’s death, everything had changed. Her mother suffered from lung cancer and Kiara was pursuing her dream. She wanted to become a doctor.” He took my reaction, but I kept my face stoic. “She had already lost two members of her family and she didn’t want to lose her mother, so she hooked up with every rich man in Chicago for money and most of them were criminals. They mistreated her.” He shook his head. “I can’t give you details. How are prostitutes being treated in the world of the Mafia? Who would know better than you? After all, you are the boss of the Mafia.”

I let out a shuddered breath.

“I thought she was raped,” I said.

He quickly averted his eyes like he didn’t want me to share this part.

“Lucian.”

“It was the worst part.” He whispered, and his face went pale. “She will never forgive me.”

I squeezed his hands tightly, warning him. “I will always protect her. Even if I have to lay my life on the line. I won’t let anything happen to her and I know you want her best. I want to know the name of that fucking bastard so that I can torture him and carve out each part of his body.”

“Did you do the same with Guarin?” He asked silently.

I nodded. “Now he is fighting for life. I have kept him alive so that he has suffered as much pain as possible.”

“But you had not done this with me? You had tortured me, but not that much.”

“She loves you and you love her. It is all written on your face. How could I kill you, you meant everything to her?”

“And you say you have no feelings for her?” He teased me.

My jaw clenched. “I am not a man of sweet talk, especially with gay.”

He flushed. “It’s not like I am interested in you. You are handsome but more dangerous than this. Whenever you watch me, I feel you are undressing me through your terrified eyes.” His cheeks reddened.

Undressing Lucian. I felt as if I would puke at any moment.

I straightened myself. “I asked you about Kia, not about your interest.”

Again, his eyes fell into sadness. “She was being captured by that man for three months. He had tortured her, raped her, and marked every inch of her body. She has many scars on her body.” He closed his eyes for a moment. “He had broken her completely and taken away her innocence. I don’t know the details I had heard through her mother. Because Kiara would never tell these things to anyone.”

Anger burned down my body. I felt a powerful urge to carve out every inch of that bastard’s body. “His name.” My voice rasped due to anger.

He shook his head. “I don’t know his name.”

dammit!

*******

Finally, we landed in Philadelphia. I got up to my feet while adjusting my suit. Leo and Lucian followed me. Wayne had already sent his men to pick us up. I slid into the passenger seat and both of them were in the back seat. The driver drove us to Wayne’s place. It was a greyish color building that was surrounded by a dozen men. When the car pulled over through the giant steel gate, a man quickly approached us and opened my door. I went out.

“It’s nice to see you here, Vivian.” A distant voice said, and I turned to Wayne. He was a tall and lean man that reminded me of Colson Baker. He had worn a red shirt that had a white printed design and brown pants.

He reached me, plastering his permanent lop-sided smile. He shook my hand. “I am glad to see you too, Wayne.” I gave him a tight smile. “Where is she? As always, you have not disappointed me.”

“She passed out.” He said with a hint of hesitation.

I narrowed my eyes on him. “What did you say? She passed out! What did you do with her?”

“You didn’t inform us that she has an angry tigress underneath her beautiful body. She has wounded two of my men. She knows very well how to play with a knife.” He said, annoyingly.

I heard Lucian chuckle.

“Where is she?” I asked through my teeth.

“In this way,” Wayne said, and led us to the elevator. “If I did not stop her, she would have killed my two men.”

I gave him a warning look to stop his bullshits.

We entered the elevator, and he pressed the button for the top floor. We rode up and went out after a few minutes. “Do you want me to come inside the room with you?” Wayne teased and chuckled.

“I would be glad if you would come with me to my torture room.” I hissed and went inside without catching his reaction.

The room was clean but small. When my eyes caught her petite figure, I felt lighter in my heart and strange happiness grew inside me. She was lying on the bed, unconscious. I went closer to her. Her head was to my side and her hand rested against her flat belly. She was looking tired, and her dark brown hair dispersed across the pillow. I sat down beside her and brushed a few strands of hair from her face. Her lips were glossy, ready for my kiss. But I could not kiss her in this condition. I had kissed her a month ago and fuck, I had been longing for her.

Someone knocked on the door. I knew who they were. “Come in,” I allowed them inside.

“Is she still unconscious?” Lucian asked while approaching us.

I ran my fingers through my hair. “I don’t know how long she will stay like this? And I can’t stay here for a long time because Harley needs me.”

“Then we should leave,” Leo said while glancing at Kiara.

I nodded. “Inform Wayne that we are leaving.”

When we got into the car. Leo’s phone rang out. “Harmony.”

“Hey, Leo, where have you been? And what about the boss?” She said I could hear her through Leo’s phone.

“We’re coming back, and we’ve got Kiara,” Leo said with happiness.

“What the fuck? Again, that bitch coming to us!!” she shouted out angrily and my grip tightened around Kiara’s shoulder.

“Mind your fucking language, Harmony!” I snapped, jolting the driver.

“Umm...I am sorry, Boss..” She shuttered.

Leo quickly hung up the phone and slipped it into his pocket silently.

********

Kia’s fingers moved, and she let out a rushed breath before opening her stunning eyes. I shifted closer to her. She watched me for a moment as if she didn’t recognize me.

“Kia,” I whispered.

“V-Vivian..” She was watching me with a look of utter shock on her face. But after a moment, she quickly pulled herself from my grip and cowered in fear.

Was she scared of me?

“You don’t have to scare me, Kia..” I tried to soften my voice.

She pushed her body as far as she could. “W-Why are you...” She swallowed hard, trying to mask her brave face. “I won’t give you my baby, Vivian. I won’t give it to you!!” Tears filled her eyes, but she didn’t cry.

“What are you talking about?”

“You are acting too well as if I know nothing! Don’t pretend to be good, Vivian. I know your every plan very well. I have seen how much you want to get rid of me!”

My jaw tightened. “For a fuck’s sake, will you make it clear?”

“You are allowing me to live with you because I am pregnant with you. And you will keep me until the baby comes. Once the baby comes, you’ll kick me out of your life forever. That’s what you want?” She shook her head as she was fighting back tears.

“This is not you. Who told you this?” I asked and kept my voice low.

“This is me!” She snapped.

I went closer to her, and she stepped back. “I am not that cruel, Kia. I would never separate the mother from her child. How could you think about me like that? I know very well what happens when a mother is separated from her child? I have already experienced it, Kia. Harley was only two when her mother died and fuck nothing worse than that day when I saw a two-year-old without a mother!”

She lowered her eyes and didn’t look at me. Before I could lose my temper, I left the room. I glanced at Harley’s room once she was sleeping peacefully. She wanted to meet Kiara, but I had told her that Kiara was tired and didn’t want to meet.

I went down and entered my office because sleeping was the last thing on my mind. I took a seat and grabbed one of the files. Even though I had a migraine, it didn’t stop me from working. My mind was still wandering around her words. Why would I kick her out of my life? Who told her this? I would never leave that person!

Kiara poked her head into the room. “Are you busy?”

For a moment, I wanted to refuse her inside. I was angry at her. How could she trust someone like that? “I am working, but you can come.”

She came inside. Her movements were slow as if she was hesitating to come closer to me. “It is three in the morning, and are you still awake?”

Frowning, I looked at her. “I have work, and what are you doing here?”

She bit her lips as thinking of the right answer. “I wanted to talk to you.”

I shut down the file. “If you think that, I’ll throw you out of the house after the baby arrives then, you are thinking wrong. I won’t do it, Kia. And if you are still insecure....”

“I was scared, Vivian.” She cut me off. “You scared me that night.”

“I was drunk.”

“You were angry at me as if you had lost your wife because of me.”

“Because of your brother..” I put down the file. “Let’s get to the point. Who told you that?”

She bowed her head down. “I thought that...”

I quickly stood up approaching her. “But you were not thinking of anything like this for a month. Then how come suddenly this thought popped into your mind?”

“I told you I was scared that night.” She chewed her lips.

She was lying.

I lifted her chin so that she could meet my eyes. “Are you trying to save that person who wanted our separation?”

“I am trying to save myself from being called stupid.” She said, “Who told you?”

“I got a call that night. I don’t know her name.”

“Her. It means woman.” My eyes dropped to her lips, feeling a powerful urge to claim those. “Can you give her the call details?”

She hesitated for a bit before giving me a nod.

“Good. Now leave.” I released her and went back to my seat.

Without waiting for a second, she moved towards the door. When she reached the door. “Kia.”

She stopped and turned to me. “Yes.”

“Will you marry me?”

********