Chapter 24

Sophia

Clara’s knock on the door broke our kiss and made Kieran pull back. If she hadn’t, we wouldn’t be able to stop for sure.

I scurried out as fast as I could, but I didn’t fail to notice Clara’s satisfied smirk. Was she glad she caught us kissing? The smile she tried to hide told me she knew exactly what we were doing, and that embarrassed me to no end.

I returned to my post, collected papers spread over the desk, and took them back to the storage. All along, I moved around like a hypnotized, or better yet, like a zombie. What he did to me was like an anesthetic that made my feet not touch the ground I was walking on. I was weightless and floating on air. And my heart? It threatened to explode! My mind? It was one big jumbled-up mess!

On the way back, I stopped at the restroom, needing to be alone for a few moments to collect myself from the amazing pieces Kieran had broken me into. The girl staring at me from the mirror was completely unfamiliar. Yes, she looked like me. We had the same blue eyes and naturally blond hair, a heart-shaped face, and high cheeks, but those eyes were shining like two stars in the sky, those cheeks were flushed with heat, lips were swollen and red. That girl in the mirror was not me. Yet again, she was me, and she felt like she had never felt before.

Oh, why did he have to do this to me? Why did he have to confuse me more than I was? Why couldn’t things stay as simple as they were in the beginning? Why couldn’t he stay cruel and vicious, aggressive and mean? Because with that Kieran I already knew how to deal with. What the hell am I going to do with this one?

The entire day, I dreaded the moment when I would see him again because I didn’t know how to act. Luckily, I hadn’t seen him until it was time for us to go home.

Nervousness got the best of me while we were in the car on the way home, only a few inches separating us. But as it turned out, there was no reason for my tension, not at all. Kieran acted as if nothing happened earlier today, as if he wasn’t kissing me till we both lost our breaths.

He was a total nut job, and I got sick of it!

Damn you, Kieran King! Damn you to hell!

~ ~ ~

In the following few days, things between Kieran and me changed drastically; a safe and distant relationship we had before he kissed me, and I returned it with all my might was gone like it never existed.

When I complained about how I wouldn’t be able to live monotonous life riffed with uncertainty and stress, I had no idea I would eat my own words without that grain of salt everyone warned about!

Because, boy, was I wrong!

On one hand, Kieran was the protective husband who could set my body on fire with a simple touch, and on the other – he acted like an asshole! His attitude towards me would change when I least expected it and those hot and cold showers he was swamping me over with were overwhelming my senses to the point of driving me insane!

If I didn’t know where the two of us stood before, I was a hundred times more confused by his attitude after he went all ‘great protector’ on me.

Things changed in the office, too. Kieran stopped giving me stupid assignments and started tasking me with taking notes in his meetings, preparing the documentation for them, answering his mail and calls, and as much as it was responsible and more demanding, I enjoyed the change, and if I had to admit to myself, I reveled in the time I was spending with Kieran more than anything else. And that time was getting longer and longer each day.

The chance to watch him, to study him, was too precious to waste, so I used it well. What I discovered in a few days of being around him caused me to rethink everything I thought I knew about him up to that point. For starters, I understood why he was so successful in what he was doing. I’ve never met a man who could turn every deal in his favor, regardless of the reservations the other side had at the start. His negotiating skills were out of this world. I had no idea where the future would take me, but what I decided right at the very first meeting I attended as his secretary was to learn from him because I would never get a better opportunity in life.

As I was going through the notes I took during the conference this morning, the door opened, and Clara peeked through.

“Your husband is expecting you in his office,” she announced. Ever since she barged in on us that day, she stopped addressing him as Mr. King in my presence. He became ‘your husband,’ and it irked me to no end. “Mr. Bailey is there, too.”

What?

Coincidentally or not, at that moment, my phone pinged with a notification, and I grabbed it to see it was a message from the bank. My jaw dropped to the floor at the number it showed as my income. Half a million dollars? I choked on my saliva, and after I caught my breath, my wobbly feet took me to Kieran’s office, where, indeed, the lawyer I recognized from City Hall was.

“Good afternoon, Mrs. King. How are you?” Mr. Bailey greeted me politely.

“Good afternoon, Mr. Bailey. I’m good. How are you?”

“I’m well, thank you. This is for you.” He offered me a white folder, and I reached for it, confused.

I shot a quick glance towards Kieran to see him smirking before I opened the file. The first page of the document stated: ‘Settlement agreement.’ I quickly skimmed it, and after discerning two names, mine with the King surname and John Saunders’; I had no doubts about what I was holding in my hands. A few lines down the page, there was a number, the exact sum I got a few minutes earlier.

“I believe money is already in your account. And the public apology should go live right about now.” He motioned with his hand, and I noticed he had a TV remote in it.

The next second, the flat-screen TV on the opposite wall switched on, with Mr. Saunders’ face being the only thing on it.

‘My name is John Saunders, and some of you might know me as the owner of the restaurant, ‘The Saunders.’ Today, I am asking for forgiveness from my former employee of three years, Mrs. Sophia King. She ran the business for me, holding all the strings in her capable hands, and I did an awful thing to repay her for the hard work she had invested in my business. I attacked her, intending to have intercourse with her against her will, which she evaded. I fired her and told everyone it was the opposite — that she attacked me. I abused my reputation and influence, and I am deeply sorry for that. I only hope that Mrs. Sophia King will find it in her heart to forgive me. Thank you for your time.’

With that, Mr. Bailey switched off the TV, and I was left there to stare at a black screen, not blinking. I assumed Kieran wouldn’t let it slide, but I didn’t think that he would go so far as to destroy my former employer completely. He could survive with half a million less in his account, but having his respective image destroyed publicly? I seriously doubted he would be getting out of it unscratched. For God’s sake, he just declared himself an attempted rapist. He was done.

“One more thing, Mrs. King.” The lawyer was the first to break the silence, and I turned towards him.

He gave me an envelope, and I accepted it.

“Those are new documents with your new name. ID, passport, driving license, and marriage certificate.” I was 100% sure he couldn’t make those in my name without me being present, but I guess different rules apply to people like Kieran.

Mr. Bailey and Kieran exchanged a few more hushed sentences before the lawyer left, and I was alone in the spacious office with my husband. Although I used the term sarcastically, the word “husband” sounded so silly in my head. I doubted I’d ever get used to it, calling him that way.

“We’re going out tonight to celebrate,” Kieran whispered behind my back, and I turned to face him, wondering how he sneaked up on me so quietly.

“Celebrate what?” I failed to see his point.

“This. You getting the justice you deserve and also,” he made a brief pause as he pulled back the strand of my hair that escaped the bun, and I shuddered in sweet anticipation. “Your new documents.” He leaned down to whisper in my ear.

“Those are a felony just like our marriage.” I snarled and took a step back, but Kieran was faster. He grabbed me by the shoulders and pulled me towards him, molding me against his body.

I saw his eyes cast downwards, fixated on my lips. But I turned my head to the side.

Don’t,” I whispered, sure he would understand me perfectly. “You cannot keep doing this to me.”

“Doing what?” His breath tickled my earlobe, causing a hot white pool to form between my thighs. I hated the effect he had on me. I hated it. I hated how good it felt and how much I liked it.

“Playing with me like this. Kissing me one day and acting cold and distant the next. Hating me and telling me I’m no better than the dirt under your shoe before you make my nightmares go away. I can’t live like that, Kieran.” I pleaded. “I’ll go insane.”

His lips on my neck were like the wings of a butterfly, so soft and gentle.

“No. Let me! You have no right….” I protested.

“I have every right to kiss my wife.”

His lips traveled up, following an invisible trail on my skin until they found their way to mine, killing my will to protest and fight. Because I could never resist the feelings his kisses woke in me. Not when I wanted them so much. Not when they felt so good.

So I surrendered, completely and utterly, knowing I was on the brink of falling for the man who could only make me hurt in the end.