Chapter 113 Aftermath{Rosie}

Chapter 113 Aftermath{Rosie}
All I heard was loud ringing. My body felt light and unstable while my brain tried to decipher what just happened. The flames were still blowing out against the soles of my feet even though I was wearing a pair of flip-flops. 

It took a while for me to realize I was still lying on the floor, face in dirt. Weakly, I placed my hands against the ground and tried to push myself up, but Brad was already there to assist me, or so I thought. 

He roughly pulled me up like I weighed nothing and aggressively shook me by my shoulders. My vision blurred, and I frowned at his rude behavior. He was talking to me, but his words were muted; I couldn't hear a thing but the still loud ringing. Soon, I started hearing voices, but they were distant.

Brad manhandled me like I was some type of rag doll he wanted to tear into pieces. “You knew!”

All of a sudden his shouting pierced my eardrums. Other sounds around me became increasingly clear, and the mind fog disappeared. I blinked rapidly, breathing fast and heavily as I looked around me. 

No. 

"No," the whisper fell off my mouth like a feather in the wind. The house…the house Kieran bought for me… the house i woke up in minutes ago, where he yanked Berlo’s tracking device off my neck—

It was a bomb! I thrashed violently in Brad’s hand at the sudden realization. “No! We have to save him!” The tears rolled down uncontrollably. I was screaming at the top of my lungs, fighting to be released. 

Kieran was in that burning house. “We have to save him! No!”  

Brad had to lift me off the ground, but I still fought and kicked the air repeatedly while he carried me away. "Brad, no! Brad, no! Kieran is going to die in there!”

“You should have thought about that before bringing that bomb in here.” Brad grunted as he carried further and further away from the burning house. My chest caved in as my sobs became louder and louder.

"I-I didn't know…I swear.” It was all I could say over and over again. The guilt was killing me, crushing me from the inside. I thought I could outplay Berlo. I thought there was a way out of this. I was wrong. This was a man’s world, and I was nothing but a tool. It was stupid of me to assume otherwise.

Brad got me inside the car, locked it, and went to occupy the driver’s seat. I couldn’t read him; I couldn't understand him. It wasn’t until he dialed a number on his phone and started barking orders in Italian that I realized how similar he was to Kieran. It was like watching a younger version of him.

In his words, he kept saying. “The King isn’t dead. Find him alive, or I will end you and your family.”

I didn't need a translator to translate the king as Kieran. Although his voice was a bit shaky, I could tell he was doing all he could to stay in control and act in a way Kieran would be proud of. 

Kieran was not dead. I shook my head, confirming my assumption without any proof, just pure belief. A man like Kieran doesn't just die like that. 

Never. 

Brad ended the call and gripped the steering wheel so tightly his knuckles turned grim white. The fire reflected in the windshield, turning his face into something carved from anger and smoke.

He wasn’t even driving with the gentleness and calmness I was used to. He was rough and fast, like he was running from something.

“Turn the car around,” I whispered.

He didn’t move.

“Brad.”

"No,"

“No.” he spoke with finality. His eyes were dark with intent. Brad’s jaw flexed. “If he’s alive, he doesn’t need you running into a burning house.”

"But—"

“But what?” he cut me off angrily, glancing back for a mere second just to send me a look of annoyance. Wow. Look how quick I went from being the madam to being a brat. I only remembered at that moment that Brad and I started off on the wrong foot in the very beginning. That was the first time he was rude to me. And this was the second time he was completely mean and cold.

“What do you plan on doing when you walk into a burning building?” he asked incredulously. “All you’re going to do is get in the way. Boss gave me the order to reallocate you, and that’s what I'm going to do, so sit back and be quiet.”

His attitude stung. This wasn’t our relationship before, and while I understand the reason for the sudden switch, I wasn't comfortable with it one bit.

I blink away the tears in my eyes and draw in a deep breath. “I am telling you the truth when I say I had no idea the pendant carried a bomb. I only thought it was a tracker.” I spoke slowly and carefully so he could hear the sincerity in my voice.

We were out of the estate now and on the main road. I suddenly felt exposed. What if Brad was still tracking me? What if I was being followed? Paranoia made it hard for my body to relax. Now I wasn’t sure if Kieran was okay. He should be. He must be.

“Trust me when I say that I don't give a flying fuck if you’re lying or not.” The hostility in Brad’s voice took me off guard. I had never heard him speak in such a cold manner before. I couldn’t even meet his eyes in the mirror.

“But the moment you pose a threat to Boss’s life is the day I kill you.”

I could not even swallow the lump of fear in my throat; the car suddenly became too small, too tight. But if there was one thing I was sure of, it was that Kieran was not dead. A dead Kieran is a dead Rosie for sure. I was

The route Brad took was unfamiliar too. I looked around confused. “Where are we going, Brad?”

Brad took a while to respond. 

“Somewhere nobody can find you.”