Chapter 115 Relief{Rosie}

Chapter 115 Relief{Rosie}
For a second, I just stared. Lost words. It placed a pause on the chaos that was happening in our lives, that single question. It threw me back to that time in his office when he insulted my wig and bought me fresh ones as an apology. It made me smile.

I looked to the bed and noticed the wig I wore lying on the bed by the pillow side. When I looked back at Kieran, he too was looking at the wig and then back at me with furrowed eyebrows. 

“Still hiding under a wig," he muttered lowly. His eyes searched me, seeking answers. I was going to give it to him. “Why did you cut it?”

I was going to place my hair behind my ear to soothe my nerves, then I remembered how I ran a sharp pair of scissors through it. Instead, I glanced up at Kieran and tilted my head to the side.

“I didn’t think i’d see you again and i didn’t want Berlo to touch me—"

His laughter caught me off guard. I frowned, confused and slightly hurt. Was he laughing at my bald head or at the fact that I cut my hair to stop Berlo from touching me?

“So you thought cutting your hair would make you look less appealing?” he asked after his laughter calmed.

I felt stupid but didn’t cower in shame, so I nodded.

“Well, did it work?”

I nodded twice but slowly.

His emerald eyes soften in the way that always made my heart melt. “There was nothing you could do," he whispered. “That would never make you look less beautiful, Elizabeth.” He stepped closer, letting my chin rest on his chest, just below his jaw. “And there was no way I was letting you go," He cupped my face and caressed my cheeks. 

I blinked away the tears that had formed in my eyes, but I didn't look away. “I thought you’d be angry. I thought you’d hate me," I said the last part quieter.

He jutted his lips upward and gave his head a little tilt. “I hate that you had to cut your hair.”

I choked out a small laugh. “That’s not what I was talking about.”

He smiled. “Yes, I was furious, but my anger was bigger than the love I have for you, Elizabeth."

Tears pooled in my eyes again.

“And I am still angry; I am very pissed even, but when Granny called to tell me you’ve been kidnapped, I knew Berlo was spewing bullshit to me when he said you came to spy on me.” His hands went lower and stayed on my neck loosely. “I need you to tell me the truth right now, Elizabeth.”

I should have answered, but I just couldn't control myself, so I lifted myself on the tip of my toes and stole a deep kiss from him. The best part was he didn’t push me away. He brought me closer, wrapped his arm around my waist, and deepened the kiss until we both needed air.

I ran my tongue over my lips, tasting him over again as I tried to catch my breath. He rested his head on mine, and it was from his trembling hands that I realized how badly he needed the kiss, just as I did, but I needed more. I almost lost him.

A faint bruise darkened the side of his jaw. A thin cut split his eyebrow. He still smelled of ashes and burnt wood, but he was alive and standing in front of me.

“When the house blew up…..” I shook my head slowly. “I don’t know, Kieran; I didn't realize how scary and lonely my life would get so quickly. I suddenly didn’t want to live anymore. All the fight in me vanished; I—I lost hope.”

“It takes more than that to kill me, Elizabeth.”

A watery laugh escaped me. “I know.”

His eyes searched mine. “Yet, you believed it.”

I swallowed. “Just for a second.”
I was
“So you didn’t want me to die?”

My eyes widened. “Never!” I gripped his massive arms tight. “You have to believe me.”

“I know.”

His confession caught me off guard. I blinked twice. “You knew?”

“The Veil notified me of the bomb, but it wasn’t as accurate. I got far enough to escape and got the debris off myself before the fire team came. The bomb wasn’t in the pendant.”

My body went still.

“It was embedded in the bedroom days ago,” he continued. “Precision placed. Timed to detonate only after the tracker was destroyed.

My knees nearly gave out. “What do you mean? So when I smashed the pendant….”

“You triggered it.”

Silence filled the room. I absentmindedly reach for my neck as if to feel the absent necklace. All this while, I was walking around with a bomb detonator; Berlo was going to make me responsible for the lives of a numerous innocent people.

Berlo didn’t plant a bomb on me. He planted a bomb under us and waited. He calculated Kieran’s reaction really well.

My stomach churned. “He was testing you," I whispered.

“He was testing my control when it comes to you. Whether you make me careless.”

I shook my head. “I never intended to be your weakness.” The tears were coming again. “I left to protect you; I ran away to save the people I love, but Berlo caught me at the airport and dragged me back to hell. I didn’t mean to cause you pain, Kieran. I swear it.”

His hand lifted slowly, and he brushed away the tear on my cheek with his thumb.

“You already are," he said softly.

My breath trembled. 

“But it doesn’t mean you are my downfall, Elizabeth.”

"Kieran—" 

“I can protect you.”

“But I can't!" The tears dropped out of force and anger. My helplessness terrified me.

“You won’t have to. I am going to end this once and for all.”

I held on to his arms for dear life and looked deeply into his eyes. “But Berlo is a madman. He is going to hurt so many innocent people to get what he wants, and he is working with Donatello.”

His face turned grim. “Donatello has made a deal with the wrong person. I knew he was somehow involved in this. This has gone beyond business rivalry.”

I nodded. “Berlo wants to dethrone you and take over your place in Boston. They want to have reign in Boston the same way you do. They want to be on the top of the food chain.”

Kieran’s eyes darkened. I saw the fury come alive in them. “He’s gathering information about the Veil," he muttered to himself.

“I told Berlo nothing about the Veil. I don’t know where he got the information about it that made him want to put it to the test.”

Kieran frowned deeply; his eyes looked distant, like he was deep in thought. “Even Donatello shouldn’t have the correct information about the Veil.”

The two of us went silent as if thinking of the same thing when all of a sudden, we uttered the same thing in unison.

“There is a spy among us.”