Chapter 13

Mia’s POV

It has been a hectic past few days. Back to back meetings, trying to get deals, countless people that had to be taken care of. I needed a break. I sit in the passenger seat as Anton drives me back to my mansion when I get a call. It’s my father.

I clench my jaw as the grip on my phone tightens. “I have one final thing to take care of first thing tomorrow morning.” First thing I say as I pick up the phone because that’s the only reason my father ever calls me. Not to see how I’m doing, to see how I’m handling the business.

“I’ll be the one taking care of the meeting with Lyon tomorrow.” He says, his tone leaving no room for arguments. “I’ll be at the mansion in 20 minutes.” He doesn’t even hear what I have to say, he hangs up right after that. I let my phone fall onto my lap as I look out the window and shake my head.

“Is everything okay?” Anton asks as he glances over to me. “Change of plans, go to the hotel I went to the other night.” He doesn’t need to be told twice, he turns the car around and makes his way to the hotel.

We soon arrive and as I get out of the car, I duck my head back in. “If my father asks where I am-”

“I know, don’t worry. Call me if you need anything.” He gives me a reassuring smile and I give him a smile, a genuine one. “Thank you, I owe you one.” I shut the car door and make my way inside. I get on the elevator and press the floor where the room is at.

Is Kaitlyn still there? I did tell her to stay as long as she’d like. I haven’t talked to her since that day, which is good I guess. Silence from her means everything’s fine on her part. I honestly don’t even care if she is there or not, I just really don’t want to be near my father right now. The elevator dings and I make my way to my room.

I open the door and see Kaitlyn on the couch, eating what seems to be her dinner as she reads a book. She’s such a nerd. I shut the door behind me and that startles her a bit. She turns her attention to me and quickly wipes her mouth before standing up and approaching me. “I hope you don’t mind, you- you said I could stay so..” She trails off and has this panicked look on her face.

I look over to the table in the living room to see a bowl of fruits that are neatly cut into squares. “Is that your dinner?” I furrow my brows as I point to the food on the table. “Well, yeah but I’m not really hungry.” I scoff at that. I pick up the phone from the room and call the reception to order room service.

Once I hung up, I headed to the refrigerator to get myself a bottle of water. “You didn’t need to do that.” Her words brought out a laugh. I then opened the bottle and drank from it. “It’s for me, I haven’t eaten yet. Don’t get ahead of yourself.” I see her cheeks turn the slightest bit of red.

“Right, sorry.” She says before grabbing her things. I look at her from behind the kitchen counter. “What are you doing?”

“Well, you’re probably gonna spend the night here so I’ll get going.” She continues fixing her belongings and I hesitate for a moment. “You’ve been staying here for the past few days, you even brought your shit over here. Just stay.” I take another sip of my water. Anton told me the state of the apartment she was staying in, the building itself looked like it was filled with mold. It’s a pretty spacious room anyway, her being here won’t be too bad I hope.

She looks taken aback with what I just said. “Are you sure? I wouldn’t want to intrude.” I huff as the corners of my lips turn up just a bit. “Stay.” She nods before putting her things back down. She opens her book and starts reading again as she sits down on the couch with her legs tucked underneath her, as if I’m not even here. My gaze lingers on her a moment too long. I can’t believe she’s been staying here, but again I said she could so I guess she took the opportunity to stay at a nicer place. She looks so focused reading such a boring book.

My thoughts were then interrupted when a knock erupts from the door. I opened the door which revealed the room service I ordered. The guy brings the food inside and I gesture to the table in the living room so he could leave it there. He makes his way out and I make sure to tip him well. The door shuts behind him and I sit on one of the chairs that were beside the couch.

I ordered two burgers and some fries. I slide the other plate to her and put the fries in the middle. I take the burger on my plate and take a bite out of it. “I thought you said it was just for you.” I look at her with a serious expression as I continue chewing my food. She clears her throat before putting her book aside and fixing her position. “Thank you,” She mumbles before taking a bite out of her burger.

We eat in silence for some time. I finish my burger and she’s not even half way through hers. I feel my phone buzz in my pocket and I take it out to see who’s texting me. It’s my father. A lot of texts from him asking me where I am. I choose to ignore it, I need a break tonight. Especially from my father.

“Everything alright?” She says before taking another bite of her burger. “Splendid.” My tone was sarcastic, of course it was. I just know I’m gonna hate tomorrow.

“Can I ask you something?” My gaze flickers to hers and I nodded. “Why aren’t you at your place tonight?” I lean forward from my chair. “Not that I hate that you’re here with me tonight, it’s just you haven’t been here for the past few days I thought you had forgotten about the room.” She rambles on and I keep my gaze on her.

“I’m avoiding something back at the mansion.” I take some fries and bring them to my mouth. “I might be staying here for a few days.” I look back at her and see her expression. She’s studying me.

“What are you avoiding, exactly?” She asks, her eyes narrowing slightly. Oh nothing, just my father probably yelling at me and telling me how I’m doing everything wrong, followed by him beating the shit out of me to ‘teach me a lesson’. I clear my throat.

“How are you finding Paris?” I change the topic and her expression shifts to a less serious one. It’s her first time here, I’m sure she’s loving it. “It’s a beautiful city, I would love to live here.” Her voice is softer now. I used to love Paris as well, but I can’t look at anything the same ever since my mom died.

“Of course it’s beautiful, they don’t call it the city of love for no reason.” I don’t take my eyes off her, and she doesn’t take her eyes off mine. I clear my throat and look away, paying my attention to my hands as I fidget with them. “Have you seen the eiffel tower?”

“Yeah, it’s quite hard to miss.” She then stands up and opens a door which reveals a balcony that has a view of the eiffel tower. I didn’t even know the room had a balcony. She stays there and leans her arms on the railing. I got up and made my way to where she was.

I see the view in front of us, the eiffel tower is lit up. I can’t even deny, it’s beautiful. “I could stare at it all day.” She whispered and I turned my attention to her. She looked so different in this light. She was so mesmerized by the view, her eyes lit up along with the eiffel tower. I put my hands in my pockets before looking at the view as well.

We stayed like that for a moment. “Why are you being so nice to me?” Her voice cuts through the silence. I clench my jaw as I maintain my focus on the view.

“What do you mean?” I ask coldly. “Bringing me to this hotel when I passed out drunk, letting me stay here for a few days, ordering me food tonight.. it’s quite weird seeing you do nice things.”

A scoff leaves my mouth as I shake my head slightly. “It’s basic human decency. I would’ve done it for anyone.” Would I really?

She turned to me so her full body was facing me. “Well yeah, but you hate me.” I furrow my brows as I turn to her. She had that puzzled look on her face again. I let out a sigh as I rested one of my arms on the railing.

“I don’t hate you, I hate how you’ve been trying to put me behind bars for the past five years. I hate your job and the people you work with.” I put it simply because it was true. I never really hated her, matter of fact she was one of the only officers I could tolerate.

“Well, that’s out of the way now. So you have no reason to hate me anymore.” Her tone was filled with disappointment. She glanced to the floor before turning towards the eiffel tower again.

I wanted to say something, to tell her she’s better off without that job. But I knew anything I said wouldn’t be any consolation to her. So I just stayed silent while staying next to her.

We stayed there for a while until I eventually said I’d call it a night. I made my way to the living room and cleaned up our food before laying down on the couch. “What are you doing here?” She approached me from the balcony.

“I’m gonna get some rest, it’s late.” I put an arm over my eyes but she quickly takes it off. I look at her with furrowed brows. “You’re taking the bed, you’ve paid for the room you should stay on the bed.”

I think about it for a moment, she’s right. Why am I sleeping on the couch in my own room? The fuck has gotten into me? I get up without another word and head to the bedroom, I don’t close the sliding door. I then lay down on the bed and see Kaitlyn making herself comfortable on the couch.

I stare at the ceiling as I try to go to sleep, but I can’t. I just know tomorrow is gonna be hell. I’ve been ignoring my father’s texts and he flew all the way here. He must be furious with me right now. I’m used to it by now, I just hate having to face him.

I hope tomorrow won’t be as bad, but I know it will be.