Chapter 10

Mia’s POV

The plane landed a few minutes ago and my car was already waiting for me. I got down from the plane and immediately I was greeted with Anton. He had a black suit on and his hair was a bit messy. It’s been way too long since I’ve seen him. He was my bodyguard, he doesn’t usually follow me to New York since things are way less dangerous there.

He was only there when I was in France. I wasn’t supposed to have a bodyguard, but my mother made my father hire one when I went to Europe when I was 15. And ever since then, he’s been by my side whenever I visit. He was in his late 30s, only a few years older so we got along pretty well.

“You’re in need of a haircut.” I say as I ruffle his hair slightly and he shoves my hand away. “Missed you too.” He opened the car door for me as I got in the passenger seat.

“To the mansion?” He asks as he starts the car. “Yes, is Andrea there?” Anton was also in charge of keeping the mansion safe, he practically lives there.

“Yes, she accessed the gates not so long ago.” He glances over to me, “Seatbelt please.” I roll my eyes before putting my seatbelt on. I let out a breath before opening my phone and saw that Andrea still hasn’t responded to me.

Maybe she’s done with me and I don’t have anything to worry about. But no, I’m decent enough to tell her things are over, especially since she hasn’t stopped calling me for the past how many weeks. This is the least I could do.

I decided to call her, let her know I’ve landed and I’m on my way there. After a few rings, it sends me to her voicemail. Her voicemail. She really declined the call on me? No one drops my calls. I called her again, but I was answered by her voicemail once again. I send her a number of texts before turning my phone off and dropping it onto my lap.

“What’s wrong?” Anton says without taking his eyes off the road. “Nothing, everything’s great.” I cross my arms and look out the window. He lets out a hum, deciding not to push any further. Anton was a great guy and if I were into men he would definitely be the type I’d get with. He was respectable, kind, and really overprotective. His wife was very lucky with him. Maybe not the illegal shit he does, but still.

We eventually arrive at the mansion and I waste no time. I make my way up through the elevator and head to the room Andrea’s staying in. I don’t bother knocking, I just barge in.

Imagine my surprise when I see Andrea on top of some other woman. I let out an unamused chuckle, and it still doesn’t get their attention. I clear my throat, but still nothing.”I don’t call you for a few weeks and you’ve already found someone new.” I crossed my arms and they finally stopped.

Andrea froze before she got off whoever the fuck that was. I took in the state she was in. She was out of breath, her lipstick smudged and her lips a bit swollen. “Mia, I thought you were coming back tomorrow.”

I let out a scoff before turning my attention to the other woman. My expression faltered for a moment before realizing who it was. What the fuck is Kaitlyn Prescott doing in my mansion? I put on my previous expression and locked eyes with her. Her eyes were so blue, anyone could easily get lost in them. “What are you doing here?” She narrowed her eyes on me. Please. As if she doesn’t know this is my mansion.

“Andrea, un mot s’il te plaît.” (Andrea, a word please) I clench my jaw as I wait for her to enter the bathroom and I follow shortly after. I quickly shut the door behind us.

“What the fuck do you think you’re doing?” I whisper-shout at her. The walls were thin on this level. She has a smug look on her face, leaning against the sink.

“Oh so now you care?” She scoffs out. I could care less that she got with someone else. It’s who she got with that I was upset about.

“Do you have any idea who that is? That’s a fucking cop.” I take a step closer to her and immediately her face drops. I see the panic take over her as she looks at the door and back to me. “What? N-no, that’s- She’s a tourist, it’s her first time in Paris.” She tries to explain, but she doesn’t seem too confident in what she’s saying.

I rest my hands on my waist as I turn away from her. I can’t even stand her stupidity right now. I came here to deal with a problem, to break up with her even if we weren’t even together. And what does she do? Give me another problem. Just fucking fantastic.

“I didn’t know-” She started but I cut her off. “That’s not an excuse. What else did you tell her, hm? How long has she been staying here?” My tone was more aggressive. I turned to look at her and she was terrified. She opens her mouth but nothing comes out. If she had been staying here for the past how many days, who knows how much information she’s already gathered about me?

“You know what, just leave. I’ll take care of this.” I pinch the bridge of my nose and close my eyes, but she doesn’t move. “You’re fucking unbelievable. You don’t even care I got with someone-”

“Yes, because we were never together. I told you time and time again I don’t want anything serious. We were nothing but casual, so stop reading into things too much and fuck off.” This was not the way I expected this conversation to go. I wanted to let her down easy but she gave me a problem like this. How did she expect I’d react?

Tears well up in her eyes before she turns and leaves the room. She’s overreacting, this is on her for thinking we could be more. I let out a long breath before walking out of the bathroom a few moments later.

I was met with Kaitlyn, still on the bed. She froze when she saw me, her mouth opened but closed again. “You’re not gonna find anything in this bedroom, Prescott. Get out.”

She got up from the bed immediately and walked over to me. “I am so sorry, I- I didn’t know she was your girlf-”

“She’s not my girlfriend.” I snapped back at her. And bullshit, she definitely knew. “Just get out, officer.” I mock her and she puts on a smile, it looked forced though.

“Not an officer anymore, I just got fired.” Like anyone could fire Kaitlyn Prescott. I’ve known her for years and one of the greatest things about her is how dedicated she is to her job. She did seem quite upset though.

“Is that so?” I put my hands in my pockets before taking a step closer to her. She visibly swallowed before nodding and taking a step back. “For what reason?”

“Misconduct.” I raise a brow at her. Kaitlyn wasn’t exactly the kindest officer I’ve come across, she doesn’t take any of the shit I give her. But for her to be fired for misconduct? What exactly did she do?

“Misconduct?” I tilt my head and she looks away, avoiding eye contact.

“I fucked up way too much times.” Her tone was low, as if ashamed of what she’s done. I took a step closer while still looking deep in her eyes. Eyes that weren’t exactly looking at me but oh how I wish it looked at me. Her eyes were so beautiful I loved looking at them. She took a step back and her back now hit the door behind her.

“I disobeyed orders, disrespected colleagues, there’s a lot.” She explained further. That got my attention. Kaitlyn Prescott never disobeyed orders. And disrespected colleagues? She’s never disrespected me and she hates me the most. What the hell happened to you?

“Are you bullshitting me right now, Prescott?” My tone wasn’t harsh or aggressive, it was soft and playful even. I didn’t care that she was backed against the door; I stepped right into her personal space, my eyes burning into the side of her face until she finally, reluctantly, shifted her gaze up to meet mine.

“Because that is the most pathetic excuse I’ve ever heard come out of your mouth,” A harsh laugh cutting through my throat. “You? Disobeying orders? You literally are the rules. So cut the crap and tell me what actually happened, because we both know you didn’t just accidentally ‘fuck up.'”

She stared at me for a second, and I watched that fragile look in her eyes completely vanish, replaced by this bitter, exhausted sort of anger.

She let out a dry, quiet laugh as she stared right into my eyes, refusing to back down even with her back pressed against the door.

“You think I wanted to be the poster child of the department forever?” her voice dropped to a harsh whisper, right against my face. “Playing by the rules can only get you so far, anyway. After a while, you realize they just stop you from doing anything that actually matters.”

Hearing her say that felt like getting struck by lightning, and looking at her, I could see the whole damn storm crashing in her blue eyes. One thing about her is that she always does what’s right. That’s what makes her different from the other officers. That’s how I knew she was different. Or maybe I’m just biased.

If her job was getting in the way of her doing what’s right, she’d probably quit right away. She probably disobeyed orders because said orders went against her own beliefs. She could just be bullshitting me right now, but I have my ways to find out if she’s telling the truth or not.

“I’ll walk you out.” I step back, letting her step away from the door then opening it. We headed towards the elevator and once we got in I pressed the button that would make us stop at the first floor.

“Listen, I’m sorry for getting with Andrea. I really had no idea.” She broke the silence that filled the elevator. I wasn’t mad that she got with Andrea. Not in the slightest. I was more mad with Andrea for making such a stupid mistake. Out of all the people she could’ve gotten with, she really chose a police officer. Or an ex police officer, who knows maybe she was telling the truth.

“Andrea wasn’t my girlfriend, nor were we in any way committed to each other. You have nothing to apologize for.” I didn’t bother looking at her, I just stared straight ahead. If anything, Andrea should be sorry. “Well yeah, but–”

The elevators dinged open before she could finish that sentence.I led her towards the huge front door. As we approached, I saw Anton talking to Andrea who looked like a mess right now. How dramatic. I call Anton. He gives Andrea a pat on the shoulder before walking over to us. “Please drive her to wherever she pleases.” Anton nods in response.

A panicked look takes over Kaitlyn’s face. “Oh no, I can take the train, don’t worry.” I glance at her before turning my attention back to Anton. “Assurez-vous qu’elle rentre chez elle en toute sécurité.” (make sure she gets home safe).

“Of course, let me just grab my coat.” He says before walking to the living room. I look to my right and see Andrea who looked like she had been crying. I told her to leave, did I not? I let out a frustrated breath. This girl does nothing but give me problems. I’ll have to deal with her after they leave.

Anton returns with a small smile on his face. “Are you ready to go?” He asked Kaitlyn, to which she nodded shyly. Anton opens the door for her and she walks out and Anton goes after her. I grab his arm before saying “Découvrez ce qui se passe avec elle” (find out what’s going on with her).

He gives me a knowing look with a hint of a smirk before he leaves and closes the door behind him. I turn around and am met with Andrea. I close my eyes to try and contain my anger right now. I open them slowly before making my way to her.

“I’m sorry for how I talked to you earlier.” My tone is softer now. She wiped her tears before looking at me. “We’re over, please stop calling me or contacting me in any way. It’s done.” I say in the most delicate tone, treading lightly in case she breaks down again.

“I’m sorry-” I cut her off quickly. “No, please don’t apologize. Just leave.” I gestured towards the door. She looked at me with a sad expression before it changed to a defeated one. She then makes her way towards the door and leaves.

Did I feel bad for her? Maybe. But again, I told her so many times that I didn’t want a relationship or anything serious. It’s on her for being so delusional.

I headed towards the elevator before heading up to my room which was on the top floor. Only my room was up there. There were a lot of other rooms there as well but it all remained unoccupied. I entered my room before grabbing my laptop and contacting the only person I knew who could find out the truth.

Let’s see if there’s any truth hidden behind those eyes, Prescott.