Bitter Kisses (It's Just High School #3) - Thandiwe Mpofu Page 0,104
after them.”
“He’ll fucking fail,” Julian grits out. “For what he did to you, he’ll pay.”
Silence.
Maybe if I was the forgiving type, I would have been concerned about the threat toward my father, but the thing is, I stopped seeing Nathan as my father a long time ago. Whatever happens to him from this point on, he deserves it.
“The amnesia,” Julian mutters, kissing the shell of my ear. “You faked it.” It’s not really a question, so I don’t say anything. “You did it to protect me, didn’t you?”
“Does it matter?”
“When you constantly defy me by not going with Cole when you should’ve, jumping in front of a fucking bullet for me, and now want? Faking amnesia so you can hammer home the truth that a lot of people are working to bury, it fucking matters, Mia!”
I can feel his agitation that keeps expanding on layers. He’s a short breath away from snapping and I can say is, “I did what I had to do.”
“Yeah, of course you do, without any regard whatsoever to who you leave behind or who is affected.”
“How do you think it makes me feel, when I see a gun pointed at you, knowing damn well that those bastards wanted to kill you, Julian?” I cry, twisting around to look at him, ignoring the rush of pain from my abdomen. “I wasn’t going to just stand there, let alone leave you knowing that something would happen, damn you!”
“No, damn you for not fucking listening! You fucking should’ve left, Mia! Do you know what could’ve happened to you?” he snaps, the anger in his voice so intense, I feel it in my core. “If it wasn’t for me, you wouldn’t have been in that fucking hellhole in the first place!” We’re breathing hard and fast, staring at each other. “Now look at us, Mia. Just fucking look at us.”
Yeah, we look great.
“I don’t think you understand how that makes me feel,” he says after a beat. “You have no idea how terrified I was when I saw you with that warehouse burning down faster than I could get to you. Then the gun… I could’ve lost you, do you get that? You were lying in my arms and I saw…”
“Hey, I’m still here. I’m tough as well.”
“No, Mia. You don’t get to test how fucking tough you are like that,” he berates me seriously. “I thought I knew how tough you are but after today, I’m just now discovering that the strength and resilience I saw in your eyes that day we met was there because of everything you’ve gone through and overcome. You’re fucking amazing.”
I didn’t know how much I needed to hear those words until he says them in that low, sexy voice of his that melts my insides. It’s not just the way he says them, but the way he looks at me, telling that he sees my storm, my darkness and understands it now, better than I do apparently.
Feeling drained, I lie back into him, this time letting every part of me rest, even if it’s just for a little while. I feel him kissing shoulder, then the crown of my head.
God, these kisses from Julian are everything… and I need to stop them before it’s too late.
“You delivered a baby, huh?” he mutters after a while of silence and heaviness in the room. I almost jump, remembering Kristine and her baby.
“Oh my God, yes,” I whisper anxiously. “How are they? Where is Kristine? Is the baby all right? I know she was a preemie, and there was a lot of blood…”
“Hey, hey, relax. Cole tells me that the last time he saw your friend, both she and the baby were receiving care,” he says softly. “I heard you were so brave and a fucking hero. You saved that baby. I’m so fucking proud of you, you have no idea.”
A wave of relief washes over me. I can’t help but smile a little. Praise from Julian is as rare as an apology so sue me for basking in his praise for a bit. That is, until his words sink in.
“What do you mean by the last time?”
“That was two weeks ago, Mia, since then, I’m told your friend is nowhere to be found.”
“What? Is she okay?” What the hell? Is Kristine in trouble?
“Mia, she checked herself out. The security cameras at the hospital show her leaving by herself without any kind of force from anyone.”