Chapter 75: Chapter 75

◆ MILES ◆

"Pappa, I'm not making this up."

"No. Leandro wouldn't do that."

"He just did." I clamped my mouth shut to bite back a curse as I gripped the satellite phone.  My father's tentative tone just doubled the urge in me to haul the phone into the deep blue sea.  "Why would I lie?" I scowled.

Why did I even bother?  Before I'd made the call, I knew there was a good chance my father wouldn't even entertain the thought of his business partner doing something as heinous as torturing an innocent girl—for an entire night at that.

"And Mykaela?  It doesn't make sense.  It's not something he would do, for no good reason, Maxim." My father sighed, as if thoroughly perplexed by what I had to say about his total headcase of a business partner.  "What did she say to him?"

The irony.

Even after that nutjob spent the whole night torturing and assaulting Mykaela, to the point of her losing the ability to rationalize what just happened, still my father chose to side with that batshit family of old money. From the sound of it, my father would even blame Mykaela for what happened.

The fuck? Could he be any more ridiculous and desperate?

"He tried to kill her, Pappa!"

"No. She's fine, like you said. I just talked to him on the phone.  He didn't say anything."

"You think he would? Are you serious?" I scoffed.

"Leandro can be violent; I know. But only when he's sure he's being stolen from, screwed over a deal, or spied on."  Pappa kept up a calm tone. Now he sounded like the obstinate know-it-all that he was.  "He especially hates that. But you already know that."

"So it's her fault? That's what you're saying?"

"I'm just saying...she shouldn't have been with Lorenzio in the first place. Any outsiders right now, to Leandro,  can't be trusted. You know how he is."

Great. Of course. Justifying the actions of that killer psycho. My father was actually defending that ruthless piece of shit.

I clenched my fist in utter frustration. Why the fuck did I even bother calling my father?

"You're just like him." I dropped the call and let a stream of profanities louden in my throbbing head.  The heavy, salty breeze failed to distract me as the yacht sailed closer to the city.  My limbs just vibrated with  anger I could not restrain.

It wasn't anything new, though. These days, everything just infuriated me.  Accurate to say I hated what had become of my life...all thanks to my crazy family of organized criminals.

Even the only good thing left in my life, they'd tarnished. Ruined. Forsaken.

Damn them all.

For now, I just hoped Mykaela would forget at least half of what happened.  I wished she just blocked out the events of last night, but, knowing her, that wasn't likely.  The thought just bore a hole in my heavy heart.

Guilt.  It was dissolving what's left of my sanity. If she hadn't met me and my family, we wouldn't even be here.

What's worse?  She'd trusted me. She trusted me to keep her and her family away from harm.

Pushing her out of my life felt like it was the only sacrifice I could make to keep her safe from all this chaos. So I did just that. I pushed her away. But even shutting her out didn't work. It still got her in deep shit.

If it weren't for Niccolo, I probably wouldn't find Mykaela alive.  I sat outside the captain's area, alone and quietly brooding.  I threw the satellite phone onto the loveseat attached near the wide end of the yacht.

At least she seemed to understand the fact that I wanted some privacy at the moment.  I couldn't face her yet.  Much less have a proper conversation with her.  Even if I could practically hear her thoughts.

Fuck.

At the moment, I could vividly imagine she was severely anxious about my state of mind, possibly afraid I would do something brash, something deplorable. I knew she wanted me to calm down—nonetheless my furious thoughts still overpowered her apparent concern for me.

Everything about the past couple of days made my blood simmer with wrath.  Something I expected, but, not to this degree.  If Mykaela hadn't begged me to just leave the island, I would've shot the Tomassini brothers way too many times until cold blood covered their empty, lifeless faces.

No mercy.  No regrets.

"Miles."

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◇ KEL ◇

I only wanted to check on him, maybe chat for a bit.

But the second Miles saw me standing alone atop the narrow staircase, he  took me back to the bedroom straightaway.

"You should be in bed." Miles rushed down the stairs with me in tow that I almost tripped over a step. His voice sounded low and gruff. Not in the best of moods, for sure.  "Where's Nicco?"

"He said he's gonna talk to Alessio and the guards."

"You know you shouldn't be outside."  Miles guided me down the short flight of stairs. The same dark shirt and jacket covered his lean figure, and his pants looked more wrinkled.  His warm hand held my wrist but not too tight to cause pain. Or maybe the medicines Niccolo gave me were now taking effect.

"I just..." I stepped through the small door to the master bedroom of his family's yacht.  Or was it his now?  I wasn't sure.  Miles never mentioned anything about him owning a yacht. Maybe it was Mr. Falco's boat? Or Ricchar's.  "I wanted to check on you."

"You're checking up on me?" Miles scoffed and turned to lock the door behind me.  When big waves started hitting the side of the yacht, I got tilted to the left.

I got bumped onto his chest and clumsily hit my forehead onto his chin. His stubble scratched my cold skin, and he still smelled good.  Ugh.

Why must he always smell so good?  Miles sighed and stayed still. But then he stepped closer.  I glanced away and pretended like it didn't bother me.  He held onto the knob for support as the yacht rocked for a while.

We stayed standing next to each other.  Not talking. Not touching.  My hands felt sweaty, cold, kind of numb. My heart felt like it would beat faster than I could handle and I didn't know if I should start talking again.

"I'm fucking pissed," he muttered after an awkward silence. His breaths warmed the side of my face as we stood too close to each other. He leaned in as though he was about to hug me.

I couldn't make a move. My limbs felt numb and weak. But memories from the previous night reminded me that staying here with him was in my best interest.  Even though he was clearly upset with me, too,  I wanted to hold him, embrace him...

It shouldn't feel this way. Good thing we were alone.

"I told you to stop talking to him," he muttered with a sigh. Miles leaned closer to kiss my cheek lightly, the warmth of his breath almost tickling my ear.

What he said paused my breathing. Did he want to talk about Enzo?

"He's not your friend." Miles placed his arm right beside my head, almost trapping me against the door. "He's just another manipulative asshole like his brother."

Oh. Great.  I wanted to scowl.  We were gonna argue about Enzo again.  I bowed my head to avoid his intense gaze.  His eyes looked darker, more focused. Almost too focused. One glance and anyone would see he was not in the right mindset. "It's not his fault," I murmured.

"Not his fault he's a liar and he let that murderer do this to you? Are you fucking kidding me?"

"Can we..." I pulled back.  "I don't wanna talk about it."  Murderer? Did he hear of Leandro murdering someone?

"Dammit, Mykaela. How stupid could you get?"

Stupid. Okay.  I kind of deserved that. Admittedly, it was stupid of me to just fly to another country without him and my family knowing,  along with the brother of a certified mafia boss who most likely killed people for business and fun.  I stared at the small, round windows and kept my mouth shut.

"If you wanted him to screw you, should've just said so but stay away from his fucked up family."

I slapped him. Hard. Shit. That hurt. Really.  I slapped him too hard that my hand twinged.  My chest coiled with shame.  Guilt.  But my shocked response didn't stop him from pushing me closer to the door.

Now his taller physique pressed my stiffening body against the wooden surface. Miles let his thighs touch mine, his frowning lips nearing my face.

"Sorry," I muttered while I tried not to stare at his mouth.  "He's just a friend. Why can't you understand that?"

"Sure." He turned his face away while his right hand gripped the hem of the shirt I was wearing. A men's shirt. Probably his. It mildly smelled of him.  "I would've shot 'em all dead if you didn't run after me."

Shit.  He was still that furious.  It was my fault.  Everything was my fault.  "I want you home and safe. Not in prison."

"He would've killed you." He fixated his scrutinizing hazel eyes on me, his hoarse voice showing how much restraint he had left. "Did you expect otherwise?"

"I-I need your phone."

He scowled while he stared back at me. "What for?"

"I need to call them."

"Who?"

I looked past his seething gaze. No use lying to him. He always knew whenever I tried to lie to him. He just knew. It sometimes freaked me out how well he knew me. "Mom, Jill, and...Enzo."

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Miles finally stepped away from me to give me some space, while pulling at his tousled hair as if extremely frustrated by what I said.

My heart dropped. Did he really have to swear at me? For what? Was it so crazy that I was concerned about how Enzo could be feeling right now?  I owed Enzo an explanation for just leaving the island without saying a proper goodbye.

He must be confused beyond words right now, and I just wanted to let him know I was fine.  That I wasn't going to sue him or whatever.   No other reason.

"That psycho brother of his just tried to kill you and all you can think of is that lying bastard?" Miles scoffed and shook his head in incredulity.  "The heck! Use your head, Mykaela."

"Did you even want to talk to me? Or d'you just wanna vent at someone to feel better about yourself?"

"Stop getting involved in his mess. Just listen to me—would you?" His voice faltered. Miles held my face now, the worry in his eyes and the gentleness of his calloused hands all too familiar.

It brought back memories.  Recent, but almost too vague to recall.  If that night of my birthday and the things I let him do to me meant anything to him at all, I couldn't tell.  Honestly, I didn't know if he still wanted me around, seeing as I might've gotten his family in deeper trouble.

I knew how much his father hoped to become partners with Enzo's family.  Of course Mr. Falco wouldn't care about what the infamous Leandro Tomassini did to me.  Stefano Falco was focused on one thing and one thing only: to use the Tomassinis' connections and resources for his own gain.

To widen his influence. To push the family business to greater heights. Climb further up the ranks.  I got the whole picture now.  Putting the puzzle pieces together wasn't that difficult.  Especially with Niccolo and Miles on my side.  Or at least it felt like it.

"I'm sorry." Miles caught my hand before I could cower to the other side of the room. He pulled me towards the bed and sat me down on his lap. He hugged me tight.

The painful pounding in my chest intensified when I let him hold me again. Closer. Too close for comfort.

Stupid, stupid heart.  Always so darn gullible.  Grow up, Mykaela.  I tried to berate my own brain, but it didn't work.  My feelings for him were the same.

Then Miles hugged me tighter, as if he wanted to stay in this room with me all day and comfort me till I felt a little less horrible.  I got up to try to pull away, but his arms around my body made me stay put.  My chin rested on his shoulder while my thighs grew warm on his lap.

Damn.  I could get used to this.

"I'm sorry. I'm sorry."

"Okay," was all I replied as my eyes focused on the pillows.  I had to avoid his stare.  It was difficult, but I had to. No way was I shedding a tear again.

Not for myself. Not for anyone. Not for anything.

I'd just survived another major setback. Crying was not an option. Emotions shouldn't waste any more of my valuable time.  I needed to go back home and let my family know I was okay. Alive and well. Not in the best physical and psychological state, but...alive.

Miles caressed my hair, then left a soft kiss on my temple and murmured something I didn't expect to hear. "I want you back in Brichese."

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