Before I knew it, it was Friday morning and I was jamming to music from the back of my uncle's vehicle as we waited for Killian to exit his plane. He was standing at the door talking to some man who I assumed was the pilot. With my feet plopped on the seat, I smiled the moment the door opened and I met the whore's surprisingly happy gaze.

"Why are you happy?"

"Can't be happy to see the thing I despise the most in the world?"

"It's not nice to talk about my uncle like that. What did he ever do to you?"

"Don't bring me into this." He shouted from the crack between the top of the car and the privacy window. I rolled my eyes and allowed Killian to move my legs so he could sit down.
When the car began to move, he kicked his own feet out and loosened his tie. I immediately raised an eye brow, "Rough vacation?"

"Never really liked dealing with the French."

"Why? The romance too much for you to handle?"

"I don't do romance. I thought you knew that by now."

"You got denied by a woman...didn't you?" I said with fake sympathy, "Do you need a hug?"

"No, what I need," he rolled the privacy window up the last inch with the push of a button, "Is to talk to you."

"About?"

"Tuesday."

"What about it?" I mumbled as I darted my eyes away from his stone cold gaze.

"Do you not remember our conversation?" Oh, I did. I remembered every aspect of that night, and with my silence, Killian had his answer. He let out a sigh and rubbed his face with both of his hands. The simple act made him looked tired and much older than his age. "What is going on Mia? No more lies, clearly something is eating you up on the inside."

"There is, but it's none of your business..."

"None of my...none of my freaking business!?" He growled, "You fucking called me at three in the god damn morning complaining about how I pity you and left you just like everybody else. No one left you Mia-"

"Yet, where have you been the last five years?"

"It... That...it's complicated."

"Of course it is. Don't you see what I'm talking about...what is the point in talking if you're not going to give me the answers that I need?"

"I do have answers Mia...but I know that you're not ready to hear them...no... it's more like I'm not ready for you to hear them."

"What does that even mean Killian?"

"I don't even know, but you do know that I don't pity you, right?" He whispered, "I could never pity you, not after being there that day."

"I was drunk and upset, and I said some stupid things, okay. I didn't mean any of it, so let us end this stupid conversation and head back to your condo."

"This conversation is not - you are avoiding something Mia! What aren't you telling me?"

"Because you know me so well right? That's how you know something is eating me up...right?"

"Why are you acting like this?"

"Why do you care? You've been out of my life since I graduated high school and now suddenly you want answers?"

"You don't-"

"No Killian! You need to understand, the moment you decided to walk away, was the moment you lost every right to the knowledge of what is going on in my life, so this conversation," I waved my hand in between us, "Is over for good." Luckily he didn't reply. Instead he shifted in his seat and broke away his gaze, focusing on the city speeding by instead of me. There was nothing else to be said from either side.

***
Killian

I didn't know what else to say. There were so many things that could go wrong if I opened my mouth, and I wasn't ready to have her gone for good.

When I looked over from the corner of my eye, I found her back to me, her head resting against the window and her phone in her hands, but when I looked at her screen I found it blank. She was making it look like she was busy so she could avoid the conversation if I tried to start it up again.

Before I had the chance to even try and speak, the vehicle pulled into the parking garage of my complex and she was slipping out of the car, and into the elevator. It rose slowly to the top, each passing floor making me more nervous, like something was waiting for me that I wasn't going to like. Luckily there was nothing.

The place looked spotless. The tables were all wiped down, the floors vacuumed, even the shelves for the bar were dusted. Though as I looked in could see the large number of bottles missing. "Mia how much did you-?" I cut my sentence off the moment I realized it was only Roger and myself.

"She went to her room." He answered plainly.

"What happened while I was gone?"

"It's been rough for her. She's ready to go back home."

"To Washington?"

"To her life Killian. She needs to go back to work, it's what she knows."

"She's going to get herself killed doing that." A flash of pain crossed Rogers face. I was about to ask when he spoke up, cutting me off mid thought.

"She'll be fine. Mia is a strong girl...trust me."

"What aren't you telling me?" I snapped seeing the hidden agony in his eyes.

"It's nothing to worry about son. Just keep busy with the company and let Mia do her thing."

"What do you mean?"

"You know exactly what I mean Killian."

"No-"

"I see the way you look at her. Let me be clear when I say, it better just stay a look. Mia is too fragile for you and your way-"

"You think I'd hurt Mia?" I snapped, my anger swelling at the sheer thought of him thinking I could do something like that to her of all people.

"She's been hurt more then you realize in her lifetime. You're already out of her life, so do us all a favor and remain that way. I don't want to see Mia lose anyone else." His tone was harsh, the strangeness of it leaving a sharp sting. Never in my life had Roger spoken to me like that, and as he walked away towards the security room I could practically see the truth radiating from him. Something big had happened to Mia, and I had been put out of the loop.

Curious and slightly panicked to what had happened, I slipped my jacket onto one of the stools by the island and walked into my office down the right hall. The mac computer sitting on the black glassed desk came to life the moment I sat down, bringing up one of my favorite pictures. The image caused the corners of my lips to twitch, but the smile never showed. The two faces frozen in time could make my emotions go either way. I'm still going to kill her some day for this...

I eyed the screen carefully, digging through my memories to find the one that the picture belonged to. It had been a few days before her graduation, and like every day of her life, she was being cruel like the little demon she was.

The day had been exhausting. My father and I had just arrived in Washington, and the only thing on my mind as we drove to her house, was sleep. When he pulled up to her home, her aunt opened the door with open arms. My father was quick to find Roger, the two of them walking off to do who knew what. According to her aunt, Mia had been on her way back from the store, so I did my usual and walking straight into her room, collapsing on her bed and passing out.

When I woke up, she had been sitting on my stomach, using all her weight to hold me down. Her face had a smile plastered on it, and as I read the expression, the evilness radiating from her eyes, I had known instantly that she did something. I tried to roll to the side, hoping that it would knock her off, but was a single swing of her one of her legs, and she had me pinned.

"Sleeping on my bed...? Now you and I both know that, that's a big no-no in my book mogul!" I had rolled my eyes at her words and chose to keep quiet. She watched me for a second, waiting for the response, but soon realized I wasn't giving her one. I thought she was going to say something more, but instead she pulled her phone from her back pocket, and flashed the photo saved as her lock screen in my face. "Beautiful, isn't it buddy boy?"

It wasn't. The picture that she had taken was of me sleeping, with what I had prayed was eyeliner, all over my face, giving me not only cat whiskers, but also a nose to match. Next to my head in the picture was her own. She was grinning with a black pencil, which I had assumed was the liner, squished in between her top lip and nose.

Mia had kept the picture from me for years, and when I found it on her Facebook, I couldn't help but save it and set it as my back ground. It was a memorable but annoying day, which was like most of the days spent with her.

"Mr. Cross, lunch is ready." I looked up at William and immediately stood up from my seat. Together we walked into the kitchen, where to my surprise, Mia was already chowing down on the sandwich on the plate in front of her. Getting a closer look, I couldn't help but make a comment.

"Grilled cheese?"

"Shut up." She mumbled before shoving another piece into her mouth. I ignored her rudeness and took the seat across from her. William came by a few minutes later with a tenderloin steak and Greek salad. From there, the meal became eerily silent. I could hear every bite each of us took.

Every so often, I'd find my gaze landing on her, but her eyes were always glued to the table. It took everything I had not to yell. Her silence was killing me. I could see the distance growing between us, the space pulling us inch by inch in opposite directions. I wanted to say something, anything that could end her haunting silence, but before any though could even form in my head of what could be said, she beat me to it.
"I'm done. Thank you for the sandwich." She pushed her unfinished plate back from the edge of the table and took off before anyone could say anything. I watched her with shocked eyes before dropping my fork and knife to the table.

"This is why I don't want any woman in my house. Is your daughter like this? You know, moody and bipolar?" William caught my question the moment he walked in. When I looked over I saw a gleam in his eye. Will was a good man, and I knew for a fact that his favorite subject to talk about besides football, was his young daughter Hannah.

"Girls are a mystery sir, that much I tell you for sure."

"But why?"

"Silence can sometimes be their only form of strength. Clearly the girl is bothered by something. Give her time to move on. She is different from all the others correct?"

"You could say that..." I mumbled even though he hit the nail on the head.

"The way I look at it sir, it is more that you are bothered by her being bothered than anything else. You want her to open up to you, because unlike the others, this one means more. She is more then - as you would call it - a one night stand. And if I may say so, this is what it is like to be in love." He walked off before I could object to his last statement.

Sighing in frustration, I pushed my own plate back and stood to my feet. I was about to turn to leave when something on the table caught my eye. When I realized what, it was, the corners of my lips began to twitch, a smirk filled with greed. "Does love make you do stupid things?" I spoke loud enough for William to hear as I grabbed Mia's phone.

"Extremely stupid sir, why do you ask?"

"No reason." I clicked the power button to her phone and froze. It was the same picture I had in my top night stand drawer. Her and I together on the day of her graduation. Seeing the picture on her phone was strange.

"Shall I save you food for later sir?" William's voice brought me out of my stupor. I nodded in response and walked onto the balcony that faced the city. Once I was outside, the door shut behind me, I went back to work and started guessing the pass code for her phone. My third try was correct; the four of her social. A typical thing for her.   

Soon Mia would notice her phone was gone, so I dove into work. I pulled up her contacts and started looking over every name. There were so many, and I had no clue who to choose. One stood out. An 'Ashley Carden', but something in my gut told me not to try it so I kept scrolling.

After moving on to the 'C's', I found one that in my head made since to go to. With a peek over my shoulder, I hit the call button a prayed I wasn't screwing myself over. On the fifth ring, a rough voice picked up.

"Before you ask, yes I am locked out of my office. Do not worry though, I have the code written down on a piece of paper in my car and I am getting it now. I'm doing better I swear...whatever the corpsman is telling you...ignore her Renee!"

"Um...this is not Renee." I spoke and heard the other side go silent. I was ready to say hello, when the chief spoke again, expect his voice was different; darker and meaner.

"I don't know who this is, but I swear if you have done anything to Renee I will hunt you down." I froze. I could hear the seriousness in his voice, and in that moment had no doubt he would do what he said. Clearing my throat, I spoke softly and smoothly.

"My name is Killian Cross. I am a child hood friend of Mia's. She is currently staying at my place here in Chicago during her leave. I was just calling to ask a question."

"Killian aye? And she let you have her phone?" His voice was lighter now.

"Um...no... she left it...I took the opportunity..."

"Of course you did. Just hope she never finds out, the girl might end up strangling you. Now what is the question, and before you start to wonder, I know who you are. She has mentioned you before." But what exactly did she say, I wanted to ask but chose against it.

"A few days ago, on the anniversary of her father's death, she went a little overboard on the alcohol and called me drunk. She mentioned something that has me worried. I was just going to ignore it but then her Uncle made a certain comment, and now I'm extremely worried. Mia isn't on speaking terms with anyone, and something tells me she isn't going to give me a truthful answer if I do ask. Your name in her phone was 'Chief', so I am hoping that you will be able to give me the answers I am looking for or can at least point me in the right direction."

"Your question then?"

"What happened to Mia? She kept talking about how everyone left her, and then her uncle goes off about how she has had enough pain in her life, please sir, if something terrible has happened to her, I need to know about it." The other end went silent. It wasn't a no-body-is-there kind of silence, no...it was way worse. It was the kind of silence that was there was someone was going through something horrible, a memory they were unable to escape until it was over.

"Son, you need to go." I knew he was about to hang up and said the only thing I could think of.

"I love her! I can't even admit it to her, but I love her more than anyone in this world. Please, she won't speak to me about anything anymore, but I know there is something wrong. Please just tell me what happened. Could you stand by knowing that the woman you loved was in pain, but you could do nothing about it? You don't even know what is causing her pain, all you know is that you are at a loss. A loss for words. A loss of what to do. So lost, that you would be willing to do anything to help them..."
"This is not something I even have the right to talk about..."

"Please. She needs someone to be there for her. I could hear it in her voice when she called; she's alone, or at least feels that way. I need to know why if I am going to help her."

"Son-"

"Please!" If he was with me now, I would be on my knees begging.

"This is not something I can say." The phone went silent. I looked at the screen and found the time blinking, He'd hung up on me.

"Son of a bitch!" I dropped her phone onto the ground and started pacing. This whole issue was eating me alive on the inside. It was like everyone knew the secret except me. They were all keeping it from me, keeping the secret locked away that I deserved to know. 

*🍷*

Such a bad Killian!! Going through her phone...I guess some things can make a person do crazy thing. What is the thing??

Better yet? What is it that you think Chief won't tell Killian. What do you think happened?

Also...does anyone know how to make book trailers and would be willing to work with me? Please message me if you're willing to help out!! Credit and dedications will be given!!