Malachi: I'm a smart ceo, stares don't affect me! Also Malachi: Watches Antonia and Tieran and still can't see why he's trying to protect her. Lol. Keyboard issue is still being resolved+ xoxo. Also, anyone wondering why Skye is so intent on getting into Malachi's bed>
Antonia’s pov.I’m lost in thought after Tieran and I eat. We head out to the gardens.Tieran has no idea what I want to happen, and I almost feel bad it has to. Still, Malachi has to learn a certain lesson when it comes to me and invading my personal space, and I have to be the one to teach him that lesson because waiting for him to learn it himself is like waiting for him to fall in love with me on his own. A foolish hope.“It’s been a while since I took a walk in here.”Tieran’s remark snaps me out of my thoughts and I nod in response, looking around myself for the first time since we’ve come in here and actually appreciating the beauty of the garden. A voice at the back of my thoughts tells me anyone can see us down here. Sienna, Skye, Malachi. I stop at the stone bench close to the patch of flowers I've tended to ever since I came to this mansion, and as usual, it looks like a few flowers have been tampered with. I’m sure I’d have seen them in Siena’s flower patch if I paid att
Tieran and I discuss the rest of the business deal in the garden's privacy, and even as I speak with him, I hope he can’t hear how fast my heart is racing.It’s pounding like a stampede of horses.I had formerly decided to take this loan from my father, and more than that, I intended to borrow a much smaller amount. A few hundred thousand that shouldn’t be too hard to pay back.Tieran stares at the patch of flowers in front of him thoughtfully as I finish explaining the offer. I know I'm asking for much, basically half a million dollars, but my company could use that, and I'm confident in myself and my talent. The world will love my designs. Tieran’s voice drags me out of my thoughts as he asks, “What happens if you cannot pay back this half-million-dollar loan?”I get the strange feeling of my body being dunked in a tub of water, and all the excitement coursing through me cools down immediately as I turn his words over in my head. I’ve already considered the possibility of that happen
“Master Malachi has ordered you move back into your old bedroom.”I ignore the maid who delivers that message and open the door to my room, go in and shut it back behind me.“Mrs Antonia. Master Malachi will not be happy with this kind of behaviour.”The overbearing tone i hear in the maid’s voice makes me consider doing something risky. I’ve never been one to stand up for myself. Up until Malachi’s arrival into my life, i was a victim of bullying from a group of guys in college. Malachi rescued me from that situation, then he became the reason i started being looked down on. So much so that even the maids in the house began to use tones when speaking to me, and i always ignored because i didn’t care about a few snarky maids who were probably stressed from all the work Sienna was making them do.All that mattered to me was being the best i could be for Malachi. But times are different now…. The maid begins to bang on the door. I open it just as she raises her hand for another slam, and
I send the maid off and am left with Malachi’s friend. Someone who won’t stop wearing a hard look on his face and the tight-lipped glower he’s directing at me. I don’t particularly care about the frown, but I'm more concerned about the fact that he’s a friend of Malachi’s.I can’t claim to know all of Malachi’s friends, especially because I don't. I know I don't. Malachi rarely lets me into the circles of people he keeps as friends, and yet I know a number of them because at one point or the other, we meet.I haven’t met this guy in my life, yet he has a mean look and a menacing aura coming off him.One that makes me feel he’s looking down on me somehow, and like he’s mildly disgusted.A bit of fear creeps up my back but I push it down instead, deciding to approach this calmly. I stretch my hand out and offer it in greeting as I speak, “I’m Antonia.”Introductions should be in order, right?My handshake is left hanging in the air. Malachi’s friend tucks his hands into his pockets ins
Malachi’s pov.Skye walks in with a drink in hand, and one look at the smile on her face tells me she’s done something. I’m less concerned and uninterested until i hear her speak, “Want to know what i did?”I raise my head from the contract i’m going over and look directly at her. Skye can have a mean side sometimes but she’s never done anything to harm anyone. The fact that we just settled what was a very silly argument and she's done something is what interests me though. If Skye is going to do anything right now, it could either be something good or bad, and it could either be directed at Antonia or not.I don’t care either way, but i’d still like to know so i respond, “Humor me.”Skye plops onto the bed and releases a content sigh, her eyes on the ceiling as she speaks, “I asked a maid to go tell Antonia you said she could come back to this room." She goes on almost immediately, "I know it sounds mean of me, but i just wanted to see what her reaction would be. If she still wanted
When Skye comes to my room to tell me dinner will be ready in a few more minutes, the only thing i have in mind to tell her is to go die in a ditch somewhere.Now that my anger has cooled into something much cooler and lethal, i remember the male doofus who stopped by my door did mention his name. He said he was Caelum. One of Malachi’s associates.“Has your tongue gotten lost somewhere or are you just going to ignore me, Antonia?” I cast my gaze back to Skye and see how her hand strategically rests on her belly. A gleaming ring sparkles on one of her fingers and that sparkle matches the one in her eyes. As always, i can’t help but notice how resplendent she looks, and maybe this time i notice it more because of what i’ve just been told.~You’re no match for, Skye.~I hide the anger that flares in me at that statement from my face and give Skye a curt response, “I’ll be there.”She opens her mouth to say something but i do not want to hear anymore of what she wants to say. I shut the
“Antonia.”My phone rings on the table and i hear Bridget’s voice coming from it. I go over to dry my hair and pick it from the table, sighing as i respond, “Yes, Bridget.”“I’m outside!” I can hear that she’s a bit annoyed from the tone of her voice, but i know she’s not annoyed at me so i ask slowly, “What’s happened?”Bridget releases a long hiss and i get the impression that she’s glaring at someone right now even as she responds, “Some douchebag almost hit me with his car.He was polite at first when he came down to ask if i was hurt, then he asked who i was here to see and i said it was you. He changed to ice the moment after that.”I roll my eyes because that rings a bell, “He’s one of Malachi’s associates. He came to trash talk me for a while, and then left. He has the manners of a trash monkey.”Bridget makes a disgusted sound, “Malachi’s getting allies to come against you now because you decided not to stand for his shit anymore. I hope i see him right as some hot soup pours
“What is she doing here?.”Malachi’s voice lacks all the ice and spite he seemed to infuse in his words while we were at the table just now. I feel he’s trying to be diplomatic but I don't want to. I answer curtly, “She’s here for dinner. Is there any problem with that?”Malachi turns and the look on his face betrays nothing. It’s His classically handsome face, perfectly styled hair, and that careless air of dominance look. His eyes also try to be neutral, but I've been reading them for too long now to miss even a single word.Right now, it’s like reading a book with foggy glasses. The message I get from Malachi is foggy but clear, and it fills me with disgust. He really thinks the passionate glimmers of desire must be doing something to me. He doesn’t even care that this is the first time we’ve stood in each other’s presence since he kissed me in Tieran’s presence without my permission. His random acts of behaving like all he wants to do is run his hands all over me whenever we mee