2

“Bella,”

He had changed so much. He was no longer twenty years old. He had changed so much. He was looking taller, stronger, and more handsome than before. Dressed in a white shirt a pair of black tailored pants and a matching suit, he looked dangerously beguiling. 

My heart stammered inside my chest. I forgot to breathe when his fingers were gripping my face gently, examining my bruises. But everything was lost in his charm. He smelled the same. He used the same body wash and the same cologne. Everything felt the same and yet everything had changed. The man standing in front of me was a stranger whom I used to love so much. 

“Who did this, Bella?” He asked me, his protective side of him still made my heart flip traitorously. No matter how much I lied to myself I knew I was not over him. How can I ever be? When he was sounding like that?

His dark eyes were holding my brown ones, waiting for a response but I was too stunned to speak. He tucked a strand of my hair behind my ear, making me bite my lower lip but winced when I accidentally bit the very part that Nick had managed to cut with his ring when he slapped me. 

And his eyes darkened in rage and anger as he brushed his finger against my lower lip and rage consumed his once soft eyes. 

“Martin, what the fuck happened? Can someone tell me why is she looking like this?” His voice boomed with authority and impatience. And I saw Nick flinching. Martin’s tensed eyes moved towards Nick, and something changed in Silas’s eyes. 

He needed no more words as he made his way towards Nick, who was nervously looking away from him. I never saw Silas like this. My boyfriend— ex-boyfriend was a sweet boy. Anger was a foreign emotion for him. Or did I never know the real him?

“Did you touch her, Nickolas?” Silas asked him calmly and Nick— Nickolas looked at me and then looked away as he nodded his head and I gasped when Silas punched him right across his face. Nickolas staggered back, holding his jaw as Silas grabbed him by his collars, his malicious eyes angrily looking at Nickolas. 

“What did you do with her, Nickolas? How dare you touch my woman? How dare you touch my…..” Anger rushed inside my veins as I stared at Silas in disbelief. His woman? How dare he call me his woman after he broke my heart so cruelly? How dare he call me his when he treated me like a piece of shit when I needed him the most?

“I am not your woman, Silas!” I snapped angrily, ignoring the pain in my jaw as I talked too much. Fuck Nicholas for hitting me so badly. 

Silas’s temper flared when he saw me struggling to speak because of the pain and he turned his face to look at Nickolas. For a few seconds, Silas just kept staring at Nicholas and my heart dropped down to my stomach when he kicked Nicholas, sending him down. Nick groaned in pain. 

“Distance doesn’t change anything, Bella. And how dare he hurt you like this?” Silas growled in anger, grabbing Nick by his lapels as he punched him again, drawing out blood. Painful memories of Ethan hitting me started gnawing at me, making me tremble. 

“Silas, enough.” I said loudly but Silas was too immersed to pay heed to me. Martin’s eyes moved towards me, and his light eyes widened when he saw me trembling a bit. 

“Silas, enough.” Martin said, holding Silas back. I don’t know how Martin was suddenly on a first-name basis with him, but Silas immediately stopped but only to glare at him. But Martin didn’t back down. He turned his face and gestured towards me. 

“Look at her. Calm down.” Martin ordered him, and Silas’s eyes moved towards me and he closed his eyes to calm himself down or to curse himself, I don’t know. But he visibly calmed down. 

“Take him down in the basement, Martin. I don’t want to see his face right now. If I do, he won’t make it out alive. Just take him away from my sight.” Silas ordered harshly, and Martin nodded his head. With one last gaze at me, Martin went down, dragging Nick with him, leaving Silas and me all alone.

Silas walked to his table and pressed a button installed under his table and the door locked, increasing my heartbeat immediately. And it was not due to fear. 

“Why are you locking the door, Silas? Teachers can catch us, idiot! You will get us expelled.” I scolded him but my chuckle gave me away. 

With a mischievous look in his eyes and a flirty smile, Silas moved to me, his eyes twinkling as a boyish grin adorned his face. His arms encircled my waist and in no second, I was flush against his chest, kissing just below my earlobe, making me shudder.

“Si….Silas!” I gasped when he bit me, leaving a burning mark just below my ear, burning me red.

“I locked the door so that teachers couldn’t catch us. And even if they do, my little firefly, I will handle them.” Silas promised me, making me sit on the table as he pressed his own arms beside me, leaning extremely close to me.

“How? By bribing them?” I asked him, and with a smirk he pressed his lips against me, successfully diverting my mind. My eyes closed as his fingers held the back of my neck firmly and pulled me even closer. I was barely sitting on the edge of the table. His fingers held my thighs, preventing me from falling down. 

“Uh-huh, by showing them my gun.” Silas whispered against me, pulling away from the kiss, and making me roll my eyes.

“As if you can scare anyone.” I teased him, and he raised his eyebrows at me, tugging on a strand of my hair, and knocking the breath off my lungs. 

“Darling, everybody is scared of me. You, however, are not aware of that side of mine. Never.” He said as he pressed his lips against mine again. 

Only if I knew he was not just joking back then. Even when he knew literally everything about me, I knew nothing of him. And looking at him now, at his lifestyle, I really knew nothing about him. Whom did I fall in love with? Who was that teenager? Where was he? And what did he become? I was clueless. 

I was so lost in our old memories that I didn’t see him coming closer to me with a first-aid box. My eyes teared up when he stared at me with his dark intense eyes. The man was my first love. But so damn unrecognizable. 

“Sit down, Bella.” Silas said slowly, and my eyes burned in fury when his words came out as a command. I sucked in a breath, tucking a strand of my dirty hair behind my ear as I took a step towards him. 

“How about you tone down your voice and not order me around, Silas? We are not acquaintances that you think you can take that tone with me.” My words came out harsher than I had originally intended them to be. But Silas didn’t even flinch. His expression didn’t change. 

Something about his dark eyes made me gulp. He stirred different emotions inside me— emotions that only came into life whenever he was around. 

“I was not ordering you around, Bella. Trust me. When I do that, you will be obeying me willingly or unwillingly. You wouldn’t be talking back to me. Trust me. Sit down now.” Silas said, his eyes never once moved away from me and my lips parted in shock. 

Where did my Silas go? My Silas was never this dominant. And this man was oozing of power and authority. A man who walked out of a hot fiction, a man woman worshiped. This man didn’t feel like a sweet teenager who used to run behind his girlfriend. 

“Bella,”

“Say please.” I said, crossing my arm over my chest and amusement gyrated inside his eyes. He ran his fingers through his hair before looking at me with his amused eyes. 

“Bella, please, sit down. I need to clean your wounds.” Silas whispered gently, and without waiting for my answer, he grabbed my hand and made me sit down at his table, and suddenly my mind was running down the lane of our old memories. 

My brown eyes were gazing at him. His features had matured so much. His eyes held more depth than before. His jawlines were sharper, he could cut me into pieces and still every piece of mine would stare at him as if he were a God. His nose was still the most adorable part of his face. A giggle escaped my lips as a memory of me biting his nose when he kept annoying me hit my mind and Silas froze. 

He looked up and I stopped laughing, immediately looking away from his fervent gaze. 

“This might burn.” He muttered under his breath and a second later I felt the burn against my busted lips and bruised forehead. But I didn’t wince. And Silas noticed it. He had always been observant. And I had always been pampered endlessly by him. Only him. Nobody else. 

I remember the time we were out for three days of camp. I was sixteen back then and he was nineteen. When he wasn’t allowed with us, he gave his name as a volunteer to help the teachers. And Silas Kingsley was a huge name. Being the only son of a rich businessman had its own perks. 

And I hated what students cooked together. We burnt half of the things and the rest half was undercooked. When I refused to eat, Silas woke me up around two in the morning and what I saw made me teary-eyed. Silas had cooked pasta for me. When everyone else was sleeping, he was cooking for me because I didn’t eat much. 

Nobody ever cared as much as Silas did. And when he broke up with me, I stopped feeling love. The only thing that was ever known to me was abuse, pain and heartbreak. Loss of hope. With him, even happiness broke up with me. 

“I thought you were still in Finland,” Silas said lowly, and I gulped the harsh bitter taste that formed inside my mouth. 

Yeah, I ran away from my house after my father forcefully arranged my marriage with the biggest drug leader in Finland who found happiness in abusing me in different ways. 

“It had been years since I last visited my hometown. Now I see nothing is the same here. Not the houses, not the people of here. Everything changed.” I said sadly and Silas gently cupped my face, making me gasp at the sudden warm touch. 

“You have lost so much weight, Bella. You even chopped your hair. Was Harry treating you right?” He asked me, and I snorted at his question. Harry, my father, treated me fucking fantastic. So fantastic that I had to run away from him. 

“How anyone treated me is none of your concern, Silas! You need to stop butting in my life. What we both had was in the past and I have no plans to revive any of our moments in the present. I need to go now. Ask your dogs to stay away from me, Silas. Next time I see them or anyone of your men behind me I won’t hesitate to call the cops.” I threatened him angrily and Silas smiled in humor. His eyebrows shot up as he leaned back, removed an ointment from the first-aid box, and started rubbing it on my bruised cheek.

“Just like how you called the cops on them today, Bella?” Silas mocked me, and I clenched my jaw in anger. 

“I don’t know about you, my Bella, but I am very much interested in reviving our past again. And what happens with you, what you do, what is going on in your life is my concern. It has always been.” Silas whispered, rubbing my chin softly, it takes a great amount of patience to not give in to his touch. 

“You weren’t so interested in me seven years back Silas when you broke my heart so brutally. And you’re highly mistaken if you think I will let you in my life now. I am going now. You and your men caused me enough pain for today.” I said venomously and Silas closed his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose. 

“Forgive me, Bella. I am extremely sorry for whatever Nicholas did to you. I swear he will regret hurting you badly.” Silas promised me. And my heart ached suddenly. 

And what about you? I wanted to ask him.

“Let me go and I will forgive you,” I said with a harsh smile and Silas stared at me silently. 

“How long are you here?” Silas asked me and I felt myself trembling. Until Ethan finds me out?

“None of your business, Mr. Kingsley,” I said, getting down from the chair, and Silas caught my wrist and pulled me closer to him. 

“You will always be my business, Bella Murphy.” Silas said, kissing my jaw tenderly and my eyes widened at the contact, making Silas chuckle softly. 

“I can drop you home or my driver will. You are not walking on the streets alone. It’s too dark outside.” Silas said, and my eyes narrowed in displeasure as I pushed him away, my cheeks turning red as his grin made my insides tremble painfully. 

“I can go home by myself, Silas. I had been doing that alone for the past seven years. Nobody kidnapped me.” It was a very bad time to joke because he raised his eyebrows. Though the dark look in his eyes made me tug on the hem of my shirt, a part of me wanted to see more of this new Silas Kingsley. 

“My men did today. I don’t trust your fighting skills.” He said, and just on cue, I raised my hand and punched him right across his face, making his face jerk to the side and he stared at me in disbelief. 

“I believe I can. After all, I punched the Mafia leader.” I said, showing him my fist and he smiled at me, infuriating me. 

“Never knew the little firefly has promoted herself to the post of a fiery tigress. And you know what, my tigress, I love both sides of you equally.” Silas said, rubbing his jaw where I hit him. Even when I glared at him, he managed to make me blush. 

“The little firefly loved you, Silas. The tigress doesn’t.” I retorted back, stepping out of his room. 

I had no house to go to. When I told him I could go to my house all alone, I was lying. My father gambled with the money he got from selling our house. I don’t know how I will manage to live here, with no shelter in my head, no money in my pocket, and no one to seek help from. 

In the urgency of escaping from Ethan and my father, I forgot to think about how I will manage to live there. Even when I have my degree with me, it might take me days to get a job, and until then where will I live and what will I eat?

With a tired sigh, I sat down on the empty bench of the deserted park and looked up at the sky. My stomach was crying from hunger. I had not eaten anything in the past ten hours. And Silas and his men consumed a lot of my energy. 

Tears of frustration and hunger pooled in my eyes. I rubbed my growling belly and a tear escaped out of my eyes. I removed the bottle of water I carried with me in the bag and chugged in half of the water. I wanted to sate my hungry belly anyway. The plan was to drink water until my hunger died.  

I was on the verge of breaking down when lights flashed in my eyes, making me squint them. I almost choked on my spit when I saw Silas walking out of the car with his security behind him, shadowing him twenty-four by seven. 

Licking my lips, I stood up from the bench, a very old habit of mine to stand up every time I am caught red-handed by him. Smiling sarcastically at me, Silas folded his hands behind his back. He was no longer wearing his coat. A white shirt, similar to mine, and a pair of dark-tailored pants with a black waist vest almost made me trip on my steps. He looked breathtaking. 

It should be illegal for anyone to be this hot. 

“I didn’t know, Bella, your house is in this abandoned park. So where is your bedroom? Is this bench your bed? It doesn’t look very comfortable. Must be hard to sleep on. No?” Silas asked me darkly, and I looked away, embarrassed. 

“Leave me the fuck alone, Silas. Your mockery isn’t helping my tiredness.” And hunger. 

“Funny of you to think I will leave you alone here when it’s cold and dangerous out here.” Silas matched my tone. And fire burned inside me in vengeance. 

“Funny of you to talk like you care after you left me, Kingsley.” I retorted back. I know I was being petty but I couldn’t help myself. 

I was hungry and tired. And he was the only family I had ever known. And when he broke my heart, I couldn’t get over it. 

Silas stared at me with angry and frustrated eyes. Taking a deep breath, he took a step forward to me. 

“Come home with me, sweetheart,” Silas spoke softly, his voice contradicting the anger in his eyes, and I looked away from him. 

“No.”

“Bella, please.” He pleaded, and my eyes teared up slightly. 

“I know you didn’t come here just because you missed your hometown, Bella. But it’s not safe out here. Please come home. You are tired and hungry. I can see it in your eyes. Why are you torturing yourself like this? Come home, Bella. Please.” Silas requested, holding my palms, and I shook my head stubbornly. 

“I came here exactly because I missed my hometown. And go home, Silas. Let me sit in silence for some time. Please. I beg you.” I said, and Silas’s eyes darkened as he removed a newspaper from his pocket, which I hadn’t noticed before. 

My heart almost stopped beating when he showed me the news. 

Bella Murphy, a twenty-three-year-old girl is missing from her home. 

“Your father published a missing report for you in the newspaper, Bella. He paid enough to publish it here as well. Maybe because he knew he might come here. And the question is— why are you running away from your father, Bella? And if it is not your father, then from whom are you running away?”