CHAPTER 6- Never Been Selfish

MIA'S POV

It is almost midnight when Mia arrives in the apartment. She expects that Roman is already asleep but as she turns the light on, she sees him sitting by the windowsill, idly playing with the leaves of the fake plant.

His eyebrows quirk up at the sight of her. “You alright? You seem shaken.”

“I’m fine.” Mia manages a weak smile, her eyes darting back to the fake plant.

“I saw what happened back in the coffee shop.”

The air between them suddenly crackled with tension. Mia subconsciously reaches for her left arm.

The dark expression on his face disappears as he lets out a sigh. “Come here.”

Roman already has a first aid kit ready by his side. He rolls her long-sleeves upward revealing violet lines of healed scars all over. Bright red lines stand out among them and Roman puts a band-aid over it.

“Not something I can’t handle,” she says as his eyebrow furrows at her scars.

He doesn’t let go of her arm and traces one long scar. Mia shivers.

“Doesn’t mean you need to have them.” Roman looks up at her. “Who did this to you?”

“It was a long time ag-”

“Stop lying,” he snaps.

“I’m not. This is from-”

“I know what a fresh scar looks like. This happened right before you went into the bar that night.”

Mia tries to pull her arm out of his grasp. This is why she doesn’t want to tell him about the incident. He will only dig around about her past and she is not ready for him to find out who she is.

Not yet.

“I don’t want to talk about th-”

“Well, you’re going to have to.” His grip tightens to the point of pain.

“Ouch! You’re hurting me.”

The intensity in his dark eyes disappears. Something dark has taken control of him and he snaps out of it. He seems to be misdirecting his anger and it’s about something else entirely.

Mia snatches her arm back, massaging her wrist. She steps back from him, taken aback.

“I’m sorry.” He pinches the bridge of his nose out of frustration.

She wants to go back to her room already but she is frozen in her spot, not wanting to upset him again.

“You need to be careful around Killian Rodriguez.”

“How do you know him?”

“I know enough to be wary of him.”

“He just saved me,” Mia says, irritated.

“It might seem like it but people can be deceiving.”

“Yeah,” she stares at him hard, “it can be like that sometimes.”

She pulls her sleeves down and gets up. “I’m going to bed.”

Mia leaves the apartment before Killian could wake up. She has a feeling that he will interrogate her about last night and she doesn’t want to talk about it with someone who seems like will snap at any moment. It appears that he’s sensitive when it comes to Killian Rodriguez. When everyone is warning her about Roman, he, in turn, is wary of the guy who is loved by many. Roman continues to intrigue her.

She visits Raul who is still in a coma. Ava is there as well and looks like she has stayed the night as there are dark bags underneath her eyes. She doesn’t have the energy to make quips at Mia and so she lets her check in on her father. They go to the cafe together, silence enveloping them the entire cab ride. Ava bustles behind the counter like it is a normal day and nothing happened. Mia deems it best to stay quiet. She doubts Ava will appreciate her comforting words.

It is almost lunchtime when Killian comes in with a paper bag in one hand. She immediately smoothes her clothes out of creases. He goes straight to her. No customers are allowed behind the counter but luckily, Ava ignores them.

“Hey, how are you?”

“I’ve had better days,” she says, finding it easy to be honest with him.

Killian pulls her into him for a quick hug. Her eyes widen at the sudden proximity to his body but she lets her head rest against his hard chest.

He pulls away. “How’s Raul doing?”

“He still hasn’t woken up. I’m worried about Ava.”

“I’ll be visiting him later and bring him some fruits to brighten up the room a little bit.”

“Is that what’s inside that bag?” Mia jokes weakly.

He chuckles. It’s obvious that the bag carries something square-shaped. “No, silly. This is for you.”

She opens the bag. A small white canvas, set of paints, and paintbrushes of different sizes spring up to her. At first, Mia doesn’t know how to feel. She never mentions anything to him about her past hobbies.

“I saw how you stare at the paintings. Plus, you have an artist’s hands,” he said, lightly massaging the soft spot of her palm. Her pulse jumps.

Mia reaches for the canvas and caresses the rough surface.

“I’m hardly an artist,” she murmurs, abashed. “I can’t remember the last time I touched a canvas.” Mia looks straight in his eyes with sincerity. “Thank you.”

Killian just nods his head and glances around the cafe. When he sees that there are only about three customers, he pulls her down to the nearest table.

“We need to talk about last night,” he says, eyes suddenly serious. “It can’t be a coincidence that Raul was in an accident on the same day that the rider tried to kill you. Do you know that man?”

“No. I- I didn’t see him. It was very dark,” she says, almost mechanical.

“That’s a shame.” He hangs his head low. Ava is looking at them now, a slight curiosity in her tilted head. She has been wiping on the same clean spot for the last minute.

“It seems like he or she or whoever that bastard is has an agenda. It’s not an accident. The bastard wanted to get you.”

When Mia stays quiet, he speaks up again.

“I could help you track down the rider.”

She wonders why he’s so determined to catch the criminal. It doesn’t concern him. But then again, Raul’s a friend, he mentioned. Mia is caught up too much in her past to even consider it.

“Is that smart? What if he retaliates even worse?” She asks.

“Then what, you’re just going to let this go? He tried to hurt you. He hurt Raul.”

“You’re right. But I want you to keep this between us. If you’re going to the bottom of this, I better be there, every step of the way.”

Killian’s eyebrows furrow at her agitated behavior but think nothing of it. “Alright.”