Chapter 187: Longing
He swallowed audibly at the sexual reference. "Tease
now, and you’ll pay later on your back in my bed."
"Promise?" She blushed like a high school girl who was talking dirty with her boyfriend on the phone for the first ti.
Neil laughed then, a throaty laugh that ward her even more than his husky words had. "I miss you. God, I miss you so much." He breathed in a way she wished they were in the sa place right now.
She squeezed her eyes closed. "I know, I miss you too."
"Tell
about your day and what you’ve done the whole month we were apart." He said, not willing to end the call now that he’d finally gotten in contact with her. One thing was now for certain, nothing on earth could keep him from marrying her and being a good father to their child, he would be the father he’d never had to his child, and he’d settle down finally and think of other things beyond his revenge and mission to destroy Da Kroll.
With a smile he didn’t know he had on his face, he listened to Mia tell him about her days, but when it ca to the part when she unintentionally told him about how Owen had hit her and tried to force himself on her and how she’d lost her position at work because of her cut off engagent with him, all smiles and humor vanished from Neil’s face and his temper rose to the point where Mia could feel the chills of his aura down her spine through the phone.
"That son of a bitch!" He gritted through clenched teeth, "why didn’t you tell Liam to tell
this sooner?" If he’d known this sooner he’d have...what would he have done when he was still a fugitive? He wouldn’t be able to break Owen’s limbs and teach him the lesson he’d never forget for daring to touch his woman. Unless he rose back to the top and take back his spot as the top one most wealthy man in the country, he wouldn’t be able to protect his woman and deal with the people who’d dared treated her badly, and because of that he was more determined than ever to get back on track and take back his real identity.
Mia could feel his anger through the phone and she regretted telling him that part, she’d not ant to ntion that part to him but now that she had, she tried to play it cool, "I didn’t tell you sooner because I knew you’d get mad, and when Liam ca to , informing you about it was the least of my concerns," she explained, while curling up on her bed and pulling the blanket up to her chest.
After a mont of reflection, Neil spoke once more. "I will assign so n to accompany you wherever you go. I don’t want that rapist approaching you when you are vulnerable. They will be with you at all tis, and you must not venture out without them," he stated. However, Mia was hesitant to have n tailing her, especially since she had already obtained a restraining order against him. Therefore, she replied, "I do not want bodyguards. Owen will not dare to co near
again. Besides, I prefer my solitude over being constantly monitored and drawing unwanted attention from onlookers."
"I cannot rest easy until I know you are completely safe. Apart from Owner, there are other reasons why I feel the need to assign bodyguards to you. Once our relationship becos public, my enemies will target you to get to . Mia, I cannot bear the thought of losing you or our unborn child now that I have found a reason to live and build a future," he expressed. "They will not shadow you closely but will keep a discreet distance. I want to prevent any mishaps. Please agree to this for you and our baby’s safety."
Mia sighed, even though she wanted to argue with him on this, she could see where his worry was coming from. Thus she said, "Alright fine, as long as I won’t feel their presence." To distract both of them from the grim mood stealing over their sweet conversation, she asked, "What are you doing now? Are you standing or sitting?"
"I’m in a hotel room, sitting on a bed, talking to you." He whispered.
"Are you staying in the hotel?"
"No. I got the room so I could call you and get a decent connection, the connection at the place I stay in my yacht is bad."
"I want to go to sleep tonight, seeing what you’ll be seeing when you lie in bed. Describe your bedroom to
and I’ll tell you what mine looks like, so you’ll know." She smiled as she hugged her pillow more tightly to her chest imagining it to be Neil.
"Mia," he said gruffly, "are you trying to drive
to new heights of frustrated sexual desire?"
She had no such intention, but the notion was satisfying. "Can I do that?"
"You know you can."
She bead in imnse satisfaction,"I didn’t say anything but talk about bedrooms, is that enough to turn you on?"
"Just by talking to
about anything is enough to do that."
She laughed then, as easily and as naturally as she’d been able to laugh with him from the beginning they’d t. And subconsciously he smiled.
"What size is it now?" he asked with a smile in his voice.
"My bedroom?"
"The baby bump." He said.
She drew in a shaky breath. "It’s not showing yet, my stomach is still as flat as a board. It’s just a month old, I think there’s still so ti before it’ll make it’s presence known." She blushed in pure joy at how natural their conversation was shifting to one topic to another. And subconsciously she pressed a hand to her stomach while talking to him.
"And what color is it?" She asked.
"What? My stomach?"
"No," she said with a chuckle, "your bedroom."
"Smart ass!" he chided, but he answered and his voice got deep. "It’s on a Yacht right now—teak walls, a nightstand lamp with a picture of you I printed out from the net hanging on the wall."
"Is that what you see when you fall asleep?"
"I don’t sleep, Mia. I just think of you. Do you like islands?"
Mia drew in another shattered breath, trying to morize each tender thing he said. "I love islands." She said, wishing she was there with him to help him sleep well, to take away his burden and nestle his head to her chest until he’d fall sleep.
"What’s your bedroom like?" He asked.
"Purple walls, a purple bedspread and a guitar across my bed, then a picture of you on my night stand."
"Where did you get it from?" He asked, knowing there were no photos of him online unless it was from the ones taken when he was brought to court five years ago and was about to be sentenced to prison.
"I was going through so of Ivy Grove old articles when I ca across a photo of you taken when you were dressed for that live event, so I cut it off and put it into a fra. There were no good photos of you on the net."
"You swiped an article from the University library and cut a picture of
out of it?" he said, trying to sound shocked.
"Certainly not. I paid for it before taking it."
"Mia," he called softly after a mont of silence, "can you play
a song, I want to hear you sing for ."
Mia hadn’t played a song in awhile after she played it in the orphanage, but then she was willing to do anything for Neil, thus she got off her bed and grabbed her guitar beside her bed. Crossing her leg and placing the guitar on her lap along with the phone on the bedside, she took a deep breath before asking, "What song do you want
to play?"
"Longing," he replied without hesitation, "I miss the song." The song that had once brought them together in their childhood and the song that reminded him of his late mother and how sweet she was, and sotis, Mia reminded him of her.
"Longing..." She whispered with a smile as that was her only favorite song since childhood, and it reminded her of sothing Neil had said in his ssage two days ago but then she took a ntal note to ask him of it once she finished playing the song.
Mia’s fingers gently caressed the strings of her guitar, coaxing forth the familiar lody of "Longing." Each note danced through the air like a delicate whisper, carrying with it a sense of nostalgia and comfort.
As the lody unfolded, Neil felt a wave of tranquility wash over him, the strains of the music wrapping around his soul like a warm embrace. He closed his eyes, surrendering to the soothing rhythm, his mind drifting back to the ti when he saw Mia sitting in the bar performance stage playing and singing the song.
The lyrics of longing flowed from her lips like honey, her voice a gentle breeze carrying the weight of emotion. Each word resonated with the longing in Neil’s heart, echoing the feeling of loss and yearning that he had buried deep within himself. Yet, amidst the lancholy lody, he found the peace he’d never had in the past few years and month. He leaned down and laid on the bed, facing the ceiling with his phone on his chest as it was on speaker.
As he allowed himself get lost in her beautiful voice and song, a mory flickered to life in his mind: the two of them, young and carefree, sitting beneath the shade of the old oak tree in their garden, their laughter mingling with the lody of the song. In that mont, Neil realized that no matter how far they may drift apart, the connection forged in their shared history would always remain.
And so, enveloped in the lody of "Longing," Neil allowed himself to be carried away by the bittersweet symphony, finding his solace in the tiless embrace of the music and mories.
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