Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 114: Protective

Chapter 114: Protective

Mia’s eyelids fluttered open, welcoming the gentle morning light that danced through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the hotel room she had spent the night.

With a soft sigh, she stretched her arms above her head, feeling the tension of sleep loosen its grip on her body. She hadn’t been able to sleep well as usual last night until she took the pills recommended to her by her therapist five years ago. Without the pills, it was like she had forgotten the ability to fall asleep like a normal human being.

Slipping out of bed, she padded over to the window, the cool wooden floor beneath her feet a stark contrast to the warmth of the covers she had just left behind.

As she drew back the curtains, her breath caught in her throat at the sight before her. The city below was blanketed in a pristine layer of snow, the buildings and streets transformed into a winter wonderland. It was snowing again. She thought as a soft smile tugged at her lips as she gazed out at the serene scene, lost in the beauty of the moment.

But her reverie was interrupted by a scene unfolding down the street. A mother and her child stood on the sidewalk, the mother’s hand gently tugging the reluctant girl towards a waiting car. Mia watched as the child’s shoulders slumped in disappointment, clearly reluctant to leave the snowy playground behind. Though she couldn’t hear their words, her heart went out to the little girl, as she recalled how she would plead for her mother to allow her play in the snow despite the cold.

Though not all of her childhood memories were clear in her mind, she still had all the childhood memories of her in Whispering way with her late mother...

’Mama, please let me build a snowman, just one little snowman and I will run inside to get warm.’ she would plead while giving her mother her puppy eyes.

’No, sweetheart. You will freeze out there. Would you like to see mama cry because you fall sick from playing in the cold? Now be a good girl and lets get inside. If you behave well, you will get whatever you want for your Christmas gift.’

’Yay! I want a guitar for my Christmas gift!’

A pang of sadness gripped Mia’s heart as she turned away from the window, the weight of another festive season without her mother heavy on her shoulders. Not a day would pass when she wouldn’t miss the life she’d had with her mom. Though now she had achieved her dream of becoming famous with many fans who sent her gifts and supported her, she would never feel complete again.

Mia let out a deep sigh and pushed the troubling thoughts away, determined not to let them affect her mood. She reassured herself that there would be time to deal with her emotions later, then reached for her phone on the nightstand, only to discover missed calls from Rayne.

Mia had gotten into the habit of keeping her phone on silent due to the frequent calls she received from unknown individuals seeking reservations on her talk shows. Sometimes she wondered how they obtained her personal number instead of contacting her assistant to arrange for the reservation. She immediately returned Rayne’s call, and Rayne answered on the second ring, her voice sounding strained and tearful.

Concerned, Mia asked, "What’s the matter, Rayne? You sound like you’ve been crying. Is it another issue with Max?" She playfully mentioned Rayne’s boyfriend, knowing he had the ability to reduce her friend to tears whenever he ignored her calls and messages for days on end. Mia harbored a strong dislike for Max due to the pain he caused her friend through out the years they’d been together.

It soon became evident that Max was indeed the cause of Rayne’s distress.

"I never want to hear his name again! I despise him so much, I wish he would fall dead and disappear!" Rayne exclaimed, her voice filled with raw emotion, surprising Mia, who had only spoken in jest.

"What happened? What did he do?" Mia asked, surprised that her friend who was crazy in love with Max for three years now, would wish for him to fall dead. Though Mia had never liked the young man since the day she was introduced to him because he gave her a weird vibe, but she hadn’t tried to interfere with his relationship with Rayne as she saw how happy he made Rayne whenever he was around.

"Max cheated on me with that blonde haired bitch secretary of his! I...I caught them both making out in his office! Mia...he cheated on me and he wasn’t ashamed to say it to my face that I am a boring woman and he had no intentions of taking our relationship to the next level..." Rayne cried as she poured out her heart to Mia, who listened intensely with anger swelling in her blood for the man.

"Don’t cry over that jerk. He’s not worth your tears. I’m coming back today, we’ll talk more then. I’ll swing by your place, and we can go shopping together, forget about him," Mia reassured Rayne, promising to visit before heading home where she knew Owen would be waiting for her, as she’d seen his message before calling Rayne.

"Are you sure you’ll come to my place first?" Rayne asked, her voice clearer. She sought confirmation since Mia rarely had leisure time anymore. The two friends hadn’t enjoyed a shopping trip in ages because of their busy careers.

"I promise. I’m already making arrangements to return. You know I keep my word. See you in six hours," Mia assured Rayne before ending the call to prepare for the lengthy drive back, since she had been unable to book a flight because of the weather and she couldn’t spend another day in here when she had a lot of responsibilities back at home waiting for her. She quickly rushed into the bathroom to take a hot shower so she could start her journey back before Owen would send his men to come after her in Novaria.

He could be protective to the point it made her question what the hell was she doing by agreeing to be his wife. But then when she thought about all the times he had stood for her, she couldn’t question her choice to be his wife. He was the only family she had left now, and he loved her more than any one had. Unknown to her that sometimes, things never go as one plans.

***

Neil stood before a small shaving mirror above the sinks in the shower room of the prisoners, staring blindly at his reflection, trying to tell himself that Jason wouldn’t change his mind about coming today, because Neil knew that the bastard would stop at nothing to make him even more miserable, despite his current state of despair.

As Neil stood before the mirror, he observed Kai entering the shower room with an air of excitement, glancing cautiously over his shoulder into the hallway. Convinced that they were alone, Kai approached Neil and whispered eagerly, "Jason has sent words that he’s on his way and wants us to prepare before his arrival. This is our moment, brother Neil!"

Tension and impatience had been eating Neil alive for so long that he could hardly adjust to the fact that the payoff was actually here. Three long years of pretending to go along with the system here, of becoming a model prisoner so they would give him the one day’s freedom he’d longed for, and all the months of planning and scheming, everything was finally coming as planned.

In a few hours, if there was no delay that would cause irreparable damage to his arrangements, he would be on the road in the car arranged for him with a new identity, and plane tickets that would lead the military on a wild-goose chase to the wrong direction while he would be gone in a car.

At the sink beside him, Kai said, "Good Heavens, I wish I could go with you. I’d sure like to be on the adventure of escaping from prison just like in my favorite movie. You know the movie Escape Plan, don’t you? I’ve always wanted to be in something like that."

Neil bent down and splashed water on his face, but he heard the suppressed excitement in Kai’s voice and it suddenly alerted him. He narrowed his eyes at the young man in the reflection and warned. "Don’t even consider it or let that silly thought linger in that head of yours. You’ll be out of here in weeks, you must not try anything stupid," he added, yanking a towel off the rack.

"I’m not thinking about it I’m just wishing I were you, what a lucky man you are." Kai grinned, his bright blue eyes sparkling in envy for Neil as if escaping prison was something to be envious about, but then noticing Neil’s glare from the mirror, he quickly cleared his throat and fished out something from his pocket while saying. "You’re right. Here, take this," he handed a piece of paper to Neil.

"What is that?" Neil asked, wiping his face with the towel. He tossed the towel down and looked at the piece of paper in Kai’s outstretched hand.

"This is my family’s house address and phone number. If things don’t work out like you planned, you can go to my family. They know how close we are and my brother and father will use the family connection to help you," he boasted. "I know you have your doubts about whether my brother had made the arrangements for you, but in a few hours, you’ll see that everything’s waiting for you in the city, just like you want. He’s a great guy," Kai added proudly.

Neil took the paper and absently rolled down the sleeves of his rough brown prison shirt, trying not to think about anything now except each moment as it happened, but his hands were unsteady when he tried to button his shirt cuffs. He warned himself to calm down and concentrate on the conversation with the young man, who he had now taken as a little brother.

"There’s something I’ve wanted to ask you for a long time, Kai," Neil said cautiously. "If your family’s this wealthy and have so much connections, why the hell didn’t they pull some strings to keep you from doing hard time in here?"

"Oh. That. You see, I used to be a very, very bad boy. I don’t listen to any words of my parents or elder siblings, so they thought I would learn some lessons after spending three years in here."

"Oh, I see..." Neil drawled as he glanced at the boy, "So have you learned the lesson now?"

Kai stretched the back of his red hair and shrugged, "I guess I’ve learned more than enough. I will never drink or smoke again, nor will I harass any woman again. That’s a good lesson, isn’t it, brother Neil?" He asked innocently.

The tension that had been gripping Neil momentarily disappeared as he chuckled at Kai’s words. He saw the innocent look on the young man’s face. And because he couldn’t help himself, he raised his hand and tousled his curly red hair. "Yes, it is."

Kai moved away from Neil’s hand and rearranged his hair, "You always like to do that. It’s not nice." He complained with a pout but he was smiling. Changing the subject, he said, "It’s a good thing that Mr. Wallace is brainless when it comes to your matter. It will make your plan easy. But, brother Neil, have you considered cutting your long hair short? You would attract less attention when you’re outside. I can assist you in cutting and styling it so that you’ll be_" Kai abruptly stopped speaking as a guard entered the shower room and slammed his hand on the door. "Move it, Martinez," he snapped at Kai, who looked at him with a startled expression, "You too, Wayner. Jason wants you outside in one minute."