Loving The Temperamental Adonis
Chapter 207: My wife

Chapter 207: My wife

Outside the the door stood Liam and a little girl who was holding his shirt with a teddy bear clutched in her hands as she stared at Mia with a smile, and then James who was carrying countless boxes of gifts that mounted up to his face and covered his vision to the entrance where Mia was looking at them with widened eyes. Then there was Dr. Lauren, and Rayne who looked to be avoiding Liam by standing behind the doctor, who was glaring annoyingly at Zephyr because he’d kept them standing outside for so long.

"Xav_ I mean Neil, did you instruct Zephyr to stop us from entering? This big dude almost knocked us all out!" James complained the moment he heard the entrance door opened thinking it was Neil who’d opened the door.

Mia quickly snapped out of her momentarily shocked state and stepped aside for them to enter the room while wishing she had a mirror to look at her reflection to see if she looked presentable from how Liam was giving her a knowing look. If her appearance didn’t give away what they had been doing behind the closed doors of the hospital room, the bed did. Two pillows were laying on the floor with the bedsheets wrinkled along with her hospital cap that had been flung away to the top of the headboard.

A deep blush crept its way to her cheeks as she quickly attempted to pick up the pillows, avoiding the gazes and awkward throat-clearings from the people standing in the room. At this point, she wished the ground would open up and swallow her! Damn it, it was all Neil’s fault! As she searched for something to distract everyone, Neil walked out of the restroom looking as if he hadn’t been the one to put her in such an awkward state.

Noticing Mia’s embarrassed state, Neil winked at her before turning his gaze to his so-called visitors. "Why didn’t you call to inform me you were coming?" he directed the question to James, who was still holding the gift boxes they’d specially brought for Mia, along with Liam’s niece, who was excited about meeting Mia Harrison in person.

"We called you, but you didn’t pick up," James said defensively as he moved to set down the boxes. When he was about to confirm with Neil if he had indeed told his bodyguards not to allow them entry, his gaze fell on the blonde woman in a doctor’s coat, and his breath caught short in his throat. His heart skipped a beat as he was met with the most mesmerizing deep blue eyes gazing at him in annoyance. With the white coat and fair skin, she looked like an angel who’d fallen right from his dreams!

Everything blurred away in the room as he stared at her, but she rolled her eyes at him as if used to being stared at and focused her attention on her patient. After checking on how Mia was doing, she excused herself from the visitors. When she walked past him, bumping his shoulder, James felt like he would faint from the excitement rushing through his veins. His gaze followed her until she disappeared out of the room, and Liam nudged him in the side.

"Snap out of it, man," Liam remarked, breaking him out of his momentary spellbound state. "You’re not her type."

James turned to glare at Liam. "And how do you know that when she didn’t open her mouth to tell you?"

"I know from her expression. Don’t even stress yourself by going after her; doctors are a hard nut to crack."

"You—" James began to argue, but Neil’s slightly irritated voice cut him off. "You are in a hospital room, for goodness’ sake. Save your argument for later." He helped Mia back to the bed and pulled the blanket to cover her up. She glared at him accusingly, and he couldn’t help but smile down at her.

To make her feel less embarrassed and awkward, Neil turned to the little girl beside Liam, who had been glancing at Mia and then at Rayne, who stood at the side with a guilty expression. Neil didn’t acknowledge Rayne’s presence as he was still damned mad at her for not doing anything to stop Mia’s humiliation that night. He didn’t care what her reasons were; she’d have to pay the price for it as well.

Neil beckoned for Lilly to come forward, trying to put on a friendly smile so as not to frighten the girl. However, he had forgotten that Lilly Thompson wasn’t like the other little girls, as Liam had told him. She didn’t care how unapproachable he looked; she grabbed a gift box from the boxes James had brought in and hurried towards Mia’s bed.

"Aunt Mia, I brought you a wonderful present," she remarked excitedly, her doll-like ebony eyes shimmering with the joy of finally meeting two of her favorite people in person. But then, as if realizing something, she asked, "Um, is it okay if I call you Aunt Mia? Some people don’t like me referring to them as Auntie, even though they are way older than I am, just like Miss Linda. She scolded me yesterday for calling her Aunt. Miss Linda is so mean; she doesn’t even know how to cook or tell a bedtime—"

"Lilly," Liam sternly interjected before she could go on and on, saying things that weren’t meant to be said outside. She was a talkative girl with the mouth of a parrot, and adorable at the same time. "You came here to give Mia your present, and didn’t you promise not to talk too much at the hospital?"

Lilly pouted disappointedly at her uncle’s scolding, then she dejectedly and obediently handed out the box to Mia and muttered, "Get well soon, Aunt Mia."

Seeing the little girl’s dejected look, Mia sat up and cupped her plump cheeks. Even though she had no idea how the adorable girl was related to Liam, she tried to lift up her spirit. "Do you want to sit beside me and tell me more about yourself, Lilly?"

Her black huge eyes brightened up and she immediately nodded her head, before Liam could say anything to stop his niece from getting on the bed, she’d jumped on it and made herself comfortable while sticking out her tongue at him.

Thanks to Lilly, the awkwardness in the room dissipated as she brought laughter with her presence.

Everyone, including Neil, who wasn’t particularly fond of children, found themselves laughing as the little girl entertained Mia with stories about Liam’s female acquaintances, particularly Miss Linda Tudor, who was rumored to be Liam’s most recent ’girlfriend’. Each person in the room took turns handing Mia gifts and expressing well wishes for her speedy recovery. However, Rayne, still burdened by guilt and shame, lingered on the sidelines, seemingly waiting for the others to leave before approaching Mia.

After exchanging words with Liam and James, Mia observed Liam walking over to Neil, who had been seated on the sofa watching her with undivided attention as she laughed at Lilly’s stories. Neil’s affection for Mia was evident as he gazed at her with adoration, seemingly considering her the center of his world. His focus was solely on her, and from the intensity of his gaze, she could tell that he wished they were alone in that moment. However, Liam positioned himself in front of Neil, obstructing Mia’s view of him.

Neil gritted his teeth in annoyance as his view of his woman was blocked, he glared up at his friend and wished it were someone else so he could punch the living hell out of them for not just interrupting their love making but now blocking his view. He’d had to use every ounce of self-control in him to keep from sending everyone away and having Mia to himself, but then he knew Mia also needed a few distractions after all the things she’d gone through for the past few weeks.

"Hmm, I can see that look of annoyance in your face," Liam remarked, shoving his hands inside his pocket and taking a casual stance that made him look like a million dollar model than the CEO he was. "We need to speak in private, Neil. Can you arrange for a room here or shall we take our discussion to my car?"

Neil was about to respond but at that moment he heard Mia coughing, jerking up from the sofa, he reached her bedside in seconds, "What’s wrong?" He asked concerned, handing her a glass of water, she shook her head and managed to say, "I’m fine, I choked on my saliva."

"I think it’s time for everyone to leave, you need all the rest," he said, turning to Liam to add, "I can’t leave my wife for now, we will talk on the phone later."

All heads turned to Neil at the same time, not because of the fact that he was sending them all away but of his claim of calling Mia his wife when he’d not placed a ring on her finger yet. Their relationship hadn’t even been known to the public yet but it seemed he was already making a claim on her. While Mia’s heart fluttered with warmth at his words, she couldn’t help but feel unsettled by his assumption of their relationship status, especially since he had not even asked her out on a proper date.

Despite her deep feelings for Neil and her desire to spend her life with him, Mia also longed to be courted in a traditional manner before discussing marriage. She yearned for romantic gestures like receiving flowers, strolling hand in hand through the city streets at night, going on memorable dates, and creating cherished memories together. However, it appeared that Neil, her impulsive and passionate lover, was eager to skip these steps and leap straight into marriage without even presenting her with a ring.

Noticing the disagreeing look in her eyes, a frown settled between Neil’s forehead. Didn’t she want to marry him? Wasn’t that the next step of their relationship now that they’d be having a baby? He’d thought about everything when he was away in Verdantia, and his last conclusion had been for them to get married after he’d make his identity as Xavier Galverra known to the world. But seeing the look in her expressive eyes, he knew she was against that. But why? Could it be that she no longer wanted to marry him?

"Well, for as much as I’d like to let you stay with your ’wife’, what I have to discuss with you is important," Liam said, silently shaking his head in amusement for his friend’s lack of understanding of women. From the look in Mia’s eyes, he could tell she didn’t want to rush their relationship to marriage yet, but his friend was as eager as a puppy to make her his forever. "We really need to talk business right now, Neil."

Neil was about to protest again, but Mia reached out and grabbed his wrist, "Don’t worry about me, I have Rayne here to keep me company in your absence." She assured but then regretted saying that immediately Neil’s grey eyes shot daggers towards Rayne who was trying to hide as much as possible from him.

"I don’t trust her enough to leave her here with you," he blurted out coldly not caring if he’d hurt her feelings. She’d become his enemy the day she watched his Mia suffer. And if he was going to leave this room, Rayne would have to leave as well.

"Neil, she’s my friend. You are intimidating her with you look," Mia said in displeasure as she noticed tears of remorse welled up in Rayne’s eyes. She didn’t like how Neil was looking at her like he’d strangle her if he were given the chance.

He looked away from Rayne only when he heard the displeasure in Mia’s voice, "I don’t trust her and I don’t want her here, you_"

"But I want her here!" Mia exclaimed in anger not liking the fact that he was trying to make decision for her on who to keep close. She’d hated Owen for that habit and she wasn’t going to allow Neil do that to her as well. She loved him, but he had to let some of his controlling habit go. "You can go do your work, Rayne will stay with me." Mia decided, looking away from him.

Neil’s hands balled into a tight fists, he glared at Rayne then at Mia who was looking away from him and his anger mounted up, veins throbbed on his forehead, and without another word to Mia, he turned on his heels and left the room. The door banged behind him making the people in the room jump.

After he left, the room fell into an awkward silence. It was Liam who first broke the silence by clearing his throat, "Mia, would you mind if I let Lilly stay here while I discusse some things with Neil outside?" He asked.

Mia was quick to nod, swallowing past the remorse that rose up her throat after Neil left the room in anger. "Sure, she can stay with me. Right Lilly?" She asked the girl with a smile, and Lilly eagerly nodded her head, "Right!"

Before Liam left with James to go after Neil, he warned his niece to be less talkative and obedient to Mia, then glancing at the red haired woman at the side, he left the room along with James.