The Order

34

Nova and I walked into the Knight estate covered in blood, her more so than I.

"Thank you." I said as I glanced over her. I was limping, badly, and thankfully she was walking slowly to allow me to keep up with her pace.

"You know, I would never turn down an opportunity to torture someone." Nova said with an evil smirk. "She was tough too, I usually never get to do fun shit like I did on her."

Crazy. This woman was crazy.

"About what she said..." I began.

"Save it." Nova said as she raised her hand up. "Your business, is your own." She said seriously. I looked at her for a moment, thankful that she didn't pry. We turned the corner, and I hissed in pain as I ran into a body that felt as though it was made of steel.

I gripped my ribs, holding them tightly as I stepped back. I looked up to see Liam, looking down at me with anger swimming in his brown eyes.

"Where the fuck have you been?" He said.

"Out." I replied as I looked up at him. His jaw clenched, and I could tell that he knew that was the best answer he was going to get from me.

"Where was she?" Liam said as he looked over at Nova. His tone was threatening and his hands were balled into fists. "Tell me, that's an order."

"She called me cause her rib was hurting, so I handled it." Nova said as she looked back at Liam.

"You're drenched in blood." Liam said as he narrowed his eyes.

"Her rib was really hurting," Nova said after a moment. "Now if you'll excuse me, I'm bleeding all over your fancy floor and I need to shower." She simply said before she turned on her heel, leaving us alone in the hallway.

"What the fuck is wrong with you?" Liam said as I began to limp away from him.

"You think you can just leave without telling me? When there's god knows how many assassins out there trying to kill you?" Liam said as he walked after me. He tried to place his arm around my waist.

"Why do you care?" I said as I pushed him off of me. "You don't even talk to me."

"What do you want me to say?" He snapped.

Everything that I felt the past few weeks began to boil to the surface. The frustration, the loneliness, the resentment, the anger I felt towards him. The problems we continuously ignored now became a rift between us, a rift that neither of us knew how to navigate.

I started walking away from him, but stopped as I felt him grip my shoulder. He quickly turned to to face him before he drug me into his office.

He pushed me inside, making me take a step forward before he slammed the door behind him. He quickly closed the distance between us, pressing me against the wall.

"Sorry I've been busy cleaning up the mess you made." Liam said through gritted teeth as he dipped his head lower. Our noses were grazing each other as he glared down at me.

"Do you even comprehend what my family has lost because of you?" He said seriously as he held me in place. I looked up at him, feeling a sting of guilt.

"My father doesn't know this... but we are about to lose everything, Mila. Everything. Everything I've worked for, everything I've built, everything is at stake. So I'm sorry if I haven't talked to you as much, or given you enough attention, but I'm trying, Mila. I'm trying to hold everything together by myself and it's fucking hard." Liam said, his tone transforming from anger to frustration. His grip on my shoulder loosened as it slid down my arm. He took a deep breath as he rested his forehead against mine and closed his eyes.