Lost Love

28: I've Missed You

Lia's POV:

As I walked back into the house, a niggling feeling grew in my mind about Eugene's behaviour at the end of the date. His farewell seemed oddly curt, devoid of the usual warmth. Instead of a simple "Good night," he only offered a tentative "Goodbye, maybe we can do this again sometime."

What does that mean? Maybe? Did he not enjoy the date as much as I did?

Lost in my thoughts, I wandered into the kitchen where Mum greeted me with a wide smile. "Hi, my love. So... how was the date?" she asked, pulling me into a hug.

"I actually don't know," I replied, my eyebrows furrowing.

"What do you mean? Did you not enjoy it?"

"Well, no, I did enjoy it. A little too much, perhaps. It's him that I'm worried about."

"That little b*stard, if he wasted your time I'm going to-" Mum began, but I interrupted her.

"No, Mum, he was lovely. It was just towards the end of the date that his mood dropped. I don't know if it was because we spoke about something sensitive, or... I really don't know."

"Was there a specific point where his mood started to drop?" she asked, idly playing with my hair.

I paused, trying to recall tonight in detail. "Well, when he finished telling me something that made him feel vulnerable, I touched his hand trying to comfort him, but he almost flinched at my touch. It was as if he was unfamiliar with the feeling of being comforted."

"Well, maybe he is. Perhaps he didn't grow up in an environment where he received much comfort or care," Mum suggested as she fetched some water from the fridge.

"Yeah... maybe that's it," I mused, leaning against the kitchen island. "Oh, by the way, you didn't need to send your bodyguards to look after me," I added with a smirk.

Mum's eyes widened as she quickly closed the fridge door. She swallowed down her water and said, "I'm going to kill them."

I chuckled. "Please don't. Even if they were the top spies in the world, I still would've known someone was watching me. I get that eerie feeling whenever someone is looking at me. If you dare to fire them, I'll make you regret it," I said, giving her a serious look.

Mum burst into laughter. After a moment, she realised I was serious and threw her hands up in surrender. "Okay, I won't. Calm down," she said, defeated.

"Good. Well, I'm going to bed. Good night, I love you," I said, approaching her for a hug.

"Good night, my love. I love you too. Sleep well, and don't dwell too much on the negatives tonight. I'm sure you're just imagining it," she said, kissing the side of my head.

"I'll try my best," I said with a tight-lipped smile.

***

Adele's POV:

"I'm not going to fire you; I'm just giving you a warning," I said into the phone to one of my bodyguards.

"I know you guys are really good at your job; it's just my daughter who's a freak when it comes to these types of things. She always knows when someone is watching her," I chuckled.

"Well, good night. And rest well." I hung up the phone and walked out of the bathroom into our bedroom.

"I still can't believe Lia figured out they were watching her. She didn't even see them," Simon said, flabbergasted.

"She knows every single time when I send my bodyguards to look after her. That child has some weird senses when it comes to someone watching her," I said as I got into bed and laid my head on Simon's chest.

"Mmm," I hummed, closing my eyes and trying to absorb all the warmth of his body.

"I've missed you," Simon suddenly said, kissing my head. I lifted it up slightly and looked at him, my eyebrows scrunched.

"What do you mean? You see me every day, love."

"I mean, I missed you. All of you," he emphasised, wrapping his arms around my waist and burying his face in my neck. He started kissing my collarbone, causing me to giggle.

"You know that tickles me," I said, a huge smile on my face. He lifted his head and made intense eye contact with me.

We inched closer to each other, our noses slightly touching, his breath caressing my cheeks.

"I love you," he said, his deep voice vibrating through his body.

"I love you too."

Just as our lips touched, Lia burst into our room. This poor man never gets what he wants.

"What's wrong?" I asked, separating from Simon.

She was shaking as if she had been standing outside in a freezing blizzard. I immediately jumped out of bed and rushed towards her.

"Bubs, you need to tell me what is wrong," I said, engulfing her in my arms, pressing her head against my chest. I hadn't seen her this way since the incident. I could feel her tears soaking my pajamas as she pressed her head more into my chest.

I cupped her cheeks and forced her to look into my eyes.

"Tell me what's wrong."

"Someone—" She choked on her words. "Someone was inside my room."

My eyes widened in shock, and as I stood there frozen in fear, I could see in the corner of my eye that Simon jumped out of bed and grabbed the baseball bat that was always in the corner of our bedroom.

My mind immediately retreated to one name.

Rich.