Chapter 15

Once they enter the apartment, William heads to the bedroom, but Lianna grabs his arm. He sighs mentally. He does not have the strength for a pep talk. He cannot deal with this now.

Lianna takes William’s arm and leads him to the island in the kitchen. She pulls out a chair and gestures for him to sit. William hesitates.

“Please?” she asks with a soft voice. William scoffs and turns to the bedroom. He cannot stand the pity on Lianna’s face.

“Sit,” she demands and William pauses. He slowly turns around and sees Lianna searching for something under the sink. With a frustrated sigh, he sits down.

Lianna grabs the first aid kit from under the sink. She makes her way back and sits across from William. Great, now she is going to patch him up. William places his hands on the table and watches Lianna remove his wrapping. The sooner she can get this over with, the sooner he can leave. For good.

After Lianna has unwrapped his hands, she holds the bottle with saline solutions over a cloth. She takes William’s hand and gently dabs the cloth on his knuckles. William winces and tries to pull his hand away, but Lianna holds him in place.

“Sorry,” she whispers and re-adjusts herself. William sighs again and Lianna raises her brows at him.

“You don’t have to do this,” he says and supports his head with the other hand. Does she think this will win him over? Get him to talk?

“Sure.” Lianna’s voice drips with sarcasm. William looks at her with a slight frown.

The tip of her tongue sticks out as she focuses on his hand. He notices how brown her eyes are and the dark circles under her eyes. Her hair is pulled into a bun, with stray hairs standing about. She kind of looks like she was electrocuted for a second.

Lianna glances at William and notices him looking at her. She raises her brows but ignores him. She bandages the hand before taking the other hand. Lianna turns her head away for a yawn.

William swallows back a yawn and feels the exhaustion seeping into him. Maybe he should not go in for work tomorrow. He can go to his cabin.

“I didn’t flinch because I thought you were going to hit me. It was merely a reaction. It had nothing to do with you, okay?” William’s eyes dart to hers and she smiles gently. “When I was in high school, I dated this guy. A bit of a delinquent, but he had a good heart. He would always get into fights and I always managed to get myself involved. This one time, I got between him and another guy. His emotions were all over the place and he was not thinking clearly. The next moment, I was on the floor.”

Lianna takes a deep breath and bandages William’s hand.

“He punched me. Broke my nose.” She chuckles at the memory. “I never thought he would hit me, but due to his anger, he did. We parted on good terms, but the punch did some damage, you know?” William nods slightly, his eyes still on Lianna.

“I flinched because of past trauma. It had nothing to do with you. I was in the same situation and I freaked out.” She looks into his eyes. He nods and looks away.

Lianna pats his hand and gets up. She goes to switch on the kettle. As she gets a mug out, she turns to William. He nods before she asks if he wants tea. She gets another mug and leans back against the counter.

They wait in silence for the kettle to boil. William contemplates whether he should tell her what happened. A mug filled with tea is placed in front of him and Lianna takes her place again.

“My mother slapped Isaac because he proposed to Bianca on the trail where I asked Evelyn to marry me,” William says before taking a sip. Lianna purses her lips together and shakes her head in disbelief. His mother slapped Isaac? So, he cannot get away with what he wants to do. Or was it because Rose is overly fond of Evelyn? Birds of the same feathers, she guesses.

William rubs his eyes as he also lets out a yawn. He should get to bed. He looks at Lianna. Maybe she is not that bad. She does not seem too affected by what happened. Then again, she never seems affected by anything.

“I’m sorry for the way I reacted. It was unnecessary. Usually, I just go to the gym to take a few punches, but today . . . “ William pauses and looks at Lianna. “How did you know where to find me?” Lianna stands up to place her mug in the sink. She shrugs as she looks over her shoulder.

“This guy, Blake, called me. He said I should come and get you.” William pulls his hand through his hair.

“He was not supposed-

“Yeah, he told me he was not allowed to talk to me, but he was not getting through to you. Quite a guy,” Lianna says with a grin. William stands up and walks over to Lianna.

“What does that mean?” he asks, leaning on the countertop next to the sink. Lianna laughs lightly.

“I mean, interesting guy to get for a bodyguard. He seems, I don’t know, a bit crazy. Dark, definitely,” Lianna says while she opens the tap. There are still a few mugs and plates she has to wash. William places the mug next to him.

“He is insane. Blake is the best bodyguard I ever had, but he is a horrible person to negotiate with. And he is unpredictable.” William remembers the first time he met Blake. Blake was early to the meeting and had drops of blood on his shirt. William thought it was for show until the guy started talking. That was someone’s blood. It was still fresh.

“He scares me,” William admits and Lianna closes the tap. She raises a brow at William. “He has gotten me out of some tough situations, but his method is questionable. His motto is, and I quote, “Leave no loose ends. Need to show these fuckers.” And that scares me.” She laughs and nods in agreement.

William downs the last bit of tea before plunging the mug into the water, splashing some onto Lianna.

“Heish, watch it,” she scolds and William chuckles. He supports himself on the counter while looking at Lianna. She is not too bad. Maybe this marriage can actually work out. He looks around the apartment and realizes that this is the first place in his life where he feels completely comfortable. There are no rules and no expectations. Just a messy girl with a small apartment.

Lianna catches him staring at her and he winks at her. Lianna rolls her eyes and gives him a fake smile.

“I’m going to bed. I can barely keep my eyes open. Thank you for the weekend,” he says. Lianna smiles genuinely. “I mean it. And I do apologize for Evelyn. If I had known she was going to be there, I would not have taken you with me. Thank you.” William leans closer and places a soft kiss on Lianna’s forehead. “Night,” he says before heading to the bedroom.

Lianna is left dumbfounded. Did he just kiss her? That psycho. How can he go from being livid to being distraught to being a playboy? Psycho vibes.

“William?” He pauses and turns back to her. She shakes her head to get her thoughts straight. “The school is having a color run tomorrow. If you can, I would enjoy the company.” William smiles and nods.

“I will be there. Just send me the details,” he says before disappearing into the bedroom. Lianna smiles to herself. What on earth did she get herself into?