Hope

It had taken me half an hour to convince myself that I didn't need to overreact, that I could just wait for him to come home and we could handle this amicably but the moment I stormed into the four walls of Killian's company, I felt my anger grow to a measurable length.

Fuck my subconscious trying to talk me out of this. I'd had enough of him messing with my life and I wasn't going to deal with his crap anymore.

"Mrs. Fobster." His secretary got up at my entrance. Cleo was it? Her eyes filled with surprise. "Good morning, I wasn't-"

"Where is Killian?" I cut her, not giving two shits about her greeting because I was angry. I was so fucking angry with him. Swear to God, he'd walked over me with this.

She blinked twice, silently pointing to his office door. "He's currently having a meeting with the-"

I didn't let her finish, I clutched my purse tightly to my side and advanced towards his door.

"No, no, you can't!" She yelled after me with sheer alarm in her voice but it was too late because I stormed right in without knocking and immediately greeted the three sets of startled eyes that met mine.

Everyone except Killian spared me a glance. He was sitting there, wearing indifference as he kept his gaze down on his laptop-like he'd expected this- like he'd anticipated this.

"Gentlemen." He finally spoke, earning back their attention. "Why don't you excuse my wife and I for a moment."

They nodded in understanding, all getting up and picking up their clipboards as they exited.

"Sir." The fear in Cleo's eyes was palpable as she stood by the door. "I'm sorry. I tried to stop her."

"It's fine. Leave us."

She nodded and the moment the door closed behind her, I snapped. "How could you close down Mr. Joe's shop? Do you think you're the wizard of Oz or the President?! You can't go around making people's lives miserable for your own self-satisfaction!"

I heard a sigh escape his lips as he got up and began to make his way toward the bottle of cognac on the glass table. "Is this why you rudely disruption of my meeting?" He drawled, still not looking at me.

"Yes, it is!" I stumped my foot. "How could you do a thing like that?"

"Do you have any way to prove it was me?"

Was he kidding me?

"Are you really going to play that card?!"

He kept me silent, deliberately obtuse, pushing me to my limits, knowing sooner or later I was going to snap. "Answer me!"

Dropping his glass back on the glass table, he looked over his shoulder at me and spoke tonelessly. "I'm not fighting with you, kitten. I'm not doing this with you."

"Oh, we're doing this all right. You're not leaving this conversation. And, if you call me Kitten one more time I swear to God I'll throw a vase at your head."

His shoulders shook with laughter as he turned around and met my gaze. "If anybody ever tells you that you're beautiful when you're angry, they're lying."

My cheeks flushed with anger. I glowered at him, my blood boiling.

"I'm not in the mood for your jokes, Killian, what you did was wicked and cruel."

He raised his brows, knowing it would irritate me. "You saw it as wicked and cruel I saw it as punishing my lying wife who went against my orders while knowing what I was very well capable of doing.".

"Bullshit, Killian! Bull. Shit!" I jabbed my finger through the air toward him. "You know, I've been trying to think the best of you but you make it so hard. You're so," I fumed. "Insufferable, domineering, and repulsive. It's sickening!"

His lips twitched into a cruel smile. "I thought you were going to say something bad?"

For some reason, his unaffected demeanor only irritated me the more. He was playing with me, enjoying how riled up I was.

I ground my teeth together, my anger returning in full force. "You're so-God I hate you right now."

"That's best for both of us."

My hand forked through my hair like a maniac. I couldn't hold my tongue any longer. "Can you just stop being arrogant and at least have the decency to accept that you did something wrong! What you did to those people was evil. That is their only source of income and you took it away because that's what you do," I took enough steps toward him, my fingertip jabbing his chest as I continued. "You take from people, you control them, you make them miserable, make them hateful but you know what? Punishing people for your faults won't make you feel better, it will only prove how much of a freak you are!"

My anger bubbled inside me and I had no idea where that outburst had come from but I didn't care because he needed a freaking reality check.

All sense of humor ceased from his face when he dragged his cold gaze up slowly until it collided with mine. "My orders were pretty clear from the beginning, Hope," his tone was as cold as ice. "You were the one who decided to flaunt them and if you hadn't, none of this would've happened." He scowled, fury emanating from every pore.

"I don't care how you decide to justify yourself. You might be a control freak and maybe your previous girlfriend let you have your way but I will not be your doll. I will not let you ruin my life any more than you already have and If you don't correct this, I swear to God, I'll run away with this child and you'll never see me again."

His eyes widened and he paused as if he were taken aback by my demand. "What did you say?"

I clenched my fists by my side, staring him straight in the eye. "I'll leave, Killian. I'll leave and you'll never see me again."

"You wouldn't do that to me." His voice softened, somehow catching me off guard.

No, I wasn't going to let him off easy. "I would," I responded. "I will, Killian. Our wedding is a mockery, all we do is fight and have sex. Nothing is right and soon enough I'll leave, I'll-"

"You're not allowed to leave me." He cut me acidly, looking me dead In the eye. "I won't let you leave, and don't ever threaten me with a thing like that again."

"I'll have to," I said, my voice softer than I'd thought it would be. "This" I waved my hand between us. "Isn't going to work. You know it. I know it and the contract said-"

"I know what the damn contract says," he cut me again, allowing his fingers sink into his hair as he took a deep breath in and then sighed it out. "But things are different."

All the fight left in me. My arms fell to my side. "How?"

"Because the more fucking time I spend with your crazy ass, the less I want the contract to dissolve."

I blinked, stunned. I blinked again, letting his words along with the shock register.

"Look I don't want you getting the wrong idea." He added, quickly, noticing my state of confusion. "I just-it's just, complicated."

"What's complicated? Your feelings for me?" I didn't know why I'd asked that, I didn't know what was wrong with me. I came in here fuming with rage enough to kill him but now my chest was so tight that I was being suffocated by my own emotions.

"Tell me, Killian."

He shook his head and when he looked back up at me, his eyes were dark; like he had suddenly remembered who he was. "Forget about it." He instructed, all hint of emotion on his face gone. There was no way at all to deduce what he was thinking and it broke my heart that I might have lost my only chance." You were right, I'm a sick freak and I went too far. I'll sort things out. You should go home now. The driver will take you."

My stomach tightened. He was locking me out again. "Killian, you-"

"Forget what I said." He cut me, just about when Cleo knocked on the door.

"Mr. Fobster?"

He cleared his throat, pulling himself together. "Yes, Cleo?"

"The hospital called. Your grandfather had another attack."

"Get my car ready." He told her, walking back to his table and ignoring me like he'd forgotten about everything that just happened.

"I'll come with you."

"You don't have to. Go home."

I shook my head. "I will."

"Suit yourself."

I was nervous the entire ride to the hospital and the fact that Killian hadn't spoken to me since we got in the car didn't help in calming my nerves.

I couldn't blame him though. The worry in his eyes was evident as he kept staring blankly ahead and fiddling with his Rolex.

I opened the window a few inches to let the rush of air in. At this point, I didn't know what to say. I had never met his grandfather before and he rarely spoke about his family so this was all new to me. "He's going to be okay." I tried comforting him and it didn't seem to make much difference because he only nodded at me and continued to stare blankly.

I sank deeper into the soft leather seat and lowered the window another few inches, wanting the wind to blow away the awkwardness between us.

It took thirty more silent minutes for the car to come to a stop at the parking lot and the moment it did, Killian dashed out, leaving me running after him.

The elevator ride was extremely nerve-wracking and the antiseptic smell of the hospital brought back painful memories that made me sick to my stomach.

For a brief moment, Killian glanced at me because he might have sensed my discomfort but his gaze wavered the moment I looked up at him, and just then did the elevator doors open with a chime.

Room 16 had two male bodyguards standing in front of it. When we walked in, a doctor and several nurses were standing next to the man laying huddled in his bed, looking quite sick with a nasal oxygen cannula fitted inside his nose.

I immediately recognized him from one of the portraits Killian stored in his study room. Mr. Edward Crane.

"What do I have to do to get these nurses to stop snitching." He croaked, sending a lopsided grin towards Killian but he didn't find it amusing.

"This isn't the time for your jokes, grandfather." He scowled. "If you weren't so damn stubborn I wouldn't have to be here."

"Good God, you sound like your mother." He chuckled harshly, his entire body shaking from the exertion of it.

Killian squeezed his fist, about to lash out at him when the male doctor suddenly walked forward and held out his hand. "Mr. Foster."

Killian didn't accept the handshake, instead, he pulled back. "I kept him in this hospital because I thought he's in safe hands, why does he keep having these attacks Ambrose, I'm getting sick of it."

The doctor withdrew his hand awkwardly and ran a hand past his receding hairline. "We're doing everything we can to keep it from occurring but it keeps getting worse."

"Silly weak heart." His grandfather intruded. "A fair warning, don't get old."

Killian turned to sneer at him. "Can you take this seriously for once?"

"I am going to die anyway. At least let me die happy."

"You're not dying!" He barked; a mixture of anger and fear in his words. He snapped his gaze back to the doctor. "Can we speak outside for a moment?"

"Certainly."

Killian walked out of the room with the doctor, and the nurses followed, leaving me alone with him and he didn't take long for his eyes to meet mine.

"You must be Hope."

It startled me that he knew my name.

"Yes Sir. I'm sorry but Killian never mentioned you to me before. It's a pleasure to officially meet you."

A warm smile etched over his face as he tapped the empty bed space beside his bed. "It's alright my dear, come sit with me."

I did as he'd told me and perched at the side of his bed. My God, he didn't only look sick but smelled sick. And yet he had the lively smile of a teenage boy.

"My grandson is an idiot for not bringing you sooner to me. He must be a lucky bastard to have gotten such natural beauty that is rare to come by."

I lowered my face and tried not to blush. "Thank you so much, sir."

"I should be thanking you. You are giving me everything I always wanted; a great-grandchild and a chance for my grandson to be happy again."

My eyes snapped up for a moment. "You know about the baby?"

He sounded tired and weak when he tried to laugh. "I might be confined to this sickbed but I know everything, my dear."

All of a sudden I was taken aback, unsure of how to feel. "I'm sorry, I didn't -"

"Oh it's fine," he waved me off with a soft chuckle. "If anything I blame my grandson. He takes after my thirst for women."

I let out the breath I'd been holding and laughed. "I didn't know that."

"And there's a lot more you don't know but with time, you will." His tone became serious. "I know Killian can be difficult but I want you to know that it isn't his fault. He wasn't always cold-hearted. The series of events that happened in his life made him this way."

My heart ached with guilt. "Was it really that bad?"

He nodded, sighing. "With time, he'll tell you. It might not be far anymore. I heard he defended you in front of his father." There was a smile on his face when he'd said that.

I heaved out a breath. "Honestly, deep down I know Killian is a good man or at least trying to be." Ps: he sucks at it. "But I'm scared he'll end up breaking my heart." I chuckled stupidly and lowered my head. "Maybe I'm the one seeing things that aren't there."

"My dear, if you dwell on the possibility of him breaking your heart, you're never going to get out of your own shadow. Look at me? I'm one last breath closer to the ground and my grandson is out there, trying to make sure I get my surgery done. It's all damned terrifying but that doesn't mean I'm not going to live every day to its fullest."

He placed his hand over mine. They were cold, shaking. "If you love my little boy then love him but know that he's a troubled man and will push you away at the slightest chance he gets. He's not going to open his heart to you easily but if you stay by his side, he will relent and he'll love you. That's if he already hasn't."

"I find that hard to believe that he has." I laughed, trying to ignore the warmth swallowing up my gut at his words.

He'd love me if I waited. But I wasn't sure if I could wait.