A Word of Praise
Chapter 43

"Can we talk about this later? Your hands are skinned!" His tone was worried, and she closed her eyes to focus. She breathed in and ignored his voice for a second. Water. She needed running water.

She walked towards the small sink backstage and tried to open the tap, but her hands were not responding.

"Open," she commanded. As she felt the water soothing her wound, she was able to concentrate better. What the hell was he doing there? She almost didn't believe it when she saw him in the crowd, and his presence made all her concentration go down the drain.

"You bastard! You made me fall." She shot him a murdering glare but knew it wasn't exactly his fault. But there were other things that she blamed him for, so she didn't take the words back.

"I missed you." He got closer, and she could see fatigue marks that had been hidden in the poor light of the backstage until now.

"You don't get to say that." She wanted to sound strong and to force him to step back, but she didn't.

"I'm sorry." His voice came out hurt, and way more vulnerable than she expected. "I am so, so sorry Kiara." He held her face in his hands and she couldn't replace the strength to pull away. "What do you want from me?"

"I want you to forgive me for being a complete asshole." He lowered his face until it was inches away from her. "And I want you, Kiara"

She rolled her eyes but couldn't help the shiver that climbed her body. The fucker must have noticed, because the next thing she knew, he pulled her in for a desperate kiss.

Kiara felt him against her lips, and the pain in her hands didn't seem so important anymore. She wanted to be mad, to trash away and kick him for kissing her after what he had done. But he apologized and apologized again, and she had only so much strength to fight against something she wanted just as desperately. Her hands shot up to grab his hair.

"Shit!" She pulled away, feeling her recent friction burn sting when it touched him. The small distance she put between them was enough to drive her senses back into her body. "What the hell was that?"

He took a deep breath and closed the tap he had opened for her. His eyes were hooded, but when he spoke, his voice was clearer than ever.

"We need to talk. But we can do that on the way to the hospital"

He took her wrists and inspected her palms.

"It looks worse than it feels. I don't need a hospital, just a clean bandage, and some moisturizer. It's first degree." She prickled her wrists away from him.

"Kia, are you alright baby girl?" Michael's strident voice broke her private moment, and she couldn't decide whether she was glad about it or not. Chris turned around to see who called for her, and she watched Michael's eyes widen in surprise. "I'm fine," she answered but knew his worry about her wellbeing was significantly reduced after seeing Chris.

"I can see you are more than fine, naughty girl. Nice to meet you, sexy voice." Michael eyed Chris from head to toe, and Kiara was absolutely mortified.

"Michael, I assume." Chris stretched his hands and the other man smiled, accepting his handshake. "Kiara doesn't want to go to the hospital to get her hand checked."

Michael raised a brow and got closer to her. She extended her hands for him to inspect, and the man used his phone's flashlight to see it better.

"Did you cool it down?" He asked, and she nodded. "She doesn't need a hospital, just moisturizer and a bandage. And possibly a handsome and strong man to help her out with things that demand a hand." He wiggled his brows and Kiara felt like shaving them off. Sly bitch.

"Go to hell," she cursed Michael, then turned to Chris. "I told you so. Now can you finally tell me what the fuck you are doing here?"

"I'll leave you two to talk, I do have a birthday to enjoy." Michael strode off and left the two of them in a stare-match that was in a grey area between angry and sexual.

"I came to get you back," he stated in that commanding tone that had her fuming. Get her back?

"Go to hell"

"Only if you come with me." Shit, that was hot. He was all domineering and sure of himself. She couldn't help but dwell on his offer, but then the memory of their last encounter flooded through her head and she stepped away. "How did you know I was here?"

"Marcus has some crazy stalker abilities." She wanted to be mad about it but wasn't. Why the hell wasn't she? They fell into silence, and he stepped forward to get close to her once again. "I have an offer for you."

"You have got to be kidding me." She rolled her eyes. She would have crossed her arms, but to do that her hands would end up touching something and that was impossible at the moment.

"Didn't you like our last deal, Kiara?" She could feel his breath against her skin. Against her better judgment, she was digging this new forward approach he was displaying.

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"It was a shitty deal."

"Yes, but you accepted it anyway. This one is better."

"What do you want?"

"You let me take you home and help you out with this." He took her wrist at the sides of her body but didn't lift her hands between them like last time. Instead, he took another step forward and towered over her, forcing her to look up. "And in return, you listen to what I have to say."

"That's another shitty deal, you want both things."

"Yes, but you need one of them." He smirked. Damn it. Damn him. "Fine."

She allowed him to get her duffel bag and even accepted his jacket to cover up a little. There was no way she could change from the tight bodysuit without harming her hands even further. On the way out, she waved Michael goodbye and tried to throw him the finger when he mouthed 'go get laid'.

The Aston Martin didn't match the neighborhood they were in, nor the club they left. But she was glad to avoid the uber ride home, especially in the clothes she was in.

"My place or yours?" He asked.

"This is not a booty call." She tried to remain serious, but her voice came out between laughs.

"Could be," he murmured. "Batman misses you."

"Are you trying to convince me to go to your place by using Batman?" She arched a brow.

"Is it working?"

"Yes." She gave up. She missed Batman too and was curious to see his place anyway.

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He drove in silence for a while, but it was not nearly as uncomfortable as she expected it to be. It felt almost... familiar. But something was bothering her, and she decided to blurt it out.

"You know I didn't accept your deal because of money, right?"

"Uh?" He was distracted.

"You said earlier I accepted your deal. I didn't."

He raised a brow, and she noticed how confusing her sentence was.

"I didn't accept the whole fake girlfriend thing because of the money."

"Oh...I guess I should have known. I mean, you were willing to go to jail instead of accepting, a few bucks shouldn't have changed your mind." The fact he considered five grand just a few bucks did not go unnoticed by her, but she let it slide. "Does that mean you'll pay me what you own?"

"Never," she laughed, forgetting for a second all the inner conversations she had about him being a rich bastard that didn't deserve her heartbreak.

"Why did you do it?" He looked at her, and when she didn't answer he pushed it a bit more. "Why did you agree to come with me?"

"I'm not sure. It seemed really important to you"

"Oh, so you already liked me then?" The jerk teased her with a smirk.

"You were the one smitten by me there, pretty boy."

"I loved you way before that." Wait, what?