Mia (9 page)

“There is definitely something missing from that outfit”
, he said as she looked at him in surprise, before her face broke into a broad smile as he pulled a box from behind his back.  Her hands flew to her mouth as he opened it, revealing the most beautiful sapphire necklace she had ever seen.  She gasped at the row of exquisite stones, which became larger as they moved towards the centre, until a large teardrop stone fell from the middle.

“Claris
and I made sure that you had the right colour outfit, so that I could give you this”, he said softly as he placed it around her neck.  She smiled at him with twinkling eyes.  “Oh, Paul it’s beautiful”, she murmured, her voice hesitant. “I really can’t accept this…it must have cost a fortune”, she breathed, enjoying the feel of it on her skin.  He smiled softly down on her.  “Oh you have to”, he said.  “The lady at the shop said I couldn’t bring it back”  She laughed, giving in instantly.  “Thank you… I’ve never been given anything so beautiful”, she said softly as Paul watched her with a strange look on his face.

As they
moved around the room he introduced her to all of his friends and colleagues as his girlfriend, this simple declaration causing Mia’s pulse to jump.  She enjoyed talking to the many interesting people, many who were delighted to find out that she spoke so many different languages.  Mia always found that people relished an opportunity to talk in their native language, just enjoying the opportunity to speak to another person in their mother tongue and Paul had been impressed at how quickly she had made friends with those closest to him.

As they
moved around, Mia felt the necklace slip, looking at Paul with a gasp.  “I’m going to put this back in the room”, she stated, her voice full of concern.   “I couldn’t stand it if I lost it”  “I’ll come with you”, he said, making to move out with her.  With a laugh she waved him away.

“If we both leave then everybody will think that we’re not coming back”
, she giggled gently as he smiled back.  “We might not”, he whispered seductively in her ear, the small hairs on the back of her neck rising with the rush of desire that flooded through her.  “Down boy”, she chuckled, her eyes however giving away her feelings.  With a smile she turned to move back to the room, grabbing her bag as she went.  As she moved into the elevator hitting the floor number where they were staying, she smiled gently, her thoughts full of Paul, her face radiant with happiness. 

Downstairs Paul
sighed with exasperation, suddenly realising that he had both room keys in his pocket, wondering how long it would take her to realise and return.  With a small smile, he decided that next time he would accompany her and perhaps not come back, that thought causing a smile to sit on his lips.

As
Mia moved from the elevator, she started to walk along the corridor to their suite.  Opening the bag she placed the necklace inside, searching for the room key, frowning slightly as she realised that she did not have it.  Sighing in frustration she stopped, ready to turn around to return to the elevator.

“Hello
Mia”, a voice close behind her spoke.  Mia froze in terror, recognising the voice instantly.  A cold icy grip squeezed the very air from her lungs as she gasped in horrified shock, her fingers dropping the bag as terror flooded through her.  “Lucas”, she whispered almost inaudibly, as spinning around the colour drained from her face as Mia came face to face with the man who had for so long featured so prominently in her nightmares.  Her hands rose in defence to ward him off, the man before her seeing the sheer horror in her eyes, relishing it.

“Get away from me”
, she spat at him, her voice full of the terror her body felt, as she stepped back, her eyes scanned the corridor for any other person, whimpering finding herself completely alone, wishing Paul was with her.  “But I’ve waited all night to get you alone”, the cruel sneering voice answered as the athletic dirty blond man moved closer to her.

“You look good”
, he said, his eyes moving down her body pausing to take in her breasts almost as if he could see her heart which beat so quickly as terror gripped her.  “You look very good”, he repeated, his voice full of lust.  “Why are you here?”, she finally managed, her voice quivering and weak.  “To see you of course”, he sneered again.  “To talk to you about your lies and the fact that I spent six years of my life in jail because of you and that other little whore”, he said, his face dark and his stance dangerous.

Pulling herself together as she fought hard to control the turbulent emotions ripping through her
, she faced him, her whole body taut with anger and fear.  “You might be able to convince your father Lucas…But we both know the truth about what you tried to do”, she said, adding in a whimper, “What you did to Susan”

Still moving
slowly backwards away from him, as he moved forward towards her at the same speed, she suddenly felt the wall against her back as she found herself unable to move any further, trapped.  “What I did”, he hissed at her.  “Typical little bitch…You were begging for me and then you start screaming…You owe me Mia”, and with that the look of lust returned to his eyes.  He moved so close to her that she could feel his breath on her hair.

“
Look at you now Mia - you’re asking for it all over again…Maybe I should take what you accused me of”   With an evil laugh he added, “I did the time…I should at least get to enjoy the crime”  As she tried to make a sideways dash, his arm moved up to stop her.  With a shaky voice she cried at him.  “Get away from me, I swear to God I’ll scream”, her voice trembling, as she took in a deep breath.  “Well we can’t have that now can we?”, he said, as she saw his hand come up to her mouth, something held in it.

Instinctively she
pushed him, surprising him for a second, as whatever he held in his hand fell to the ground as he momentarily lost his balance.  As she tried to run from him he quickly caught her, spinning her around before throwing her against the wall.

As the air was forced out of her and her head
hit the hardness Mia felt a queasy dizziness grip her, her legs weakening under her.  With extreme willpower she forced herself not to fall into the darkness which was rushing up to consume her. She forced herself to keep fighting him, knowing she had to get away.

She
was aware of his cursing as he bent down to retrieve the cloth from the floor before once again turning to her, his eyes wild with a manic rage.   “See what you made me do?”, he muttered through clenched teeth.  “You’ll pay for that Mia”, he snapped at her, moving forwards with purpose.

Mia
tried to raise her hand but felt too tired to do even that, watching with a sick feeling in her stomach as he descended upon her.  Just as he placed the handkerchief over her mouth and nose, the sound of the elevator stopping on their floor made him pull back quickly.  With a curse and a frustrated look at her where she stood back against the wall completely helpless, he turned and ran to the stair doors.

With a small sob,
Mia sank all the way to the floor, her arms going around her legs defensively hugging herself, pushing herself as tight to the wall as she could.

As Paul
turned the corner, the room key she had forgotten in his hand, he spotted her.  With a cry of shock he ran to Mia, his eyes scanning the corridor for signs of danger.  Reaching her he dropped to his knees, pulling her into his arms, holding her as she threw her arms around his neck her whole body shaking violently as the sobs racked her small frame.

“He was here”
, she finally stuttered.  “He…”, but she could not finish as her whole body shook with the shock of what had just happened.  Paul held her, whispering softly against her cheek. “It’s OK…I’m here…It’ll be OK sweetheart”, he repeated over and over suddenly feeling so angry at himself.  He had brought her back, had promised to keep her safe and this man had still so nearly got to her. 

Rising, he
lifted her into his arms like a small child and carried her into their room still talking soothingly.  After placing Mia onto the couch he rushed to the phone calling hotel security then making another call to somebody else who she did not know as she continued to sit in complete shock.

Returning, he
put his arm around her making Mia drink some brandy, which as before returned the colour to her cheeks as she coughed at the fiery descent of the liquid which warmed her numb stomach.  “Can you tell me what happened?”, he prompted gently, Mia suddenly flinching.  Putting her hand up to her head she winced as a sudden pain in her head shot through her.  Paul gasped as he put his hand onto the back of her hair feeling the sticky blood which seeped from some wound.

“You
’re hurt”, he gasped in shock.  Mia looked up at him.  “I tried to get away…but he threw me against the wall”, she stammered.  “I thought I was going to faint…I was so scared…I couldn’t pass out…I had to get away”, she said, the terror in her voice reflected in the way her eyes looked at him so hauntedly, like a trapped animal.  Pulling her tightly against him he watched as her eyes rolled into the back of her head, and she fell back against him in a dead faint.  Paul rushed back to the phone, barking commands for a doctor to attend and at that point the doorbell rang.

As Mia slowly opened her eyes she flinched as the pain in her head reminded her of what had happened.  As she groaned loudly, the door to the room quickly opened and Paul moved over to her side.

“Hey, you”
, he said softly, his hands moving to take hers, entwining their fingers together.  “How you feeling?”  She gave him a weak smile.  “Like I went two rounds with Tyson”, she said with a small laugh, closing her eyes as the pain once again hit.  Paul looked at her, his face drawn with a tortured expression on it.

“I’m so sorry
Mia.  I promised I would keep you safe”, he whispered.  With a serious look she touched his cheek loving him even more.  “You did”, she said.   “It was you coming out of the elevator that scared him away… If you hadn’t come up…”, her voice tapered off, a small tear rising to her eye as he held her, pulling her in hard against him, protectively holding her in his arms.

“The pol
ice need to talk to you later…when you feel better”, he finally said so softly, the feelings unleashed within him so foreign to him.  “We had a forensic team up here.  We found his fingerprints, and signs of chloroform”, he moaned in anguish.  “The surveillance video showed him leaving in a small van… and he had been down in the hall, watching in the shadows.  He was obviously just waiting for a chance to get you on your own”

Mia
nodded gently.  “He told me that himself”, she confirmed, pulling back slightly from him to look into his eyes, surprised to see the fear in his.  Paul lifted her hand to his mouth kissing her fingers as he talked.  “We think that he planned to surprise you, chloroform you and take you away somewhere in that van… If he had succeeded…”, he said, pausing as his voice cracked.

Mia
squeezed his hand reassuringly.  “But he didn’t”, she said softly, “You stopped him”  With a small smile, she caressed his cheek.  “My white knight saved me once again”  At that he gently pulled her into his arms, once more cradling her protectively.  “I swear to God Mia if he had hurt you” His voice broke again as emotions once more engulfed him.  Mia again felt so safe as he held her, sighing gently against him as her eyes closed and sleep once more took her.

Waking
much later her head felt better, but as she moved she felt the sharp pain in her back.  Pulling herself from the bed she moved over to the mirror to look at herself.  Groaning, she surveyed the large black, blue and red bruise which covered her back and shoulders, not hearing the door open but hearing his sharp intake of breath as he caught sight of her back.

Mia
turned with an attempt at humour.  “This is nothing; you should have seen the last souvenir he left me”   To her surprise he answered, “I did”  Mia dropped her eyes, her smile falling from her lips, as her eyes filled with shame.  “When?”, she asked, her voice barely audible.  “The night you were arrested”, he replied.  Mia turned away from him embarrassed and suddenly feeling so vulnerable, knowing that he had seen how she had looked.  Tears sprang to her eyes as he moved behind her, his strong arms enveloping her, as he held her securely in his arms.  “Don’t Mia, don’t you ever be ashamed of what you survived.  He is an animal, but you…You just kept fighting and you won.  You are glorious”

With that the tears
rushed to her eyes as she turned in his arms to move hers around his waist to hold herself tight against him, as six years of self-doubt and self-loathing melted away.  As her sobs died away she pulled back from him, her face radiant with an inner glow which made him catch his breath, her expression calm and serene.

“Have they caught him yet
?”, she asked gently, looking into his eyes, seeing as he shook his head before adding with some satisfaction, “But he can’t go back to his father’s”  Mia raised an eyebrow questioningly as he gently moved her back over to the bed making her get back in as he laid beside her.  “I told you the day I got you out of jail that I wouldn’t let him hurt you”

She
nodded, remembering his promise in the hotel, along with his declaration that he wanted to see where their relationship might lead.  “I sent all of the reports from your case, including those from Susan’s death to an investigator I know”  Mia looked at him, her eyes wide with surprise.  “You never said…”, she began.  “I didn’t want to say anything in case they didn’t turn up anything.  However, according to the reports Susan fell off the cliff backwards… There was no way her death was an accident” 

Mia
gasped as her hands flew to her mouth.  “They murdered her”, she whispered in horror.  Paul’s mouth tightened, as he nodded softly.  “The city police found the van about two hours ago and as well as Lucas’s prints they found your friend Colin’s too.  He was pulled in for questioning and told them the whole story”

She
continued to watch him silently as he filled in the details.  “Adam Mathers hired him and another man to scare Susan.  They grabbed her in an attempt to frighten her into withdrawing her statement, but she panicked and backed away from them and…”  He left it at that, his eyes soft as he watched as she closed hers in horror at the way the young girl, her friend, had died. “When Adam Mathers found out he apparently decided that it might not be so bad if you were marked down as a suicide or accident too and you met a similar end”

“They were really going to kill me
?”, she croaked, her eyes wide.  He nodded, his mouth set firmly.  “Both Colin and Adam Mathers are under arrest, charged with one count of murder and another of attempted”

Tears
once again rose to her eyes as she smiled tremulously.  “So it’s really all over”, she whispered softly.  “You did all this for me Paul?”  Her eyes looked at him with such a warm glow that he kissed her, laying her gently back onto the pillow as with a groan he lifted himself from her.  “Doctor said I shouldn’t let you get too excited”, he said with a small sigh.

“Am I suffering from concussion
?”, she asked him, her mouth curling in a smile.  Shaking his head he answered, “No thankfully, your back took most of the force”  With that she snaked her arms around his neck, pulling him back down to her.  “Well in that case, damn the doctor”, as her lips took his hungrily.

The next few days
were busy as Mia spoke to the police and gave statements about her ordeal.  News of Adam Mathers’ arrest and that of Colin Jones quickly spread around the small community.  Very quickly Mia noticed a difference in the way people reacted to her, and despite having every right to be angry, Mia treated all those who approached her with apologies with genuine forgiveness.

Again Paul James
was amazed at her ability to move on, when he seriously felt he would have held a grudge against those who had treated her so badly.  Mia however, just smiled sadly with the words, “Enough people have been hurt by this already”, with an almost peaceful expression on her lovely face.

The only dark cloud was that Luc
as Mathers was still at large, despite a country-wide search for him from the police who had informed docks, airports and all other ports of exit from the country that he was to be detained immediately.  His car had disappeared and the police felt sure that he had fled to Scotland.

For t
wo weeks they hunted and as each day passed with no sightings of him Mia relaxed more and more, as life at the estate quickly settled down.  Paul and Mia continued to work well together and she spent much of her time with him on site.  When Bill discovered what Paul had done, he was physically moved to tears as his sister’s death had finally been proven not to be a suicide.  He was happy for the two of them when he discovered their new relationship and became good friends with Paul, coming to the house often to visit.

After two weeks Paul
held her close to him as they both fought to get their breaths back to their usual rhythm after making love, both still amazed at the way they reacted to each other.

“Are you ready for that
Caribbean holiday yet?”, he asked with a small smile, as Mia looked at him in surprise.  “But what about the project?”, she asked in confusion, knowing that there was still much to be done.  Paul, however, looked at her a little nervously.  “The project really doesn’t need me here all the time now”, he said slowly.  “I’m going to have to go back to New York soon…I have business there that needs dealt with…But we deserve a holiday first”, he added with a small laugh.

“I see”
, Mia replied, the way he had used the word ‘I’ not escaping her.  “Can we talk about it in the morning?”, she asked softly, turning on her side away from him, so that he would not see the small tears in her eyes.  “Mia…”, he began, his voice gently questioning as she quietly replied, “I’m really tired Paul”, not trusting herself to be able to talk it over with him, needing time to let his attempt to let her down softly sink in.  He frowned, looking at her back before lying on his to look up at the ceiling.

The next morning the phone
rang at six, waking the two of them abruptly from their slumbers.  As Paul lifted the receiver, Mia turned to cuddle into him, her arm thrown over his chest as her head rested on his shoulder making him smile gently feeling her in his arms.  Sleepily he answered the call, his relaxed body becoming stiffer under her touch as he listened to the caller on the other end of the line.

“Do nothing until I get there, I’ll be on the next flight”
, he finally managed, his voice angry and clipped, as she lifted herself up against him her face showing concern.  “What’s wrong?”, she asked in bewilderment as he ended the call, “Is everything OK?”  Paul pushed the covers from himself and moving out of the bed his eyes looked down on her his expression apologetic but determined.  “I’m sorry darling; I have to go down to London for an emergency meeting.  Looks like we might have a hostile takeover bid on our hands”

Mia
looked at him with concern. “Will you be OK?”, she asked with real worry in her voice. “Is there anything I can do? Should I come with you?”  He looked at her gently. “Thanks, but it is better if you stay here.  I hope that I will only be a few days…I’ve dealt with these things before”  He sighed, raking his fingers through his hair as he quickly moved to the shower.

Mia
rose from the bed, pulling a silk nightgown over herself as he once more appeared out of the bathroom, having quickly showered, his hair still glistening.  As he dressed quickly she talked to him about the previous takeover bids. “Will you lose your company?”, she asked, watching him with worry, knowing how important his business was to him, biting her lip nervously.

He
looked back at her with that sombre look she so loved. “I have never lost anything I didn’t want to keep in my whole life Mia… And I am certainly not about to start now”  She gave him an encouraging smile.

As he
kissed her goodbye, he told her that he would call from London, before moving into the car.  When she offered to make up a case for him he shook his head informing her that he had everything he needed at his London flat, which made her smile with a mischievous look. “Everything?”  To which he chuckled, “Well, almost everything”, before he left.

Sighing
, Mia returned to bed before rising, unable to settle without Paul beside her.  Sitting down in the kitchen, she helped herself to tea and toast, watching as the dark night slowly turned to light with the rising dawn.  She replayed his conversation from the previous evening in which he told her that he would have to soon return to the states.  With a small frown she remembered that he had used the word ‘I’, there had been no invitation for her to join him. 

Sitting quietly at the table the warm tea clutched in both her hands, she
wondered if Paul was boring with her.  Was this his way of telling her that their affair was coming to an end?  She bit her lip, feeling the tears well up in her eyes.  She was in love, and his words kept coming back to haunt her. “I’ve never lost anything I didn’t want to keep” - had this been his way of telling her that she was no longer wanted?

With a soft shake she
told herself she was being ridiculous.  Paul was only going to be away for a couple of days, he had not even left the country chiding herself for her silliness just as Mrs Mac entered the kitchen.

When she
heard where Paul had gone, she looked at Mia with concern.  “Why didn’t he take you with him sweetie?”, she asked, instantly regretting her words as she saw Mia’s hurt expression.  “Guess he thought it would be boring for you”, she added comfortingly. 

For the next few days
Mia continued visiting the site during the day.  She spent most of her time with Bill, who she discovered had finally proposed to his long term girlfriend Sandra.  As she congratulated him, he looked at her, his face full of such emotions.

“Now that I know about Susan,
Mia, I feel that I can go on, I feel like I can let go and live my own life”  She smiled at him, knowing exactly what he meant.  She too felt it, like something heavy had been lifted from her and now she was free to choose what she did with her future.  For the first time Mia knew that she did not have to run from anything.  Even Lucas still being at large posed less of a threat, as she was sure that he would not be in the neighbourhood and that it was only a matter of time before the police caught him again.

Paul
phoned every night, updating her on the progress.  He seemed optimistic, quickly finding out that things were not as bad as they had initially seemed and telling her on the Thursday that he was looking forward to returning the next day.  Mia spent the day happily waiting for his return, insisting on making the dinner herself, as Mrs Mac chuckled.  “If you’re sure dear”, shaking her head as she left for the evening, smiling softly at some inner thought.