Bedmates Soulmates
CHAPTER 195

What else did he want her to say?

Austyn wasn't convinced.

He could see the fear in her eyes.

Sensing that he wasn't going to let this go, Kira sighed. 'Okay, I'm a little scared of you.'

10

Walk A Mile In His Shoes

'Just a tad," she added in a hurry.

'Because of what happened at the restaurant?'

'Yes.'

'Was it that bad?"

'Yes, very!' Kira decided she might as well tell him the truth. 'It was the first time I saw you getting that angry. You looked like you were ready to kill Lia-the man. The look on your face was so...alien. For a moment, I didn't recognise you.' She watched his face carefully.

When she sensed he wasn't about to flip out, she continued, 'Besides, there was what happened last night. You almost forced yourself on me.'

"... Austyn clenched his hand.

He quickly withdrew his hand from her shoulder when Kira winced.

'I was angry because I saw you kissing Liam.

'And because you wanted to leave me,' he thought..

Kira rolled her eyes. 'How many times must I tell you this? He forced the kiss on me! I didn't kiss him! It was not consensual!*

"You could've pushed him away."

'I tried!' Kira shouted. 'He's freakishly strong! I couldn't do it!'

Austyn pursed his lips.

He forced himself to drop the subject. 'Tell me the truth-did he do anything else to you other than the kiss?"

Kira swallowed.

She lowered her eyes and quickly shook her head. 'No. Nothing."

'Are you sure?'

'Yes, absolutely sure!"

She didn't dare tell him about the time she ran into Liam at the karaoke lounge.

Liam was being chased by several rough-looking men.

To throw them off, he pulled her in for a kiss and pretended they were a couple.

Kira didn't consider it a kiss.

More like mouth-to-mouth CPR.

But she was sure Austyn wouldn't see it that way.

So she decided to keep her mouth shut.

Sometimes, silence was the best policy.

Austyn fastened his gaze on her face as if searching for signs of deception.

Kira forced herself to meet his eyes.

Looking away would be tantamount to an admission of guilt.

But she didn't think she could last long under his scrutiny, so she tried to change the subject. 'And..."

"And what?"

'And you were so mean to me in the car! I saw you were bleeding, so I wanted to check on your hand. You shoved me away so hard that I bumped my head against the window. You even asked me to shut up." She smiled sadly, 'You said you'd throw away anything Liam touched. And that includes me, right?"

Whoever said that 'Sticks and stones will break my bones but words will never hurt me' must not have had a single harsh word uttered to them in their whole, blessed lifetime.

Kira's arm was hurting, but she knew the physical wound would heal in time.

On the other hand, the emotional wound left by Austyn's words might take much, much longer.

Just repeating what he said sent another stabbing pain through her heart.

Austyn couldn't deny what he'd said.

He said it in the heat of the moment.

He hated Liam Cane with every fibre of his being.

The sight of Liam kissing Kira enraged him more than words could describe.

If Kira had not been in the restaurant, he would have killed Liam right there and then.

His blood was still boiling after he got in the car.

When Kira reached for his hand, he shoved her away without thinking.

Recalling how much force he'd used, Austyn asked awkwardly, 'Does it still hurt?"

'My arm? It's better now."

Kira thought the man was changing the subject.

Hiding the disappointment in her heart, she said nonchalantly, 'That ointment is quite effective.'

'I'm not talking about the arm.'

"Huh? What do you mean?'

Austyn pointed to her head. 'I pushed you. You bumped your head on the car window."

He remembered hearing a dull thud.

hard.

She must have hit her head pretty h

Kira touched the back of her head. 'It's all right. It did hurt, but not anymore."

Austyn kept his eyes on her.

Kira fidgeted under his direct gaze.

She put down her hand and stared at the bed.

Elsie must have changed the sheets.

They were still satin, but no longer the creamy-white ones she'd used as a bedsheet ladder.

'Are you still angry with me?' Austyn broke the silence.

Kira paused before answering. 'A little bit.'

Austyn opened his mouth, but he didn't know what else he could say to make peace with her.

Hadn't they talked things through?

She had a chance to vent her anger.

Was that not enough?

If Austyn got mad at someone, he got even.

Should he suggest that to Kira?

If he gave her a chance to whack his head, would that make them even?

Kira looked up at him. 'I hate the way you treated me last night. I was planning to never speak to you ever again for the rest of my life. But I changed my mind. The anger receded. Just a little bit, though." "Why?"

Kira picked at the sheets. 'Dad told me that before I judge a man, I should walk a mile in his shoes. I tried putting myself in your position, and I think I can understand why you were so angry."

She hadn't understood it before last night, but Elsie explained to her why Austyn hated Liam so much.

Kira remembered how she felt when she saw Gideon in bed with Georgina.

She'd left the room quickly and never seen Gideon again.

She never had the chance to find out which one of them had seduced the other.

But if Georgina showed up in front of her one day, linking arms with Gideon, Kira would probably lose it and beat the hell out of her half-sister.

So she could understand why Austyn was so mad to see her go out to dinner with Liam.

'I'm not as mad as last night, but I'm still pretty steamed,' Kira reiterated.

Austyn's eyes followed her slender fingers as they played with the sheets. 'I'm mad as well."

She stared up at him. "What for?"

She was the one with a bump on the back of her head and a dislocated shoulder! 'Don't you remember what you said last night?"

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Don't Ever Mention Divorce Again 'What did I say?'

Austyn pressed his lips into a thin, tight line.

He didn't want to say it.

The very sound of the word was disagreeable to him.

But Kira kept looking at him, puzzled.

'Divorce,' he said.

"Oh."

Kira had planned to broach the subject of divorce in a year, after she graduated.

But she moved up the timetable after what happened in the restaurant,

Now it seemed like she'd picked a bad time.

'I'll pretend I never heard you say that word. Austyn leaned in.

His face grew serious. 'Kira, don't ever mention that word again, okay?"

Kira saw that he meant it..

There was a determined look in his eyes, and a hint of the storm that awaited her if she mentioned that word for the second time.

Kira wanted to refuse.

She could maybe postpone it, but divorce was written on their marital calendar.

It was only a matter of time.

But she didn't want to start another fight with the man.

So Kira just kept quiet.

To prevent Austyn from pushing her for an answer, she said pre-emptively, 'I have something I need to ask you." "What is it?"

Kira took a deep breath.

She asked the question that had been buried in the back of her mind for an entire year.

"Why did you marry me?'

Austyn was caught off guard.

His eyelids flickered.

Kira

struggled to decode the complex expression on his face.

Surprise, awkwardness, anxiety, reluctance, and a trace of...guilt?

Kira blinked.

She must be reading him wrong.

'The marriage worked out for you, didn't it?" he said finally. 'Your father was transferred to the best hospital in Stamford and his medical bills were taken care of."

'It did,' she said. 'I know the marriage is to my benefit. I just wonder what you get out of it."

Austyn looked away. 'Just think of it as charity.'

'What do you mean-charity?"

'Some people donate to charities; some do volunteer work. I choose to give back to society by rescuing a bankrupt college girl whose father's in the ICU.

Kira eyed the man suspiciously.

Was that the real reason?

He did too much evil, so he tried to assuage his guilt and do good by marrying her?