Bedmates Soulmates

Wait For The Other Shoe To Drop

"Stop this now!' he warned himself. "Rein it in "

When he picked Kira for his legal wife, Austyn was sure he would never have feelings for her.

That was why he chose her in the first place.

Party A and Party B shall have a contractual relationship, not a romantic one.

But why did he feel a sharp pang when he saw her cry?

Why did he have to clench his fists to stop himself from drawing her close in a tight hug?

Austyn looked away and cut off that train of thought.

If he continued, it might lead to a place he wasn't ready for.

He roughly shoved her hands away and stood up, marching from the room without a word.

Kira was knocked back on her heels.

Shit, did she do something wrong again?

Scrambling up from the floor, she chased after him. Wait, Austyn! Wait, Mr McCarthy! President! Honey! Husband! Hubby! Please don't be mad!"

She just made a harmless dig at his shoes.

How could he be so petty?

Her petty husband stomped up the stairs, abandoning her in the living room.

Kira pulled her hair, frustrated.

""He's really pissed. I'm screwed."

The anger showed no signs of subsiding.

Kira woke up in bed, alone.

Austyn stayed away from the bedroom,

She had not seen him since he walked out last night.

Kira puffed out her cheeks.

It was the weekend.

She didn't have to go to work today.

After lazing around in bed for a while, she got up and used the bathroom.

On her way downstairs, she tiptoed past the study and pricked up her ears.

No sound at all

Did he spend the night in there, or had he gone out?

Austyn often spent four or five days a week away from the villa.

Kira speculated he was either staying at Kayleigh's place or had a pied-à-terre somewhere else.

As she ate the sumptuous breakfast by herself, Kira sighed again.

What was the true nature of her relationship with Austyn, anyway?

Husband and wife?

But he had a lover on the side.

Strangers?

But they slept in the same bed.

Someone once said, 'A loveless life is living death."

To Kira, a loveless marriage was a life sentence...

She was a prisoner without shackles, deprived of her liberty, dignity, and the right to feel righteous anger when her husband 'cheated' on her with another woman. Was it cheating, though, if the wife was in the know?

"Young Madam, you've sighed for the tenth time in just as many minutes."

Elsie came into the room carrying a glass of hot milk...

P

'Morning. Elsie.' Kira greeted the housekeeper with a smile, packing away her thoughts in a mental compartment to be revisited later.

She took the glass from Elsie. Thank you. Where's Austyn?"

"Mr McCarthy went out early in the morning. Must have been before five thirty."

SOL

So he'd gone out.

e to?

Where

Kira gripped the glass, ignoring the heat scalding her palm.

Her stomach was in knots.

Unable to keep any food down, she whipped out her phone and dialled.

"Good morning, Miss Hewitt."

The doctor sounded surprised to get a call from her so early on a Saturday morning.

'Hello, Dr House,' Kira stammered. 'Uh, there's, ah, something I have to ask."

'Sure, anything."

Kira cleared her throat. 'Has the hospital received any, ah, notice today?"

"What kind of notice?"

"Uh, to stop payment for my father's treatment."

"What? Why?" the doctor quickly added, 'Of course not, we've not received any notice of that kind."

No?

Kira was thrown.

Maybe Austyn hadn't called the hospital yet.

Or, maybe he was just bluffing last night?

Kira prayed fervently for the second case to be true.

Wall The Offer Shoe To Dron

The doctor wanted to know where her question had come from.

It took her a while to come up with a bad excuse, but it was better than none.

Zach House sensed there was more to the story, but wisely decided not to pry.

'Thank you, Doctor. If there's any news about my father, please call me at once, Kira said before ending the call.

'Of course."

Kira put away her phone, still feeling uneasy.

She spent her morning on needles and pins, waiting for the other shoe to drop.

She kept her phone within reach, jumping at every trill.

Texts from classmates and Giana.

Group chat messages.

Nothing from Dr House

No news meant good news, right?

Maybe Austyn wasn't the unfeeling, cold-blooded monster she made him out to be.

When the hour hand moved past twelve, Kira allowed herself to relax a little.

She decided to hold out an olive branch to her husband

He was wrong to threaten her with her father's life, but now she knew it was just an empty threat.

In the heat of the moment, she'd said some unkind words, though most of them were said in her head

She needed to show him she was truly sorry with some kind of gesture.

Once he took it, they could put this entire thing behind them.

Water under the bridge.

What gesture, though?

A character in a romcom once said, 'Fight in the living room, make up in the bed-'

Ahem.

Kira waved that thought away.

Then an idea occurred to her.

She rolled up her sleeves and went to work.

At the Juggernaut Fight Club.

Jesse Chase lay spreadeagled on the floor of the boxing ring, panting.

His body was covered in a sheen of sweat.

His eyes were open but unseeing.

'I think you gave me a concussion, he complained.

'Get up." Austyn bumped his sparring gloves together.

Wan til. The other Shop To Drop

'I'm a doctor, not your human punching bag."

Jesse remained stationary.

If he got up, he would just be pelted with the man's merciless fists.

It was a Saturday, for heaven's sake!

Didn't Austyn McCarthy know that Saturdays were sacred to doctors?

Of course he didn't.

The M Group's president showed up at Jesse's doorstep unannounced before the sun rose, hauled him out of bed, and dragged him along a ruthless workout session that lasted all morning and showed no signs of stopping. The heartless monster kicked at Jesse's leg. 'Get up. Time for round four."

'No!' Jesse flailed his arms and legs like a kid throwing a tantrum. Just kill me. It'll be faster."

Austyn kicked him again, unrelenting.

Jesse rolted away from the man. 'It's my one day off. Can't we do something a little more relaxing and a little less....life-threatening?"