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Chapter 15-The Promise

Miranda Barone's POV

I didn't know why I gave in. All I knew was that I was tired. Tired of denying myself from giving into Slade. All I wanted was to know what Slade's lips would feel against mine. That was probably why I said it-those four words.

"Then why don't you?"

Immediately his lips claimed mine. Even though I wanted this, I couldn't believe this was happening. His lips were chapped but soft as they moved against mine. My eyes fluttered shut. Was I really doing this? My hands slowly made their way to his hair, my fingers tangling themselves into his silky dark blonde hair. Never had I imagined it to be this soft.

One of Slade's hands made its way to my waist and the other cupped my cheek. The feeling of his rough calloused hand on my skin made me shiver. The scent of him-peppermint and something that was sheer masculinity made its way into my nose, enhancing my awareness of this man kissing me. His lips moved against mine hungrily as if he didn't want to waste a second.

This kiss wasn't rough but it was filled with passion and longing. His hand that was holding onto my waist gripped it tighter as his mouth thoroughly claimed mine. He let out a low growl when I unconsciously pressed closer to him. I was surprised. I thought that Slade would try to cop a feel while kissing me but his hands didn't move from my waist and my cheek. This kiss was worth all the self-loathing I was going to do to myself later on.

Once I realised I was almost out of breath, I finally pulled away, catching my breath and ran through my hands through my hair. I couldn't believe I just kissed Slade Kolosov!

I.

Kissed.

Slade Kolosov.

I looked up to see him looking glazed over, his eyes were in a daze and his lips were swollen from our kiss. Had kissing me really affected him this much? I liked that. Now that I've kissed him, regret set in. What had I done?

"I-I shouldn't have done that. I-I'm sorry." I breathed out and quickly rushed into my home and turned around to shut the door. I just wanted to lay in bed to revel in it. How I've finally done what I've wanted to do the minute I saw him at the kindergarten when he picked up Mikael.

Yes. I've finally admitted it. I've always wanted to kiss him and I never had the guts to do so, until today. But I was stupid. He was obviously still sleeping around with other women and when I've kissed him, it was like a giant firework show to let him know that I was easy. I just wanted to hit my head against the wall. What had I done?

One of Slade's booted feet butted in before I could firmly shut the door and he barged in. "Mel..." He said lowly, warningly.

"What are you doing?" I asked as I stared at him.

"We have to talk." He gritted out and I frowned at him. What was his problem? I was the one who had a problem here! "About what? The kiss? It was a mistake. I-I'm sorry." I rushed out.

"A mistake? A fucking mistake?" He barked out a humourless laugh before glaring down at me. "You called that a mistake?"

"Wasn't it?" I countered and Slade seemed to grow more enraged with my answer before he held onto my shoulders and shook me roughly. "Why would it be?"

I sighed before glaring at him. I was not comfortable with sharing with him why our first kiss together was a mistake even though it was the best kiss of my life. "Just because." I snapped and Slade clenched his jaw.

"I'm not leaving until you give me a good enough reason why it was a mistake." Slade said dangerously and I groaned in frustration.

"Why can't you just accept that its a mistake?"

Slade looked at me with such intensity that I wanted to glance away. "It wasn't a mistake for me."

I inhaled sharply before shaking my head and moving away from him. "Mel!" Slade warned and I glared at him.

"It is a mistake for me because even though you claimed that you have feelings for me, you were screwing around. I believe in commitment and monogamy. You have a commitment phobia, I'm pretty sure you believe in a polyamory relationship. And I kissed you when I'm actually one hundred percent sure that you would probably be out screwing someone tomorrow. Thats why that kiss outside with you was a mistake!" I said and pressed my lips in a thin line.

Slade watched me with a blank expression, "I've not slept with a single person the day I told you I felt something for you when I was drunk."

I gaped at him. Could I truly believe him? "What?" I whispered, unable to wrap my head around what he was saying. "I've never been with anyone ever since the night I stayed over." Slade repeated and this time, he moved closer to me.

Not liking the way he was invading my personal space, I moved back again. "But-But-But what about that black thong in your car from earlier huh?" I demanded.

Slade ran his fingers through his tousled hair, "That was most probably Mira's. Erik borrowed my car last night and they have a fetish for fooling around in public or more specifically in my car."

"Oh." I knew what he said was true. Erik and Mira did have uh a thing for doing it in public. I had almost seen it when I walked past their car when they had dropped Mikael off from school.

"Do you believe me? You should. Mira told me you had seen her and Erik fucking in their car near Mikael's kindergarten."

I flushed at that memory. "Yeah. But how do I really know that Erik borrowed your car last night?" I shot back at him.

Slade shrugged before pulling out his phone and started calling someone. Slade spoke and put the phone on loud speaker, "Erik, did you and Mira fool around in my car last night?"

Erik's muffled voice burst into raucous laughter and spoke, "Yeah. Sorry about that. I think Mira said she left her underwear behind."

Slade met my gaze and he raised an eyebrow challengingly, I turned away before glancing around. If what Slade said was true about not being with anyone else since he told me about his feelings, then where did we stand now?

"Yeah. I found it. Well Mel found it. Stop fucking around in my car will you? You have your own." Slade grumbled before hanging up.

I opened my mouth to say something but Slade cut in, "Before we talk, I want to kiss you again."

He said determinedly before striding towards me. He cupped my face before his lips claimed mine again. The soft feeling of them moved against mine softly and tenderly.

When he finally pulled away, his signature smirk was back on his face, "I've been wanting to that ever since I've met you."

A small smile crossed my lips and suddenly I was overwhelmed. All the emotions and thoughts simply crashed over me and I needed some alone time to sort them out.

"Let's talk."

I looked up at Slade and sighed, "Could we talk another day? I'm just really tired."

Slade narrowed his eyes before arguing, "No we have to talk. Knowing you, you would brush this off the next time."

I scoffed, I certainly would not! Okay maybe Slade knew me better than I thought. I would have brushed it off as nothing.

"I just really want to be alone right now to sort through the everything that just happened." I explained.

Slade snorted before crossing his arms, "I kissed you, you kissed me back, I liked it and so did you. What's there to think about?"

I blushed and rolled my eyes. I did liked it. "Just because."

Slade opened his mouth to argue when his phone rang. "What the fuck do you want?" He snapped into the phone.

The person over the phone replied and Slade tensed before a furious and murderous expression crossed his face, and he replied in rapid Russian before hanging up.

"This time you have your way Mel. There better not be anyone else kissing or touching you. You're mine." Slade warned with a possessive touch to his tone before stalking off.

My heart seemed to beat faster because of his possessiveness and I sighed before shutting the door firmly. Right, I needed an extra warm bath and a mug of coffee if I really wanted to deal with all of my thoughts and emotions.

***

What was I going to do about Slade? Sure he said he had not been with anyone since that night but could I really believe him? Also, I knew I liked him as more than friends. That was kind of proven when I asked him to kiss me. I could feel my cheeks heating up.

Was it wrong to feel something for Slade Kolosov who is a criminal? Was I being smart about this? I knew if it was someone who had a normal nine to five job, I wouldn't have hesitated being with him, But Slade was a criminal who was also a playboy. That was like a recipe for heartbreak.

I groaned and hit my head lightly against the wall. I was in a dilemma. Ugh, who was I kidding? I was more concerned about his playboy ways than him being a criminal. What if we were really together and he cheated? Or if he got bored of me? Could I really risk my heart for heartache in the future?

I groaned before getting off my sofa to get another cup of coffee when my main door burst open. "Mel! Lets go! Right now!"

I frowned and raised my eyebrows, "What are you doing here?"

Slade groaned in frustration before stalking towards me. He grabbed my coffee mug out of my hands before placing it onto the table before pulling me out. "We need to go now!" He said urgently

"What? Why? What's going on?" I questioned before Slade turned around. "Mel, don't be stubborn. You're in danger. Someone found out that you're Alexi Barone's sister. Now, people are hunting you and they know where you live." With that, Slade continued tugging me towards his car.

My eyes widened and I quickened my pace after him.

"Mel!"

I stopped and turned around. I recognised that voice! Slade swore in Russian before demanding, "What now?" I ignored him before calling out. "Chris?"

Slade glared at me, "Chris? Who the fuck is Chris?"

A figure ran towards me before slowing down when he spotted Slade. "Mel what are you doing with him?"

I glanced up at Slade to see him glaring at Christopher. "Callavo. Nice to see you here." He sneered and Christopher glared back, "Kolosov. Let go of Mel. She's not one of your playthings."

I frowned in confusion, "Both of you know each other?" Slade nodded. "Yes. Unfortunately."

"Mel, come. I'm here to take you back to Alexi's. You'll be safe there not with that thug." Chris coaxed and Slade gripped onto my hand tighter, preventing me from moving towards Chris.

"She's coming with me." Slade gritted out and Chris let out a snort before pulling a knife from his boots. "Over my dead body." I widened my eyes at that sight of the piece of deadly metal in Christopher's hand. Since when did Christopher keep knives in his shoe? Was Slade right about my brother being in the Mafia all along and I was too blind to see it?

Slade scoffed before continuing to tug me into his car, "We don't have time for this. Mel, hurry up. The people after you are not as merciful as I was."

"Miranda!" Christopher yelled warningly. Slade groaned in annoyance before stalking over to Christopher. In a few seconds, Slade had disarmed Chris and was walking back to me while Christopher was unconscious. I gaped in awe. Wow. That was hot. NO! Now was not the time for this. I reprimanded myself.

I turned to Slade, "What about Chris? We can't just leave him here on the floor." Slade rolled his eyes before giving me a deadpanned expression, "We can and we will. This is my car remember?"

I gave him a glare in return, "If you're not helping him, I'm not going with you."

***

"Do you really have to do that?" I winced as two of Slade's men tied Chris up in a chair roughly. "Yes. He's from the Italian Mafia. I'm not letting him run around in my home freely." Slade shrugged.

I sighed and Slade barked out some orders in Russian to a few more of his men and they quickly left. "What did you say to them?" I asked curiously as I looked around. This was the first time I had entered Slade's home. It was a typical guy home.

"I asked them to check my car. Callavo was in it. Who knows what he could've done." Slade said absently as he inspected the ropes that held Chris tightly. "What are you going to do with Chris? Are you going to let him go? How do you know each other anyway?"

Slade cocked an eyebrow, "At dawn, he'll be on the roadside in front of Barone's house. He's from the Italian Mafia Mel. Them and the us don't mix."

I pursed my lips again, "Oh." Now, I was pretty sure Slade was right all along and I was now only accepting it because I didn't want to believe it. I didn't want to believe it but Chris holding out a gun and the too-many guards around in Alexi's home did make sense.

Mark burst into the room and nodded at Slade before speaking rapidly in Russian. Slade nodded before dismissing him. Mark gave me a grin, "Hey Princess."

"Hi Mark." I gave him a tight smile and with that he left. Slade raised an eyebrow as he crossed his arms, "When did you get so friendly with that kid?"

"He's quite nice to be around. When can I go home?" I asked and Slade responded reluctantly, "Mark gave me a report. The lock on your door is busted, some of your windows are broken and some parts of your home is trashed."

My shoulders slumped, "Oh."

Seeing my deflated and worried expression, Slade sighed and pulled me towards him, his tattooed arm reached out and brushed one of my curls behind my ear. "You can stay here for the night. I promise you, I'm not going to let anyone hurt you." He says seriously and pulls me into his arms before pressing a kiss on my forehead.

I nodded dumbly, my eyes still lingering on Christopher's slumped figure. Slade didn't know that I wasn't worried about those people coming after me. I knew he would protect me and I had my pepper spray and brass knuckles, I could defend myself, but what I was more worried of was looking into my brother's eyes and knowing that he was a criminal.

***

A/N Heyy guys, I know, another update the very next day? Weird. Anyway, I hope you'll like this chapter and thanks for reading, voting and commenting. I really do love reading your comments. So let me know what you think about this chapter. xoxo 

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Dedicated to soup4lyfe for the really funny comment on the previous chapter!