Chapter 41

Amaris' POV

I shifted my gaze to Caleb who stared at Kian with a scrutinizing look before narrowing his eyes into thin slits. That's weird. I thought to myself. His reaction's a lot quieter than I expected. Why wasn't he yelling or frowning or....being him? He then glanced at me with a strange look in his eyes before turning his back to us and walking out. I blinked rapidly, still trying to understand what just happened. I had never seen him so quiet and I had to admit seeing him like this did send chills down my spine.

"Is he...." I trailed off pointing towards him.

"He's okay." He said taking his hands out of his pockets pulling something out from behind the racks. It was a cart....filled with goods.

"Are you seriously going to buy all of that?" I questioned pointing towards the cart.

"Sure....why not?" A confused smile spread across his lips. "If you haven't noticed I don't have a problem when it comes to money," a sly grin crept up his lips as I crossed my hands over my chest.

"Oh really....then if you don't have a problem with money why don't you just pay someone to do your shopping for you?" I asked, walking by his side as he pushed the cart towards the exit. Every ounce of worry in me concerning Caleb's strange reaction had disappeared the second we began talking.

"I enjoy doing my shopping myself. I don't like sending people to buy things for me....especially things I eat." He said.

"Oh..." I said before averting his gaze and glancing around. The uncomfortable silence that fell between us caused my mind to drift back to the scene that just happened, the look on Caleb's face, the way Kian was surprisingly calm about the situation.

I found her waiting for a cab outside your company and I offered her a ride home....

Why is she supposed to be waiting in your car?

What brings you to the bakery?

Getting things for Miranda....

Things for Miranda....

Miranda....

"Who the fuck is Miranda?" I thought to myself. Did he have another mistress? I decided to break the silence as we approached the checkout lane. I wasn't sure Kian would answer me since I was just....well Caleb's employee but it was worth a shot. "Who is Miranda?" I asked not meeting his gaze as I still looked around not staring at anything in particular.

"Huh?" We both stopped in front of the registrar as I watched him turn his head towards me out of the corner of my eye. Seeing he was now staring at me with a confused expression I then turned to him watching him as he handed his credit card to the cashier. I was wondering why she didn't recognise him though. Even though I knew Kian wasn't that famous he was still known by a lot of people....and he even made it to the list of the most eligible bachelors in the country. That was more than enough to get him famous.

"Miranda....is she a friend?" I said watching the cashier insert the card into the payment terminal. "Because the Mr. Thorne I know would never ever go shopping for a friend." I said, eliciting a laugh from him. I had a serious expression on but watching Kian laugh brought a smile to my face.

"She's....our mother." He hesitated to say. Mother? Why on earth will he call his mother by her name?! And I thought Kian and Caleb were friends? Why did they have the same mother? Kian must have read the expression on my face because he began shaking his head slightly as a small smile crept up his lips.

"Here." The cashier said, handing him a polythene bag. "Enjoy the rest of your night." She waved, flashing a smile our way.

I didn't want it to seem like I was intruding so I didn't say anything about the whole Miranda situation even when we got into the car. I just decided to stay quiet till we got home pretending our conversation back at the bakery never happened but he decided otherwise. "She took us in when we were still very young." I stiffened at the sound of his voice piercing the calm silence. I turned my head towards him watching him with a questioning look as his eyes never left the road. "She's not our real mother." He glanced at me with a sad smile.

"Oh...." I blinked. "...I didn't want to..."

"It's okay...." His chest rumbled with a small chuckle. "...it was written all over your face anyways."

"What was?" My brows drew together.

"...that you needed an explanation?" He said adding a not so sure tone at the end, the small smile never leaving his lips.

"Oh....that." I shifted under his gaze tugging on my seatbelt. "Well....if you insist on telling me...how did you guys meet her?"

"She was our nanny..."

"Nanny? So you guys grew up in the same house?" I questioned as a little versions of Kian and Caleb running around in the halls flashed in my head. My lips inched up but I quickly squashed it. "Together."

"Pretty much." He pressed his lips as he swerved around driving into what looked like an estate....our estate. "She took us in when our parents died and ever since then she's been like a mother to us...." I tuned out on the rest of his words as those three wires echoed in my mind.

Our parents died. Our parents died. Caleb was an orphan? I mean it couldn't be just a coincidence that both of their parents died at the same time right? So they had to be murdered. Images of a terrified little Caleb flashed in my head as my lips twisted into a frown. Was that why he was always this grumpy and so....emotionless? "You don't want to get down?" Kian's voice snapped me out of my thoughts as I looked out the window and that was when I realized he had pulled over....right in a garage? Oh gosh. I was so caught up in my thoughts that I didn't realize we had already gotten home.

"Oh...." I reached for the door handle. "Yeah sorry about that." I slid out of the car. "Thanks for the ride Mr. Beck," I beamed at him grabbing my purse and phone from his car. We were going into the same building but it would've been really weird if we walked in together or he accompanied me to my front door so I needed to go in before him.

"My pleasure...." He smiled back. "Oh and you can call me Kian." He added halting me in my steps. I turned back to face him, batting my lashes a bit startled by his words. He wants me to actually call him by his first name?