Chapter 7

Maeve's POV

Michael was visibly relieved when I entered the room, watching me walking straight up to him to embrace him. He accepted my hug and his hands tightly wrapped around my waist while I buried my head in the crook of his neck.

"I'm so glad you're ok" he whispered into my ear, making me shiver lightly. "I was worried!"

"I know" I slowly let go of him, but he kept holding on to me loosely by the arms as our eyes met.

"Where were you?" Michael asked as I took a few steps back out of his arms to look for Nicolas, but he wasn't there.

Jared stood next to the door with Bill staring at him, not saying a single word.

"Where's my baby?" I turned back to Michael.

"He's out with Anna" he answered. "Now, where were you?" Michael asked again, waiting patiently for my reply with his arms crossed in front of him.

For a few moments I kept staring into his eyes, his expression remained unchanged. At one point I couldn't hold this intense eye contact anymore and looked away.

"I needed to see him" I sighed heavily. "I needed to see with my own eyes that he is dead!"

"You went to see your father?"

My eyes scanned first Michael's then Bill's face, both with a look of disappointment.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Bill broke his silence.

"You would have let me go?" I asked raising an eyebrow at him.

"Of course not!" Michael answered instead of him, slightly raising his voice while throwing his arms up in frustration.

My feet carried me closer to Michael until we were chest to chest as I put my hands on my hips and said in a stern voice "I didn't know I needed your permission!"

Michael responded by staring me sternly in the eyes. "You know damn well that this is far more complicated than you make it out to be!" His eyes then wandered away from mine and as I followed his gaze that stopped at Jared.

"I told him everything" I let Michael know.

"Why would you do that?" he sighed while massaging the bridge of his nose, he does that a lot when he gets frustrated.

"Because I needed someone to talk to, someone that'll not talk to you or Bill behind my back. For fucks sake, Michael, I needed someone to trust that is not you or one of my therapists, I needed a friend!"

His eyes met mine again and his expression instantly softened as I felt his hand grab mine and squeezing them lightly.

He looked at Jared. "Thank you for being her friend... and for keeping her safe!"

Jared nodded, silently accepting Michael's acknowledgement.

Michael then pulled me closer, hugged me tightly again. "I'm happy that you're ok!" He placed a kiss on top of my head.

"I was safe, Jared didn't leave my side" I partly lied.

"You made sure no one recognized her?" Bill asked Jared who slowly nodded before speaking up.

"We left as soon as the first guests started to arrive."

My left fingers intertwined with Michael's while my other hand gripped him tight. I was looking away from all of them, trying to shield myself.

"So no one saw her?"

"Not that I know of" I heard Jared's voice before everyone went quiet again.

Their eyes burnt at the back of my head as I felt Michael slipping two fingers beneath my chin, making me look at him.

As our eyes met, he raised an eyebrow. "Maeve" his voice was threatening.

"My mother" I sighed.

Michael's face immediately fell into dismay while his eyes searched for Bill. "What now?" he questioned.

"Are you sure she saw you?" Bill looked at me.

"Yes, she stared at me, she definitely saw me."

"Ok, we'll figure something out" Bill said as he started pacing back and forth in distress.

"Why is it such a bad thing?"

"Maeve" Michael squeezed my hand. "We don't know if anybody else was involved in your accident!"

"It was just my moth-"

"Yes, and it was just your father who tried to kill you!" Michael shut me up with a tone in his voice that he knew exactly would drive me crazy.

"Why don't we talk to her? If someone knows anything, than it's her!"

"No, it's better to stay away from her!"

"But-"

"No buts, Maeve!" By the sound of his voice, Michael was getting angry with me. I took a few steps away from him, letting go of his hand while staring at him in disbelief.

Bill and Jared were both quietly observing the situation.

With one hand Michael was massaging the bridge of his nose while the other hand was on his hip.

"Gosh, I'm sorry, Maeve."

But I kept staring at him and with each passing second the burning in my eyes became more and more unbearable.

"I want my identity back" I finally admitted through gritted teeth while some small tears escaped. "I want my life back!"

Michael's face softened at my exposure. "Baby, I don't know if that's possible" he took a few steps towards me and proceeded to grab my hand but I pulled away.

Michael's POV

"You don't know or you don't want to know?" She paused. "Because for all I know, you enjoy me being your little secret."

And with that she stormed off, leaving Bill, Jared and me alone in the living room.

"I need to go after her" I proceeded to follow her but Bill stopped me as he grabbed me by the arm.

"Michael? Maeve is right, this could work!" His grip was tight on my arm.

"Are you insane?"

"Hear me out. There never was a funeral, there's no grave in her name. The only evidence for her death is a certificate that's most likely in her mother's possession. We just need to find out who knows about her death. We could give it a try!"

"This is insane!" I shook my head.

"You wouldn't have to hide her anymore!"

"Maeve doesn't want that kind of life-"

"But she would live that life if it meant spending it by your side, always! She's crazy for you!" Jared interrupted causing both, Bill and I, to look at him while his eyes jumped back and forth between us.

"Ok" I gave in. "We can give it a try... but" I looked sternly at them both.

"No word to Maeve until we know for sure, I don't want her to be disappointed in the end."

Both men nodded before I continued.

"I'll spend next week in New York, Bill can you take care of it and talk to Maeve's mother?"

"Sure, then Jared comes to New York with you?"

"No, I want him to stay here, Maeve trusts him." I looked over at him and he gave me an acknowledging nod.