ABSOLUTE INSANITY: A forbidden bond-Chapter 222: Just us

Chapter 222

KATYA POV

The emotional storm eventually settled into something quieter, my tears were all dried up and food was ordered.

Trays filling the table with the ordinary sounds of a world that hadn’t paused for my breakdown.

I barely tasted anything. My hands still trembled faintly as I ate, the aftermath of everything lingering beneath my skin.

At some point, I’d pulled Nonna aside. I told her what I could. About my escape, me getting dragged back by Romeo. Romeo being the cause of my friends death and all that.

I couldn’t lie to her anyway, she knew how her son was and it was better telling the truth than have her belittle Michael for being a gentleman.

Nonna listened in silence, her expression breaking with each words, she knew the extent of her son’s wickedness but she still was shocked with what he did.

When I finished, her regret was immediate and unmistakable. She apologized to Michael when we returned to the table.

Properly. Directly. With the kind of dignity that made it impossible to doubt her sincerity. Michael accepted it without resentment, only relief flickering briefly across his face.

Neither of us mentioned who Romeo really was. And Nonna, for once, allowed the silence to stand.

I didn’t want Micheal know I didn’t fully escaped, I mean he hasn’t asked yet.

Michael didn’t push right away. He ate a few bites here and there, barely touching his food, his attention drifting more than once to the man in the black suit standing at a polite distance.

It was when the noise around us dipped, when Nonna was distracted with adjusting her napkin and the guard took a step farther back, that Michael finally spoke.

"So," he said quietly, like he was afraid the wrong volume might scare me off. "Where were you? All this time."

My fork paused mid-air. I felt it—the moment tightening, the fragile calm cracking just enough to let panic seep through.

I kept my eyes on my plate, on the bland food I couldn’t taste anyway. "I... moved around," I said. Too vague. I knew it the second the words left my mouth.

Michael didn’t interrupt. He waited. "And him?" he asked after a beat. "The man from before, who was he and why did he kidnap you?."

My chest constricted. I forced myself to breathe, slow and even, the way I’d learned to do when the truth was dangerous.

"He’s—" I hesitated, then reached for the first lie that sounded close enough to reality to survive. "He didn’t kidnap me."

Michael’s brows knit together. "He didn’t?"

I lifted my gaze then, just enough to meet his eyes. "Yeah, he um..he’s actually." Nonna didn’t know how to help me in this, I could see her struggling.

"What happened to your head too, Katya." My hands immediately went to my hood, covering my face more. I forgot about my bandage head and her was stamaring, what would I say about that too.

Michael hand, held mine across the table. "Katya." He stopped my rambling. "You can tell me the truth, I know I’m an ex cop but if you don’t want this to go to the police it won’t."

I exhaled, shaking his hand a little of me. "It’s just,....it’s all in the past now and I don’t want to think about it, okay?"

Michael studied my face like he was looking for cracks, for the seams where the story didn’t quite fit. My heart pounded so hard I was sure he could see it.

"Alright" he said. "Just know I’m here if you need me."

I smiled at him. Nonna shifted beside me, her presence a quiet anchor. She didn’t look at Michael, didn’t contradict me—but she didn’t add anything either.

Michael leaned back in his chair, exhaling slowly. He didn’t look convinced but he nodded once, changing the topic.

"The food is good, yeah?" I nodded, a small smile gracing my lips "Yeah," I said softly. "It is."

Michael’s shoulders eased a fraction, like he was relieved to have landed on safe ground. He glanced around the food court, then back at us.

"So... did you actually come here for something?" he asked. "Or did I interrupt your plans?" The question was gentle. Polite. Considerate in a way that made something loosen in my chest.

"No," I said quickly, then corrected myself. "Well, Nonna and I were about to. You didn’t interrupt anything important."

Nonna hummed in agreement beside me, adjusting her scarf. "We were only just deciding," she added smoothly, giving Michael a look that was far kinder than before.

Michael winced immediately. "Really? I’m—" he rubbed the back of his neck, clearly embarrassed. "I’m sorry. I mean it. I didn’t mean to derail your day."

"It’s alright," I said, and this time I meant it. I looked at him properly then, really looked at him—at the familiar crease between his brows, his blue eyes, the way he still leaned forward when he listened, like the world mattered.

"I’m actually... happy to see you again." The words surprised me with how easily they came.

Michael blinked, then smiled. Not wide. Not triumphant. Just soft, like he’d been holding his breath and finally let it out. "Yeah," he said quietly. "Me too."

I swallowed the last bite, feeling some of the tension in my shoulders ease. The noise of the food court settled into a background hum again, less oppressive now.

I looked up at Michael, curiosity nudging me. "So... what were you doing here, anyway?" I asked, trying to sound casual.

He gave a small grin, the kind that was almost teasing, but with that familiar warmth. "I came to buy some clothes," he said simply.

I blinked. "Clothes?"

"Yeah," he said, shrugging, like it was the most normal thing in the world. Then, leaning slightly closer, he added with a smirk, "Why don’t we shop together, huh?"

I blinked again, unsure if I’d heard correctly.

He noticed. "Not... together together," he hurried to clarify, waving his hands like he was defusing some imagined misunderstanding.

"Just... we could help each other pick things, be each other’s judges. And of course," he glanced at Nonna, who sat quietly observing us, "with Nonna here to make sure we don’t get too crazy."

I couldn’t help it, a small laugh escaped me, the sound light and surprising after the weight of the day.

Michael’s eyes softened as he watched me, that same protective, careful look lingering.

"Alright," I said finally, a small smile tugging at my lips. "I think I can manage that. But only if Nonna approves."

"Of course I will, what do you thake me for Mia cara" Nonna added inside the joke. All of us laughing.

Michael leaned back, clearly pleased. "Perfect. Then it’s a date—well, a shopping date. With supervision."

And just like that, the tension that had weighed on me all day lifted a little. Maybe for the first time in months, it felt like the world could be simple again.

Just Michael, me, Nonna, and the ordinary noise of a mall, all of it temporary, all of it ours for a moment.