Arranged love

MIA

I OPEN MY heavy eyes, my vision a little blurry. Reaching up, I rub my eyes and open them again. This time, I see I’m no longer in the waiting room but lying in a hospital bed. I sit up, and the room spins. “What?” My hand goes to my pounding head. “What happened?” I ask myself.

“You passed out,” a voice announces from my right.

Looking over, I see the back of Bones standing at the window that I hadn’t noticed. Lying back into the bed, I sigh, running a hand through my hair. “Why am I in a bed? Dear Lord, did they admit me?” Please, no. I need to be with Luca. Not here in a bed of my own.

He slowly turns to face me, hands in the front pockets of his jeans. His eyes drill into mine as if I did something wrong. He knows. “Not yet.” He finally speaks, breaking the tense silence.

“Yet?” I shriek. “I can’t-”

“They wanted to run some tests first,” he adds, leaning back casually against the windowsill and crossing one ankle over the other.

I look up at the ceiling, unable to meet his intimidating stare right now. Once again, I’m vulnerable. I don’t have time for this, and neither does Luca. I knew going three days and nights without sleep would catch up with me. “Luca?” I manage to get out even though my chest tightens. I’ve done this. Haven will never forgive me. I’ll never forgive myself. I should have run the moment he left me in California. But I have nothing to my name. Not my real name. Dillan tried to give me everything that I needed, but I’ve never been fully on my own. I wasn’t sure what to do or where to go. No job experience. No life skills that any adult would need to survive. I was raised to depend on someone else for survival.

“Still in surgery,” he answers.

“How long has it been?” I swallow the knot in my throat.Content from NôvelDr(a)ma.Org.

“Almost six hours.”

I bury my face in my hands, trying to calm my racing heart. Six hours? I know nothing about surgeries, but that seems like a long time. “This is all my fault.”

“Why are you here, Mia?”

I open my eyes to see he has moved to stand at the foot of my bed. His dark blue eyes glare at me.

“I … Luca-” My heart pounds in my chest at my betrayal. At what I’ve done. I can never take it back. I should have taken my brother’s promise as what it was-a threat. I just never thought they’d go after Luca. But now it makes sense. He’s been the one on my side. Why not take out my only ally?

He crosses his tatted arms over his chest at my lingering silence. “I’m going to ask you one more time. Why are you here?”

I fist my hands. “I told you. My brother was shot.”

He tilts his head to the side. “Let’s try this again. You show up with bruises in multiple places, a busted lip, and a concussion, and you expect me to believe you came back for Luca?” Shaking his head, he adds, “For the last time-why are you here?”

“What?” I breathe. I press my hand to my sore side and close my eyes. Run tests. They know. I hadn’t thought about what I looked like when I ran to Las Vegas to be with my brother and sister-in-law. I haven’t looked at myself in days, knowing it isn’t a pretty sight.

“Mia.” He snaps my name at my silence.

I bow my head and whisper, “I didn’t tell them anything.” He has to know I was never going to do it. That’s why Luca is in surgery in the first place.

“Who?” he demands.

I want to laugh that he hasn’t put it together yet, but why would he? He doesn’t know my father’s plan for me. For him. He’s just as in the dark as Luca was.

I lift my chin and look up at him standing at the end of my bed. He’s got his tatted arms crossed over his chest and legs spread wide. He’s dressed in a black T-shirt and faded blue jeans. His jaw is so sharp it could cut glass. He looks extremely pissed. And he’s going to want to kill me after I tell him what I know, but he deserves to know the truth. I may have been born into the Mafia, but I don’t live by their moral code. I will not die protecting my father’s secrets. “They came to me. Told me this would happen.”

“Who the fuck is they, Mia?” he growls.

I ignore his impatience. “They want Kingdom,” I say instead.

He snorts. I guess this isn’t a surprise. Like my brother has a long list of enemies, I’m guessing the Kings do as well.

“Mia!” he shouts, and I flinch.

“My father,” I rush out, looking at him through my dark lashes, and add softly, “he wants your Kingdom.”

He just stares at me with a look of annoyance in his cold eyes. I’m nothing more than a problem for him. Just like I am for everyone else.

Licking my busted lip, I sigh. “A few days ago, my brothers came to me-the twins and Matteo-and told me to go back to you. To do whatever was necessary to make you fall in love with me and marry me.” I sniff. “My father wants you dead along with the rest of the Kings. He wants your Kingdom,” I lower my voice. “And he wants me to do it.”

His silence continues.

“I wasn’t going to do it.” I shake my head, unable to meet his eyes after my confession. How stupid my father must think Bones is to fall for me-a woman he didn’t even know existed. He knows that I have no experience. He kissed me, and I froze. I didn’t even know what to do. I have nothing to offer other than my body. A woman is only good for one thing in my family. And I’m sure Bones gets that anywhere. “I swear. I-”

“How are you feeling, miss?” a nurse enters the room asking, and I’m thankful for the interruption. It’s hard to breathe in here with Bones also occupying the room. I need some space and fresh air. It’s like I’m back in the limo with his hand around my throat.

“Fine.” I throw the blanket off me. “How is Luca?”

“He just got out of surgery and is being moved to the ICU. The doctor will come and speak to you further about it.”

I nod.

“This is good news, miss.”

“Thank you. May I see him?” I ask.

She gives me a kind smile. Practiced to perfection. I feel she’d give me the same if she had to tell me he’d passed away due to his injuries. “I’m sorry, but not at the moment.”

The door closes, and I’m left alone with him once again. I can’t even meet his eyes now. Too ashamed. Embarrassed. Luca is all that I have, and my own family wanted to take him from me. How far will they go now if Luca dies? They’ll blame me for that as well.