Arranged love

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MIA: WHEN WILL you be home?

Me: In about an hour. I type out the response to my fiancée and then pocket my cell. Looking up, I watch the man secured to the chair in the middle of the room. He thrashes in it, trying to break the rope that Titan tied him up with.

“You’ve been a busy man,” I say.

He glares up at me, baring his teeth. “You have no idea. Is this supposed to scare me?”

Grave laughs, and Cross smirks, flipping his Zippo open and closed. I ignore his question. “But I do have an idea of what you’ve been up to.” He stiffens at my words.

“It shouldn’t have taken me as long to put the pieces together, but the moment I did, they made perfect sense.” I take a step toward the chair.

“You know nothing,” he growls.

“You were the only one who knew I had bought Mia. You were the one who handed her over to me.” His eyes narrow at that. “I had Tristan pull up his surveillance footage that night of the auction, and what would you know? You followed me to his house and, I’m guessing, to the private airfield. But how did you know where I went?”

He snorts, refusing to answer.

“Cross,” I say, and he pushes off the wall, walking over to us. He flips the Zippo open again and lights it up before placing it in Richard’s face.

He pulls away the best he can, watching it out of the corner of his eyes. “Wait. Wait. Wait,” Richard rushes out.

Cross looks at me, and I shrug. Why not let the man speak. Cross closes the Zippo and takes a step back from the chair.

“Speak,” Grave growls.

“From the beginning,” I add. I know quite a bit from the messages in Matteo’s phone that we had taken from his pocket before we set the pizzeria on fire, but some things are still missing.

“I-” Richard licks his lips. “Matteo called me and said his father told him to get rid of Mia however he saw fit.” I fist my hands. “I said I would take her.” He stops, and the silence drags on. Cross lights his Zippo again, and Richard rushes to finish. “He didn’t acknowledge my offer. So I asked why her father was waiting until now to get rid of her. He said that your father had promised John an arranged marriage, but since he passed away recently, there was no way it would happen. So she was no longer needed.”

I feel my brother’s eyes on me, but I can’t look away from Richard. I have no doubt that my father made such an agreement. He was always willing to do something to make a buck. And I’m sure that John was offering a pretty penny for it.

“I told him not to kill her. That there was a way to profit off her name …” He trails off.

“The auction.” Titan finishes his sentence.

Richard nods quickly. “I knew who you were the moment I saw you sitting in the crowd. I called Matteo, and he said to keep an eye on you.”

“So you followed him afterward.” Grave snorts.

“But you didn’t know where I went. So how did you know where she was?” I wonder. He had to have been the one to tell her brothers she was at my beach house.

He stays silent, and Cross sighs. Instead of pulling out his Zippo this time, he slams Richard’s face into the table. “Keep going,” he demands.

Richard takes in a sharp breath, blood running down his face now. “Matteo just went down the list of the properties you own.” He licks his busted lips, and I close my eyes. Of course he did. Fuck, I was so fucking stupid. “He watched her for a couple of weeks, waiting for you to return.” He laughs at that. “He really thought that you’d hit that ass that first night. But when you never returned, and she hadn’t seen a single person, he decided he needed some reinforcements.”

“And when she didn’t run right back to Bones, you helped by shooting Luca.” Titan guesses how things played out after her brothers knocked her around.

He bows his head, and his laughter fills the room. “You couldn’t be more wrong.”

I step forward and punch him in the face, making his head snap back. “Then make us understand,” I shout, not in the mood for this shit.

Fresh blood pours down his face. His eyes blink to clear the fog. “Matteo called me and said he was sending her back to you. He knew she’d go running like a scared little bitch.” He spits blood at me, and it lands on my shirt. “I told him you’d never fall for it. She was useless, and that he got your money, and he should just give her to me. Otherwise, he should just kill her.”

I hit him again, and the inked skin covering my busted knuckles splits from the breaking bone. Cross grips his hair and yanks his head back, forcing him to look up at me. “Luca?” I demand through gritted teeth, needing more.

He gives me a bloody smile. “I was there for you. I wanted you dead.” His left eye is swollen shut, but his right one narrows up at me.

“If she didn’t return to Bones, you could take her.” Grave is the one who speaks.

“But you weren’t there,” he spits out angrily. “I knew Luca was the one who called you and sent you to save her because Matteo said that he had sent him the video of us. I thought I’d go ahead and take care of him.”

“Take care of me later.” I nod, understanding.

“How’d you keep the Bianchis from knowing you were the one who shot Luca?” Titan wonders. “They would have killed you on the spot.”

He shakes his head, trying to free his hair from Cross’s hold, but it does no good. When he doesn’t answer right away, Cross shoves his face into the table again. “Matteo didn’t care.” He cries out but manages to continue. “With Luca out of the way, he would be next in line to take over. Plus, he knew Luca had too many enemies to count, and Matteo was more focused on Mia.” His one good eye finds mine. “He was obsessed with the two of you.” He grits his bloody teeth. “And you fell for the bait. She was the best-kept secret until you ruined her!” he shouts at me. “Paraded her around like the fucking whipped whore she was-”

“You mean you could take her against her will, and no one would look for her because no one knew she existed,” Grave growls, interrupting him. “And those who did, didn’t care.”

“John was just going to kill her. I saved her!” he screams.

“You helped kidnap her and sell her!” I scream back in his face before punching him again, feeling more bones break.

Cross steps back, and Richard starts laughing maniacally. The sound bounces off the concrete box we stand in, making the hairs on my neck rise. I’m so angry I’m shaking. “You think you had her first?” He looks up at me through his lashes. The good eye is starting to swell now too. “You might have fucked her first, but I was the first one to touch her.” He laughs once again, his busted lips turning up in a bloody smile. “Drugged and naked…the bitch never even knew.”

Grave pushes off the wall, heading for him, but I place my hand out, hitting his chest and pushing him to a stop. Richard is mine. Although I’m thankful my brother wants to stick up for his future sister-in-law, no one touches him but me.

His eye falls to Grave, then back at me. “Remember that the next time you fuck that useless cunt.”

The blood rushes in my ears at his words. Matteo had mentioned another video, but I never found one on his phone. Probably a good thing. The one I did see haunted me for weeks and still does at times.

My legs start to move, and I realize I’m walking toward him. Placing both hands on either side of the chair, I lean down and ram my face into his, knocking it back. His blood covers my face, and I get an instant headache. “Load him in the car,” I order, pushing off the chair and turning my back to him. We’ll bury him in the desert tonight. “I’ve heard enough.”

His laughter fills the room, making me pause, and I turn back to face him. Leaning over the best he can, he spits blood onto the concrete floor. “But I’ve got so much more to say.”

“Nothing worth listening to,” I say, turning and opening the door.