Arranged Mafia Marriage

Michael

“Hello, Beauty.” I bare my teeth, and her fingers tremble. Her gaze widens and color drains from her face.

“No,” she shakes her head, “No, no, no.”

“Yes.” I allow my smile to widen, “Oh, yes, my darling wife.”

“It can’t be.” Her voice wavers and her chin trembles. She looks like she has seen a ghost, which of course, is what I am to her now. It should be almost comical. I should enjoy just how terrified of me she seems to be, except…The throbbing pain at my temple where she had smashed the oar into me insists that she is real, and standing in front of me, arm outstretched. Tears glisten on her cheeks.

She opens and closes her mouth, grows even more pale.

She pulls back her arm and I swoop my hand out and grab her wrist. She sways; her eyes roll back in her head. Her legs seem to give way and she slumps toward the floor. “Che cazzo!” I growl as I sit up, then leap over the side of the coffin. I catch her before she hits the floor, then pull her into my arms as I sink to the floor. She’s so fucking tiny, and weighs next to nothing. Has she lost even more weight in the last day? The veil flutters back from her face, the paleness of her skin a stark contrast to the black of the fabric. Dark shadows circle her eyes, her cheekbones seem too prominent in her face. She seems too still, too lifeless. I hold a finger under her nostrils. The warm rush of air flutters across my skin and the tension drains out of me.

Seb approaches us. He squats down next to us, peers up and into my face, “You okay, brother?”

His voice is gentle, and fuck, if that doesn’t annoy me. “My wife tried to kill me. Do you think I am okay?”

He hesitates and I blow out a breath. “Get them out of here,” I jerk my chin toward the gathered crowd, “and the lot of you can leave too.”

“But,” he frowns, “Mika, you’re still in pain.”

My heart hurts. And I don’t understand why. She hit me on my head, which has no connection with my chest. So why is it that there is a heavy sensation crowding against my ribcage?

“Go,” I snap. “Keep watch for Luca. He’s bound to turn up again for her.”

My grip on her tightens. My own brother had deceived me. He’d helped my wife escape from me. He’d prompted my wife to hit me with the oar, then he’d sped away as I had sunk under the waves. He’d left me for dead. They both had. So why the hell had she returned? To gloat over what she’d done? It doesn’t make any sense… And yet, I had counted on it.

A part of me had been confident that she would come. It’s why I’d had Seb formally announce my death to my clan. Luca has a mole on my team… Someone leaked the news out to him. I’d had my suspicions…and I had been right. He’d taken the bait and believed the news. He must have told her and she’d asked him to bring her.

I’d vacillated over whether she would show up, but ultimately, I’d been sure she would, just to make sure I was dead. To ensure that she was rid of me… I’d been right. Which also means that she spent the night with my brother. Fucking, fuck. A growl rips out of me, and Seb frowns, “We need to get both of you out of here, before the Don gets wind of how you staged your own death.”

“Not now,” I snap.

His frown deepens, “Mika, you’re not thinking straight. Let’s take her and get you both home. Get you looked at by a doctor and-”

“Not-fucking-now.” I glare up at him, “Leave.”

“But-” He raises a hand and I cut him off.

“That’s an order.” I glance around to where my brothers watch me with varying expressions of concern on their faces, “All of you, out. Now.”

Seb nods, then rises to his feet. He glances at the other men, who exchange glances with him, before they begin gathering up the guests and ushering everyone out the door. Finally, the door closes, leaving me alone with my errant wife. My beautiful wife who’d dared defy me. Who’d spread her legs for me then walked away from me. Who’d taken my brother’s help to escape from me. Who’d left me for dead then come back to gloat in my face.

The silence deepens, intensifies… A beat, another, then her eyelids flutter. I take in her features as she opens her eyes. She gazes up at me, and for a second, there’s a genuine smile on her face. As if she’d fallen asleep next to me then woken up from a dream. Then a line appears between her eyebrows as her forehead furrows. A look of pain… of helplessness… hopelessness?-taints her gaze.

“Mika…” she whispers, “oh, Mika, is it really you?”This content © Nôv/elDr(a)m/a.Org.

Her green eyes hold mine. She reaches up to touch my cheek and I pull away. She swallows and her frown deepens. “You’re alive,” she murmurs.

“Are you surprised?” I tilt my head, “Wishing I was dead, Beauty?”

“No.” She shakes her head. “No, no, no. If you were dead, I don’t know how I would have survived.”

“You seemed to have done quite a good job of it, considering you left with my brother.”

“Luca?” She frowns.

Anger crowds in on my mind. “You dare say another man’s name in front of me?”

“But, it’s not like that.”

She reaches for me again and I growl, “Don’t fucking touch me.”

She pauses, bites on her lower lip, and of course, my gaze is drawn to her mouth. Her gorgeous mouth with which she had sucked me off. Her tongue, her lips, the very teeth that she uses to chew on her food… All of it which belong to me, and she had dared turn her back on me. She’d left with another man… And not just any man, with my own brother. She had betrayed me. She had used my own blood to get back at me. My guts twist and heat flushes my skin. My vision narrows. “Did you sleep with him?”

“With who?” She scowls, “What are you talking about?”

“Enough,” I roar and my voice echoes through the space. “I have had enough of your act, the way you always use your sassy attitude to disorient me. The way you stand up to me and mislead me.”

“Me mislead you?” She sets her jaw, “I’ve always been straight-talking with you, buster. I have always told you what I wanted, have always been upfront with how I wanted to be able to choose for myself.”

“And you chose to leave me for dead.”

She pales.

“Tell me, did you enjoy looking into my eyes while I went under the waves and imagine that you’d never see me again? Did that gladden your heart, Karma? Did that make you happy? Did you and your lover laugh about it while he fucked you last night-?”

Her palm connects with my cheek and my face snaps back. The sound of the slap echoes back, enveloping us in a cocoon of rage before it fades away.

She gulps, then covers her mouth with her palm. “I’m sorry,” she whispers, “so sorry. I didn’t mean that.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Please, Mika, please believe me when I say that Luca didn’t touch me. I left with him, only because he happened to be there and I wanted to escape. He was just a means to get out of there. That’s all.”

“And you hitting me and leaving me for dead, are you sorry about that too?”

“More than you can imagine.” She tries to sit up and I release her. She tips up her chin, gazes into my face, “You have no idea how much I hated myself. How I couldn’t believe I’d done that. How I hoped that you would survive. How I prayed that you would be alive.”

“Seems your prayers were answered.”

“And I am so grateful,” she swallows and a tear runs down her cheek. And my heart stutters; it fucking stutters. What the fuck? The woman is barely back for a few minutes, and already, I am softening. Already, I can’t wait to take her home, to my bed, to make love to her, and ensure she never leaves me again… And… I am setting myself up for a fall again. The next time my back is turned, what guarantee do I have that she won’t do the same thing? How do I know that she won’t murder me in my sleep? Why does the thought of clashing with her send all of my senses into overdrive? Adrenaline laces my veins. My groin hardens.

“Turn over,” I growl.

She blinks, “Wh…what?”

“On your hands and knees; turn over.”