Arranged love

BONES

I’M INSIDE THE meat locker, letting out my anger on a man who has been skimming money from us when the door opens, and Titan enters.

He props his back against the door, crossing his tatted arms over his chest. “What do you want?” I ask before punching the guy in the face.

Fuck, I’m in a horrible mood right now.

“I’ll wait,” he answers.

I punch the guy again, and he falls out of the chair. I chose not to tie him down. I’m in for the fight right now. I reach down and grab his shirt, yanking him to his feet and slamming his back into the wall. I go to hit him again, but he ducks, making my fist hit the wall. “Fuck,” I hiss, and the guy shoves me back.

I hit the desk. Thankfully, it’s bolted down, and as he runs for me, I lift my foot. My boot connects with his chest, knocking him off his feet. I yank him up and grip the back of his hair, slamming his face into the desk over and over until his body goes slack.

Letting go of him, he falls to the floor, knocked out. I turn to face Titan, fisting my hand that hit the wall, trying to gauge if it’s broken. “What?” I snap.

“Turner called me. Guess who was at the Airport?”

“I don’t know.” I sigh, not wanting to play this damn game. “Who the hell was it?”

“Matteo.”

I frown. “Why the fuck would he be there?” I ask. Luca would be seen there, but not the others. They’re too uptight for that environment. They’re too good for the Mason brothers and the Airport.

He shrugs. “Turner said he was there watching a poker game but didn’t stay long. Left after he got a phone call.”

Someone knocks on the door, and Titan moves away to open it. Cross enters and looks at the passed-out guy on the floor. “You’re not answering your cell.” His eyes come to meet mine.

“I’ve been busy.” I shut it off and left it in my car after I left the hospital. I didn’t want to take the chance of Mia calling me and begging me to let her stay. I won’t be able to walk away from her again. I’ve already done it twice.

“Haven called me. She said she’s been trying to get ahold of you.” Cross goes on.

“Is Luca okay?” Titan is the one who asks.

“Yeah,” he answers but keeps his eyes on mine. “They can’t find Mia.”

I stiffen. “What do you mean they can’t find Mia? She’s with Nite.” That’s the only reason I left her there was because Luca said he wanted her to go with him.

Cross shakes his head. “Nite arrived at the hospital, and she’s nowhere to be found. Luca immediately called Dr. Lane, and they were going to check the security cameras-”

I run past them and out the door of the meat locker, rushing to the elevator. “Fuck it,” I growl, shoving open the door to the stairs and running up the one flight to the main lobby that is our private entrance. I push open the glass doors and run downstairs to the back parking lot and my car. I catch sight of the Kings exiting as I squeal my tires on the pavement.

_______________

I ENTER THE main office for the hospital security. “Where the fuck is she?” I demand.

Nite is standing in front of a few monitors. Haven stands next to him with a hand over her mouth, and Luca sits in a wheelchair to the right. A few machines that he’s still connected to are on rollers next to him. The room is dead silent at my entrance.

“Someone better fucking answer me,” I demand through gritted teeth.

Haven turns to face me, tears running down her face. “Matteo has her.”

“No.” I breathe. Is she the real reason he’s in town? If so, then why even go to the Airport? Did he want us to know he was here before he took her? “How would he …?”

“It’s on the cameras,” Haven whispers. A security guard for the hospital hits a button, and I see her enter the frame on one of the screens. She’s got her cell to her ear. You can see her speaking but can’t hear what she’s saying.

You see Matteo enter the frame behind her, but she’s oblivious to his presence. He pulls open his suit jacket, removes his gun from his shoulder holster, and points it at her back. My heart races as I watch her body stiffen. Time seems to crawl as he speaks to her, and she turns around. She hits his chest, but he wraps his hand around her throat, choking her until she passes out. He lets her fall to the ground, hitting her head on the sidewalk. He puts his gun back in his holster before bending down to pick her up just as a car drives up. The back door opens from the inside, and he gets in with her before driving off. Leaving her cell on the ground behind him. The screen stops on the back of the car.

“The tag?” I ask roughly. My mind trying to think of any way that would give us a hint as to where he took her.

“Came back stolen,” the guard answers.

“Her phone…”Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org exclusive © material.

Haven turns around and holds it out to me.

“The last person she called was Jasmine.” She sniffs as I take it in my shaking hand.

I hear the door open behind me, but I ignore it, knowing it’s just the Kings. They weren’t far behind me.

“Where would he have taken her?” Haven asks me, her watery eyes meeting mine.

How would I know? I had her location on her phone, but he left it behind. There’s no way for me to find her now. For all I know, she’s no longer even in the state of Nevada. Her father is in New York. So he could be taking her there or back to Italy.

“Shit.” I hear Titan sigh as he plays the video back for them to get caught up.

“He’ll call you, right?” Haven bites her bottom lip, still looking up at me expectantly. “They wanted her with you. So they’ll call you.”

At that, Luca turns his wheelchair around to glare up at me. “This is all your fault.”

“Luca-”

“He did this!” Luce yells over Haven.

“It’s not my brother’s fault,” Grave snaps at him. I didn’t know he had come with Titan and Cross.

“He made her want to stay,” Luca argues. “If she had left …”

“Matteo would have found her no matter where she went,” Titan tells him.

I place my hands on either side of his wheelchair and lean over into his face. “This is your family’s fault. That includes you. And I promise you I’ll find her, but I’m going to slaughter every one of them. You and Mia will be the only living Bianchis when I’m fucking done.” And with that, I push off the chair and spin around, exiting the room.