Arranged love

MIA

I WAKE IN an unfamiliar room. I sit up, gasping for a breath, panic gripping my chest. Getting to my feet, the room sways, and I hit my hip on the nightstand by the bed, making it rattle.

I hear a door open behind me, and I run toward the other one that I see at the opposite end of the room. Just as I reach the door handle, an arm snakes around my waist, practically picking me up off my feet. I let out a scream, but a hand slaps over my mouth, cutting me off. I start kicking and trying to grab at anything I can touch.

“Shh, you’re okay.” I hear a voice in my ear. “You’re okay, Mia,” it repeats.

My tired body goes limp in his arms, and he removes his hand from my mouth, allowing me a deep breath. Setting me on my feet, he spins me around, and I look up into a set of blue eyes. The ones I thought I’d never see again.

I slap him as hard as I can. Which probably isn’t much.

“Mia-”

I do it again. “You drugged me. Again.”

He grips both of my wrists and slams them up against the wall, pinning me to it with his body. His eyes narrowing down at me now. “I had no other choice.”

“I didn’t want-”

“To live?” He interrupts me. “That was our only option. And I didn’t have time to argue with you about it.” Letting go of me, he steps back and runs a hand through his dark hair. “Fuck!” he shouts. Then he pins his eyes on me once again. “It needed to be done. And we had a very short timeframe. I was either going to hold you down and force you to drink it or have you do it willingly.”

I cross my arms over my chest and lean up against the wall. My legs are still wobbly, and the room is still spinning. I wouldn’t have taken it on my own. I’m too stubborn for that, and we both know it.

Stepping into me, he cups my face, and his hard features soften just a bit. “How do you feel?”

I just stare up at him.

He sighs. “Please talk to me. You can be mad, but I need to know how you feel.”

I lower my eyes to his Kingdom T-shirt that hugs his defined chest and broad shoulders. “I’m tired.” I finally say. Fuck, I missed him so much. I hate that he outsmarted me. Once again, Dillan Reed saved me. Why? Why not just let me go? Was it another favor for Luca? I doubt it. Luca wanted me far away from a King.

“You need more rest. It’s not out of your system yet.” I hear him through my internal rambling.

“I want a shower,” I argue, glaring up at him. I feel disgusting, and I stink.

“How about a bath? That way, I don’t have to worry about you falling over in the shower.” He offers.

“Fine.”

I allow him to pull me into the bathroom, and I look around while he starts me a bath. We’re obviously in an expensive hotel. I can tell by the white and gold tiles on the wall. The corner tub is massive, with three steps to even get into it. The shower is Roman-style with glass so you can see the black tiled wall on the inside that has three showerheads. The floor is white marble. It’s what I expected from a King. But where are we? “How long have I been out?” I ask.

“Just a few hours. I didn’t give you as much as last time.”

“Thanks,” I say dryly, rolling my eyes.

He stands to his full height, turning to face me. I still have my T-shirt on, and he stares at me expectantly. But I refuse to take it off until I’m alone. I’m ashamed of what I look like underneath. How fucking weak I was. How many times Matteo hit or slapped me.

Dillan’s eyes drop to my wrists, and I hide them behind my back, hoping he won’t see the marks from the restraints. I’m sure he already looked over me while I was unconscious, but something about having to look him in the eyes makes me nervous. He holds that kind of power over me.

Taking the hint, he walks over to me and leans in, giving me a soft kiss on the forehead. I hold my breath, knowing that I haven’t brushed my teeth since I don’t know when, and without another word, he exits the bathroom, shutting the door behind him and allowing me to bathe alone.

As I lower my bruised body into the scalding hot water, I let the first tear fall. This is the last time I will cry over my family. I’m more determined than ever to live up to the Bianchi name. And I have a feeling I’m going to have to do it behind Dillan’s back. Otherwise, he may drug me again.

I SIT ON the couch in what I know now is their penthouse suite in downtown New York, freshly bathed and feeling like a new person. The fog from the drugs is long gone now. When I was done in the bath, I found a shirt and cotton shorts lying on the bed that I had woken up in. When I finally emerged from the bedroom, room service was being delivered. I sat and ate like an animal while the Kings watched me. I didn’t care about my manners.

“What do we know?” Titan asks while sitting on the couch next to Cross. Grave stepped outside a second ago to take a phone call. Tristan, Dillan’s friend, sits at the kitchen bar.

“We were wrong about my father,” I say.

“Wrong how?” Cross is the one who asks.

“Matteo said that my father didn’t care about Kingdom or the Kings.” I look him in the eyes. A new me is here, and I’m not ashamed of her. “Said that he and the twins were just fucking with me. And that he realized I could make him more money over time than what he could get from you guys.”

A silence falls over the room.

“Not like that changes anything.” Titan breaks the tension. “If he’s the one behind selling you, he’s a problem.”

“What do you mean if?” I ask softly.

Dillan speaks. “I don’t trust Matteo. He could say your dad is behind it, but I’m not going to take his word for it.”

“Was there anything about the auction that was like the last?” Tristan asks me.

“I’m not sure,” I say honestly. “They had a hood over my head.”

“They?” Dillan questions.

I nod. “Matteo and Richard.”

“Richard was there?” He stands.

“Who is Richard? And how do you know him?” Grave asks, and I look over at the floor-to-ceiling windows, not realizing he has returned from his call.

“He’s a fucking piece of shit. I don’t know him personally, but he was in the video that Luca showed me. And he was at the first auction. I didn’t think much of it before, but maybe he plays a bigger part in this than I thought.”

My body tenses at Dillan’s words. The video that Luca showed him? What is he talking about?Text property © Nôvel(D)ra/ma.Org.