AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Name’s Raven Alexander Hollinsworth, the third, and I would appreciate it if you took your fucking grasp off my girlfriend’s arm before we have an issue here.”
Chapter 7
Mia
“I was brought up in a sea of treachery and deceit and betrayal... I am completely at home in it. I shall not drown.” Margaret George, The Memoirs Of Cleopatra
“Girlfriend?”Threedifferentmalevoices ring out in the room; that is starting to feel like it’s closing in on me, a cold sweat breaking out down my back. A chuckle sounds from behind me and I turn my angry leer toward Diego, who is obviously enjoying this immensely at my expense. Fucker.
“Oh, little wife, you do have a way with getting yourself into trouble with men.” He lets out a snort and turns his scrutinizing glare back on Raven.
“Wife?” Raven lets out with disbelief, his gray eyes large, mouth hanging open.
Damn it, all to hell! Why, when shit is already going so horribly wrong, does fate and karma have to knock me further on my ass? I swear those bitches hate me. I close my eyes and take a deep breath, pulling away from Finn’s harsh, tight hold on my arm. Ignoring everyone else in the room, I open my eyes and center my glare on Raven.
“Ex-Girlfriend, Raven. We broke up, remember? When I left you and came to North Carolina.” Turning my annoyed scowl towards a grinning Diego, “I’m not your fucking wife dickhead.”
“Not yet, but you will be.” He answers me back with a smug look on his face. That is until he catches Isabella staring at him with hostility, then his face goes blank as his dark green eyes meet her intense blue ones. A blush rises across Isabella’s pale skin before she tears her gaze away from Diego. Ah, hell, that’s not good. I know that look Isabella’s wearing, and it will only bring heartache and Stella’s wrath.
“Not ever, young man.” Stella declares moving between Diego, Isabella, and me.
“Mrs. Stratford, with all due respect, Mia willingly signed the contract agreeing to the terms for our assistance in rescuing Theo and Carter. No one forced her, but those terms are binding, and we mean to receive payment for services rendered.” Manuel meets Stella’s glare head-on. I guess he’s forgotten all about that slap she gave him. He better be careful; she’ll do more than just slap him.
“We’ll see about that, you criminal.” Stella seethes.
A throat clearing at the room’s entrance has all of our attention turning in that direction. “Is Carter Pemberton’s family in here? He’s asking for Mia, Mateo, and Finn.” The male nurse at the door questions, eyes roaming over each of us in the room.
Finn, Mateo, and I make our way to the room’s entrance. I turn back to give Stella and Isabella an assessing look. Stella nods, and Isabella tries to provide me with a reassuring smile as we leave the room and head across the hall to the private hospital room Carter is receiving medical attention inside.
Carter is lying on the stark white linens of the hospital bed, vibrant tattoos on display, and his shoulder and arm wrapped and in a sling. He has a few bandages on his other arm and a white bandage wrapped around his abdomen. The dark purple bruising has already started setting in all over his face and body. He tries to smile at us as we enter the room but ends up grimacing and running his tongue across his battered, puffy upper lip. His husky blue eyes look haunted and filled with soaring emotions as his gaze lingers on me.
“Carter!” I race towards him and then stop right before reaching him. I’m uncertain of how to approach him, how to even touch him in his current state. He’s covered in bruises and lacerations everywhere. I also want to punch him in the face for all the shit he just put me through. He opens his good arm, and I move to the bed, wrapping my arms gently around him. He still lets out a low grunt at even that much contact.
“I’m ok, Mia, honest babe. I’m alright.” His uninjured arm wraps tightly around my back, his scent mixed with sweat filling my nostrils and warm body enveloping me. Relief fills me at the contact of his warm skin.What happened to him being the enemy, Mia?My mind snarks.
“Good, ’cause I’m going to kill you once you’re better for this reckless stunt Carter,” I mumble into his chest. A deep, relieved sigh leaves my body. Thank goodness he’s alive. That the reckless stunt of chasing after and trying to rescue Theo on his own didn’t end up costing him his life.But it could have, then what? Could you have survived without him?
A chuckle leaves Finn and Mateo, who are still standing awkwardly next to Carter’s hospital bed. I look at them and notice that Mateo seems very pale, his hair tangled and sweaty next to his face. Finn has a look of relief across his features as he stares at Carter. I know this was so hard on both of them, too. Knowing that first Theo was sacrificing himself and being tortured so we could get away, and then when we realized that Carter had gone off to save him in his current condition. They were torn between their promises to Theo, wanting to protect me, and going to save their best friends.
“Theo?” Carter questions, releasing his tight hold on me so I can pull away and look at him.
“Still in surgery. We haven’t heard anything yet.” Mateo answers him with a raspy, emotion-filled voice.
“He called for you, Mia, when he briefly woke up while I was holding him on that hard ground. He was so battered and bleeding, but he woke up for just a moment and called your name. When I told him you were already on your way to Manhattan, he replied, “good.” It was the last word he spoke to me.” A shudder makes its way through Carter’s body, and I reach up to lightly kiss his swollen lips but pull back when he lets out a small gasp of pain.
Finn’s shoulders droop, and he drags his hand down his face. “He’s going to pull through, he’s a fighter and he knows he needs to make his way back to us, back to Mia.”
I nod my head in agreement; Theo better fight. I need him; he can’t leave me. He can’t leave us; we all need him and his controlling obnoxious ways. Shit, I might even let him boss me around a bit to make him feel better. Steeling my spine, I refuse even to consider Theo not making it through the surgery and back to me. I will not lose him, even if I have to trail his ass into hell and fight the devil for him.Isn’t that what we just did, though?
“How? How did you get the men to get us out? It sounded like bombs were going off in different directions.” Carter threads his battered tattooed fingers through mine.
“My uncle and cousin’s men.” A deep agitated sigh leaves Mateo. “We made a deal for manpower and weapons to get you and Theo out.”
Carter’s serious gaze moves between Mateo, Finn, and then back to me. “What deal? What did they ask for as payment?”
“Carter, you should rest now; we can discuss this later.” I move back from him, my eyes refusing to meet his.
“What was the price, Mia?” He grits out between his teeth and pulls his body into more of a sitting position, wincing at the pain it causes him.
