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“Calm down, Nova.” She picked up her bag from the floor and pulled out a bottle of painkillers. She handed me two pills and a bottle of water. “Thora said Grams left before those men showed up at the wedding.”
I gulped down the pills and nodded, my leg bouncing up and down.
“We’re not prisoners, we’re hiding… apparently. I don’t know from who. That’s all Cian would say while we were waiting for you to wake up. He’s been crazy about security around here.” She glanced over at the keys still hanging in the door.
“Wait, how long was I out for?” A jolt of pain slashed through my head, and I grunted.
“Two days. Cian was so frantic… I… oh, God, I thought the worst.” She squeezed my hands in a vice grip. I didn’t have the heart to tell her she was hurting me.
Two days.
What the hell had I missed in those days?
“Nova, this thing with Ryzen isn’t good. I don’t think him or his brother Riddick are who they said they were.” She paced in front of the bed, nibbling on her fingernails. “Thora said those masked men came to the wedding to hurt Ryzen. To hurt you.” Her voice quivered. “This is my fault. I should have never encouraged you to sign that fake fiancé contract.”
I stood and gripped her shoulders. “Stop it, Jules. This isn’t your fault. This is… well, I don’t know who’s to blame, but it’s not you. OK?” I could see the wheels spinning in her eyes, and I shook her gently. “We’re going to figure it out. Like we always do.” I held up my fingers in our secret code, her lips trembling as she did the same. “What else did you hear?”
“Something about the Mafia. Ryzen owes them money.” She walked over to the table where the box of pictures was. “Can you believe that? TheactualMafia.” Her voice trailed off as she peeked inside the box. One by one she pulled the pictures out, her mouth hanging open when she got to the last one. The one with Ryzen and Iva having sex. She held it up to me, and I nodded.
My jaw tensed at the sight of the picture. Not because of jealousy. Because of what that picture stood for. Deception. Control. Had he made Iva lie to me so that I would agree to marry him? It was so far-fetched I almost couldn’t believe he would stoop to that level to get what he wanted. But I guessed I didn’t really know him, or Cian for that matter. Hell, for all I knew Ivahadbeen sleeping with them both.
“Holy cow. That bitch.” Juliet’s hand was shaking as she looked back and forth from the picture to me. “What does all this mean?”
I rolled up the sleeves of my shirt and grabbed the picture from her. “I don’t know, but I’m about to find out.”
I stormed downstairs in the direction of the voices and threw the door open, Juliet on my heels. Cian stood with his back to me, his hands stuffed in his pockets, as he looked out the window. Cian’s foster siblings Thora and Eros were huddling together around a table with a third man I had never seen before. He had dark hair like Cian, and was just as tall, but leaner, and covered in tattoos.
My nostrils flared as I held the picture of Ryzen and Iva up. “Tell me what the hell is going on right this instant.”
Cian ran his fingers through his hair. “Everyone out.” His voice was lethal, and although I was the one who was demanding the answers, I could sense my bravery slowly slipping away.
“Cian.” The man I didn’t recognize approached him. “We should—”
“Orin, no. Out. Please.” Cian turned to face me, still wearing the shirt he had ripped open less than an hour ago.
Orin. Cian’s other foster brother. Orin narrowed his eyes at me, and I stepped to the side as he passed. Eros gave me a salute as he walked by, while Thora grabbed Juliet’s hand and tugged her out the door. There was a thickness in the air that was almost suffocating, and I was beginning to regret barging into the room.
Cian turned to face me, his eyes dark as he scanned me up and down. His hair was disheveled, and he had dark circles under his eyes. My eyes instinctively went to the scars running down his face and neck. Not too long ago I had been trailing my lips down them while he moaned with pleasure. He looked like he had been in the fight of his life, and I took a step backwards.
“No,” he ordered, taking a step closer to me. “You don’t get to run this time, little mouse.” He stood in front of me, my eyes chest-level, looking directly at the small cut I had given him earlier.
I swallowed, my throat drier than it had been moments ago. His fingers were soft against my face as he tilted my chin up. It was difficult to decipher the look in his dark eyes. Anger. Frustration. Fear. A combination of the three. What I didn’t understand was why.
“I warned you.” His thumb traced my bottom lip, and suddenly I forgot how to breathe. “That you were nothing but a little mouse in a den of snakes. Yet you refused to believe me.” He pressed against me so there wasn’t an inch of space between us. “You shut me out, Nova.” There was a hint of bitterness in his voice, and I squeezed my eyes shut.
“Look at me,” he commanded. “Tell me why.”
“Iva…” I inhaled deeply through my nose, desperate for oxygen. “She said you were lovers.”
He scoffed, wrapping his hand around the back of my neck and weaving his fingers into my wet hair. “And you believed her?” He had me locked in place. I couldn’t move even if I wanted to.
“How was I supposed to know, Cian?” I lowered my eyes. “I never thought she would lie. That Ryzen would lie. How could I possibly know that it wasn’t true?” My voice quivered, but he didn’t let go of his grasp on me.
“Why was it so fucking easy for you to trust him, but not me?” Cian tugged my head back gently. “You made me the monster because you wanted me to be one.” Tension rolled off his body in waves, and if he hadn’t been holding me up, I might have fallen to the floor.
“That’s not—”
His lips crashed into mine before I could finish. Rough. Angry. I could taste the desperation on his tongue as I kissed him back with the same anger. I gripped his arms, his muscles hard underneath my palms.
