Page 45 of Bound By Flames
“Let me go!” she shouts, tears echoing in her voice. “Why did you have to come for me?” Desperation coats her sweet voice. “Why do you want to keep me?” Her arms fall next to her body, stopping the fight. As if she didn’t have it in her to do this anymore as if she couldn’t find the energy for it. I turn her to face me in a rough movement, grabbing her waist and the side of her face.
“I told you, you wouldn’t make it past the gates,” I grunt.
She nods, tears filling her beautiful eyes.
“But I was wrong, Mia. You can still make it if you want to.” I swallow hard at the truth I’m revealing to her. If she wants to go, she can. It’s up to her. I won’t try to stop her. I just need…I just need to hold her one last time.
Her brown pools widen as the words slip from my lips before I can keep them in.
“Why did you go? Why can’t you stay here?” I mutter, surprising myself by the sadness in my voice. “Am I such a fucking waste of a man that you can’t stand being my wife?”
She doesn’t care about you.
She left you as soon as she could.
She’s not trustworthy.
She hates you.
Her gaze searches for something in my eyes, her hand coming to rest mindlessly on my chest as she fists the black fabric.
“It’s…it’s complicated.” Her voice breaks beautifully.
“Nah, just talk to me, Mia. Just fucking talk to me,” I plead with her, not even giving a fuck if I’m debasing myself ‘cause she’s my wife. She can see me, all of me.
“You want to know why I had to marry you?” Her lips tremble. “My father blackmailed me into it. Threatened to marry Kiara to the head of an Italian mafia. The guy is seventy, terminal cancer, and he wants an heir before dying.” She shakes her head. “Kiara is seventeen.” Her jaw clenches at the disgusting tale she’s telling me.
What a fucking asshole.
Mia and her sister have been raised in this twisted world. They know how things work here and what’s expected from them. Arranged marriages benefiting both parties aren’t unusual, but if it happens, you gotta do it in a way the girl isn’t so fucking miserable she’ll want to put a bullet in her head as soon as she gets her husband’s name.
I had changed things in my home for Mia when I decided to take her as my wife. I made sure my staff was there for her. I gave her enough money to buy the fucking town without hesitation. I studied her, built her a place to work, and sentmoney to her sister so she would come more often to see Mia. Ihavebeen determined to give her a good life, and that’s what any husband should be. Whether your wife can stand your face or not.
But this, fuck, this is twisted and nasty.
Because we all know what it takes to make an heir, especially when death is knocking at the guy’s door. I’d bet he’d want to make sure his line is secured. Poor fucking Kiara. The kid would most likely be held in a basement with barely enough food and taken out only to fulfill her duty. Heard that’s how they do it there. The mobster way.
Well, fuck that.
“I’m gonna take care of that,” I promise her.
“Don’t, Ares, it’s over. I’ve saved her by marrying you.” Her eyes go full panic mode as her hand grabs my shoulders. “My father won’t forgive me for telling you his schemes. You cannot talk to him about this.”
“Mia.”
“Ares, really, it’s complicated—” She shakes her head.
“Mia, breathe, baby.” My tone falls lower, and my palms cup her sweet face. She doesn’t snap back at me for calling her that, and I take it as a fucking win.
“Now, are you gonna tell me why you ran off in the woods tonight?” I brush her skin softly.
“I just told you, it’s—” She furrows her brows.
“Bullshit, that was why you married me, not why you left our bed in the middle of the night.” I want the raw version of Mia, not the sleek façade she carries around for other folks.
“Ares, I…” Her lower lip trembles and her hair sticks to her face from the sweat.
“Why Mia? I know I fucked up at dinner, and I’ve been trying to fix it ever since, but—”
