Arranged love

IT’S A LITTLE after noon when my door opens, and my brother walks in. “Hey,” I say, sitting back in my chair and giving him my full attention. He seems to be doing better. But I thought he was better before, and he obviously wasn’t.

“How are things going?” I ask him.

He nods. “Good.”

“The wedding?” I push. I haven’t gotten to speak to him privately since that night at his house. After Titan arrived, we sent April and Grave to bed while we stayed behind and cleaned up the broken glass inside the kitchen. A crew was there the next morning to replace the windows.

“It’s still on.” He gives a soft laugh.

“That’s not what I meant.”

He sits down in the seat across from me. “Do you love her?” he asks.

I don’t answer.

“I love you, Bones. As a brother, as a best friend, and as a father.” He sighs. “You practically raised me. And if this is what you want, then I’ll support you.” He pauses, licking his lips. “But I want you to be happy. You deserve that.” Looking down at his hands in his lap, he goes on, “I want you to find what I have with April.”

I go to open my mouth when my cell starts to ring. Picking it up, I frown, seeing it’s Haven. “Everything okay?” I ask in greeting, already jumping to my feet.

“He’s awake.” She sniffs. “Luca’s awake, and he’s asking for you and Mia.”

BONES

MIA AND I rush into the hospital, her hand in mine. I ran out of Kingdom and went by my house to pick her up. I called her on my way, and she was already getting ready. Haven had called her too to tell her the good news.

I nod to the guard as we pass by him. I release her hand, open the door, and usher her in with my hand on the small of her back.

Luca sits up in his bed, his pale face instantly frowning at us. I figured he’d be pissed at me once he woke up and realized what I’ve been doing.

“Hey.” Mia goes over to him, gently hugging him. “How are you feeling?”

“Give us a second,” Luca tells her.

Her dark brows pull together. “Luca … I don’t think-”

“Give us a second!” he yells, making her jump.

She squares her shoulders and parts her lips, but before she can argue with him, my eyes meet hers. “It’s okay.” I’m trying to defuse a bad situation between them. He just woke up from a fucking coma. The last thing I need is a sibling feud.

She spins around, her dark hair slapping her in the face from the motion, and storms out of the room.

“You didn’t have to yell at her,” I tell him.

He turns his pissed-off attitude at me. “What the fuck are you doing, Bones?”

“What you asked,” I say, dodging the real answer.

He reaches for his remote and turns up the volume on this TV. I look up at it and curse myself when I see a picture of Mia and me making out plastered on the screen.

“One of the heirs to Kingdom-Dillan Reed, known as Bones-has been spotted around Sin City with who we know as the Mafia Princes-Mia Bianchi. The two apparently have been living together in his home right outside of Vegas. The couple has been spotted out a lot lately, but it’s clear that they’ve been together for quite some time. The two are not shy about their public affection. I see wedding bells in their near future …”

So this is what Marsha ended up going with after Grave put a halt to the story she wanted to run? I’m not surprised. She probably knew that Luca wouldn’t approve of what I was doing, and she was hoping to fuck me in the best way she could. Or she wants a target on Mia. Marsha had threatened that Mia’s life could be in danger if the public knew who she was and that her brother was in a coma.

“This is not what I asked you to do,” he snaps, clicking it off as if he’s seen enough. “I told you to ship her off.”

“I did that. She came back,” I growl defensively.

He snorts. “You expect me to believe that she chose to come back here for you to parade her around like a fucking trophy?”

“No!” I shout. “She came back here because Haven told her you were shot.”

His jaw sharpens, and his eyes slide to the door. “What was she doing talking to my wife?” he demands.

I let out a long breath and make my way over to the window that overlooks Vegas. I hate this city. I’ve always wanted out. I think that’s why I bought a secluded beach house in Malibu and a log cabin in the mountains. I even have a penthouse in New York. I never get to use any of them, though, and never will.

“Bones?” he commands at my silence.

“Who shot you?” I ask, keeping my back to him.

“Doesn’t fucking matter.” He snorts.

“It does.” I turn to face him, placing my hands in the pockets of my jeans. “Who shot you?”

He looks away from me, his jaw sharpening. He looks like shit. His color is yellowish. He’s lost some weight, his cheeks hollowed, lips chapped. “I don’t know.” Lowering his dark eyes to his hands that sit on his lap, he sighs. “I didn’t get a look at them.”

I frown. “You sure?”

“Of course,” he snaps. “Why would I lie about that?” His eyes meet mine.

“What if I told you it was your brothers?” I offer, seeing how he feels about that idea.

He gives a rough laugh that makes him flinch from pain. “No. They’re stupid, but they don’t have a death wish.”

Leaning my back against the windowsill, I cross one ankle over the other. “I shipped Mia to my beach home in California. And three days before you were shot, she had visitors.”

His brows pull together. “Who? Who did you tell she was there?”

“Not a soul.” I shake my head. Well, technically, that’s not true. Nigel knew she was there because he went with me, but he knows all of the Kings’ secrets. He would never tell. “But that didn’t keep your brothers from finding her.”

“Wait.” He holds up a hand. “My brothers found her in California?” I nod. “What does that have to do with why she’s here now?”

“They roughed her up-”

“Fuck!”

“And told her to return to me. Make me fall in love with her and marry her.”

He stares at me for a long second. His eyes are full of confusion, then he laughs. “Ow.” He places his hand on his stomach. “Don’t make me laugh, Bones.”

“Does it look like I’m joking?” I arch a brow.

He sits up straighter. “You can’t be serious …”

“Three days later, she called your phone, and Haven answered. Told her that you had just been shot. Haven sent her the jet, and Mia showed up while you were in surgery.”

“I don’t …”

“We all think that they hurt you to bring her back when she didn’t move fast enough for them.”

He lays his head back on his pillow and lets out a long breath.

“That night in my office, you told me that your father wanted me with her. Why?” I demand.

“He wants Kingdom,” Luca says simply. “He always has. Says that your father left him out of his share.”

I nod, turning to face the window again. I already knew that, but I wanted to hear it again. Make sure that I’m not losing my mind or going crazy. Because that sounds fucking insane. “He just thinks that’s some pussy will make me hand over my life?”

“Hey!” he snaps from behind me. “That’s my sister.”

“Watch it, Luca. You sound like you actually care about her,” I say dryly.

“You son of a bitch!” he snaps.

I turn around to see him trying to get out of bed, but he’s connected to too many machines. And he’s too weak. He may be awake, but he won’t be himself for a while.

The door opens, and Mia comes running into the room. “What is going on?”

“Stay the fuck away from him, Mia,” he growls, still trying to get out of the bed.

“Luca-”Còntens bel0ngs to Nô(v)elDr/a/ma.Org

“Where is Nite?” he demands, interrupting his sister. “I want him here. Now!”

“I’ll call him for you.” I pull out my cell and bring up his number.

“No, Dillan …”

He picks up the call but doesn’t speak. “Hey, I need you to come and pick up Mia. She’s at the hospital. Luca is awake and wants you to take care of it.” My hard eyes meet her large ones. I hate the way my chest tightens at the thought of having to walk away-hand her over like she doesn’t mean a damn thing to me. But I’ve always been that guy who does whatever must be done. And I have to let her go for her sake. She’ll be safer away from here, away from me. “She’s your problem now.” I hang up. “He’s on his way,” I say and pocket my cell, exiting the room.