BETROTHED TO A RUTHLESS MAFIA

CHAPTER FIVE

Keira stirred when she heard the birds chirp. She looked through the curtains; the day was bright and sunny, a huge contrast to how her world felt. It had been a week since the whole incident, a week since she last had her freedom, a week since her whole world turned upside down.

Kenna had woken up a few days ago. It was what gave her the strength and will to live again. She had to live for Kenna to make sure she was safe and to make sure that nothing happened to her. She had neither seen nor heard from Arnold. Frankly speaking, she was relieved he didn't bother about them. She was no fool, and she knew exactly the kind of person Arnold Giovanni was.

Everyone talked about him. Most people hated him, and half the people he did business with wanted him dead. It was a surprise that he treated her and Kenna well. But with him, there would always be an ulterior motive, and that was what Keira was determined to find out. What the hell did he exactly want from them?

Keira sat beside Kenna's bed. She was still fast asleep and she didn't want to wake her so she sat quietly and stared at the ceiling. She needed an escape plan, but it was hard to come up with one when she didn't fully know how Arnold operated. Only thinking about it exhausted her, but she needed to come up with something for Kenna's sake.

The nurse walked in, and Kenna woke up. While she did her routine check, Keira managed to eat something. There was bread, bacon, and coffee; she sincerely thanked whoever made coffee in her heart because she was a wreck before her morning coffee, and she had gone days without caffeine in her system. There were fruits by the side, but she decided Kenna needed more of that than she did.

Kenna immediately fell asleep after she ate breakfast. Well, she could barely eat, but Keira made sure she ate at least half of her food. Keira decided to do a little tour around the mansion. The only place she had been in was her room and Kenna's, and if she wanted to escape, she needed to know the details of the place. She walked down the stairs, there were a few men around all in black, and some held armor. It freaked her out, so she headed back to the hallway where the rooms were. There were paintings she hadn't noticed hanging on the walls, so she made a mental note to check them out later. As she was about to enter her room, she decided to just take a walk to the far end of the hallway just for curiosity's sake.

There was nothing special, just decorations scattered across the walls with paintings, and there was a back staircase. She nodded at that revelation. There was a separate room at the far end. It was dangerous for her to snoop around, but again, curiosity killed the cat. So she held the doorknob, and as she was about to turn it open, a voice gave her a shock.

“What the hell do you think you're doing?” Arnold said, eyeing her suspiciously.

She gulped. He was more terrifying than she remembered.

“I was uhhh…. I wanted to uhm…” She could find her voice so she just kept quiet and stared at him.

“You're never going in there. Do you understand me?” He warned, and she nodded.

“I'm sorry. I didn't mean to intrude on your privacy.” Keira replied. Eyes down and cheeks red, she was embarrassed to tears.

“Walk with me.” He commanded, and she obeyed, slowly walking at his back.

They made it down the stairs, and he led her to his study on the first floor. He opened the door and told her to sit on the couch while he walked towards the minibar.

She was so nervous that she had to remind herself every second to breathe.

“What's your poison?” He asked, pouring a glass of whiskey into his cup.

Did he want to drink with her? Now that was suspicious, not that he wasn't suspicious all the time anyway. “I'm fine, thank you.” She replied.

“Don't be scared, Keira, I won't bite.”

Arnold looked at her. She had color on her face now, and she looked more beautiful than he remembered. It had been a week since he'd seen her, but he had always gone to check on Kenna's condition every day.

“I'll have water then.” She replied, and he nodded. He poured her a glass and set it before her on the table. Arnold took a sip of his drink and sat down opposite her.

“How's Kenna?” He asked, trying to make small talk. He was bad at it, but he could try.

“She's getting better,” Keira replied, eying the water on the table.

“Sounds nice.”

Keira couldn't hold it in anymore. She was dying to know why he kept them here. “Why are we still here?”

“Pardon?” He looked at her. She had guts for someone who looked soft.

“I want to know why my sister and I are still here as prisoners in your fancy mansion,” Keira asked, louder this time.

Arnold smiled.

He liked the fact that she was not afraid to speak her mind.

“You're here because I want you to be.” Was his reply.

Keira raised her eyebrows. What the heck was that answer? “That's not the answer I'm looking for, and you know it. Kenna and I are of no use to you except you want us dead. But that's not the case because if you did want to kill us, you'd have done so when you killed my parents.” Keira said, and Arnold's mood darkened.

He hated being reminded of how her parents died, and he hated the fact that he was the one who had to give accountability for what happened.

“Listen here, Keira, no one questions me. If I say stay, then you f*****g stay. No questions asked.” He replied.

His green eyes had gone darker and this gave Keira chills, he was already menacing enough but seeing him like this was as terrifying as when he found her at that door. She didn't like it one bit.

“Until you tell me why you killed my parents and held my sister and me hostage. I don't think I'll ever stop asking questions.”

“There are two sides of a coin. You might think, this is all not fair and unjust but not everything can be seen on one side.” Arnold replied.

“I don't need your self-righteousness. I need answers and best believe I won't stop asking till I find some.”

“Well here's one. I f*****g own you, Keira McCarthy.”

“You don't!”

Keira stood up and stomped towards the door but before she could let herself put Arnold spoke.

“You need to snap out of whatever delusions you have. This is your reality now Keira, I own you as much as I own this building. And there's no escape from me so deal with it.” He said in that stupid low voice of his.

Tears ran down her cheeks, as she walked out of his study. She wanted out of whatever nightmare this was, it had gone on for too long and now she wanted to wake up, with her family and everything as it was before.

***

Arnold finished his glass of whiskey before Eugene walked in with an envelope in his hands.

“An invitation from Transcorp, They are celebrating their twenty-fifth anniversary and would like to invite you to join them,” Eugene said, taking a seat.

“They just want me to make a fat donation, but that would be good. I need to buy more shares so I would need to be on good terms with the board members.”

“Smart move.” Eugene nodded.

“I need something to get their attention,” Arnold said in deep thought.

“You are married after all. Use that, they'll want to compensate for missing the wedding.” Eugene said, and Arnold raised an eyebrow.

“Cheap move, but I'll take it,” Arnold said.

“Word is going to spread around, though,” Eugene said with a concerned look on his face.

“And more people would target Keira, are you willing to take that risk?” Eugene was concerned. Somehow Arnold had ended up being the one to offer protection.

“I'd like to see them try. Today is our first official outing as a couple. Call the designers and find Keira a dress, I need to make a statement.

Arnold went up to Keira’s room after making some calls. He needed to let her know about this evening's events.

He opened her door and she sat on the dressing table staring into the abyss of her soul.

“Keira, we're going out this evening and we will officially be a couple to the public. I got you this for the performance.” Arnold said.

He dropped a velvet box on the dressing table.

Keira gave him a questioning look, “What are you saying?”

“We are going out tonight for Transcorp's anniversary and it'll be our first public appearance as a married couple,” Arnold replied.

“I don't want to be seen in public with you. We both know what high society is like, I will be judged for marrying you.” She said frantically.

“No offense taken. Keira you don't have a choice, you're going with me and that's it.”

“Yeah, I forgot one tiny detail. You know the fact that I'm a puppet to you and not a human with actual feelings but what do you care?” Keira said bitterly.

He had gone past the point of emotional blackmail so there was nothing Keira could do that could tug at his heartstrings. He had done worse.

“You've said it. I don't care, so just suck it up.” Arnold said, looking at her squarely in the eyes.

“You're such an asshole.” She cursed.

“Careful with your words now, Keira darling. It might just come back to haunt you.” He teased.

Keira sat there angry and sad. It would be best if the ground just opened up and swallowed her right now. Everyone knew that her father's business had gone bankrupt before, and if they saw her with Arnold, they would instantly know that she was just part of a bargain.

It was that easy to tell because Arnold was f*****g rich and well so influential and almost all the ladies wanted to be his. And showing up with him at any gathering would make people talk a lot.

“Arnold, is there a way out of this?” She asked, head down, fingers on her lap.

“Believe me, Keira, giving you a way out for now is too risky.” He replied.

“I can't live like this for the rest of my life.” She said quietly. “Would it be better if you just kill me and let Kenna go? Maybe you'd be satisfied that the debt has been repaid one way or the other.”

Arnold was taken aback. He might have speculated how Keira perceived him, but this was on another level. She did think that all he did was kill people and torture them or something. He so wanted to make her see him differently.

“You think I'd kill you, Keira?” He asked, staring at her with cold eyes.

The look in her eyes had gripped him so hard. She was silently begging him for mercy. That was what was in her eyes. He'd hate to deny her, but this was for the best.

First, he couldn't go soft on her. Nothing good would come out of it, and secondly, she would be dead the minute he let her out of his sight.

“Just let me go.” She begged, and he sighed. “Please.” She added, tears freely trickling down her cheeks.

“I'd be a fool to do that.” He replied.

With that, he left the room and closed the door silently behind him.