BETROTHED TO A RUTHLESS MAFIA

CHAPTER FOUR

Keira stared at the curtains till the first c***k of dawn spilled through the curtains. This place was eerily quiet and she hadn't heard a word about her parents from anyone. She had tried asking the guard who came to untie them some questions, but she seemed invisible to him, so she gave up.

But she had this empty feeling inside her, and deep down, she could feel that something was wrong. Although she had been feeling like this for the past few days so maybe now she's being paranoid. But her paranoia is excused because in case anyone forgot she had been kidn*pped with her parents in the past twenty-four hours and no words from anyone. Not even as small as a whisper from anyone, and it annoyed her but she couldn't do anything about it.

Kenna had woken up and sat down beside her, leaning her head on her shoulder and not saying a word. She was probably as burnt out as she was. And while they sat there lost in thoughts, the door opened, and three men walked in. Keira couldn't recognize any of them, but there was something about the presence of those menacing dark green eyes she stared at that put her off balance.

Arnold cleared his throat, looking at the girls, and then he took the papers Mark was holding before he spoke up.

“I'm here to announce to you that your parents passed away tragically last night. It was beyond our control; accept our condolences.” Arnold said, jaw tight and lips set in a thin line.

Keira curled up where she sat. Winter in Greenland had nothing on the cold she felt from hearing the news. Maybe this was a dream. It couldn't possibly be true that her parents had just passed away. It sounded too casual to her, too unserious. “You're lying.” She murmured under her breath. There was no freaking way this was true.

“Murderer!” Kenna exclaimed, lurching herself towards Arnold, but Eugene caught her and held her in place.

“You killed them?” Keira asked, hands still wrapped around herself, tears slowly trickling down her face. She couldn't blink. She had forgotten how to, her face was white and her eyes red. She couldn't easily pass for a mummy right now.

Arnold avoided the question. It was best if they knew nothing for now.

“You guys have free access to everything inside the mansion, but under no circumstances will you leave this premises. You'll have eyes watching you, so I suggest you abstain from doing anything rash.” Mark spewed.

From Kenna's wailing to Keira being wrapped up in whatever realm, it could be debated if they had heard anything at all.

But that was when Keira spoke up. “So you would still keep us hostages after murdering my parents. Why do you want us dead, too?” Keira asked, not bothering to look their way.

“If I wanted you dead, you would've been gone the moment you stepped foot inside this building,” Arnold replied Keira; his voice low like it always was.

“Get it over with then,” Keira said, looking him in the eyes.

Her expression hit him square in his guts, she looked so broken and burnt out and for someone who lived her whole life like a princess, this was a dark twist in her fairytale. He suddenly wanted to protect her, but he was no protector. If she was sunshine, then he had midnight rain.

“I can't just kill my wife now, can I? I would be charged with homicide.” Arnold said, staring down at her brown eyes that had gone cold with grief.

She didn't bother to ask what the statement meant because suddenly Kenna had collapsed due to loss of air, she was asthmatic and this was all too much for her without an inhaler. Eugene carried her immediately, and Mark followed, leaving Keira behind with Arnold.

He walked forward and bent down where Keira was, and he set the papers down beside her.

“I don't care whether you believe it or not, but what happened to your parents was an accident. And I know grief blurs the lines, but your father didn't think much of you before he died.”

“My father loved me, and regardless of anything, I choose to believe that,” Keira replied.

Arnold stood up and turned towards the door. He stopped midway and turned to look at her.

“Your sister would be taken care of, and also you would be too. But on my terms only so try to be good and we'll have no issues.” And with that, he left the room.

Keira let the tears and sadness wash over her. She cried until she had no more strength to cry anymore, so it was coming out more like sobs till her body gave out, and she passed out.

****

Kenna was attended to by the household nurse, and they fixed some things to monitor her since she was still unconscious.

Arnold made sure she was good before calling Mark and Eugene out to the basement where he had all the men who were in charge of yesterday's job assembled. It was high time he fished the person out.

He sat on the chair facing the men lined up, and he picked up his gun at the center of the table and held it up.

“I will ask only once. Who did it?” Arnold said, and nobody moved for a whole minute, and when nobody said a word, he stood up and went to the guy on the far left and shot him in the head.

“Clean that up. You're dismissed.” Arnold dropped his gun back on that table and exited the room.

Body language never lies. The guy who he shot was already nervous before he walked towards him, and the twitch of his eyes gave him away. Mistakes like these should never happen under his control, and the next time someone thinks of slipping up or doing stupid s**t like that, they would remember the consequences.

Arnold's assistant gives him a call that he has a meeting with some investors, and he needs to be there in ten minutes, so he changes his suit and goes with Mark while Eugene stays to control things at the mansion.

Before he leaves, he makes a stop at the room, where Keira is, and he decides to check in on her. She was still in the same position she had been since yesterday night, and nothing had changed. Her food and water remained untouched in a food tray set on the table on the other side of the room.

She needed more time, people had different ways of grieving, and he would let her for now.

Keira had sat in that position for so long that she had forgotten how to move. Her body had gone numb just like the way she felt on the inside. She had no desire to do anything even live, but she thought of Kenna. It would be a betrayal for her to leave Kenna behind.

The whole day went by unceremoniously, and before Keira knew it was dark again. At intervals, she had heard people go in and out of her room, but she couldn't care less what they did. Everything seemed dull and lacked life in her eyes. She thought back to the night she saw the bruise on her dad's face. It was the last time they had a conversation alone, and if she could go back to that day, maybe she would've hugged him a little tighter and stayed with him a little longer. And with that, she wept once more.

The next morning, Arnold stopped by her room, and Keira was still the same; a shadow of herself. Kenna hadn't regained consciousness, and the nurse explained that she had been stressed, so her body was trying to make her relax, and that was why she was still unconscious.

He walked in to meet her and stood in front of her.

“You haven't eaten anything?” He said, stating the obvious.

She managed to croak out an “I'm not hungry.”

Arnold's patience was wearing thin. He was trying all he could to make this less uncomfortable, but Keira looked like someone who had agreed to die.

“You've not had even water in days. Are you trying to kill yourself?”

“Wouldn't it be better for you?” She asked, not bothering to look up at him.

“For goodness sake, get over yourself. If you feel like dying, then be my guest, and if you don't want to eat, then starve.” He replied, his voice still low, and even.

With that, he left the room. f**k the McCarthys and their drama, he's had enough for one day, and if by tomorrow Keira remains the way she is then he might as well grant her wish and put her to rest eternally. Then maybe his life would return back to the way it was before them.