BETROTHED TO A MAFIA HEIR

CHAPTER ELEVEN

“Is she going to be okay?” Kenna asked.

Keira lay unconscious on the bed. She had been that way for a while now. Arnold had told Eugene to let Kenna know that her sister was back at the mansion. She was thrilled, and she hugged Eugene when he came to her room to tell her.

She wanted to see Keira right away, but she was receiving treatment, and Arnold had asked that no one be allowed near her till the following day.

“She would be, Keira is a strong woman,” Eugene replied. He let Kenna stay with her sister for a bit before taking her out of the room.

Arnold walked in shortly after Kenna and Eugene left. He took off his running clothes and took a quick shower. He wore khaki shorts and a sweatshirt. He wasn't going to work today or do anything that required him to step out for now.

He couldn't believe it when García's men had brought her out. She was covered in mud, her face had scratches, and her neck was covered in blood. García had found her lying near one of their hideout spots, at first, he wanted to tear her apart and sell her organs but they found out she was still alive, and then when he looked at her he remembered her face from the magazine front cover Arnold and Keira had been featured in.

It was like landing on a huge deal for García.

Twenty million was nearly not enough money Arnold could give in exchange for Keira. He was willing to give a whole lot more, but he hadn't even known that someone like García would be the one to save her at the last minute, and he was somehow grateful for that.

At the end of the day, he still went to work. He and Mark needed to visit a site that was having legal contentions. He returned home later that evening and went straight to his study to check out some things that needed his attention.

His door creaked open, and Keira walked in. Her face looked pale, and she was sweating. He looked at his wristwatch, and it was past midnight. He had lost track of time.

Keira limped forward. Her leg was in so much pain. She woke up confused, and her head hurt like crazy. Her surroundings were unfamiliar until she saw a portrait of Arnold in the room.

She was in his room. He found her and she was back here, she didn't know whether to be relieved or to be angry. She couldn't hear a thing, which meant that she was alone in his room. She decided to find him in the one place she knew he would be, and that was his study.

When she opened the door and he was there, she let out a shaky sigh of relief. She took a step forward, and she almost fell if not for Arnold's strong hands that caught her.

“I'm sorry…I just…” She started, her voice cracked, and her throat felt like sandpaper.

“Shhh…” Arnold cooed, holding her. He scooped her up and took her to the couch near the fireplace. She carefully let her down on the couch and sat beside her.

She cleared her throat so her voice might come out well, “My head hurts like hell.” She said it came out more like a whisper, but it was audible enough for Arnold to hear.

He got up and got an aspirin from the first aid kit at the far end of the library and a glass of water from the bar and helped her so she could drink it.

“Thank you.” She said, and he nodded in reply.

He sat there and watched her until she slept. He had thought of many ways to make his father pay for what he had done. And deep down, he felt guilty. He knew that he tried to find Keira to no avail, but he wouldn’t have felt anything if she had died, and that was where the guilt came from.

Keira mumbled something, and it brought him out of his thoughts. She was tossing and struggling restlessly. She seemed to be having a nightmare. He laid down beside her and put his arms around her to calm her down. He soothed her with his hands on her hair till she was asleep again.

*********

Keira woke up feeling like crap. It was the pain in her leg that was most disturbing because she simply couldn't move with ease as she wished. But what was more surprising was the fact that she was wrapped up in Arnold's strong arms and he was radiating so much warmth that she wanted to just snuggle into him and melt away but she killed the thought.

She took in his appearance. He was wearing a black shirt and navy blue slacks. His buttons were opened, and his sleeves rolled up. She had a peak of the muscles beneath his shirt. His eyelashes fanned his face, and his hair spilled on the couch like ink.

Knocking herself out from checking him out while he was asleep, she cleared her throat. He stirred but didn't wake up, and she cleared her throat louder this time.

“You're awake.” He said, releasing her from his embrace. As soon as he left her, she began to miss his warmth.

“Yeah. Good morning.” She replied. His voice was so deep and raspy that it reverberated through him, and since they were still so close to each other, she could feel the vibration. It felt so good, but she had to ignore it.

“How are you feeling?” He asked. She was too shy to speak further because of her morning breath, so she put her hand over her mouth and answered. It came out muffled, but he could hear it.

Arnold wanted to laugh, but that would make her embarrassed, so he said nothing and did nothing.

He stood up to give her some room and then he headed to the bathroom and handed her a toothbrush and a basin since he didn't want her to stress herself and walk over to the other end of the bathroom.

When she finished brushing, he rang for breakfast, and they ate in silence. A few minutes later, they finished eating. The doctor came in and checked her sprained ankle. He applied some ointment and wrapped it in a bandage. She took her drugs, and she slept off immediately. The sedatives made her too dizzy. Once she felt less pain in her ankle and her head, her dosage would reduce.

Kenna came by later to check on her sister. They talked for a while, and Kenna told her about the pool in the mansion. She made Keira promise they would go swimming once her leg healed.

Before she saw Arnold again, it was night already. He was in a gray tailored suit. He had lost his tie, and a few buttons were opened. Keira suddenly remembered the peak she had this morning, she mentally slapped herself for acting like a freak.

He walked over to where Keira was seated on the couch, she hadn't moved from that spot since morning and if not for the books Kenna had brought her she would have been bored out of her mind.

P.S. Kenna had blackmailed Eugene into buying books for her from sss, and she had a growing collection.

“You look better,” Arnold commented, and she nodded. She felt better indeed.

He stood in front of her, and then he squatted, so he was looking at her directly. “Keira, do you remember anything from that night?” Arnold asked.

Keira had been avoiding this moment. But on being here, she had discovered that Arnold had nothing to do with her attempted murder. His men had been simply searching for her, trying to know her whereabouts.

But what scared her the most was how Arnold would react when he found out that she was the one who tried to escape, and that decision would have led to her death. He might hate her all over again. I mean, now he was just tolerating her because he felt pity that she would've died or he was taking responsibility for what had happened. It could be both, but then if he knew he might react differently.

After a long pause, she spoke. “It's all so fuzzy, and I don't want to talk about it.” She managed to say. Arnold nodded in agreement. Maybe it was too soon to ask. But he needed to make them pay, no one was allowed to touch anything that he owned.

He watched her eat dinner, and then he disappeared to take a shower and change. When he returned, she had fallen asleep. Her meds were so strong that she couldn't even keep her eyes open after taking them.

The next morning García paid a visit to the mansion under Arnold's instructions. Over the phone late last night García had said he had found the person who was responsible for Keira’s attempted murder.

Keira had struggled to get off the couch. she needed to be exercising her feet a little. She walked towards the door, and that was when she heard his voice.

“I need to know which room she was in before.” The voice said.

She could remember the voice as clear as day.

“Throw her in.”

It rang in her head. It was the same voice. She reached for the door handle and opened the door to see who it was.

She saw Eugene.

She pushed the door further and she saw another guy, he had a thick beard and dark eyes. The eyes she had seen in the moonlight that night.

“Hello Ke….” She didn't let Eugene finish. She shut the door behind her.

All the color had drained from her face. That man had tried to kill her. He must've had help because there were two other people with him when they threw her in the mud.

She felt nauseous.

If he was here, that means he worked for Arnold, which means that it was Arnold who wanted her dead.

The realization hit her, like a stack of brick walls in her face.

He wanted to make it look like an accident. After all, no one would suspect a thing since he had sent his men to look for her and also kill her if they found her.

She had been a fool thinking he had saved her.

She had to leave this place as soon as possible.

She had to take Kenna with her and run away, but how? She could barely walk, not to talk of planning an escape mission.

That night, when she was thrown into the sinking mud, she miraculously freed herself with the help of the root of a tree that was close to where she was. It was hard pulling herself out, but she did it. That was how she survived, but she had also passed out a few minutes later.

She could equally just say her last prayers here and now, she had to find Kenna and tell her everything. To let her know that Arnold was the devil within she had to tell her just in case she was killed before Kenna could know the truth. And maybe they'd kill Kenna too.

Arnold was trying to have her family wiped out.

She let herself out of the room and walked down the stairs, Kenna usually liked going to the courtyard in the mornings.

The weather was gloomy, it was going to rain any minute and before she reached the courtyard, drops of rain were already splattering on the windows.

“Kenna.” She called out across the halls, but there was no reply. She thought maybe Kenna could be in her room, and she was about to turn around from the courtyard.

That was when she heard the sound.

Once.

Twice.

The gunshot rang in her ears.