BETROTHED TO A MAFIA HEIR

CHAPTER TWELVE

She couldn't move.

She had never seen anything so horrifying. There was a stain of blood on her robe. She had forgotten how to breathe, her eyes wide, she had forgotten how to blink too.

At that moment, Arnold's eyes met hers. She looked away and hid behind the walls. She had seen something she was not supposed to see.

“Deal with that,” Arnold told Eugene, and then he left to look for Keira. She was walking back upstairs, still limping. He tried to meet up with her, but Kenna appeared, and he retreated.

Her eyes looked horrified. She might see him differently after that. He won't judge her for it, but in a way, he had wished she never saw this part of him. It was not like he was parading around her as someone he's not, but still, seeing him shooting someone was some next-level s**t.

Keira sat in Kenna's bed, hugging her knees. She was still in shock. Arnold had shot the man I'm his two legs, bringing him to his knees. He would never be able to walk again, except there was some major miracle.

“What happened back there?” Kenna asked. She took in Keira's appearance and the little blood stain on the hem of her robe. And she had heard sounds coming from the courtyard while she was on her way there.

“Kenna, we're not safe here. We need to find a way out of here.” Keira said in a quiet voice. Kenna would've missed it if she was not listening.

She looked at her puzzled. “Okay, how do you plan to do that? You literally can not stand on your own two feet. We have no access to the internet or the rest of the world, and I'm asthmatic.” Kenna said. It was the most logical answer. Kenna had always been blunt, and sometimes Keira hated it.

“We'll find a way, I promise. I know I would, just trust me.” Keira said, touching her sister's arm.

Kenna was confused. She wanted a life outside the walls of the mansion and the entire estate, but there was no plan, no money, and no princess treatment like they were used to. Before now, she was an artist, and she had planned to go to an art institute in Florence before her dreams came crashing.

“You never really told me anything about what happened when you disappeared,” Kenna said.

Keira sighed she knew that she had to tell Kenna sooner or later. She couldn't keep anything from her.

“I was not kidn*pped or anything, Kenna. I planned to run away.” Keira started, and Kenna stared at her in shock but made no comments.

So Keira continued- “It was not a solid plan, I know, but at least now I know we can succeed. Second time's a charm?” She said,

“Are you f*****g crazy Keira,” Kenna said in a stern but low voice so no one heard them.

“What?”

“You tried to escape and almost had yourself killed. Are you f*****g kidding me? Did you exactly think about what happened to me if you had died or if they had actually found you and dragged you back here?”

“It was not a functional plan I know, but I'm trying for the both of us,” Keira said.

“Don't do that! You think what I want is to allow you to put yourself at risk just because you want to “protect” me.” Kenna replied, making air quotes.

“Well, you're not the one who is stuck in a f*****g marriage with a freaking psychopath so yeah. Forgive me if I want out dead or alive.”

“Oh my God Keira, don't be f*****g selfish, and if you opened your f*****g eyes you'd see that even if he's a psychopath he cared enough to give us whatever we wanted. He's not ideal but at least we're not on the f*****g streets and when I was sick he came to see me every f*****g day. I hate him too for everything but this is reality now, we have to accept it.”

“You're not serious. Have you forgotten what happened to mom and dad? He killed them, sent them to heaven a little faster.” Keira replied.

“Stop trying to fix everything, Keira because you freaking can't. You always do this, little miss, fix things to be perfect. Just like at home, you wanted me to be perfect and go to business school and wouldn't support my decision to be an artist. But you also gave up your chance to a new opportunity in New York because I was sick.” Kenna paused. “Did you pass it up because you felt like I needed you or you were scared of the next big thing?”

“I just wanted to know that in the long run, you had something to fall back on if being an artist didn't work out. I support you, I always have Kenna. I'd do anything for you.”

“That's the thing, I don't want you dying for me. I know you do support me in your way. But sometimes it's suffocating like I can't live up to your sacrifices.” Kenna replied.

This made Keira angry and sad, hot tears started streaming down her face. All she cared about was Kenna's safety and well-being in all of this. She had never known that Kenna felt this way.

“He just shot someone without blinking or flinching Keira. Do you understand what that f*****g means? And I'm the bad guy here when I'm trying to look out for you.” Keira said.

“For f***s sake Keira he does that for a living. Arnold Giovanni is worse than that and you know it. I thought he had you killed too, I'm not being a hypocrite. I'm just saying we don't have a life outside here either.”

It was the truth, their father had sold everything they had, and all their other assets were taken by banks or people her father owed debts to. They didn't even have the house anymore. Living outside this mansion was like starting things from scratch, it would make Keira happy to live her life freely but was it worth it? It would be horrible.

“I just…I can't do this.” Keira replied.

She managed to get out of bed and walked out of the room. At the end of the hallway, Arnold was approaching her.

He looked at her, nothing looked abnormal except for her tear-stained cheeks and her red eyes. “You were crying.”

He raised his hand to wipe her cheeks and she flinched.

It was like a reflex.

They both looked at each other and neither of them said anything.

“I should go to my room,” Keira said, looking straight ahead.

“You should stay in mine. It's safer, no one goes in there, even I rarely do.” Arnold replied. He was trying to decipher what she was thinking but she gave no clues. He overheard the mini-fight she had with Kenna. He couldn't make out the words because the soundproof system in this mansion was top-notch.

“I… uhh…”

“Keira, just stay in the room. Just until you're fine at least.” Arnold said. It would make him sleep well at night.

Keira nodded in agreement, not because it was what she wanted but because she was scared of going against him. She just couldn't get over what she saw.

The look in his eyes terrified her, it haunted her. She allowed him to hold her while they made it to his room and when she was safely tucked in bed he left her to her devices.

She lay there and silently cried. She cried for her parents, for Kenna, for herself, she cried because there was nothing left for her to do than cry. Her world as she knew it had fallen apart and maybe she didn't want to accept it but now she had to.

Kenna had been right about everything. Okay, maybe not everything, but she needed a reality check. She was not in some spy movie or in ‘Prison Break’. This was the real world, and the reality sucked.

Keira didn't know when she had slept off. It was almost morning again.

Her face was swollen, and her eyes puffy from all the tears. She used to be radiant, but these days, it was like she had unlocked a damn river of tears that came pouring at the slightest inconvenience. She felt ugly and dirty and helpless and other things she didn't want to think about.

She hadn't seen anyone since yesterday, except for her doctor, the nurse, and the servants who brought her food. She had barely eaten anything, she just ate enough to carry her medications.

The weather was gloomy also, it was perfect because she wasn't exactly feeling sunshine and rainbows. She got out of bed and went to the balcony. It was really wide, so she could live out here. There was a coffee table with a chair and a newspaper that was like three days old.

Three lounge chairs were arranged to her far right. She moved forward and put her hand on the rail. The cold air hit her face. It was perfect. It mirrored her feelings so perfectly well.

She had made a decision, and she was done caring about anything. After her almost murder, she was reborn and now she chose not to give a flying f**k.

The world was merciless to her, and she decided to be equally as cold.

Arnold had been watching her. She seemed different. He couldn't put his finger on it. It could be because of what she saw yesterday, it could traumatize anyone.

“You okay?” He asked. She turned around shocked. She had not noticed his presence.

“Sure.” She replied and she turned back to the scene in front of her. The estate was beautiful, maybe she might take some time to tour the grounds. She was going to be here for a long time and she was beginning to accept it.

“Keira, that man tried to have you killed,” Arnold said, standing beside her.

“I know.” She replied. He must have gotten the information. He was Arnold Giovanni, nothing got past him.

“He worked for my father. My father could've had you killed if you hadn't miraculously escaped death.” He continued.

“That's messed up. But I get it.” Keira said. It was crazy how his father wanted his wife dead, it was on another level of messed up. But in a way she could relate, her father had sold her to him in a f****d up way too.

“You shouldn't have seen that yesterday.”

Keira sighed.

“Since when did you care about how I feel?” She asked.

He looked at her. She was still staring out, looking at the clouds.

“I guess I feel guilty because I told you the mansion was your safest bet. And yet, you almost got killed under my watch. It made me feel incompetent.” He replied.

She scoffed.

“I bet you would've accepted the fact that I was dead if my body was never found. You wouldn't have thought twice.”

She was right. He had accepted her death the next morning after her disappearance. But hearing her say it, he felt so selfish and gullible.

“Keira, I don't wait for things hopelessly. I always need to take the next step and get things done.” Arnold said.

“Yeah, I really don't know what I was expecting. You're right, Arnold.”

“What do you mean by that?” He asked. That was an offensive thing for her to say.

“I accept the fact that you're incapable of feeling things. I'm accepting a lot of things lately, actually.”

“I guess that's probably for the best I think,” Arnold replied. He did not know if he liked this new side of Keira or not.

“You should probably know something too.”

“And what's that?”

“I was the one who left. I tried to escape, and it almost had me killed.” She said after a long pause.

“What?”