Page 117 of Wanted
“How?” I asked. I ached just hearing her speak like this, but I had no right to tell her to stop. I had to stay strong for her.
“She asked for strawberries. She wanted us to eat strawberries, so I stayed with Kamila and the boys. I also wanted to chat more with them, but... it was a craving that saved me.”
She removed her hand from mine, folding her hands in her lap. “He’s getting out of here.”
Valentina was as dramatic as Kamila. When they set their minds on something, they intimidated you. Her determination was a change from her teary face.
“Okay,” I responded.
“No, it’s not okay,” she fired back. “If something happens to him, I don’t know what I’ll do. But none of you will like it. I promise.”
Before I could intervene, she went on, “He made a vow. Aris and I are a lot of things. We might seem strange to you guys, but we’ve always had our own understanding. He vowed to help me raise this baby.”
“Life gets in the way sometimes,” I said, barely audible.
“That’s not life. That’s our fathers. They make our lives miserable. I won’t take it for much longer. You all think I’m just Aris’ wife with a hungry pussy, huh? You don’t think I see shit? You think I don’t know what’s going on?”
“Please, calm down. The baby...”
“She feels my anger. I kept calm because that’s the only thing my mom’s ever asked of me since I could think. She said to stay out of it. But if that bastard touches my man again or my baby, I will cut his dick off myself, and I’ll feed to him. I’m good with dicks and blowjobs. He’ll think of me when he’s six feet under. I’ll make it very painful.” Valentina fumed next to me. She sat there like she had nothing but everything to lose.
There was a knock on the door. I bet it was one of the guards. Jordan and his people heard shit before it even happened.
“Leave us alone!” Valentina yelled at the door. Then she turned to me. “I don’t want to go back to the palace.”
“Understood, but we have to now. Jordan won’t let us go back to the vacation home,” I explained. Valentina had always had a ruthless aura around her, but this was new. I welcomed her newfound assertion. I was proud of her for standing up.
“We’ll move back in with you,” I suggested.
Her mask fell. Valentina instantly added, “I don’t want to sleep in our bed.”
“You don’t have to. There’s plenty of space, isn’t there?”
“I’d prefer to stay here. I’ve already asked the nurses for a bed, but they won’t let me stay here. It’s too complicated and other bullshit…” She sighed. “Aris needs to feel me next to him. He’ll come back to us. I’m sure.”
“I know. But the doctors say you need your rest. The hospital’s cold climate doesn’t do you any good.” I didn’t let go of her hand. She needed to feel me near her, and I’d give her that. I’d lived a life of seclusion, and she’d been bullied ever since she stepped foot on Katantia. From what I understood, Aris had been the only one to look at her as something other than the nasty Cross’s offspring.
I didn’t understand their relationship. There was a firm barrier between Valentina and Aris and the rest of the world. They didn’t allow us inside, and sometimes, I wondered whether we were better off that way.
MANDY
I stroked Valentina’s luscious dark hair as we sat by Aris’s empty bed. Her head rested on my chest, and my arm was wrapped around her. We weren’t allowed to see Aris just yet. The Katantian doctors weren’t letting their patient out of the operation room. From what the guards had told us, they were still working on his burn marks. We didn’t have further information on how far his brain damage reached.
And Valentina wasn’t having it. She’d calmed down for now, but I could feel it bubbling inside of her.
“I’m hungry,” Valentina revealed, letting out a sigh. “I’ll get a snack from the cafeteria. Would you like something as well?”
Shaking my head, I replied, “I’m afraid I’m still in shock.”
Valentina removed herself from my embrace. She got up from her chair, her fingers grazing the bedsheets that would soon be her husband’s. They creased underneath her touch. “That was badass.”
“I almost shot the Prince of Katantia,” I blurted out, tremors filling my voice. “I’ve been caught with a gun in one of the most anti-firearm countries in the world. It’s like going into Abu Dhabi naked.”
“It was in Weston’s defense. He barely suffered a scratch,” Valentina insisted. She turned around to face me. “I didn’t know about your mad gun skills. How did you get a gun? Did you have to carry it in your—”
“No, I didn’t hide it in any of my orifices,” I informed her, unable to fight the shy grin on my face. “My skills are definitely mad. I can’t even aim right… I had a teacher back when I was in high school. One of the guards taught me how to use a gun. My father’s staff left me alone most of the time… Apparently, my mom had me with him. Of course, Spencer removed him from my life, but the man’s lessons stayed with me. Silly, I know. But it’s become quite handy.”
“I agree. Your aim sucks. Just a little higher, and you would’ve shot my brother’s dick off. That would’ve been spectacular.” She added, “It’s like we have another guardian angel up there.”
