Page 26 of Ruthless King

And now, he’s making sure I’m physically all right.

Beatrice made him sound like he was the devil incarnate, but I’m just not sure.

“The bleeding has already stopped,” Mathews tells me. “I’ll clean the wound for you.” He takes out an alcohol wipe from his bag and dabs my head. It stings, and I can’t help but wince.

Nico shifts on his feet, frowning. “Will she be all right?”

“The cut is small. The head tends to bleed a lot. But I’ll have to take her with me to my office to get a head scan. I need to make sure nothing’s wrong internally.”

Could I be seriously hurt? And before I even get the chance to find out the truth about what happened to my father.

“I’m sure she’s fine,” Andrew says dismissively. “I think this is all unnecessary.”

“I’m going to listen to the doctor,” Nico says, throwing a glare in Andrew’s direction. Interesting. He doesn’t like that Andrew clearly doesn’t like me. That’s good to know. Nico is already on my side.

I can’t do anything to screw that up.

A thought occurs to me. This is my chance to get Nico to care for me even more.

I fall back on the couch, moaning softly. “It hurts.”

Nico rushes to my side. “Mathews, we need to get her to your office.” The doctor nods, motioning for us to follow. Without having to ask, Nico scoops me into his arms and carries me out the door. The feeling of his strong arms around me makes me feel … safe.

The last thing I see is Andrew glaring at me before the door shuts.

The head scan reveals nothing wrong. No internal bleeding. No bruising or swelling.

“You have a concussion,” Mathews says. “But, otherwise, you’re fine. Just spend the day resting and take the next couple of days easy. All right?”

“Thank you.”

Nico drives us back to his house. “I’m glad you’re all right. Now, can you tell me what happened? Why did you faint in the first place?”

Because Andrew was accusing me of being a liar and telling me he looked into my father. He’s going to find the truth of why I’m here, which means I need to find out if Nico really did kill my father or not before then.

“Andrew … intimidates me,” I admit.

“He isn’t exactly the kindest of men.” Nico glances at me. “Did he say something to you?”

“No. Everything is still so new for me. I just got overwhelmed and passed out.”

“Oh. Well … try not to do that again. I just married you. I wouldn’t want to find another wife right away.”

I stare at him until he flashes a small smile in my direction. He’s joking. Some of the tension leaves my body. “Nico, you seemed really worried for me. Why was that?”

“I know I have a reputation. Big scary Mafia man. But I don’t like to see people get hurt who don’t need to. You’re my wife now, Aurora. We married for practical reasons, not love. But you’re still my wife, and I don’t want you to get hurt. Is that hard to believe?”

“No,” I whisper, realizing I mean it. “It’s not hard to believe at all.” Nico may still be a stranger, and possibly the murderer of my father, but from what I’ve seen of him so far, he’s not a monster.

Nico helps me into bed, even going so far as to pull the covers over me.

“I’m not an invalid,” I tell him.

“I know. But I can’t help but feel a little bad. I’ve been busy with work, and you got hurt.”

“It wasn’t your fault.”

He gets into bed beside me. The feel of him next to me at night is getting easier. Becoming more … comfortable.

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