Page 41 of Bound to the Crime Lord

I dragged my feet towards the penthouse hoping that I wouldn’t run into the last man I wanted to see. I had no idea what his schedule was like today. I didn’t know what his day-to-day looked like. The mafia didn’t have a schedule that they followed, I had to guess, did it?

9 AM: Execute my enemies.

11 AM: Brunch with my dealers.

It was truly comical when I thought about it.

I came to a halt in front of the door and waited. I stared at the hardwood door dreading opening it and finding him inside.

Manuel was rarely home early. I usually heard him trudging his way to his room in the wee hours of the morning. I was sure I was safe, but then again you never knew when it came to that man.

I walked into the house and headed toward the kitchen, but I stopped when I noticed a large figure lying down on the couch. Upon closer inspection, I noticed who it was.

My entire body seized at the sight of him. This was the first time I had seen him since we had sex. To think I had managed to dodge him this entire week only to just stumble upon him by complete chance.

Manuel stirred on the couch and then he grumbled something inaudible, but I caught my name at the end. For a split second, I thought he was awake and that he’d seen me.

I closed my eyes, wishing that I could turn myself invisible. I peeled one eye open and looked down at his sleeping form. He had rolled over, and I could see his face fully now, but it was only then that I noticed how pale he looked.

Was he sick?

“Manuel?” I dropped my bags onto the floor and rushed to the front of the couch. His chest rose and fell a little too labored for my liking.

“Manuel?” I pressed the back of my hand on his forehead. “My God, you’re burning up.”

His eyes fluttered open, barely. “Amor?”

The croak in his voice told me all I needed to know.

“You’re sick, Manuel.” I took his wrist in my hand and started counting his heartbeats.

“You’ve been… avoiding me.”

“Sh.”Eighty-eight, eighty-nine… ninety. “Okay, your heart rate is a little high right now. I need you to sit up for me.”

My mind was moving on auto-pilot.

I was almost certain that he was dealing with the common cold, but for some reason, I was second-guessing myself.

“Manuel, up.” I tried to heave him up into a sitting position, but his body was so massive that I barely lifted him off the leather of the couch. “Come on, help me.”

He groaned, his eyebrows pulling together in a frown. “Sleep…”

“I need to listen to your chest, so I know if it’s clear or not.” I heaved him up again, and this time he sat up.

I walked back to my bag and pulled out my stethoscope. I got to work, examining him and making sure he was okay. I even went as far as to check his oxygen saturation. But by the time I was done, Manuel was a little more aware and his eyes were fully open. I did my best to avoid eye contact, but it was hard seeing as I was looking over his face.

“You won’t look at me.” His words filled the thick of the silence. “You've been avoiding me.”

“No, I haven’t,” I said, a little too quickly for my liking. I cleared my throat and tried to summon up as much courage as possible. “I mean, I’ve just been busy, that’s all. I took up a few extra shifts.”

“To avoid me.”

“No.” I used my fingertips to feel around his throat for any swelling. “I wanted to take a few extra shifts.”

“So that you could avoid me.” He wasn't going to let up on this issue. “We fucked,amor. That changes a few things, I understand, but that doesn’t mean that you need to completely ice me out.”

“We shouldn’t have done that,” I muttered under my breath. “It was a mistake.”

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