Page 34 of Marked

“What are you doing here?” she hisses as soon as I remove my hand from her mouth. I’m still holding her in a tight grip, but not because I worry she might run away. I worry for her safety, her life even—and mine, too.

She’s trembling in my arms, her lips quivering and tears dwelling in her eyes. The sight feels like a punch to the chest, and it only gets worse when she goes on to speak.

“Are you here to get me for them? Are you going to hand me over now?” she asks in a shaky voice.

My grip on her loosens instantly, and she uses this newly gained freedom to inch away from me.

“What the fuck are you talking about?”

The expression on her face changes from fear to anger.

“Oh, cut it out, Cain!” she exclaims. “I know you were never going to let me go! I know you’ve been lying to me all this time! You have some sick twisted deal with… those guys, whoever, I don’t know. I heard you on the phone! I heard you say it!”

It takes a moment for me to know what she’s talking about. The phone call. The day I snuck out the room when the Scivolas called me. She was acting weird after my return, and now I know why. She heard. She heard me say those awful words that make me feel disgusted at myself now.

I shake my head violently. “No, no, Riley, you have to believe me I—”

“Believe you?!” she blurts out a little too loud for comfort.

We hold our breaths for a moment, both waiting to see if her little outcry drew any unwanted attention to us.

“Riley, please. I understand. I know what you heard,” I plead. “But you have to believe me when I say that that’s not going to happen. I changed my mind. I changed everything about tonight’s plan, because I just fucking can’t do this to you! I’m here to save you!”

“You changed your mind?” she probes. “So, you were planning on handing me over to…”

“To the Scivola family, yes,” I admit, watching surprise and terror wash over her face for a few seconds. “It was a deal we had. They help me with this, and I hand you over after.”

“Hand me over for what?” The first tear is rolling down her flushed cheek, while her face contorts into a tableau of pain.

“It doesn’t matter,” I respond, shaking my head again. “Because I’m not gonna do it, not anymore. I can’t. I just can’t.”

“Why? Why can’t you do it?”

“Because I love you!”

And just like that, time stands still. I’ve heard people describe this sensation, when the world is shrouded in darkness, and all you can see is the person before you. Her face, her eyes, the lonely tear that wet her cheek and her beautiful, quivering lips as she processes my revelation.

It slipped out before I could stop myself. I regretted it right after I said it, but I no longer do. Not after seeing her face like this, alternating between fear, confusion, pain, and… hope.

“You… you love me?” she repeats with disbelief—and I nod.

“Yes, I fucking love you,” I insist. “I didn’t… you’re just… I couldn’t help it, Riley. Trust me, it was not part of the plan, but I can’t ignore it any longer. I won’t let anyone harm you. Not anymore. Never again. I’m going to get you—”

A voice cuts through my words, a voice coming from right behind us. Riley stiffens in my arms, and my heart swells a little when she moves closer instead of trying to get away from me. There has never been a more charming way to display trust in a person.

“Riley?” the male voice says again, and I expect to see the police man standing behind us when I turn my heard over my shoulder.

But it’s not him. And it’s not one of our men either.

He’s tall and broad shouldered, with black hair and tan skin, suggesting the hint of a Middle Eastern background, dressed in a dark attire and with his hands held up in an appeasing manner as he slowly approaches us.

Who the fuck is he? A random civilian?

A random civilian who knows Riley by name.

Upon hearing her name, Riley shifts in my arms and finally dares to look up to the man. I don’t know what to think when I see her eyes and mouth widen in disbelief.

“Riley, it’s me, we got you out,” the man goes on.

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