Page 6 of The Mobster's Flower

Rue.

Is that my fairy’s name?

“Erm, yeah,” she responds to my sister, her cheeks flushing at being caught trying to sneak out. “Yes, we’re friends, but now that your brother is here, I figured I should leave you two to…catch up.”

She pulls down on the knob when Arya stops her once more. “Wait, what about your flower stand?”

Rue pulls open the door and flashes my sister a placating smile. It’s warm and pure, even if it carries obvious sadness. “Don’t worry about it, Arya. Take care. I’ll… I’ll send you flowers.”

She is gone before either of us can stop her. We both stare at the door as it swings closed, and I can’t explain the sudden emptiness that overwhelms me.

“You have to go after her,” Arya demands from my side. “Her name is Rue Carter, and I destroyed her flower stand. I…I can’t forget the heartbroken look on her face when I hit it. Please, Vlad. Go after her. Please make it right.”

I turn to find my sister’s eyes moist with tears, and I can hear the heartbreak in her voice. “You need me here, Arya.”

Her eyes cross from mine to the figure visible through the window facing the hallway. “I’ll stay with Jax. Staring at his handsome face might help me get better.”

“Are you saying that I’m ugly?”

“Vlad!” she whines. “Please go after Rue. Make it better, for me. I can’t stand it thinking she’s out there feeling sad because of me. It’ll make me miserable knowing that I ruined her life. Please, Vlad.”

I nod once and squeeze my sister’s hand before walking out. Jax is standing outside the door waiting for me, and as my right-hand man, he is the one person I can trust around my sister. I know he would protect Arya with his life. He’s done it before. Since she was little, Jax would step in to pull her away, out of danger. When my father and I would argue about what was best for the little girl, Jax was there to distract and protect Arya as I dealt with my father’s anger. Next to me, there is no one more protective of my baby sister than my best friend.

“Stay with her,” I tell him. “Don’t allow anyone but the medical staff into her room.”

Something tells me whatever happened today was an attempt to get to me through Arya, and Jax must agree, or he would make a sarcastic comment about making him “babysit” my little sister. Instead, he simply nods once and walks into the hospital room, closing the door behind him.

I stare at the closed door and vow to get to the bottom of what happened today, but first, I have a girl to find. She was after all, on scene when the accident happened. At the very least, I owe her my sincerest thanks for what she did for Arya.

Before I can talk myself out of it, I turn to go after the little fairy. I convince myself that it’s for my sister’s sake. I lie to myself that I only want to alleviate Arya’s guilt, but the truth is…I need more time to figure out what it is about this girl that has me so enraptured.

Why does my heart threaten to cave in at the thought of never seeing her again?

Chapter Three

Rue

My heart is racing as I rush out of the hospital, daring to breathe only after I have made it outside and away from the siblings. I look around for somewhere to rest my trembling knees, stumbling over to a bench near the entrance and dropping down with a sigh.

What the hell just happened?

This entire day has felt like some kind of weird nightmare.

How does one go from opening their dream business one minute to being in a hospital room with bickering siblings, one of whom literally crushed my business, and the other is…a crime boss of all things. A crime boss who does not in fact, breath fire.

Even without the fire breathing element, I see why people are terrified of Vlad. The only thing he and his sister have in common is their midnight black hair, but their similarities end there. Vlad has black eyes that would leave anyone feeling unnerved, and every time his gaze was fixed on me, I could feel myself slowly getting sucked into them.

It was a tad scary to have him look at me but even scarier is the effect his gaze had on my body. The weakness in my knees and the shortness of my breath not to mention the slight ache between my legs.

“Ugh!” I bury my face in my palms as I try not to think about it. His gaze felt penetrative and then it changed when he turned to his sister. Those dark eyes were laced with concern and so was his voice when he approached her hospital bed.

When they started arguing, I felt like I was an interloper, so I sought to remove myself. I figured I ought to leave them alone to talk.

Liar.

Fine, maybe my leaving had more to do with what Vlad was doing to me by merely fixing his gaze on me and talking to me in that deep throaty voice that commanded attention and left my heart racing.

Christ, I can’t think of Vlad. I need to think about myself now.

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