Page 18 of Triplets for the Mafia Prince

I look away, unable to face the truth in his words. My gaze falls on my hands, still stained with Nic's blood from when I tried to bandage his wound. The sight of it makes my stomach churn. I wash them and then go through the house as he instructed.

It’s still daytime, so I don’t mess with the lights. The curtains are all already closed. As I make my way back to the kitchen, I’m surprised to hear Nic fumbling around.

I enter the kitchen, and immediately, he grabs my arm, wrapping twine around my wrists. I try to fight, knowing I mustbe stronger than him, but he leans against my body, his weight holding me down.

“What are you doing?” Panic rises. I don’t understand.

"It's for your own safety." He manages to restrain my other arm, wrapping the twine around both wrists, his movements quick and practiced. I’m not the first person he’s done this to. But how is he strong enough? I wonder if the appearance of weakness was a ruse to lower my resistance.

"My safety? How is being tied up safe?" I continue to flail as best I can against him.

“I can’t trust you not to leave.”

“I could have run already and didn’t.”

“I can’t take a chance.”

I struggle against his grip, fear and anger battling within me. "This is insane!

"I can't risk your running off or calling for help. We don't know who to trust."

"I saved your life!" I cry out, tears of frustration welling in my eyes. "I drove you here. I helped patch you up. Why would I run now?"

Nic's face hardens. "Because you're scared. Because you're in over your head. I can't take chances, Bella. Not with both our lives on the line."

As he finishes tying the knots, a wave of helplessness washes over me. He tugs me by the twine to the living room and pushes me into a desk chair. He wraps the twine around my body, strapping me into the chair.

“You’re a jerk, you know that?”

“I’ve been called worse.”

“I should have left you on the road. Let you die.” I hate how scared and vulnerable I sound even as I try to be strong.

“Maybe. We’ll find out eventually.” He makes his way to the couch and collapses onto it.

Anger bubbles up inside me. How dare he tie me up after everything I've done for him? “What if I have to go to the bathroom?”

“Wake me,” he murmurs. Moments later, he’s out.

My mind drifts to the burner phone Ava gave me, still hidden in my pocket. It's my lifeline, my escape route. I’m relieved he didn’t notice it. I can call 9-1-1. Or better yet, I should call Ava. She’d know what to do. Or her husband, Matteo, would.

But I’m not sure I can get away with it. Nic’s latest move has me wondering just how ill he is. When needed, he’s able to find Herculean strength to get things done. For now, I wait. Maybe he’ll die, and then I can call for help.

7

NIC

I'm fading in and out of consciousness, the pain in my side a reminder of how close I am to death's door. The cabin swims in and out of focus as I fight to stay awake. Bella's tied up form catches my eye, and a wave of guilt washes over me.

What the hell am I doing, tying up an innocent girl whose only crime was being born into this fucked up world? But I can't risk her running off and getting caught by whoever's after us. If I die, at least she'll have a fighting chance holed up here for a while. I can only hope that she’s smart enough to get a burner phone and call Max if I do die on her. Except… how will she get untied? Clearly, my brain isn’t working right.

I groan, shifting on the couch to try and ease the burning in my side. The movement catches Bella's attention, and she looks at me with a mixture of fear and anger in those striking gray eyes.

“It’s for your own good,” I say again. But why the fuck do I care so much that she doesn’t look at me like I’m a monster?

She doesn't respond, just keeps staring at me with that fierce gaze. Christ, she's got more backbone than I gave her credit for.

Darkness creeps in at the edges of my vision. The last thing I see is Bella, her eyes burning with defiance. Then, everything goes black.

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