Page 54 of Runaway in the Mafia
I guessed she loved those sweets. Because I didn’t hear a peep from her after that.
I stumbled up and burst into a room with twin beds. The sunflower pattern on the bedspread swam annoyingly before my eyes.Damn it.Angrily, I wiped the tears away. No man was going to make me cry.
If he wanted to make me feel like an outsider, he’d achieved it.Not. For. Youjabbed like a steak knife in my heart.
I’d felt—I shook my head violently. Just because he took care of me when my migraine from hell hit me didn’t mean he was anything but the devil in disguise. He proved it again and again. The only idiot in this equation was me. The one who’d thought there was a saint hiding behind the black screen. He may have looked like a hero, but he acted like the villain. I shouldn’t have believed otherwise.
I walked to the attached ensuite and splashed my face with cold water. My hands clutched around the pink porcelain sink as I gave myself the pep talk of the century.
Don’t you dare let him see he’s gotten to you, Ahana.
No man gets to put you down. With actions or words.
You can do this. Get hold of yourself. He’s shit. He’s shit.
But he’s so dr—
I slapped my face.He’s shit.
I lost track of time and hung in there. The place was ancient. Peeling floral wallpaper, powder pink tiles and baby pink porcelain. No wonder Lia liked to come here. It used to be her grandparents’ place. Happy memories sang from the walls. Different to a locked office door in Corleone. I couldn’tremember if it was Ada’s parents’ or Carlo’s. Didn’t matter, anyway. I just had to get through today and get back to Corleone. Then I’d forget all of this.Not. For. You.
A last breath of courage, and I was ready to face the music downstairs. But when I popped the lock open and walked into the room, I found Lia on one bed. One leg half out of the bed. Mouth in an O. Fast asleep.
No way.
“Lia?” I shook her gently. No movement. I was not putting up with that demon alone. “Don’t you dare leave me alone with your lunatic brother.” I got onto the bed, gave up all pretence of being gentle, and rattled her violently. The only reaction I got was a loud, inhuman snore.
“She’s not going to wake up anytime soon.” I rolled my head to the open doorway and glared, even though he was obviously still downstairs.
How would he know?
I jumped off the bed and stormed out. Clutching a hand over the rail, I half hung over it. “Why is she out?”
He stood in the middle of the room, whiskey in hand. “She’s tired?”
“Tired, my ass.” I snorted and regretted it immediately when he tilted his head to grab a better look at said ass. Mine. I was too agitated. Fired up enough to kill him. At least hurt him. Badly. I rushed down the steps before I thought about the wisdom of that decision. I clutched the railing at the bottom and glared daggers at him. He had a devilish gleam in his eyes that spoke of evil deeds.
“What the hell did you do?” My gaze darted to the half-empty bowl on the sofa, littered with crumbles and jam. “Did you…” I shook my head.No, he wouldn’t.
He took two steps in, and I mounted one up. “Say it,” he whispered.
I couldn’t. He wasn’t that...
He glared. His gaze taunting.
“You didn’t drug her. Did you?” Oh my God, that sounded even more ridiculous when I said it out loud.
He laughed. Of course he would laugh. See. It was all fine. “You have an overactive imagination...” I totally did. His gaze pinned me, and a wicked grin played across his face. “But when it comes to me, it’s always right.”
I gasped. “No.”
He took two steps in. “Yes.”
Another step, and I was off. I wasn’t hanging around with a lunatic. He had a different idea about that. I didn’t even get halfway up the stairs before his arm circled my waist, and I was lifted off the floor. “Let me go,” I screeched.
“What? And leave Lia with a headache tomorrow, all for nothing?”
“She wouldn’t have a headache if her brother didn’t drug her.” I pulled my leg in to kick him, but he was far ahead of me. His arm wrapped around my legs tightly and he body walked me downstairs, my back to his front.
