“Mia!” I snap her name. “This is serious. What did he say?”
She lifts her eyes to mine, and she sniffs. “Tick tock.”
Letting go of her, I sigh, running my hands through my hair. I know exactly what the fuck that means. They gave her a timeframe, and although she still has time, she’s not moving fast enough for them. If they have eyes on her, then they expect a show, and they’re not seeing one. “Then we give them what they want,” I state, knowing what needs to be done. Titan was right in a sense. I have to buy her some time while waiting for Luca to wake up. At this point, he’s our only hope.
“What do you mean?” she asks, her lips and shoulders shaking. I don’t miss the fact that my T-shirt she wears is wet and clinging to her body. I can see her hard nipples poking through the fabric.
“He wants a show, so we’ll give him one. We go public and make them think wedding bells are in our future.”
“No.” She shakes her head, her wet hair sticking to her face. “No, Dillan. We can’t …”
“Yes, we can.”
“Wedding? Are you serious? He’ll kill you the moment he knows we’re married,” she growls.
“We won’t do it tomorrow. Or next week. We don’t even have to announce an engagement. Just make it look like there’s a possibility for one.” All we have to do is look like we’re in love. That will satisfy John for a little while.
“My father will push for a quick wedding.”
I understand that she’s been kept in the dark all her life. And even though she wasn’t allowed schooling, she’s smart. But she doesn’t understand how things work. Even if we did get married, her father wouldn’t gain access to Kingdom immediately. Like she said, he’d have to kill me first. Or both of us. Either way, we’d be dead. “I don’t give a fuck what he wants,” I decide to say.
She sighs. “Obviously, you do, or you wouldn’t be doing this. You’re not even thinking.”
“I’m thinking of ways to save your life,” I bark, confused as to why they would send her that video. They can’t release it to the public because that would expose their illegal operation. Why hide her for so long to expose her in their sex trafficking? It’s an idiotic move. “They put their hands on you. They shot Luca. What do you think they’ll do next?” I gesture to her body and quickly look away, trying not to get a hard-on right now.
“Oh, so I’m supposed to believe you care about me?” she snaps.
“I don’t,” I lie. I keep reminding myself that I made Luca a promise, and I intend to keep it. But she doesn’t need to know that. “You should be thanking me.”
She snorts. “Thanking you? For what? Kidnapping me? Drugging me? Dumping me off in the middle of nowhere and leaving me defenseless?”
My teeth grind. “No one was supposed to know where you were.”
“Well, someone did!” Her voice rises.
“Mia—”
“I didn’t start fucking you to give him what he wants.” Now she’s screaming at me.
“I never said you did.” I haven’t thought once that she’s carrying out their plan. Mia is easy to read. And allowing me to fuck her was a fuck you to her father. It was the only situation she had control over.
“I won’t let him win. He doesn’t deserve that …”
“Calm down.” I grab her arms and yank her wet and shaking body into me, her wet clothes soaking mine.
“I’m not them.” She stares up at me with tears in her eyes. “They won’t use me.” She sniffs. “Not anymore. I won’t do it, Dillan.”
I kiss her wet hair, trying to think of a plan. I always knew I had to come up with one. I just figured I’d have a little more time.
“I just need to disappear,” she whispers.
“No,” I argue. “We’re not doing that again.” I can’t keep track of her and be here for Luca while running three businesses at the same time. You also can’t continue to fuck her if she’s away.
“It’s pointless. No one can beat them.” She pulls away from me and takes the towel, wrapping it around herself though she’s still fully dressed. Dropping her eyes to the marble floor, she says, “Ending it would be best.”
I frown. “Ending what?” She doesn’t answer me. She just continues to stare at the floor. “Mia?” I step into her, lifting her chin to where she has to look at me. “Ending what?” I demand this time.
“I don’t expect someone like you to understand where I’m coming from.”
“Try me.” She can’t possibly be talking about dying. My lack of sleep is fucking with my hearing. It has to be.
She licks her lips. “When they showed up at the beach house, Matteo grabbed my ass and spoke about fucking me until one of the twins stopped him.” She swallows. “Yeah, I’d rather die right now than have my own brother rape me.” She pulls away from me, and my hand drops to my side like a rock off a cliff. “I can’t keep running. They will find me. And Matteo will get whatever he wants.” Tears build in her eyes. “Don’t you see? I’m just alive to do my father’s bidding. Once I’m your wife, your life is over, and mine will be too.”