Arranged Marriage

Chapter 42

I woke to warmth all around me and the familiar feel of silk. My body ached in pain but I barely noticed it. The room was dark but I don't think it was night.

My eyes slightly opened to the familiar bedroom of our home. I hugged the pillows under my head, drunk on their softness. A smile spread on my lips, feeling my heart full for the first time in my life.

In a second, everything began to flow through my head. Sebastian Drago. Sebastian kidnapped me to lure Patrick to the docks. He also kidnapped Nickola and Zoey to make me behave. He confessed his plan to rule the mafias of New York and how it started with killing Patrick and I and buying our businesses. He tried to rape me – twice. Patrick confessed his love and afterwards, he shot Drago. I didn't remember anything else.

"Patrick?" I called out, rolling over to see him.

The space was empty.

"Patrick?" I called out again.

God, what if something happened to him? What if something happened that I didn't even know about?

"Patrick!" I yelled, trying to push the doona off me.

My arms ached in pain, struggling with the simple movement.

"Eliza!" I heard his voice before the door opened.

My whole body relaxed when I saw him. Just him. In sweats and a singlet. He had a new gash in his arm and a cut across his cheek. But he was still the same.

"What the hell are you doing?" he asked, looking me up and down, "you're not leaving this bed for another week."

"I was going to look for you," I told him, before he pushed my legs back under the covers and tucked me in.

"I was only gone for ten minutes," he reassured me, "I had to make a phone call, that's all."

"To who?" I questioned, hoping he would trust me with the truth.

He swallowed, sitting on the edge of the bed, "I didn't want to worry you. Not until you had recovered."

"What?" I frowned, sitting forward, worried.

He licked his lips, stalling, "Piero got hit."

"What?" I cried, attempting to get out of bed before Patrick pushed me down again.

"He's fine, I promise," He reassured me, "He's at the hospital."

"Well, why aren't we there. We should be with him," I told him, furious that he had been focused on me and not on Piero.

"Garrick's with him. And Nickola and Zoey are getting checked up too."

Words refused to flow from my lips, shocked that Patrick didn't tell me. What had happened from when Sebastian was shot till now?

"Patrick, what happened?" I asked him, tired of the confusion.

"Well, after I shot Drago, you were pretty out of it. You fainted and I took you home," I told me.

"What about the others?" I asked, "What about Drago's men?"

"All dead."

"And the evidence?" I questioned, not recognising my voice.

"Burnt. Egor and Eagle blew up the place not long after we left. There's no evidence of Drago even being back in the city. And one dead gangster is nothing to the police. They won't come asking questions."

I nodded, a little relieved.

"And Paige?" I asked, scared of the answer.

"We're still tracking her down," he admitted, "She's probably left the country."