I Need You To Trust Me

18. Sick

Luke Parker's POV

"These are so beautiful, Luke." My sister admires as I lead her around Mr Leondrí's gardens.

"Thank you, Mei." I simply respond.

We fall into, yet another, silence, until I decide to speak up about the one thing that's causing the most tension.

"What did she do to you, Mei?" I whisper.

It's now the morning after my mother's assault on my sister and I'm just guiding my sister around.

"Nothing, Luke, I'm fine, really. Nothing is your fault." Mei-Rin responds, quickly, as if she'd been planning exactly what to say.

"No, Mei, it is my fault, it's all my fault." I state, and she shakes her head rapidly.

"No, no, no!" My sibling exclaims, pulling on my hand, that she's holding, to make me look at her. "It's not your fault, Luke! Please, trust me!" She cries, and I can't help but sigh.

"I trust you with my life, Mei-Rin." I assure her, and she leans forward, resting her head on my shoulder.

"I love you, Luke, and we're going to be okay now." She tells me, reassuring the both of us.

I wrap my arm around the girl in front of me, holding her in my embrace and nod.

Accardo Leondrí's POV

"I think they'll be okay now." Tony comments as we watch the sibling duo from the third-floor window.

"Yeah, so do I." I reply, nodding once. "What's the latest on Markus Kieant?" I follow up.

"Nothing as of yet, sir. If we hadn't have had any further information regarding the death of his recent partner, I would've guessed that he doesn't want to cause any problems between us." Tony explains, and I look at him, curiously.

As I stare at Tony for a couple of seconds, his eyes suddenly widen as if he's just realised something.

"He's trying to scare us." He mutters, aloud.

"What?" I question.

"He's not making any rash decisions because he wants us to be unprepared, unsure, concerned, worried, questioning..." Tony realises.

"He's starting to piss me off." I state and Tony smirks.

"Of course he is." He responds, mocking my frustration.

Markus Kieant's POV

"And you didn't do anything?" I question my main assistant who's stood in front of me.

"I couldn't do anything when the man is surrounded by his security 24/7, could I, sir?" They ask, and I grimace.

"You didn't even fucking try." I spit, annoyed.

"And gotten myself killed? Yeah, great plan, sir." I get, sarcastically, in response.

"It's fine. I know exactly what we're going to do and you're in the perfect position to do it." I smile, thinking over my perfect plan.

"Yes, sir." My partner-in-crime responds, smirking, before walking away to complete their duties.

"Are you sure this is going to go unnoticed, sir?" Kris asks me as he leans against the wall beside my desk.

"Are you questioning me, Kristopher?" I interrogate my partner.

"Not at all, sir, just checking." He answers, slightly feared by my tone.

"That man is going to have everything he works for ripped away from him, and it's going to happen from right under his fingertips." I laugh aloud, admiring my incoming win.

Anna Kieant's POV

"We have a range of cereals, Miss Kieant – which would you like this morning?" Scarlett asks me as she makes me some tea.

"Just some muesli will be fine, thank you, Scarlett. I've been getting really bad tummy ache recently and I can only assume it's from the amount of fattening bacon I've been having at breakfast." I explain, sitting atop the bar stool in Accardo's kitchen.

"Ah, that's a shame to hear, Miss. I can put together a remedy for you to drink to try and soothe the pain?" Scarlett suggests, and I smile.

"That'd be nice, thank you." I respond as the maid hands me a cup of tea.

I take a large inhale of the liquid in my hands and close my eyes in content. The smell of tea has always been relaxing to me. My mother used to let me smell it when she had some when I was a mere child, and the smell stuck. After that, I never really smelt it up until my mid-teen years as my father didn't touch the stuff. He drank water and whisky; nothing else.

"Here you are, Miss." A female voice interrupts my nostalgia.

I look to see Scarlett handing me a bowl of muesli.

"Thank you, Scarlett." I mutter, taking the breakfast and eating it.

"There you are! You scared me half to death, woman!" A masculine voice exclaims.

I turn to see Accardo speed walking into the kitchen with a sweat on. I jump out of my seat and approach the frantic man.

"Accardo, Accardo, I'm fine, see? I'm safe." I assure the man in front of me and he pulls me into a tight embrace.

"I'm sorry, Anna, I just worry." He murmurs into my hair and I lift my head to meet his lips with my own.

"I know, but I'm safe with you." I tell him, and he smiles.

"Yeah, you are." He responds, and before I can speak anymore, my throat begins to burn.

My eyes widen, and I push back away from Accardo. I knock against the table in the kitchen, knocking my teacup off of the ledge, shattering all over the floor.

"Anna?! What's wrong?!" Accardo blurts out in concern.

I can barely speak but point to my throat, tears pooling in my eyes as I withstand the excruciating pain. I run over to the sink where I throw up the contents of the minimal breakfast I had. I feel a hand rubbing my back in a caring manner and instantly recognise it to be female, as appose to Accardo's larger, masculine hands. Scarlett.

"You're alright, sweetheart, just let it out." She soothes.

"What's wrong with her?!" I hear Accardo ask, worriedly, as the bile continues to fall from my mouth.

"She hasn't been eating much recently, she said she had stomach ache the other day, she's probably just fallen ill. She'll just need to stay in bed for a few days I'm sure, sir." Scarlett explains, and I sense Accardo standing beside me.

He brings his hand to my head and pulls my hair back out of my face as the final amounts of vomit pour out.

"Thank you..." I gurgle as Scarlett hands me a glass of water.

I swirl some around my mouth and spit it out a few times before swallowing any.

"How are you feeling, Anna?" Accardo asks me after a few moments.

"I'm fine... it was just such a horrible burning feeling..." I explain.

"Should I take her to bed, sir?" Scarlett asks.

"Please, Scarlett, and make sure she gets plenty of liquids down her." Accardo orders and Scarlett nods.

"Yes, sir." She responds before leading me up to a spare room.