Chapter 2

I leaned weakly against the cold concrete wall.

"Shut up and get me out of here," I whispered.

Leon bent down and scooped me up effortlessly into his arms. I rested my head against his broad chest, my warm blood quickly staining his crisp white shirt.

Inside the heavily armored vehicle, his private medical team immediately went to work on my injuries.

"Three fractured ribs and a severe break in the left fibula. She needs emergency surgery immediately," the trauma medic reported briskly.

I clutched my retrieved phone in my trembling hand. The screen lit up again with a fresh text from Arthur.

Arthur: [Once you are done throwing your little tantrum, you can crawl back yourself. Anna caught a fever because of your sick prank, and I expect you to apologize to her.]

*****

The blinding surgical lights pierced my eyes as the anesthesia slowly began to wear off. A tearing agony radiated from my stitched wounds.

I was lying in a VIP suite at Leon's private hospital. My left leg was encased in a thick, heavy cast, rendering it completely immobile, while my chest was wrapped tightly in gauze, making every breath a sharp reminder of my broken ribs.

The door clicked open, and Leon walked in holding a glass of water.

"You practically died in that foul, rat-infested warehouse," he stated, setting the glass on the nightstand and looking down at me. "Was it really worth it for a man who treats you like absolute garbage."

I turned my head away, refusing to engage in that conversation.

"Where is my phone?" I asked softly.

Leon pulled it from his pocket and tossed it onto the duvet.

"It has been ringing non-stop. It is incredibly annoying," he muttered.

I picked it up to see over thirty missed calls, every single one from Arthur. I pressed the callback button, and he picked up almost instantly.

"Serena, what the hell is wrong with you?" Arthur's furious roar blasted through the speaker, sending a sharp stab of pain through my ears.

Without a single word about my safety or whereabouts, he dove straight into a vicious tirade.

"Why did you use your family clearance to lock down the Bay Bridge?" he demanded. "Do you have any idea that Anna was stuck in gridlock on that bridge for three solid hours? She already had a fever, and now she is doing much worse."

I gripped the phone so tightly that my knuckles turned white. Leon had locked down the bridge to cut off the smuggling ring's escape routes. Yet, in Arthur's twisted mind, this was all a petty scheme I orchestrated to mildly inconvenience Anna.

"Arthur, I was abducted by Marcus and his men at Warehouse Four yesterday," I stated, keeping my voice deadpan and devoid of any emotion.

The line went quiet for a fraction of a second before Arthur let out a mocking laugh.

"Are you still spinning that fairy tale? Marcus fled the country ages ago," he scoffed. "Serena, I cannot believe you would stoop to lying like this to get my attention. You seriously disappoint me."

I closed my eyes, forcing down the bitter taste of bile rising in my throat.

"I have three broken ribs and a shattered leg, and I got out of surgery," I told him. "If you do not believe me, go pull the security footage from the docks."

Arthur let out a cold snort. "Do you think I am stupid? I know you easily could have bribed the security room. Anna was right. You are a manipulative control freak who cannot stand seeing me treat anyone else well."

Right on cue, Anna's delicate, weeping voice filtered through the background.

"Arthur, please do not fight with Serena because of me," she whimpered. "It is all my fault. I should not have gotten sick right now. Go be with her. I can manage on my own."

A few weak, pathetic coughs followed.

Arthur's tone instantly melted into sickening sweetness. "Do not be silly. You need me to take care of you. She is faking it. She is not going to die."

My heart plummeted straight into an icy abyss.

In three years, I had pulled him out of a filthy underground boxing ring and elevated him to the position of Head of Security. I handed him power second only to mine and gave him my unconditional trust.

And my reward was hearing him say I was faking it and would not die.

"Serena, I need you to dispatch your private medical team to Anna's apartment right now," Arthur ordered.

"My medical team serves me and me alone," I rejected him coldly.

"You are being completely unreasonable. Anna is a normal girl. She does not have a fleet of bodyguards and private doctors like you do," he yelled.

"So because she does not have them, you feel entitled to drain my resources to spoil her," I retorted.

"I'm your chief bodyguard, so I have the authority to dispatch those assets," he yelled.

A dark laugh escaped my lips. "You seem to have forgotten exactly who handed you that authority," I reminded him.

Arthur lost his temper completely.

"Here you go again. Every time we argue, you throw your status in my face," he raged. "Do you think you are the only one who can employ me? You have thirty minutes to send those doctors, or I am walking away from this job."

I ended the call without another word.

Leon was lounging on the plush sofa nearby, idly spinning a solid gold lighter between his fingers.

"Do you need me to put a bullet in his head?" he asked casually.

"No," I replied, tossing my phone aside. "I clean up my own messes."

Leon arched an eyebrow and pulled a sleek manila folder from his leather briefcase, handing it over to me. "Then you are probably going to want to see this."

I took the file and flipped to the very first page.

"Ten minutes ago, 20 million dollars was wired out of your private offshore account," Leon informed me. "The listed beneficiary is Anna."