Page 22 of Taken by the Mafia King (Kings of Philly #1)

SERA

H eavy footsteps pounded in the hallway outside my room. Turning from the window, I barely had a chance to catch my breath or process what was happening, what I was seeing , before Jim was thrown into my room.

Jim landed hard on his knees before toppling onto his side, and I registered several things at once. Bruises. Blood splatter. And Killian, standing in the doorway, knuckles bleeding, a smile curling his wicked lips.

I screamed.

“Shut up, Sera,” Killian growled, teeth bared.

I immediately snapped my mouth shut as the tone of his voice licked up and down my spine. He was furious. I’d never seen a look like the one he gave me now. Pure death flashed behind those haunting gray-blue eyes.

Jim groaned, cursing under his breath as he brought his swollen, cracked fingers to the top of his head. Blood seeped through his hair, turning the silky golden curls to crimson.

“What did you do to him?” I hurried across the room and fell to my knees in front of Jim. But he moved away from me, his eyes glassy and dazed. I shook with rage and grief as I held my hands up in surrender. “Jim?”

“ Cara mia ,” Killian drawled, his voice full of smoke and violence. “Tell him why you’re here.”

I stammered, unable to form the words. Unable to involve Jim in this mess. No, not unable. Unwilling. I looked up at Killian with a pleading expression, but he only smiled. He knew as well as I did that if someone else got their hands on Jim, and he knew the truth , it would be a death sentence.

“Sera,” Jim choked, his teeth covered in blood. A dark bruise formed on his swollen jaw as his eyes met mine. “Are you okay? Please tell me you’re okay.”

Damn him. Even bloody and beaten, his heart was pure.

“You didn’t have to hurt him!” I sobbed at Killian, tears streaming down my face.

The gash on Jim’s head needed stitches badly.

He was bleeding everywhere. Blood soaked into the cream-colored carpets, leaving a thick, dark stain.

“I need a cloth. And a doctor. Please. Please. Let me help him.”

No one would come to clean it. Killian would make me look at it every day as punishment.

“Tell him,” Killian pressed, crossing his arms over his broad chest. I caught the gleam of his holstered pistol and winced.

“I’m here,” I whispered, the reality of what I was about to say suffocating me. “I’m here because I want to be.”

Jim looked up at me and blinked. “No, you were—you were thrown into a van.”

“It was a misunderstanding,” I lied, trying to keep my voice as calm and level as humanly possible. I swallowed thickly, fighting against the tightness in my throat as I continued. “I need you to stop trying to help me. I’m okay.”

“Why are you lying?”

“I’m not lying, Jim. I’m okay. This was a huge misunderstanding. That’s why the police won’t get involved. I already talked to them. I am here because I want to be. I need to be here. I need you to go home and stop trying to save me. I don’t need to be saved.”

I stole a glance at Killian, who watched me with a cool, indifferent expression. Could he not see how much he was hurting me right now?

Of course he can, I thought sharply. He wants this. He loves it.

“Tell Emma to stop trying to find me. You both need to stop.”

“No, Sera!” Jim grabbed my arm, but I pulled away from him.

“No. Do you not understand me? I’m saying you need to leave. I don’t want you. I don’t need you, Jim. I’m fine. I’ve been fine.”

“He hired a private investigator to find you.” Killian began to pace around us. “He must love you, tesoro .”

He was taunting me, trying to push me as far as I could go to convince Jim to stay out of this. To lie to his face while I told him words I never wanted to speak.

“I don’t like you the same way you like me,” I said, and the shock on Jim’s face cut me to the core. “I’m sorry.”

“I don’t believe you.”

“Leave,” I said, shaking as I scooted away from him. “Get out.”

“Sera,” Jim rasped. “I can’t leave you here.”

I couldn’t tell him the truth no matter how much it broke me. No one from my school knew who I really was. What I’d been made to do for the family . What had been taken from me, and why I’d left when I did.

Only to fall back into it and slowly drown.

Blood dripped down his face. He sat up, swaying a bit and flushing of all color. I flinched but resisted the urge to reach out and touch him, knowing it would be the last time I’d ever see him.

“I’m sorry,” I mouthed just as Killian shouted and snapped his fingers.

Tommaso hurried into the room and grabbed Jim, but Jim fought against his grip.

I closed my eyes, squeezing them shut until red blotches appeared. Jim let out a hoarse laugh and quieted before scoffing. “I went through hell to get here, Sera. For you.”

With nothing to say in response, I waited to open my eyes until the sound of footsteps retreating ceased and the door snapped shut behind what could have been, what should have been, the man I was going to fall in love with one day. My happily ever after.

And now I was left with only the Mano Della Morte. The Devil himself.

“Get up,” Killian ordered, but I didn’t move.

“You didn’t have to do that.” I fought back my tears, afraid to cry in front of him. He didn’t need to know he terrified me to the core.

Killian shrugged. “You’re right. But it was fun .”