Page 42 of The One Night Match (Mafia Matchmaker #1)

FORTY-TWO

RILEY

T here’s a herd of elephants in my head.

That’s the only way I can explain the thumping between my eyes that makes me desperate to fall back into whatever oblivion my body is pulling me out of.

My memory is foggy, all my thoughts jumbled among the agony and confusion.

I allow my mind to rest a while longer, falling back into the darkness, and when I come to again, some of the pain has eased, allowing me to take stock of my body.

I’m warm and comfortable, soft sheets covering me, and my head on a pillow that feels more like a cloud than bedding.

Wherever I am, it’s completely silent, and the lack of noise makes me uneasy enough that I crack open an eye and look around.

Which is when I realize I’m at home, in my bed, alone.

I suck in a slow breath of relief, tilting my head to the side to look for Cruz, but he’s not here, an alarm bell in itself.

After the way he hovered for days after the accident, I find it hard to believe that he’s not attached to my bedside right now.

I press my eyes closed as I turn my head the other way and find no one in that direction either, but there is a glass of water and a box on the bedside table.

When I can’t manage to lift my arm from beneath the comforter, I allow my eyes to fall closed again and sleep to take me, hoping the grogginess will have worn off the next time I open my eyes.

I’m not sure how much time passes, but by the time I manage to force my eyes open again, the room is bathed in only the warm glow of the lamp beside the bed.

A groan falls from my throat as I look around again, my eyes locking with Lexi’s on the bed beside me.

Her shoulders visibly relax. “Oh, thank God you’re awake. I was getting ready to call the doctor back.”

“How long have I been out?” I croak.

She reaches for the glass of water and brings the straw to my lips, allowing me to take greedy sips until I turn my head away, not wanting to upset my stomach.

“A little over twenty-four hours,” she tells me.

My lips part in surprise. How could it have been so long? What on earth did they drug me with? “What happened?”

“Colten is still piecing it together. We’re not sure where the order came from or how they managed to take out the safe house, but we know it was a distraction to get Cruz away from you.

As soon as he left, someone spiked your drink, and then Timothy and Monica were waiting for you when you inevitably tried to find a bathroom.

He was blackmailing her, forcing her to help him because he knew he couldn’t execute the plan by himself. ”

My brows tug together. That doesn’t sound right. My memory may be spotty, but the parts I do remember, she almost seemed like she was the mastermind.

“They got you outside, but Ben took Tim down while Monica was trying to wake you up. By the time we found you, Tim was pinned to the ground. The doctor met us when we got home, and he assured us you were okay and would sleep off the effects of the drugs. He did run an IV for the first few hours to try to flush it out of your system, but I was getting worried,” she admits.

“Where’s Cruz?”

Her eyes flash with something, but my muddled mind can’t process what the expression means.

“He’s been in his office since the doctor left.

I think he was worried that if he didn’t leave then, he wouldn’t leave at all, and right now the business is in turmoil.

The family is divided in a way it hasn’t been for a long time, and he’s running damage control and working overtime to find out who Tim was planning to deliver you to. ”

“Monica said they wanted me unharmed,” I whisper.

“What?”

“When they found me, Tim implied he wanted to hurt me, but she said whoever planned everything didn’t want me marked when they got me.”

Her brows dip in confusion, but she types out a quick message before turning her attention back to me. “How are you feeling? Do you need anything? Painkillers? The doctor to come back?”

“I want to see Cruz,” I say softly.

Lexi drags her bottom lip between her teeth, but her hesitation speaks volumes.

There’s something she’s not telling me, and the longer she doesn’t spit it out, the more anxious it’s making me.

“He won’t let himself come to see you. I think it’s killing him to stay away, but he’s beating himself up pretty bad.

Blaming himself for you getting hurt…again. ”

“But it’s not his fault!”

“You know that, and I know that, but it’s taking some time for him to get it through his thick skull.” She squeezes my shoulder gently. “He’ll come around. It’s just hurting his very delicate ego to know that he didn’t keep you safe when it mattered.”

I want to argue, want to push the covers off and march into his office myself, giving him no other choice than to see me. But if he needs time, I need to respect that. Even if it hurts not to have him here. Even if my chest aches knowing he’s suffering alone.

“He did get you a gift, though.” She nods to the box on the bedside table.

“He did?”

She nods, a smirk playing on her lips as she pushes herself up and rounds the bed.

I carefully shimmy up the bed until I’m in a seated position with my hands free, just in time for her to pass me the box.

The amusement in her eyes is unsettling, and when I slip the note from its envelope, I’m more confused than I was to begin with.

Kitten,

I promise to add to the collection for every person who has ever hurt you.

Yours,

Cruz

I flick another confused look up at Lexi, who can barely contain her giggles before finally opening the box.

It takes me long seconds to process what I’m seeing, but when I do, a laugh bubbles in my sore throat.

“Is he implying he’s going to cut off the hand of every person who hurts me?” I ask carefully, staring down at the severed hand at the bottom of the box.

“I don’t think he’s implying anything.” Lexi laughs. “I think that crazy motherfucker is going to do exactly as he’s promised.”

In a weird way, the gift settles the anxiety that was gurgling in my chest. Because if he’s doing unhinged shit like this, he’s not pulling away from me.

And if he is pulling away from me, he’d better be ready for me to fight back.

I didn’t let myself fall for Cruz De Luca just for him to break my heart.