Page 4 of Twisted Trust (Mafia Lords of Sin #10)

MAEVE

N o.

He can’t be here.

There’s no way he’s here.

This can’t be happening!

My arms tighten instinctively around Scott as my heart begins to beat wildly in my chest.

Waking up in the hospital was scary enough after being beaten unconscious by the mugger in the parking lot, but now Levi is here, and nothing makes sense about how he’s here.

I’ve been so careful.

I ran when I thought he was dead.

I ran further when they told me he wanted me dead.

I ran and I hid and I built a life for myself here.

How is he here? How is this real?

“Do you know this man?” The nurse glances between us as Levi stiffly walks into the room.

Somehow, he looks exactly the same as he did the last time I saw him.

There are a few deeper wrinkles around his eyes and his shoulders look broader, but all in all, he looks the exact same.

Levi Gallo. The best and worst thing to ever happen to me.

“Yes.” The word escapes me in a hoarse whisper and I swallow hard around the dull pain in my throat. “I do.”

“Alright, then.” Her suspicious smile turns warm as she continues.

“As I was saying, the doctor has you on some strong painkillers and I’ve filled out the prescription for you, so you can collect them when you leave.

The most concerning damage is the bruising around your throat.

You may experience difficulty speaking for the next week or so, so please be gentle.

No yelling or shouting or anything exciting.

The stitches in your temple and jaw will dissolve over time, so there’s no need to come back in to get them removed. ”

I should be listening to her. I’m trying to, but I can’t take my eyes off Levi.

It’s like I’ve woken up in a nightmare and the man I’m terrified of the most is bearing down on me with murder in his eyes.

It wasn’t always like this.

He once looked at me with love bordering on obsessive possession and I drank it up like a parched woman.

I’d spent my life alone and struggling, and then suddenly, this gorgeous Adonis of a man was interested in me, and I didn’t care that he was a Mafia man.

It was exciting back then.

The thrill of fast cars, guns, Levi coming back with a bloodied lip and wounds on his arms for me to take care of.

He was a thick, sexy fantasy with miles of muscle, a sarcastic sense of humor, and the most lovingly attentive acts of affection I’d ever experienced.

By the look of him, not much has changed in his physical appearance.

He’s still as gorgeous as the day I caught his eye across the bar at a yacht party I was working back in New York.

Our summer romance was legendary right out of the silver screen and then, somehow, it all went wrong.

Suddenly, I was fleeing for my life and the life of my son. Our son.

And now he’s here.

Does he know?

My grip tightens on Scott once more who begins to grunt uncomfortably.

Is this why he’s here?

There’s no way he could know that Scott is his, but I will kill him if he tries to take my son away from me.

“Anything else?” The nurse smiles at me, and I realize I zoned out from what she was saying to me. I can’t remember if she asked me a question or not so I shake my head and force a police smile.

“No, I’m fine. Thank you.”

She nods once and flashes Levi a smile, then she leaves.

It’s not until the door closes that it hits me that I should have kept her in here.

A witness is surely the only reason Levi hasn’t killed me already.

“What are you doing here?” I croak while sliding one hand over Scott’s ear so he doesn’t hear. “How did you find me?”

Levi wanders the room and lightly touches everything from the vase of flowers at the end of my bed to the cord of the blinds.

I breathe deeply, trying to keep myself calm, and I’m instantly assaulted by the familiar smoky, spicy scent of Levi Gallo.

“Ask him.” Levi points toward Scott. “Your kid ran out in front of my car, crying like his life was about to end.”

A mix of grief and anger clashes in my chest. I pray Scott didn’t see the end of the fight with that mugger.

The last thing I remember was the sole of his boot coming down on me and then darkness.

“You make it sound like I sent him out there on purpose.”

“Did you?” Levi’s tone is as cold as ice, like every word is a sliver ready to strip my flesh from my bones.

“Of course not!”

“I wouldn’t put it past you.” He moves to stand at the end of my bed. “Who knows what your real intentions are.”

“Mine?” Through the fog of medication and dulled pain, I try to come up with a plan.

I always told myself that if he found me, I’d run.

I’d have no other choice and often presumed I’d never survive long enough to run if he found me, but here we are.

“Do you need me to spell it out for you?”

“I don’t need anything from you,” I snap, pressing my palm firmer over Scott’s ears. Thankfully, he’s calm in my arms, clinging to me. “Stay the fuck away from me.”

“Now why would I do that when I’ve just found you again?”

“So you are here to kill me.”

“Can you blame me?” His burnt-honey eyes narrow to slits. “After the fucking disaster you caused?”

“That I caused? I wasn’t the one who faked my own?—”

“Miss Jackson—oh, I’m sorry!” The door swings open and in walks my doctor, but he pauses and adjusts his glasses when he catches sight of Levi. “Am I interrupting?”

“Yes,” Levi remarks coldly.

“No,” I say at the same time, then I painfully clear my throat. “He was just leaving.”

Our eyes meet and my heart aches.

I’d spent hours staring into those eyes when they were filled with love.

Now they just hold hatred and I don’t even understand why. Not really.

I was told he wanted me dead because I was pregnant, and now here I am with my son in my arms.

Levi’s surely put two and two together by now, so why hasn’t he just gotten it over with?

Why am I still alive?

“Excellent.” My doctor smiles. “I’d like to go over your treatment plan. I know the nurse went through the basics with you, but I have a couple of things I just want to make sure we’re clear on.”

“Sounds good,” I reply, fighting the tremble in my voice.

“Sir, would you be so kind?” The doctor motions to the door and a strange, threatening silence falls.

Will he leave?

Levi hardly ever allowed people to tell him what to do and even if the doctor doesn’t recognize the pin clinging to his jacket, Levi can remind him soon enough.

But to my surprise, Levi simply agrees to leave, although he hesitates at the door and glances back at me.

“Don’t leave town.”

His words are cloaked in fake concern, like he just wants to keep me safe, but I hear the threat underneath.

A warning.

Run and I’ll die.

Stay and I’ll die.

The doctor’s visit is whirlwind. He wants to keep me overnight due to the gunshot wound I suffered, but every word out of his mouth is just another dollar onto the eye-watering bill I’m sure to get from this visit.

The gunshot was just a graze to my shoulder and not at all as serious as he makes out.

I can’t stay here, not just for financial reasons, but because of Levi.

He knows where I am, and I’m not going to sit back and let him slit my throat in my sleep.

I need to get out of here.

Scott pulling himself out of my grip because I was holding him too tightly spurs me into action.

I tell the doctor everything he wants to hear and act like I’m going to stay here, just as he requests, but as soon as he leaves the room, I detach myself from all the machines.

Soothing Scott is the hardest battle because he just spent twenty minutes listening to a doctor telling me to stay here.

Unable to tell him my reasons for fleeing the hospital, I make up another story about ogres and after some creative logic, he totally believes my doctor was an ogre.

By the time we reach the parking lot, he’s claiming he could tell the doctor was an ogre even before I could.

It takes forty minutes and money I barely have to get us home in a taxi.

By the time it pulls up to my shabby apartment complex, Scott is fast asleep and I have to balance him in my arms while paying the driver with the only money the mugger didn’t steal—the emergency dollars I hide in my bra.

The driver hums and haws at how long it takes me to count out the money and then he leaves me in the dust without even a kind word.

Asshole.

Adjusting my hold on Scott, I start slowly climbing the steps up toward my apartment.

The painkillers are starting to wear off.

My shoulder aches, my throat burns, my forehead throbs in time to my heartbeat, and the weight of my son in my arms is gradually becoming too much.

Despite it all, I keep going because every second I spend outside comes with the risk that Levi is somewhere in the darkness waiting to strike.

I’m so caught up in my thoughts that I don’t see Cameron until I’m almost right on top of him and his hand on my shoulder makes me jump out of my skin.

“Jesus!”

“Maeve! It’s me!”

“Cameron, you scared me.” It takes all my effort to keep my voice low so as not to wake Scott even as my heart batters wildly in my chest.

“I’m sorry,” he whispers. “I was keeping an eye out for you because you didn’t come home and I called but you didn’t answer and then—” He stops dead in his tracks as I move under the light glowing above his front door. “Maeve, oh my God. What happened to you?”

“I…” Where do I begin? It feels like days since he called me at McDonald’s but in reality, it was only about eight hours. “It’s been a long day.”

“You’re not kidding.” His face twists with worry. “Who did this to you?”

I tiredly shrug one shoulder. “I was mugged.”

“Fucking hell.”

Warning him about bad language feels pointless now. “Yep.”

“Were you at the police station?”

“Oh.” I should call the police, shouldn’t I? “No, I was at the hospital.”

His eyes dart all over my face as we stand together on the landing. “Right. Of course. God… here, let me.” He surges forward suddenly and before I can stop him, he’s scooped Scott right out of my arms. “You need rest.”

I want to argue. I should argue.

But I’m tired.

Far too tired.

Getting into my apartment is delayed by realizing my keys were in my bag and my bag is God knows where now.

Thankfully, Cameron has my spare key and using that, I’m able to get inside and take Scott back in order to put him straight to bed.

It’s far too late and he’s had such a traumatic day that waking him for a shower is the last thing I want to do.

I make do with a damp washcloth, much to his tired complaints, then tuck him into bed and kiss him goodnight.

Two steps down the short hall from his bedroom is my kitchen-slash-living room.

Cameron is there loading several plastic Tupperware containers of pasta into my fridge when I join him.

“Wow, you weren’t kidding,” I murmur, glancing over his shoulder. “You really made too much pasta.”

“I did.” He smiles warmly.

“Sometimes I think you do it on purpose. Who makes that much pasta for one person?”

Cameron slides the last container into place and closes the door, then faces me with an easy smile that barely masks the concern in his eyes. “Would I do such a thing?”

“You absolutely would.” The urge for coffee is tempting so I turn on the kettle, but two seconds later, I turn it off. I just want my bed.

“Do you want to talk about what happened?” Cameron crosses his thick arms over his chest.

Leaning back against the sink, I grip the counter’s edge with one hand and tenderly work my fingers down my bruised throat. “There isn’t much to tell.”

“Bottling it up won’t help.”

“So you’re a therapist now?” I snap.

Both his hands raise in a defensive stance. “No, that’s not what I meant.”

Fuck. I’m such a dick. “Sorry. You… I’m just on edge. I feel like I’ve been scraped raw and everything is twitching.”

“You’ve been through something terrible.”

“People get mugged all the time.”

Cameron scoffs sharply. “There’s mugged and then there’s…” He waves his hand at me. “I’m sorry it happened.”

“It’s my own fault.” My fingers reach my collarbone just as Cameron’s face twists with indignation.

“I shouldn’t have fought him. I know the rules of just letting them take what they want.

Especially here. But I—” Shaking my head, my eyes close briefly.

“He turned toward Scott and I just saw red, and the next thing I know, I’m trying to tackle him. ”

“You sure it was a him?”

My eyes open. “Huh?”

“You’ll be talking to the police tomorrow, right? So are you sure it was a him?”

Right. The police. As if they’re even an option with Levi around. “Yeah, I’m sure.”

“And then what happened?”

“I just… I don’t know. I woke up in the hospital and?—”

“How did Scott get there?”

“Huh?” I squint at him as the throbbing in my temple flares up and gradually increases.

“How did Scott get to the hospital?”

“Oh… some guy passing by—listen.” I cut myself off before this talk gets too personal. “Thank you for the pasta and for talking to me. I really appreciate it, but I just need to sleep. It’s been a long day.”

Cameron nods in understanding. “You got it. If you need anything, remember I’m just across the walkway.”

“I know. Thanks, Cameron.”

“Anytime, Mae.” Cameron leaves after giving me a brief, warm hug, and the comfort is nearly enough to break me down.

I hold it together until I’m crawling into bed with two pills fizzing on my tongue. As I swallow, the tears come.

Shock. Pain. Trauma.

All of that was terrifying enough, but now Levi is here.

Somehow, that devil has hunted me down and he knows about Scott. I’m not safe here any longer.

I have to leave.

Somehow.

Sleep comes mercifully fast and I fall into restless dreams of Levi and me tangled in the throes of love, or yelling at each other during the height of our heated arguments over nothing.

I jolt awake early the next morning with my pounding heart thundering in my ears and my entire body covered in sweat.

I’m too hot. I need to pee. I need more painkillers.

Fuck.

I lie there among damp sheets and stare up at the pattern mold on my ceiling, willing my heart to calm.

It takes a few dazed seconds for me to click that the pounding in my ears isn’t from my heart but from my front door.

I bolt upright and stare at my bedroom door as a host of terrifying scenarios fills my head.

Did Levi find me?

Is he here to do what he couldn’t do in the hospital? Would I actually have been safer there?

Slipping out of bed, I pull on my satin housecoat and wrap it around my body, hiding the underwear I crawled into bed wearing, and head for the door.

The next flurry of loud knocks makes me flinch, but just as I’m about to bolt back to my bedroom, a woman’s voice flits through the door and my heart sinks.

“Miss Jackson, I know you’re in there. It’s Hillary from CPS. Open up!”