Chapter 4

Anna POV

I’m not sure that scolding myself is going to be enough to stop feelings that have already started to form.

I’m glad he ignored my protests when he starts helping me, and the pain blooms even though Leandro lifts me from the bed and places me in the wheelchair as gently as he can. But even when I’m sitting, every moment sends another wave of pain through my body.

Leandro pushes the wheelchair, following the doctor’s lead, and tries to avoid any motions that could make me feel worse. As we move through the hallways, I see numerous bodyguards dressed all in black and armed, and the reality of my situation sinks in. Marco is right, and with him legally being my father, I have no choice in being part of this new family.

Leandro wheels me into the examination room, and my next obstacle is getting from the chair to the exam table.

This time, Leandro doesn’t bother asking me if I want help. He just moves from behind the wheelchair to pick me up, and I do my best to keep the heat flooding my face from showing as an obvious blush.

I don’t know if I succeed, but Leandro doesn’t bring up any hint that I’m blushing when he sets me on the exam table and steps away. So, I have to hope that I succeeded or that Leandro simply gave me the grace of not pointing out the evidence of the blend of shame, embarrassment, and unfamiliar heat I’m feeling.

The examination takes forever. Or at least, that’s how it feels. It doesn’t help that every time the doctor prods me, I find a new source of pain that I hadn’t noticed before.

By the end of it, I want nothing more than to be back in bed and sleep, so it’s a relief when Leandro is allowed to help me back into the wheelchair, starting the journey back to my assigned room with the doctor leading the way. They discuss my exam, but I don’t know what half the words even mean.

All I understand is that I’m in pain, and I’m going to remain in pain for a while as my body tries to repair itself.

Leandro lifts me back into bed with that same gentle, electric touch. But then he turns away and says to the doctor, “Take good care of Anna for me.”

With that, he looks at me once more, nods, and then leaves.

It shouldn’t, considering I just met the man and didn’t have a choice about joining his family, but Leandro leaving stings.

I wish I could reach out and ask him to stay, even just until I fall asleep, but I know he’s busy.

I clamp down on my feelings and lie back on the bed, closing my eyes as the doctor’s footsteps fade down the hallway.

It’s better this way. After all, I shouldn’t get too attached to the family that’s planning to send me away for the sake of a marriage alliance.

I wake up feeling like I’ve slept better than I ever have before, a sleepy moan escaping my lips as I stretch and hear the satisfying cracking of my joints. Even my mangled foot and leg feel better after a decent night of rest.

But then I open my eyes, and I see Giovanni sitting on the sofa that’s against the far wall, his arms crossed over his chest. His gaze is piercing, and I pull my loose hospital gown tighter around myself as if it’ll shield me. “How are you here?”

The sound of Giovanni’s laugh is a bitter and humorless one. “Look, I don’t want to be here any more than anyone else. But if you’ll remember from yesterday, I’m under orders to protect you today.”

He looks at me like I’m an annoying child he has to babysit, and I guess that might be how he actually feels.

Even so, it’s crazy that one brother can make me feel so at ease, but the other one makes me feel so exposed and uncomfortable.

I open my mouth to respond, but Giovanni cuts me off, saying, “Since you’re awake, let’s go.”

He stands up, and I’m shocked again by how tall he is, towering over me. He adjusts his shirt cuffs, and I can see his well-developed muscles along with a glimpse of a few scars marking his skin. Well, life in a mafia family must be dangerous.

As if sensing Giovanni’s intentions, the same doctor from yesterday walks into the room. “Sir, I insist that Anna stay here to rest for another two days, at least.”

“That won’t be necessary.”

Giovanni’s dismissal of a doctor’s advice worries me, and I try to look to the doctor for help, hoping he can recognize my plea from my eyes.

Except Giovanni recognizes my plea too, and instead of trying to comfort me, he steps closer to the doctor, who takes several steps back. “Remember who you work for,” Giovanni says.

The doctor glances at me, then wipes away the sweat beading on his brow. He turns to his nurse and tells her to change my remaining bandages.

The nurse is clearly not interested in helping me from the moment she fully enters the room as the doctor leaves. She prepares the bandages but keeps glancing at Giovanni and batting her eyes in the process. Then, she starts switching out my bandages, trying to bend in a way that Giovanni could glance down her shirt as she angles her hips towards him.

However, the way she grabs my bad foot sends pain shooting through my leg. “Please be a little gentler,” I say.

I’m ignored, and if anything, her grip is rougher, making me hiss in pain.

That’s when Giovanni steps closer. The nurse must think her flirtations are working, as she opens her mouth to say something to him. But the words never make it out, since Giovanni grips her chin with one hand.

“Do your job, or disappear from my sight.” Giovanni’s voice sounds like a low growl.

The nurse is sufficiently afraid, turning her focus entirely to her job. Meanwhile, I try to wrap my head around the fact that Giovanni just stood up for me. But it’s probably just because his dad told him to guard me, and the way that the nurse was handling my leg, it could’ve done more damage.

More damage means a longer recovery, so Giovanni stepped in because ,of course, he wouldn’t want to extend the time he has to babysit me due to a nurse trying to draw his attention. Well, I don’t pity the nurse, especially with the way my leg is now throbbing because of her carelessness.

I guess Leandro was right when he said that’s just how Giovanni is towards women.

The nurse bolts from the room as soon as her task is complete, now terrified of Giovanni. Then, Giovanni tosses a bag of clothes onto my bed. “Get changed quickly.”

I open up the bag and feel the clothes inside it. The fabric is softer than anything I’ve touched before, much less worn, and obviously expensive without announcing their price tag. It looks like a simple set of sweatpants and a sweatshirt, things that won’t press against my wounds.

Pulling the clothes out, I pause and look at Giovanni. “Aren’t you going to wait outside?”

Giovanni raises one eyebrow. “I’m here to monitor you, if you remember, so I’m not leaving you alone in here. Don’t worry, a skinny girl like you isn’t arousing at all to me.”

I don’t want to be arousing to Giovanni of all people, but his easy dismissal of me is a verbal jab that cuts deeper than it should. But I just watched him terrify a doctor and a nurse, so all I do is mutter, “Rude and awful, like a brute.”

“Remember, you’re just a caged bird, adopted only for marriage, Anna. Stay in your pretty cage and listen to what you’re told. And if you’re actually angry, well, at least show me you have some strength in you when you curse at me.”

It’s more mockery, but the way he says it has an undertone that leaves me blushing from the pure fury boiling my blood.

I can’t even do anything about it. He has all the power right now, and I’m just… a caged bird.

Well, if he’s going to watch me change, he can prove his words.

I remember in the orphanage, if you slept even a single minute too late, then one of the nuns would stand next to your bed and scold you.

One of the days I overslept—I was so tired of all the strict rules—I decided to stare at the nun watching me while I undressed, and I remember how she started blushing and turned her eyes away. Once I had my clothes on for the day, she started hitting me, calling me a shameless woman who used dirty ways to provoke others.

Maybe Giovanni will be “provoked” too and get uncomfortable enough from my gaze that he’ll turn away.

I know I really shouldn’t do this as his adopted sister, but I stand up in Giovanni’s line of sight, which he made clear I won’t be escaping from, and start slowly peeling off my thin hospital gown.

Then I keep my eyes fixed on him.