Surviving His Scars (Angels Halo MC Next Gen Book 4)

by Terri Anne Browning

  Suddenly, I felt dizzy. Two million dollars. Yes, I knew Gian was loaded. He’d made no secret of that fact the entire time we were in Rome. We had a different expensive wine every night in restaurants that were beyond amazing, but were also ridiculously overpriced. He bought me trinkets and clothes, and while he never let me see the price tags, I wasn’t blind to the quality of the items and knew they cost a pretty penny.

  But to just throw around two million dollars like that? Why would he blow that kind of cash if he didn’t care?

  Leaning forward, I picked up the glass of water and drank it thirstily to keep from demanding an answer to that particular question. Before it was half empty, the pilot’s voice came over the speaker, letting us know in perfect English that we would be taking off momentarily. But he didn’t say where we were flying to.

  I felt the brush of cool air against my arms and shivered. Without a word, Gian unsnapped his belt and stood. Walking to the back of the plane, he disappeared through a doorway and, moments later, returned with a thick blanket. He tucked it around me, rubbing his hands up my arms a few times to warm me up before retaking his seat and fastening his belt once again.

  I sat there, drinking my water and fighting the urge to cry. He was so damn confusing, and I didn’t know if I wanted to push him out of the plane as it lifted into the air or cuddle up on his lap and beg him never to leave me again.

  Chapter 14

  Gian

  A pitiful moan left Monroe’s lips, and I scooped her up in my arms, carrying her into the bedroom so she would be more comfortable. She was exhausted after the events of the day before, and we’d already been in the air for over an hour. But she’d been fighting sleep, not letting herself relax enough to give in, until her body gave up and she passed out sitting up.

  The feel of her in my arms calmed me for the first time in weeks. Fuck, but I’d missed her so damn much. Being without her was the worst torture, and I almost hadn’t been able to withstand it. The only way I was able to get through it was remembering I was doing it to protect Monroe.

  Pressing my nose into her hair, I breathed deeply. I’d missed that scent more than anything, had ached to smell it every hellish day we were apart.

  She was pissed at me for the moment, and I couldn’t blame her. I’d left her in that hotel room back in Rome, thinking it was for the best and I wouldn’t be gone more than a few days.

  But I never thought the situation would take so long to deal with—or all the complications that would come up in the process.

  If things hadn’t been so dangerous, I would have had her brought to me as soon as I knew everything was going to take longer than expected. But I knew she was safer with her family than with me, so I decided to finish what I needed to and then make it up to her for being gone so long.

  Then I got word she and her sister were taken, and I’d lost my fucking mind. The time for diplomacy was gone; there would be no more negotiating. I made my enemy pay for daring to touch what was mine. The man who gave the order to take Monroe and Mila was dead, and I would gift Mila all the man’s assets for the trouble the bastard had caused her and the twins she was pregnant with.

  But first, I had to tell Monroe everything and pray she would forgive me for leaving her unprotected.

  Placing her in the center of the bed, I tucked the thick blanket around her and kissed her forehead. She sighed contentedly in her sleep, burrowing deeper into the plush pillow under her head.

  There were dark circles under her eyes, and I knew she hadn’t been sleeping. I hadn’t contacted her once in the past few weeks. Given where I was and the people I was with, I wasn’t sure who was listening in. To protect her, I’d made us both suffer. Only a few times, I’d dared to open my app to check in on her, desperately needing to know if she was okay. To hear her voice. Know if she was missing me as badly as I was her.

  One such time was when she had taken the pregnancy test. I’d listened as she’d gotten sick over and over again, then begged me to come back for her and the baby. I’d nearly lost my mind completely that day, but I knew I couldn’t do anything rash or it would put her and the baby more at risk than they already were.

  But fuck, it had been hard. Being without her. Listening to her being ill and not able to be there to care for her. Hearing her cry and tell me she loved me and pleading for me to come back to her.

  I’d suffered for sins I hadn’t yet committed listening to her quiet sobs that night.

  A soft moan pulled my gaze to her face, and I saw her brow was scrunched up. “Gian,” she breathed, moaning again. “Where are you?”

  Kicking off my shoes, I carefully climbed onto the bed beside her. I stroked my fingertips over her brow because I needed to touch her, but I was scared to wake her up and have her push me away if I pulled her into my arms. One of my biggest fears was that she had stopped loving me, second only to someone harming her or taking her away from me.

  At the first touch of my fingers, her brow smoothed out, and she sighed peacefully in her sleep. For several minutes, she slept restfully, but I could tell when her dreams started to turn dark again.

  “Gian,” she cried out quietly. “Gian, I wish you loved me.”

  My breath suddenly felt trapped in my lungs. “I do, precious,” I whispered. “I love you so fucking much.”

  But she didn’t hear me, and her chin began to tremble. “Mila,” she whined. “Mila, wake up. P-please wake up… No, no. You’re okay. You have to be okay. Don’t leave me. Don’t die. Mila!” Her scream caused my heart rate to jack up, and it was loud enough to wake her up.

  Gasping for breath, Monroe sat straight up in bed, glancing around in confusion. “Mila,” she panted. “Mila!”

  I sat up beside her, but when I reached for her, she turned startled gray eyes on me that quickly narrowed and had my hands dropping before they could touch her.

  “Did you hurt my sister or brother when you took me from the hospital?” she demanded angrily.

  “I didn’t touch Mila,” I assured her.

  “And Maverick?” I clenched my jaw, not wanting to admit to what I’d had to do to get her back. “What did you do to my brother?”

  “He tried to stop me,” I told her, letting a little of my frustration bleed through. “I only punched him once. Is it my fault he has a glass jaw and it knocked him out?”

  “Oh God. Who else?” she snapped. “Who else did you hurt?”

  Blowing out a frustrated breath, I stood. “I didn’t want to hurt anyone. I only wanted you back, and I knew they wouldn’t let me have you. There was a man at the door to your room, and I drugged him. He will be fine once it wears off.”

  “And Lyric?” I shrugged, and she made a pained noise in the back of her throat. “Did you hurt Lyric or not?”

  “No,” I gritted out. “I didn’t touch him. But I would have if he’d continued to stand in my way. Your sister jumped out of bed to get to you, and then passed out. He had no choice but to catch her, which left the way clear for us to leave.”

  “Mila…” she whispered, tears filling her eyes. “I bet she and Mav are losing their minds right now.”

  “If it makes you feel better, you can call them both when we get home,” I assured her, wanting to appease her.

  “How magnanimous of you, asshole,” she sassed. “I don’t need your fucking permission to call my brother and sister or anyone else, for that matter. You don’t own me, G.”

  “I don’t want to own you,” I told her, trying to keep my tone calm, when inside, I was anything but. “I only want to be with you.”

  A hard laugh escaped her. “Yeah, sure. You know what? I’m done with this conversation and your lies. Could you please leave?”

  “And where do you expect me to go?” I snapped, my calm facade dropping. To hide my fear of losing her, I turned to anger instead. “We’re on a plane over the Midwest right now, Monroe.”

  “I don’t care where you go. Return to the main cabin and sit with the ridiculously overpriced docto
r you hired. Go sit with the damn pilot. You could even jump out of the plane for all I care. Just leave me alone!” She shouted the last four words, and it took all the willpower I possessed to keep from reaching for her. Jerk her against me and kiss away the pain, beg her to forgive me. Plead with her not to send me away.

  Tears spilled down her pale cheeks, and she glared at me from the other side of the bed. “You left me. And no matter how much I begged or cried or prayed, you didn’t come back for me. I get it. You don’t want me anymore. Why you came back now… I can’t even begin to imagine your reasons, but I’m well aware they have nothing to do with me or this baby. So just leave me alone.”

  “I left to protect you,” I told her, my voice choked with emotions I’d never let myself express before. “I came back for you and our baby because I couldn’t take another day without you beside me.”

  Her lips twisted skeptically. “I said that I am done with your lies, Gian.”

  “I have never lied to you.” I swallowed around the lump in my throat. “And I never will. You and this baby are my entire world. All I want is to protect you both. It took me longer than I expected to deal with the business that pulled me away from you, but I swear to you, if it had been safe for you to be beside me while I handled it, you would have been. I’m sorry we had to spend so much time apart. I’m sorry you felt like I abandoned you. I swear on all that I hold holy, I didn’t. You are the most precious person in the world to me. I would give my life for you.”

  “I don’t believe you,” she whispered, but I saw the flicker of her lashes and knew she was the one who was lying.

  With a curse, I pulled my gun from the holster under my jacket. Chambering a bullet, I flipped off the safety and handed her the gun. “Here. Take it.”

  “What the hell are you doing?” She swatted at the gun. “Stop it, Gian.”

  I pressed it into her hand, wrapping her fingers around it. “Take it!”

  Falling to my knees before her, I lifted her hand and the gun, forcing her to press it to my forehead. “If you really don’t believe me, if you think I’m not worthy of you, then pull the trigger. Do it, Monroe. Pull it, and put us both out of our misery.”

  I felt her begin to tremble, and she jerked away, dropping the gun on the floor between us. “You’re insane,” she sobbed.

  “I love you.” For the first time in my life, I said those three words, and she jerked like I’d physically struck her. “I love you so fucking much, I ache.” Still on my knees, I grabbed her and wrapped my arms around her waist, burying my face in her abdomen. “I love you, and I love this baby we created together. You are my everything. My entire world. My only happiness.”

  “Stop,” she begged. “Stop lying to me. I know you don’t mean it.”

  “Precious, please.” I was the one begging now. “Please. I will make it all up to you. The weeks away from each other. Thinking I abandoned you and our baby. Having to endure all of that evil yesterday. I will make you forget all the pain, all the fear, all the sadness I’ve caused you. But please, believe that I love you. No one else has ever touched my heart. Only you. Only ever you.”

  “‘I love you’ are powerful words that you are playing with to try to win me over—not because you actually feel them. The only reason you’re even saying them now is to get what you want,” she said angrily, pushing me away and putting distance between us. “You want me hopelessly besotted and blindly in love with you. But I know the moment things get dicey or we have a stupid disagreement, you will leave just like last time. And maybe if there were only me to worry about, I would fall at your feet and beg you to beat my heart to death over and over again. But it’s not just me.” Her hands touched her still flat stomach lovingly. “I have something far greater to worry about.”

  Chapter 15

  Monroe

  The pilot set the jet down on a private airstrip in the middle of beautiful countryside. Given how long we were in the air, and taking into account how much faster a lightweight jet flew compared to a commercial plane, I could only guess we were somewhere in Italy.

  When I saw the miles of grapevines on the car ride up to a beautiful two-story villa, I realized we must be in Tuscany. There seemed to be a considerably smaller guest villa across from the main house, with a few other buildings spread out surrounding it.

  Beautiful gardens were being worked right then by men in tan pants and white shirts, with large straw hats covering their heads as they kept the flowers and other plant life looking immaculate. Off to the side of the house, I saw a huge swimming pool, but I’d never been much of a swimmer, so that didn’t hold my attention for long.

  This place was breathtakingly beautiful, and any other time, I would have been soaking it all in and giddy that I was going to be spending time with Gian. But I was there under duress, and all I could think about was calling my family and letting them know I was okay after making sure Maverick was really all right.

  Not even the beauty of my surroundings could hide the men walking around with guns at the ready as they patrolled the property.

  Dr. Khan took one look at all the men with guns and gulped audibly as the vehicle we were in came to a stop in front of the villa. “What a lovely home you have, Mr. and Mrs. Fontana,” he said with a tight smile.

  “Masterson,” I corrected him for the first time as I got out of the car. “My name is Miss Monroe Masterson. Not Fontana.” I heard Gian inhale harshly, but I kept my eyes on the doctor. “And it never will be.”

  I felt Gian behind me, his hand touching the small of my back as he leaned his head close. “Stop saying things you know you will regret, precious,” he said softly. I felt his lips touch my hair, and then he stepped back, tossing out orders to the staff that had come out to greet us.

  There was a housekeeper, who Gian introduced as Mrs. Borsa. He told the woman I was now the lady of the house, before instructing her to make our guest, Dr. Khan, comfortable.

  The shrewd-eyed woman gave him a nod and showed the doctor to his room, while Gian guided me into the house, telling me about the villa that was now our home. Ten bedrooms and twelve bathrooms, split evenly between two wings. The master bedroom was in the west wing because the view of the sunset over the vineyards was spectacular and could be enjoyed from the room’s small balcony.

  I barely paid attention to what he said as he opened a huge walk-in closet and showed me that I apparently had clothes already hanging there. Brand-new clothes were hung up with their expensive price tags still on them, some of them claiming to be designer maternity items.

  I refused to let that little detail sway me, and I grabbed a simple pair of yoga pants and a T-shirt, along with fresh underwear and a bra from a drawer, before walking into the connecting bathroom to take a shower. I locked the door behind me, and moments later, I heard the handle shake when Gian tried to enter the room.

  “Don’t lock the door, Monroe,” he called out. “What if you fall in the shower and need help?”

  “I’m fine!” I yelled through the door. “Just leave me alone long enough to get clean, G. Fuck. I only want a little privacy.”

  I heard a loud thump against the door and wondered if he’d punched it. “Precious, please. I’m not going to bother you while you’re showering. Just unlock the door. I promise you can have all the privacy you wish, but I need you to unlock the door for the sake of my sanity.”

  After a moment of considering it, I rolled my eyes and flipped the lock. He tried the knob and found it unlocked. “Thank you,” he murmured. “If you need anything, just call out. I’ll be right here.”

  There was nothing I could possibly need in that bathroom. There was a huge claw-foot tub under the bathroom window that was big enough to fit two. I could imagine soaking in a bubble bath in that thing while looking out at the star-filled sky at night, and I ached to do just that. But I knew a shower was all I could handle for now before I fell asleep.

  There was a long counter with double sinks taking up one wall with still-wrappe
d toothbrushes lying on the pearlescent top, and I quickly brushed my teeth before taking a moment to figure out how to turn on the water in the walk-in shower. It was like a sauna, and the steam and power of the multiple angled jets was enough to put me in a coma, it felt so good.

  “Precious?” I yelped at the sudden sound of Gian’s voice so close.

  Pushing my wet hair back from my face, I looked up at him standing in the open shower door. His dark eyes were eating up the sight of my wet, naked body like a predator that had been starving for weeks. Maybe he was, but the only sustenance he’d been denied was me.

  My heart pounding, a throbbing ache starting to pulse between my thighs, I stood there, watching him watch me. His chest lifted as he inhaled deeply and cleared his throat. “You were moaning as if in pain,” he said. “I was worried you had fallen.”

  “As you can see, I’m fine,” I gritted out, hating how weak my body was where he was concerned, and that he could tell so obviously how much control he still held over me. My nipples were rock hard, and that wasn’t just water from the shower on the inside of my thighs.

  But when I pressed them together, another cramp had me grimacing in discomfort, and I touched a trembling hand to my lower abdomen. Those same cramps had been back-to-back the day before, but they’d slowed down during the night and on the flight to Tuscany. This one had come out of nowhere and was so uncomfortable, it had me gasping in more fear than pain.

  Gian turned off the water and grabbed a towel. Wrapping it around me, he lifted me into his arms and quickly carried me back into the bedroom. Once I was lying on the bed, he grabbed his phone and made a call.

  “Get that fucking doctor to our room. Now!” he roared, then tossed the phone aside. “Where does it hurt, precious?” He cupped my face in one hand. With the other, he brushed my soaked hair away from my face, and I saw his fingers shaking.