Mara pov
"Take care, it was a pleasure." Lorenzo said. We both left.
We walked out of the restaurant and back to the car. The moment the door shut and we were alone in the dark, I pulled my hand away from him.
"There," I snapped. "I got you your lead. Are you happy now, or do you want to tell me I'm weak again?"
Lorenzo gave a smirk and then he looking at me with a weird expression. It wasn't a smirk this time. He looked... puzzled.
"You're a very good liar, Mara," he said.
"I wasn't lying about being sad," I said, looking out the window. "I just changed the reason. I'm sad because I'm stuck in a car with a man who thinks hurting people is a game."
He didn't reply for a long time. The car moved through the streets, the shadows of the trees greasing over his face.
"Once he calls," he said finally. "We go together. If those papers are what I think they are, Ryan Smart is finished."
"And then I'm finished with you?" I asked.
Lorenzo looked at me. He reached out and tucked a loose hair behind my ear. His fingers were warm, and for a second, my heart skipped again. I hated that it did.
"We'll see," he whispered.
My phone buzzed. A message from the hospital.
Lina is awake. She is asking for you.
I gripped the phone tight. In the midst of my chaos this was the best news I have heard.
The drive to St. Jude's was a heavy, suffocating silence. I sat in the back of the SUV, staring at the blurred lights of the city. Every time I thought about my sister in that hospital, my chest felt like it was being squeezed by a giant hand. I looked at the man sitting next to me. Lorenzo was staring straight ahead, his face calm and cold.
"I'm going in alone," I said as the car slowed down. My voice sounded thin in the quiet car.
"We are going in together," Lorenzo corrected. He didn't even look at me. He just checked his watch.
"No. You've done enough," I snapped, turning to face him. "She thinks you're my boyfriend. I don't want to keep feeding her that lie. It's sick."
Lorenzo finally turned his head. His dark eyes were like deep wells. "Then tell her the truth, Mara. Tell her I'm the man who's holding you hostage for his dirty work. Tell her I'm the monster who owns your life now. Let's see how fast she stops smiling."
I bit my tongue so hard I tasted copper. He was right, and it made me want to scream. I opened the door and stepped out into the humid night air.
St. Jude's Private Wing didn't smell like a hospital. There was no scent of medicine . Instead, it smelled like lilies from the nearby vase. We walked down the hallway, our footsteps echoing on the polished marble. I felt like a prisoner being led to a cage, but when we reached Room 101, I forced a smile onto my face.
Lina was sitting up in bed, her small frame swallowed by the white pillows. She was watching a cartoon, a tray of sliced fruit beside her. When the door opened, her eyes grew wide.
"Mara!" she squealed. Then, her gaze shifted behind me, and her face turned brighter. "And babe! You came back!" she waved at lorenzo.