Chapter 44 Chapter 44

It wasn't until midday that Jaime woke up again.

"Hola," I said. "Do you speak English?"

He was still laying on the bed on his back with no shirt so that I could

fully see the wound. It looked to be healing perfectly and he didn't look

quite as deathly white as he did the day before.

He nodded, "A little."

"How do you feel?" I asked.

"Weak," he replied with a frustrated groan. "And heavy."

"It will be days before your body has recovered from the blood loss. I'm

sure Andrea will let you rest here until then and I will keep an eye on

the wound. The sanitation was far from desirably last night and I need

to make sure it doesn't get infected.”

"Why are you helping?" he asked suddenly turning to me.

His eyes were an olive green and they stared directly into mine with a

totally serious face.

"What?" I asked.

His eyes glanced to the doorway momentarily before looking back at

me.

"You know that we are fighting against your mate, right?" he added in a

hushed tone. "Last night we weren't but the ultimate goal is to bring

him down.”

I felt my heart sink into my chest/

"You would have died,” was all I could say. "I can't let people just die."

I then turned on my heel, feeling a tear fighting to escape. All I could

think to do was march out to the garden but Andrea met me in the

corridor and grabbed my shoulders.

"Where are you going?" he asked. "What's up?"

"Nothing," I said. "Just let me go."

"And how's the patient?” he added.

"Fine," I replied trying to get out of his grip. "You need to employ a

doctor or set up a hospital or something."

He furrowed his eyebrows, "Why?" he asked turning my face to look at

me. "I have you."

"I'm not doing it again,” I said firmly. "What happened last night isn't

happening again.”

"Oh, sweetheart,” he said. "Just because I let you be in charge last night

doesn't mean you get to decide what happens now. You will do

everything for me that I ask. So if I ever bring another man in need of

help like that again, you won't hesitate to provide it, got it?"

"Your men are fighting against Leonardo, aren't they?" I replied quietly.

"If I help them, I am also fighting against him and I can't do that.”

Andrea shrugged, "Sounds like a personal problem to me. Deal with it."

I scowled and pushed him off me, "He needs at least three days of rest,"

I said quietly.

"Gracias," he replied before kissing me hand and strolling away. "And

put that fucking ring back on!"

I stood in the hallway for a few moments, watching him walk away. His

gun, as always, was tucked into the back of his belt and the intolerable

confidence in his stride.

I felt the anger inside me begin to boil so before it bubbled over and I

did something stupid, I rushed downstairs and out into the garden, as

far away from Andrea as possible.

That feeling of powerlessness flooded back in and as I stood out in the

middle of the lawn, absolutely lost for what to do. Because there was

nothing I could do. My entire life I'd lived for my independence and

freedom so helpless filled me with so much despair, it made me shake

with anger until I dropped to my knees in a trembling, heavy breathing

mess.

The worst part?

Now I was being forced to work against my only hope: Leo.

The thought of Jaime now being alive to kill or even hurt a Stella

soldier, let alone Leo, added guilt to my evergrowing pot of sorrow and

I let out a high pitched whimper.

In my head, I damned Andrea fucking Martinez to the fiery pits of hell

It's not like I could even blame him for messing up a perfect life; things

were rough already and I wanted a break away from Leo. That's how I

got into this nightmare. But now all I wanted was him back, Andrea to

be out of my life and all this to be over.