Arranged to Him

The Ending?

**Comment what you think below. This was one of my favorite books to write. I'm really thinking about a part 2 so let me know in the comments if you have suggestions for what you want to see! And as always please like and follow me for more!**

Waking up, I felt like I was floating on a soft cloud in heaven, and someone was rudely pulling me back down to the cold, bleak earth. I didn't want to wake up and tried to brush away the noises of the earth, but an annoying repetitive beeping interrupted the blissful calm.

"Anaya." A soft voice called to me. I groaned and opened my eyes unwillingly.

James sat beside my bed, his dark eyes focused on me intently. There were three guards standing behind him as if he were a criminal, adding an awkwardness to what would otherwise be a tolerable wake-up.

"What happened?" I asked, trying to sit up, only for James to push me back into the bed gently.

"You were shot and bled out. Even a few more seconds of blood loss and you would've been gone." He said, sitting on the bed beside me, his expression raw as he was still clearly processing.

"You seem to have a knack for avoiding death, though." He admitted with a pained smile.

"I'm so sorry, Anaya." He said honestly.

"I agreed to go. Why are they here?" I asked, unable to ignore the random guard's presence as well as he could.

"Well...you see. They think I trafficked you. Martin is a lead in the undercover division in the FBI." He admitted and sighed tiredly, his sadness tangible.

"They thought I trafficked you. It was a sting. My lawyers are all over it, obviously, but... it's complicated. My sister went to work undercover for them years ago. Most people tell their families before they leave so their families don't worry. I guess she didn't think of us all this time." He said painfully.

My heart hurt for him, realizing he had spent his entire life trying to save someone who couldn't have bothered to give him a call.

"I got to talk to her. She's okay. She has a whole family now. I just... never mind. Anyways, until I'm cleared, I'm not allowed to be alone with you." James said, holding my hand and smiling.

"At least out of all this drama...I got you." He said thankfully, his smile genuine and warm. I hugged him, wanting to take away his pain, but knowing rejection was such a deep burn it wasn't mine to erase.

"I'm so sorry, love."

He hugged me carefully as if I were a glass doll he would break, inhaling deeply, his whole body relaxing while he held me.

He covered me with his body, ready to die for me, protecting me even when it meant his own destruction...it was loyalty and love I had never known was possible.

"Your father?" I asked as he pulled away, ignoring him and wiping away the tears he rarely ever showed me.

"They never heard from him. No one has. I haven't the faintest of ideas where he went to." He said, carefully brushing my hair out of my face.

"So, what's next?" I asked, shocked, processing the fact that we had been dealing with the feds from the start.

"I get the charge dropped, we go home, and we start our life together with no secrets. No lies. Just me and you against the world." He told me confidently. I nodded, agreeing. I had never been more excited to have a simple and boring life than I am now.

"I'm feeling a bit nauseous from the pain meds. Do you mind getting me some crackers?" I asked him sweetly.

"Anything for you." He told me, giving me a soft kiss on the cheek before leaving without a thought, ready to do anything for me.

As soon as I was alone with just the guards, they looked at each other with surprise.

"Can you believe that?"

"The fuck was that?"

"I can't believe it, man. I thought you were Bullshitting me."

I was beyond confused and so tired I just wanted to sleep.

"How the fuck did you get that cold bastard to be your little puppet?" One of them asked me with admiration.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying to catch up to what they meant.

"He's one of the most corrupt men we have ever dealt with. We've been trying to put him behind bars for years. He's always one step ahead of us, though. People around him drop like flies, smoke, and mirrors anytime we go through his papers. Most people refuse to work on his case because they don't want to end up killed."

"That's one way to get away with murder." One of them quipped, appreciative of his technique.

"He's a good guy. He's not a cold-blooded killer," I told them without doubt, angry they would think so low of him. One of them laughed, leaning against the wall, bemused by my innocence.

"You're an idiot. You should get out while you still can. You might have him wrapped around his fingers, but one day, you will be trapped in the crossfire and killed. It's only a matter of time." The shorter one told me boldly.

My mind reeled, and I shook my head, sure they were wrong. He had been ready to die for me. They were the wrong ones.

"This crap story of trying to find his long-lost sister. Don't believe a word that comes out of that snake's mouth. He knew she was undercover from day one. Makes me wonder why he was trying to find out in our headquarters. Martin walked right into his trap. Your husband is an amazing actor, one of the best the world has ever seen." The large one said, asking the shorter one, who just shrugged.

I wanted to say they were entirely wrong. They didn't understand him at all. Something nagged at me, though. Perhaps there was a truth to what they said. He was the smartest person I had ever met in my entire life; how was it possible he had miscalculated so grandiosely, so enormously, not to realize he was walking into a trap?

He spent his whole life trying to track down his sister, yet he didn't think to dig into where Martin came from? It was clumsy. Lazy. Everything James was not.

James came back in, his mood bright, and he had a tray of crackers and various snacks that could help with nausea.

"I wasn't sure what you would like, so I got you a bit of everything." He said, offering me the tray, a nervous, guilty air around him. I smiled weakly.

They were right.