Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
“This woman is akin to the air that I need to breathe”
Aldo
“ D own!” I shout, hoping that they all hear me as I aim and fire three shots into the man, my heart rate increasing as the flash from his muzzle sends more panic into my heart. The man slumps to the floor but I turn away while my men deal with the fallout and I rush to find my girl crouched next to her friend clutching her arm and I see red. I blink and find myself next to her, grasping her arm to inspect the wound.
“It's a graze Aldo, I'll be fine. I have had worse.” She attempts to comfort me, but now I’m mad that he died too quickly. I want to bring him back and force him to meet the Angel of Pain, but that isn't how life works. It takes an enormous amount of effort for me to ensure that my grasp on her is soft even with all of the anger coursing through my veins. While I may be a monster, I will never be her monster. Focusing on my breathing, I see that Gio has taken off his jacket and placed it over Lucy since she was almost naked and bruised when we walked in here. The delicate way that he zips her into his jacket and is careful not to add pressure to any of her wounds is heartwarming and genuine.
“I will go home with her, pack a bag, and keep her at my house until we get to the bottom of this and she is safe,” Gio informs Anna with a reassuring smile. He places his hand on her shoulder before looking into her eyes.
“I promise I will do everything in my power including laying down my life for Lucy. Please let him take care of you and I will worry about her. We will check in after the doctor comes to my house to examine her and ensure she has what she needs to heal,” He says looking directly into her eyes, unwavering in his admiration. She assesses him for a moment, weighing not only his words but also his body language before picking a response.
“That’s fine with me if Lucy agrees, but understand this, Gio. My aim is spot on, and I protect those I love even against an army.” My woman wows me yet again with her response, and I am ready to fall to my knees again for her. Her devotion to the people she cares for is unwavering and something to be admired. I nod at Gio, communicating that the only way to clean up this many bodies in another territory is fire.
“Baby, do you and Lucy want to burn this place to the ground as retribution?” I ask with a glimmer of excitement in my eye and the mischievous grin she responds with is indicative of her choice. My men start by dumping bottles of vodka all over the warehouse and ensuring that no one else here is left standing. The backdoor is open and one of the men might have escaped, but they will know that we wiped them out without any losses on our side. We walk out of the room together, my men flanking the women that we came here for, and stop at the exit. Everyone leaves us at the door and form a protective circle around the outer door, watching our backs.
“Okay, we are going to hand each of you a butane lighter. We will count down from three and then when we say ‘drop’, you drop them in the spill leading inside and allow the liquor to do the rest of the work. Are there any questions?” I go through the plan, making sure that both Lucy and Anna understand the instructions before we move forward. Both of us hand over a lighter to each of the girls.
“Light it up, Fighter” Gio whispers to Lucy and I do not miss the light in his eyes aimed towards her. Once his eyes connect with me and he nods, I know that we are ready. The girls maintain eye contact as they ignite the lighters.
“Three….two…one… drop.” As the last word leaves my lips both women drop the lighters into the spill and the liquor ignites. We quickly leave through the door and shut it behind us, forcing the fire farther into the building. Quietly, we all walk back to the cars, watching for reinforcements or any additional problems. As we get to our vehicles we pause. Lucy hugs Anna and promises to contact her regularly and to see her as soon as she feels up for travel. With that, Anna and I get in the SUV that we arrived in but in the front seat instead of the back, and Gio uses the car next to us. Since our destinations are different, it is easier to travel separately instead of delaying the doctor seeing Lucy,
Our drive is quiet back to her place but we hold hands the entire time and I park in a guest spot near the door. As I put the car in park, our seatbelts unbuckle and we climb out of the car, the adrenaline starting to ebb. I walk quickly to her side, unwilling to be separated from her for even for a moment longer. We move quickly from the garage to the apartment, needing more skin-to-skin contact. She gets to her door and reaches into her bag only to frown.
“Fuck,” she utters defeat evident in her voice. “I gave my keys to Gio which includes my apartment key. I refuse to stash one out here for safety reasons but I have no way into my apartment.” Her voice starts to waver and I reach into my pocket and pull out my keys. I run my thumbs through the keys, finding the shiny new one that I had cut a few days ago, and slide it into the lock. She stands there too stunned to speak as the door opens for her.
I gesture for her to enter first and much to my chagrin she unholsters her gun and prepares to clear her apartment even though the door was locked and I could not be more proud of her. Unholstering my gun and following her inside, I lock the door behind me. We clear the space in under a minute before she sets her gun and holster on the table and takes off her sweatshirt. I am by her side in a flash when I hear her audibly hiss at the movement.
“Please let me take care of you?” I ask, and even though every bone in my body wants to demand, I know that type of behavior will get me nowhere with her. She stops moving and nods while clenching her jaw. My hands find the edge of the material and gently glide it the rest of the way off, careful to avoid her wounded shoulder. Once the wound is uncovered, I am able to see that it is a bit deeper than I would like but manageable at home.
“My medkit is in the closet in my bedroom, top shelf on the left side,” she answers my unspoken question without missing a beat. I walk into the room and aside from the unmade bed, the room is tidier than someone who lives alone. None of her furniture matches, but none of that matters to me. I feel more at home in this apartment with her than I ever have in the opulent family home that I inherited. I walk over to the closet and slide open the left side, ready to grab the kit and see the dress that she wore to the benefit. There is a small bag exactly where she said it would be and I quickly head back to the main room and find her on the couch.
“I figured that if this is going to hurt like a bitch, I might as well be comfortable.” She fills in the blanks for me and I love that she is an open book for me even before I have to ask. It makes my heart sore. I walk to the sink to wash my hands before digging into the kit since clean hands are the first step in infection prevention. Coming back to the couch, I reach in the bag and pull out all of the items that I could need. Even with this being a compact kit, you can tell that she has taken the time to properly stock it, and as much as I want to know why, I think that is a question for a later time.
“I am sorry that this is going to hurt, Lilac, but I promise that I will never purposely cause you pain unless it is medically necessary. Even then, I will feel bad about it. Don’t get me wrong, I am a bad man, but I will never be a bad man to you,” I declare before cleaning the wound and causing her to hiss. I flinch at the sound of her pain but continue for her health. Once the wound is clean, I put in an antibacterial cream and wrap it. The whole time she just stares at me quizzically.
“I have never seen a non-medical professional who could clean and dress a wound so fast. Do you have to do this much?” she asks and her lack of hesitation brings a smile to my face.
“Not often anymore but before the deal my father made, I had to deal with a lot more gruesome wounds without a lot of help. I studied medicine in my free time as a way to save my friends and colleagues.” I answer her truthfully, never wanting to hide anything from her.
She reaches into her bag and calls her boss to let them know that she won’t be able to make it tomorrow and that her family emergency is going to keep her off of her shifts this week. Once the call is over, she looks at me and the vulnerability in her eyes pierces my heart.
“Will you join me to sleep? I am exhausted from today but I don’t want to sleep alone,” she asks, and I would never deny her this. I nod, grab the firearms, take her hand, and we head off to the bedroom. We change quickly, thanks to an extra set of clothes from the car, plug in our cellphones, and climb under her sheets. The moment she lays her head on my chest we both drift off for the most peaceful sleep I have ever experienced.