Twenty-Three
Erin
I wake up to being slapped across my face. “What happened?”
I look around and see that I’m looking at the same man who kidnapped me months ago. I feel my lungs tighten. He almost killed me last time. Will he succeed this time?
“Akmak, serho? pi?ler oglumy ?ldürip bilerin diyip pikir edy?rler, men ondan ar almaryn.”
(Dumb, drunk bastards think they can kill my son and I won’t get vengeance for him.)
I stare at him, not understanding what he is saying like last time.
“Geliň, indi yanyolda?yňyza onuň ala?ynyň ?li?ini g?rmegiň wagty geldi.”
(Come, it is time to have your husband watch his whore die) He yanks me up from the floor where by my hair. He starts dragging me out of the room because I can’t stand up with my legs tied together and my arms tied behind my back.
The door opening temporarily blinds me, I blink to adjust to the brightness. I’m yanked to my feet, and my kidnapper places me in front of him.
“Erin,”
I hear my name being called. I look up and see Oscar, Cillian, Peter, Keegan, Aiden, and a bunch of the Irish Mafia’s high-ranking members standing there all with guns in their hands and looking extremely deadly. I look around and realize we are in a shipping boat, and I see another boat further away. What the hell is going on and why are we on a boat? I shiver as the cold air blows over my black dress. Now I wish I had the coat Oscar put me in before I left.
“Let her go!”
Oscar snarls.
“Oglumy ?ldürdiň, ?onuň ü?in diňe men seniň ma?galaňdan birini ?ldürip, .”
(You killed my son, so it’s only fair I kill someone from your family.)
I hear the man speaking in the foreign language he’s been using, but I hear it being translated right away in an electronic voice. I look and see in Oscar’s hand is some kind of a device that must be a translator.
“You almost killed. MY. WIFE. Did you really think that would go unpunished?”
“?hmiyeti yok, ol seniň ayalyň k?p bolmaz.”
(Doesn’t matter, she will not be your wife much longer)
We are already on the edge of the boat, and I’m shoved closer.
“NO!”
I say and try to cling to my kidnapper.
“Don’t,”
I hear Oscar growl.
“Men saňa ma?galamda birini ?ldüreniňde ?eyle bolyandygyny aytdym .”
(I told you this is what happens when you kill someone in my family) is translated by the device is the last thing I hear before I am shoved off the boat.
“ERIN!”
I hear Oscar scream before the sound of bullets.
The icy water slaps my skin hard and makes my limbs freeze. I try to swim to the surface but with my hands tied behind my back, I have to rely on my feet. Between the cold water and my feet being tied I’m using too much energy too fast.
Oscar
I watch as Kaan pushes Erin over the edge I raise my gun to shoot him, but he ducks behind a shipping container. I take off after him, staying down avoid getting shot as bullets fly through the air. I grunt as I’m hit in the shoulder but I keep going I need to get to Erin and kill Maksym.
I look over the edge and don’t see Erin. “ERIN!”
“Go!”
Dad says. “I will end Kaan.”
I don’t argue I tuck my gun in the back of my pants before I dive into the water. The cold water takes my breath away, making me freezing me but I push my arms and legs to move. Where is she?
I keep swimming further and further down; I can feel my chest tightening, begging for me to take a breath. Fuck, where is she? I can’t lose her. I need her.
When I’m about to go up, I see her brunette hair.
Oh, thank fuck.
I wrap my arm around her waist and use my feet to propel us off the reef. Swimming to the surface seems further than it was swimming down, maybe because we both are racing the clock.
My chest is burning, but I can see the moon’s reflection on the surface of the water. I’m almost there. I get to the surface just as a hand yanks my hand, propelling us out of the water.
I gasp, catching my breath. Aiden grabs Erin and Daidí yanks me into the boat. My body shivers when the cold air hits me, but I ignore that and get to Erin’s side. I try to push Aiden off her to start CPR, but Daidí pulls me back.
“No, let me go. I need to get to her.”
“Let Aiden do it. You just dove into freezing cold water to save her. He isn’t as weak as you are.”
“I’m not weak,”
I say, not believing it even as the words fall from my mouth.
He grabs a blanket and wraps it around me. I don’t fight anymore but sit on the other side of Aiden and watch as my heart feels like it could beat out of my chest as watching as he does chest compressions.
“Breathe, Erin,”
he yells. “Fucking breathe. Erin,”
I watch he continues to pump his hands on her chest, he tilts her head back and breathes twice in her mouth before doing more chest compressions. He does them two more times before she starts to cough up water.
“Thank fucking God.”
I cry out and wrap my arms around her. Erin just weakly holds onto me and cries into my chest. I hold her in my arms, we are surrounded with blankets, but I don’t let her go until we get to the shore. The moment our feet touch the ground, we are shoved into separate ambulances and speeding down the road to the hospital.
I tried to fight, saying that I didn’t want to be separated from Erin especially with her looking like she is about to go unconscious again, but Daidí just shoved me into the ambulance and Aiden rode with Erin.
*****
We both were admitted to the hospital but were kept in the same room, probably to keep me from throwing a fit. I was going to be by Erin’s side come hell or high water. Not even the devil himself could keep me away from her.
I stare at her face, waiting for her to wake up as I rub my fingers across her knuckles, thankful for every breath she takes. Watching Aiden perform CPR on her, knowing she was hanging on by a thread, was the hardest thing I have ever seen.
It’s also the one thing I never want to watch ever again.
I close my eyes and try to get some rest, with everything that has happened, it doesn’t take me long to fall asleep.
I wake up to my hand being squeezed. I open my eyes and see my beautiful angel staring at me.
“Hi aingeal .”
“Hey. Are you okay?”
“Yes. We both are.”
“Thank god,”
she says, and I nod, giving her hand a squeeze.
“How long have we been here?”
“About six hours.”
“Charlie?”
“Is at home with Melie and some of my family. Last I heard, they were taking shifts watching him.”
“Okay good. Are we safe?”
“Yes, Kaan is dead along with everyone who was on that boat. Cillian has declared war on the Turkish Mafia, he isn’t taking any chances that they will strike back. We will have to be in lock down until we finish them off.”
“Okay,”
she says, closing her eyes.
“Get some rest aingeal because soon the chaos will be in here to visit us.”
“Chaos?”
“My family plus I heard Emilia was here too.”
I say with a groan. I see Erin give me a confused look.
“Emilia?”
“Yeah Kayleigh’s friend who is also the wife of the Italian Mafia.”
“Why would she be here?”
“Because she is like an adopted daughter my Daidí says. She got on a plane the moment she heard about what happened.”
“She sounds nice.”
“Yeah Emilia and nice do not belong in the same sentence.”
“Do we need to worry?”
“No she is just a pain in the ass. Who enjoys torturing people who hurt her love ones way too much.”
“Good thing I’m not interested in all that blood and gore. You can do that; I’ll just help you clean up in the shower and then ride your cock when you get home.”
“Erin can you not talk about us showering or you riding my cock when these blankets don’t give much coverage for the boner you just gave me!”
“Don’t worry, I will reward you once we are allowed.”
She smirks at me. I blow out a breath and think about anything that will get rid of my boner. I hear her laughing as she watches me suffer, but as much as blue balls suck, hearing her laugh and knowing I’m the lucky bastard who is married to her, and gets to spend the rest of my life with her is worth it.